Brett(anomyces) Poster Child - 02 Nozzole Chianti
2002 Nozzole Chianti Riserva - If you were looking for a wine to be the poster child for brett(anomyces) taint then here it is. I don’t know what was worse, being served the wine, being served the wine by my sister in law, or being told by my sister in law that she thought this was what good chianti smelled and tasted like.
First, that classic brett ‘band-aid’ aroma dominated the nose. There was a little burnt cedar aroma also but that freshly opened ‘band-aid’ smell made it difficult to smell anything else. The wine itself tasted like burnt cedar, smoke, and that wonderful wet leather smell that seems a positive attribute in old world wines. The tannins were holding it all together and you could probably violate your senses with wine for at least another 10 years.
My question here is, “Where is the Sangiovese varietal characteristic?”. Someone please tell me, because this wine is contaminated to the point of waste. If after my numerous articles you still don’t know what brett contamination is, please pick up a bottle of this.
First, that classic brett ‘band-aid’ aroma dominated the nose. There was a little burnt cedar aroma also but that freshly opened ‘band-aid’ smell made it difficult to smell anything else. The wine itself tasted like burnt cedar, smoke, and that wonderful wet leather smell that seems a positive attribute in old world wines. The tannins were holding it all together and you could probably violate your senses with wine for at least another 10 years.
My question here is, “Where is the Sangiovese varietal characteristic?”. Someone please tell me, because this wine is contaminated to the point of waste. If after my numerous articles you still don’t know what brett contamination is, please pick up a bottle of this.
posted by Anonymous at 3:20 PM
2 Comments:
Hey Huge,
We recently dined at Il Fornaio in Burlingame, CA and after ordering an Antinori that, for some reason, is no longer a Reserva, we decided to try the '02 Nozzole, and contrary to what you experienced, it was quite good with none of the Brett characteristics that you encountered. It was right on the Chianti model, (fruity, sweet oak components, wonderful red berry color, nice acidic cut typical to the Sangiovese grape. It was quite tasty and worked very well with the pasta dish we ordered.
Well, as we all know about Brett(anomyces), the problem is that each bottle is individual if the winemaker did not filter the wine at bottling to remove the yeast. Many wines have similar reviews- great fruit or barnyard characters. Also some folks lack the gene to recognize the character.
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