2006 Vecchia Cantina Vino Nobile Redi Argo et Non Briareo Riserva
About a year ago, we tried the 2006 Vecchia Cantina Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Redi Argo et Non Briareo Riserva. I had picked it up on sale at WTSO because I remembered liking this cooperative’s wines when I first tried them during a trip to Italy in 2005. We tried the first bottle soon after it arrived, and both Nina and I were raving about it (see here). In short, the wine was really good, took quite a while to open up (we decanted it) and was a lot of fun…I finished that post by stating that I wished I had bought many more bottles to follow the wine for at least ten more years.
Last week, we opened the second bottle we have. Upon opening, the wine showed itself very closed off, almost harsh. There were a ton of hard tannins, so I decided to decant it again. After an hour, the wine showed a perfumed nose of raisins, prunes and chalk, but it still seemed quite closed. So we waited another half hour and then finally gave it a try: It showed good acidity, with prevailing aromas of leather. The tannins were gripping, leading to cherry and flower aromas (probably violets). The finish showed some bitter aromas and was definitely shortening compared to last year.
This tasting was a bit of a mystery: This bottle was way less expressive than the one we tried last year. It did not seem to me like the wine was on its way downhill. It felt more like it was asleep. I am aware that wines can go through these cycles and I wonder whether I hit this bottle at a weird moment in its development. Like I said, the aromas were still fresh enough to indicate it is not on its way out, the wine still was firm and fresh. We left some for the next day to see whether it opened up more, but there was barely any budging. Nina was very disappointed with the wine, but I have not given up hope for the next bottle which we’ll try in a couple of months…
the winegetter 
Hello, this wine is from cooperation and in Montepulciano is one bad wine. This wine is to drink fast. I have at home few bottles and is good to cook. Buy others.
Thank you for your comment. I have had good experiences with the cooperatives wines in the past, so I guess we disagree on this one. :)
I’m not familiar with the winery but I think the average Vino Nobile should be opened within 10 years after the vintage but since this is a riserva it should be enjoyable for 15-20 years so it sounds quite strange that this Vino Nobile was not too expressive..
Maybe the next bottle will be more to your and Nina’s liking :)
Thanks for your insight, Julian!! I will definitely hold on to the remaining bottles for a while…:)
You waited an hour and a half to drink the wine? Color me impressed!
And that’s all I ever craved to achieve: impressing you! :)
You might want to wait even a bit longer than a couple of months. If it is in a dead period, then I would be wanting to give it a year or more. At least that has been my experience….
Thanks for your insight, Jeff. Since I am assuming (hoping) it is in deep sleep, it makes sense to wait at least a year.
Jeff beat me to what I was going to say. I’m glad I read the comments (I hate to admit it, but I often don’t…) so I don’t sound like a copycat.
Same thing happened to us with a wine we bought a case of. In the middle year it closed down–a year and two later, it was incredible.
Thanks for reinforcing that, Tracy! I’ll definitely stash it away a bit deeper than I had initially thought I would.