The second vintage produced is the 1998 Tenuta di Trinoro. You'd have to imagine that Andrea Franchetti was standing on unsure footing during this period given his lack of experience making wine in this unknown corner of Tuscany. This is not the case. He brought his winemaking experience and inspiration from Bordeaux, and the signs are immediately evident in 1998. Production was limited to nine barriques. Almost 20 years later, this wine shows elegant aromas of pressed flower, rose potpourri, dried fruit, licorice and tar. The growing season was very warm and the vines were still very young at this point. As a result, you get a wine with slightly less structure but more fragrant intensity. At least, that's how the wine appears today at this delicate stage in its overall evolution. Reading back to notes written closer to the wine's release date suggest that it was once much richer and thicker in density. It has evidently lost all of its baby fat over the course of the past two decades. What's left is streamlined and elegant.

Remarkably complex, the 1998 Tenuta di Trinoro reveals notes of coconut, Asian spices, and generous quantities of black cherry, blackberry, and smoke-infused fruit flavors. The wine is jammy, full-bodied, viscous, and voluptuously-textured with extraordinary purity and overall balance. The tannin is obscured by the luxurious fruit and high glycerin. It will drink well for 10-15 years.Importer: The Rare Wine Co., Sonoma, CA; tel. (707) 996-4484