1997 Taurino Notarparano

[stevebody]

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!