It's fairly common knowledge that the larger the wine bottle, the longer it takes the wine to age. Conversely, the smaller the bottle, the more quickly the wine should age. I experienced this phenomenon first hand this week with two different wines, both available at The Market.
The Wines:
2007 Sori Paitin Barbaresco
2007 Campaccio Terrabianca
These are highly rated Italian wines, the Barbaresco from Piedmont and the Campaccio from Tuscany. I tasted both wines recently from a standard size (750ml) bottle and found the Barbaresco good, but still quite tannic. The Campaccio showed great promise, but the nose was closed and the mouthfeel a little harsh. I was not surprised or disappointed by these tasting experiences as the wines are still very young.
This week I tried the wines from the half bottle format (375ml). The Barbaresco was silky smooth and displayed great complexity with violets, strawberry and licorice on the nose and palate. The Campaccio was even more impressive. The mouthfeel was gorgeous and the wine oozed dark red fruit of blackberry, plum and black cherry. But the chocolate - yes, the chocolate - that was a real surprise. This smelled and tasted like biting into the chocolate center of a cherry Tootsie Roll pop.
This was not a planned comparison of different bottle formats, just a coincidence. But, wow - what a revelation!
I thought it was pretty cool.
Tom
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