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+--- Thread: 1997 Taurino Notarparano (/thread-8096.html)
- newsguy - 02-12-2003
($11.99) a blend of negro-amaro and malvesia-nera grapes that has spent three years in french oak.
this wine is about licorice -- from start to finish. deep ruby color with a little browning around the edges. nose of black licorice, raisins and dark fruit. taste of licorice, black cherry and raisins, with hints of earth and spice. medium mouthfeel and a decent finish, with -- what else -- licorice lingering on the taste buds.
i've never had either of these varietals before, but the flavors remind me a bit of primitivo. i don't like licorice , yet i still enjoyed this wine. it's balanced and ready to drink, with nowhere to go but downhill. a nice alternative to chianti, with enough acidity to stand up to a red sauce and enough flavor handle a steak (with a tuscan spice rub, i'd suggest). RP rated this a 90. for me, that's too high (i'd give it an 85 or so), but this wine's certainly worth a try at the price.
- stevebody - 02-13-2003
I've been a fan of this wine since the early 90's and have collected certain vintages, principally the awesome '93 (bad vintage for Italy, generally; good for Dr. Taurino) It always has character for days and is a tremendous value.
Dr. Cosimo Taurino was a physician who made wine just because he loved it. He made the table wine, Salice Salentino, and his premium, Patrigliano, that goes for about $33 a bottle. But the Notar was always his first love. He did everything himself and just kept the wine barrelled and in the bottle until he liked it. Only then did he issue it. In the spring of 2000, I was still selling the '93. The '97 is the current vintage and will probably run long, since 97 was a great harvest. Dr. Cosimo died in 2000, so his kids and wife now run the winery. I assumed the wine would suffer but the '97 is at least as good as the '95 and better than the '94. '96 was a short vintage and came and went so fast it almost didn't register with me. But even that was good.
I like the '97, while still pining for the '93. I'd do a little better than an 85, though. 89 sounds about right. I just have a soft spot for those wines in which you can taste the fine hand of loving winemaking and Notar is an ongoing tribute to Cosimo from his family. What a fine legacy!