Farnese Edizione Cinque Autoctoni 2004

I wrote up this review before I realized that I'd already reviewed this wine. (Yes, I'm getting to the age that Kelly knows never to start a sentence with the word "remember...") It's a bit repetitious of the earlier post - which I think is a good thing. At least I'm consistent. But since I've written this review, I might as well use it. Here it is...

Farnese made its name with very inexpensive Sangiovese, so most people might hesitate before shelling out more than $40 for a Farnese wine - but this is undoubtedly a very well made distinctly Italian wine. the "Cinque Autoctoni" refers to the five native Italian grapes used to make the wine - Montepulciano, Sangiovese, Primitivo, Malvasia Nera, and Negroamaro. The blend works very well. It has a certain full lushness that I associate particularly with Italian wine. While it is lush, it is not at all a fruit bomb - the flavours are more on the chocolate end of the spectrum.

Here is Kelly's note:

"The first thing that strikes me is coffee on the nose. I don't often detect coffee, or even mocha, so this is interesting to me. Coffee, plum, berries, spruce on the nose, then very smooth and spicy on palate, with just a hint of apparent sweetness (I say "apparent" because I know it's not really sweet) and a fine edge of underlying tannins. Lush, but just a bit on the reserved (in a way that I tend to associate with cool climate, although I'm not sure I'm right about that). Very long. Nicely balanced. There was a lot of wrong guessing and mockery involved in this tasting."

At this price I can't give this wine top marks for value, but it is reasonable value at the price and it is quite different and worth buying for that reason - or at least the '04 was. We tried the currently available 2006 "number" at the Wine Expo. Unfortunately, we didn't find it to be nearly as good. It seemed to be a much more generic "international" fruit bomb style. Perfectly good, but nothing special, especially at the price. I don't want to judge too harshly on a single glass, especially from the Wine Expo atmosphere - I'd love to hear from someone else who has tried the '06.

Incidentally, Wine Spectator also gave the 2004 at 90. The '06 hasn't been rated.

Price: $43.78
Score: 90
Value: 3/5
Region: Italy (southern)
Grapes: Montepulciano, Sangiovese, Primitivo, Malvasia Nera, and Negroamaro
Tasted: Jan 2009
UPC: 8019873924407

Farnese Edizione Cinque Autoctoni 2004

The "cinque autoctoni" refers to the five indigenous southern Italian grapes that make up this blend: Montepulciano, Primitivo, Sangiovese, Negroamaro and Malvasia Rossa. I'm not a big fan of Sangiovese which always seems a bit thin and acidic to me, but it's only a small part of this blend, which has a beautiful smooth mouthfeel. Dark fruit, but not a fruit-driven wine, with a smoky finish. After an hour it opened up and reminded me of a Brunello (not that I've had very many of those). It's been a while I tried it but this is a wine that has stuck with me.

The 2004 is no longer available, but the 2005 is on the shelves. Note: because of some bizarre Italian wine law, they're not allowed to give a vintage for this wine (I think because it isn't the approved blend for the region). So, instead of giving a vintage, they provide a "series number" - and luckily, that number just happens to be the same as the year in which the wine was made. But the number only appears on the back of the bottle - just so the authorities know it's just a random number, and not some sneaky way of getting around the anti-vintage law.

I hesitate a bit with the value rating as it's been a long time since I tried this wine, but I'm going to give it a 4/5 and a Recommended because it is an unusual style of wine - if you're looking for something different this might be for you. In any event, will someone please try the "2005 series" of this wine and let me know how it is!

PS - we tried the 2006 at the Wine Expo and found it to be somewhat disappointing.

Price: $40.48
Value: 4/5
Score: 90
Tasted: November 2007
ANBL UPC: 8019873924407