Went to O'Briens yesterday as they were having one of their periodic sales, which have proven to be good value in the past. So I bought three reds, from left to right..1) Artiga Garnacha 2006 €8-99
2) Rizzardi Munus Bardolino 2006 €12-99 (reduced from €19-99)
3) Argenta Malbec €7-50 (reduced from €8-99)
Guerrieri Rizzardi, Munus, Bardolino Superiore Classico 2006 €13 (down from €20), O’Briens off-licences and selected wine shops (89) When wine which is as well made and complex as this one is discounted by €7 per bottle (until May 4), don’t just visit the wine shop – run there. Only 1,000 or so cases of this wine are made each year, making it as small as many Burgundy cult wines. This blend of four grapes is predominately made from Corvina, the basis for Amarone and Valpolicella.
The wine is savoury and brooding, blue-purple in the glass. The palate is deeply savoury, and velvety soft and shimmering. There is bright cherry, touches of spice and gamelike notes, and a chocolate and cherry burst at the finish. A polished fine wine that demands a Venetian risotto with asparagus, or very crumbly lamb."
We drank the first of these last night...
Name: Rizzardi Munus Bardolino
Year: 2006
Price: €12-99 (reduced from 19-99)
Notes: This smelled nice as I decanted it although it looked a little thin. A couple of hours later we sampled it and the overwhelming flavour was of sausages. Yes, sausages. I don't know if this was because of what had just eaten (Salmon fish cakes) or some other contamination but that is the flavour we got, a spicy, fatty taste that was unpleasant in a wine. Even without this I don't believe this wine had much to offer, but as we couldn't get past the sausage flavour we may never know, as we poured about half of it down the sink. Perhaps we just got a bad bottle, and judging from the blurb on the O'Briens website I'm guessing we did, but I'm not sure I'd spend €12-99 (definitely not €19-99) to find out.
Rating: 3/10.
Price: €12-99 (reduced from 19-99)
Notes: This smelled nice as I decanted it although it looked a little thin. A couple of hours later we sampled it and the overwhelming flavour was of sausages. Yes, sausages. I don't know if this was because of what had just eaten (Salmon fish cakes) or some other contamination but that is the flavour we got, a spicy, fatty taste that was unpleasant in a wine. Even without this I don't believe this wine had much to offer, but as we couldn't get past the sausage flavour we may never know, as we poured about half of it down the sink. Perhaps we just got a bad bottle, and judging from the blurb on the O'Briens website I'm guessing we did, but I'm not sure I'd spend €12-99 (definitely not €19-99) to find out.
Rating: 3/10.
***Update*** - This wine was the "to buy" wine as picked by Tomas Clancy in the Business Post and he said the following (shows you what I know)...
"TO BUY
Guerrieri Rizzardi, Munus, Bardolino Superiore Classico 2006 €13 (down from €20), O’Briens off-licences and selected wine shops (89) When wine which is as well made and complex as this one is discounted by €7 per bottle (until May 4), don’t just visit the wine shop – run there. Only 1,000 or so cases of this wine are made each year, making it as small as many Burgundy cult wines. This blend of four grapes is predominately made from Corvina, the basis for Amarone and Valpolicella.
The wine is savoury and brooding, blue-purple in the glass. The palate is deeply savoury, and velvety soft and shimmering. There is bright cherry, touches of spice and gamelike notes, and a chocolate and cherry burst at the finish. A polished fine wine that demands a Venetian risotto with asparagus, or very crumbly lamb."
Like you I tasted this wine and found it to be soft round and very fruity no sausage at all...My experience with O'Briens is if you think it is off it could well be so bring it back and they will usually smell it, taste it and if they think it is remotely off they will exchange it for the another bottle or a different wine entirely
ReplyDeleteCheck out the second time I tried it..
ReplyDeletehttp://willieswineblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/rizzardi-munus-badolino-ii-revenge-of.html
Rizzardi Munus Bardolino is one of the incomparable wines in the world, I really like it, I have 10 bottles in my house.. in my city is so easy find them!
ReplyDelete