Create New Wish List”If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be ‘meetings.’”
Dave Barry said that, according to a poster I saw in a sandwhich shop. The monthly Binny’s wine manager meeting certainly wouldn’t disprove the sentiment, but it is an example of how keeping humanity from its full potential can be both fun and interesting.
Continuing the tasting notes from the last Binny’s Wine Blog post, let’s take a look at some of the newest arrivals in the category of Tuscan red.
2007 Masi Serego Aligheieri Bello Ovile Rosso di Toscana
Masi is best known as a top-notch producer of Amarone and more from Valpolicella. Their relaltively recent purchase of the Poderi del Bello Ovile vineyards marks their expansion into Tuscany. They stick with the tradional grapes of the region (80% sangiovese) but the Masi thumbprint of plush, rich wines is apparent. Thie Bello Ovile is all about cherries dark, fresh cherry fruit underlined by darker herbaceous notes, and just a little dirt. This is a Tuscan value.
Right up front, this is what expensive wine smells like. The wood influence shows, but it isn’t out of balance like a nice suit that fits well. Super complex on the palate. Blood, tart cherry, olive, weeds, cedar, meat… (and this is where I stop taking notes and just enjoy it.) Impressive.
2006 Argiano Brunello di Montalcino
Done in a classic Brunello style, which means this shows some character developed from age and isn’t over the top. On the nose, it seems to be just at the point where the fresh, primary fruit is starting to settle down, allowing other complexities to shine through. Orange peel, cedar notes meet the soft berry fruit. Argiano has produced in an over-the-top style lately, this might show a return to a more traditional style.
2007 Barone Ricasoli Chianti Classico Brolio
More up-front, especially after tasting that Brunello. More plush, bright fruit like strawberry and cherry. Bigger grippy tannins run parallel to the herbal component. Very solid for twenty bucks.
2006 Castellare I Sodi Di San Niccolo
Classy! A nose of dry cherry fruit balances with cedar and vanilla notes from the wood. Thick on the palate, and even bigger than the nose suggests, with dark plum, raspberry, good tannins, tobacco and saddle leather. Still quite primary, I’m betting this is only going to be better in five years, if anybody actually waits that long. I might consider myself a Castellare fanboy.
Last year, for the first time ever, The Robert Cain Brewery made its way from Liverpool to the United States. It is safe to say that this had been a long time coming, considering beer has been crafted at the brewery since 1845. Three of Cains brews are now set to debut in Chicago at every Binny’s in the coming weeks. 
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Evil Twin Brewing, from across the Atlantic in Denmark, is debuting at many of our stores. Evil Twin should fit in well here in the states, as they specialize in two of the most popular stateside styles: the imperial stout and the double IPA. While Evil Twin’s head brewer Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergso’s interests currently lie within this duo of styles, he is famous for something entirely different. He collaborated with one of the famous breweries in the world, Cantillon, to create possibly the most highly regarded lambic in the world, Blåbær Lambic.
Because sometimes one specific one can be so good, that it can completely get in the way of any attempt to revisit it. Be it that favorite album from high school, that pizza place you went with friends or that one post college haunt, sometimes you just cannot go home again. Especially if that was your post college haunt.
Goose Island is releasing a very limited amount of Marisol into the Chicago market via Binny’s. Marisol is a Latin style white ale that was originally brewed as a collaboration with Frontera in Chicago, a restaurant that is headed up by famous chef and author Rick Bayless.