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WTN: MartinBros PrimitivoAppassito '90...(short/boring)

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TomHill

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WTN: MartinBros PrimitivoAppassito '90...(short/boring)

by TomHill » Tue Oct 01, 2013 11:39 am

Tried this lost btl last night:
1. MartinBros Wnry Primitivo Appassito Zin Port PasoRobles ("harvested in the Italian fashion after the first freeze of Nov 1990"; "Some Sack, Francis" ??; 18%) 1990:
Med.dark somewhat browning color; strong raisened/pruney/LHZin/boysenberry/grapey somewhat alcoholic some porty/peppery/spicy complex/interesting nose; slightly sweet strong porty/grapey/raisened/pruney/boysenberry/jammy/blackberry complex flavor w/ light/smooth tannins; very long/lingering slight alcoholic slightly sweet strong raisened/pruney/boysenberry/jammy/grapey finish w/ smooth/graceful tannins; some like a tawney port, some like an old Amarone; still very much alive & a pleasure to drink and an interesting rendition of Calif port.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Was looking around for a sweet wine to use on my pork roast braise and stumbled upon this weird-shaped 500 ml bottle. Was quite certain the wine was totally dead and was not going to bother to taste it...but what the heck. It turned out to be far/far better a dessert wine than I expected.
This was a wine made by NickMartin back in his days at MartinBros. I recall not caring much for this wine at the time..thought it way too overripe & pruney. But time has been kind to it and the wine has evolved into something rather interesting. Don't know if it was fortified or just made as an Amarone. And have no idea what "Some Sack, Francis" means.
One more btl left.
Tom
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Nick Sez...

by TomHill » Wed Oct 02, 2013 11:10 am

Hello Tom,

Thanks for sending the notes on the Primitivo Appasito, a wine made many moons ago. We fortified it with beverage brandy purchased from Vie-Del winery in Fresno. It supplies many small and large wineries with fortifying brandy. Interestingly, our permit allowed us to buy brandy from brandy producers, but not to make it. The wine was made from the Archie Hanson vineyard in Templeton (picked November 26, 1991). My notes say that the wine at bottling had a pH of 3.38, which as you know is pretty low and may help to explain its apparently happy longevity. "Some sack, Francis" is a quote from Falstaff from Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 2 (Act 2, Scene 4), and I guess that is a both a question and an order, saying both "Would you like some?" and "I would care for more." Sack is an old term for a fortified wine, the type both patricians and plebians enjoyed whenever it could be found and afforded.
All the best,
Nick

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