From the cellar: Striploins at half price at Whole Foods.  Time to bring out the big guns.  This weekend we had a red meat extravaganza and paired dinners with, first, a Brunello that had been gathering dust in the “cellar” along with two cabernets, which I’ll post later this week.

So very hard to review this.  90% of what we drink is young and over-the-counter.  Thus a big, beautiful Brunello, rajah of Italian reds, well that’s pretty sweet.  And it was.

Had a rich, deep, dark, smooth texture.  Nescafe!  Just kidding.  But there was a note of coffee.  Some spice—the label said anise, but we got something a little more like pepper, clove and cinnamon.  It was very nice.  No complaints.  Just didn’t wow.  Maybe even a little past.  Good, yes, like a bestseller.  Think Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities; what a great beach read, page turner, couldn’t put it down, but once it was over I moved on.  Easy.  And the book went back to the library.  Sure it far exceeded the everyday plonk we can afford on a daily basis given our entrenched governmental system which extracts every last after-tax penny.  But classic?  Nah.

Tanzer, apparently, gave it 91 points.  How do I know?  It’s on the friggin’ label!  There is something both immodest and insecure about a vintner that feels the need to parade their points, but there you go.

Price: I lost my notes, but I think around $25-30 in 2004 or 05 at BC Liquor if indeed a Brunello in BC could ever cost so little.

Market Liquidity: You always have such high expectations for something kicking around in the cellar and this was a treat but not brilliant.