1999 Sandrone Nebbiolo d'Alba

[newsguy]

($24) no detailed notes as we drank this at a friend's house with dinner, but i was very disappointed. wine was giving off a very muted, earthy nose. muted flavors about the same with medium tannins. when i first had this wine in mid 2002, i thought it was pretty darn good. bought four bottles. opened one about six months ago and thought it was lighter than i remember, but still enjoyed it. then on saturday night, we drank this bottle after it had been opened (not decanted) for about 90 minutes. it did seem to improve a little after about an hour (end of the last glass).

would you all say this wine was closed? i'm thinking yes, considering the grape, vintage and that it has been stored properly. i can't see how it would be over the hill (especially having gone this fast). in my fairly limited experience, i haven't come across something like this before in a 4-year-old wine. just another step on my learning curve? thoughts anyone?

[This message has been edited by newsguy (edited 11-10-2003).]

[Innkeeper]

Hate to tell you, but you could leave an open bottle with its dime size hole around all day and not get enough oxygen into it to resuscitate a fly. When in doubt, or when not in doubt, decant!

[newsguy]

IK,

yes, i'm a big proponent of decanting myself. but we were at friends' house and didn't have a decanter. however, if i would have thought this wine really needed decanting, i would have brought one with me. as for my original question, do you think this wine was in a closed period?

[Innkeeper]

Yup!

[newsguy]

ok, lesson learned. thank you, IK.