Perfection In Wine That Isnt 100 PTS

This will be my first wine post as I havent had much mental energy, or tasting time over the last month to post on wine, but last night I had a wine that I wanted to share with everyone as it reminded me of why I love wine.

There are certainly great varieties and locations in the world that produce mind boggling 100 wines, Hermitages, Bordeaux, Burgundy, the list goes on and on, but there are other wines that do not score 100 pts, they are as good as they can be in that they do not have any flaws. They may not be as lofty or awe inspiring as they great wines of the world, but they can bring just as much joy. I love wines like this because they are a)cheaper and b) have no discernable flaws. There is such joy in drinking them as they dont require you to see flaws in them. They are perfect in their element. You could have a great wine, lets say a classic 96 point priorat, but its missing 4 points because of lets say a little too much back end alcohol....Although its an amazing and technically scored higher than the flawless 90 pts wine it still has a flaw. I always love it when i get the flawless wines that are as good as they can be. These wines remind me of people, they are the average person doing their very best in life, they may not be a movie star, but they are flawless in their own right. While the 100 pt wine is the gold medal in the Olympics, the flawless 90 pt wine is a victory in a developmental race. There is joy to be had in both. There is joy to be had every day.


Here is the note on the wine that inspired me

2005 Giacamo Conterno Barbera D'Alba Cascina Francia

93 points: Medium Intensity Ruby color w a faint black cast and very little rim variation.

1 hour decant

The Nose is immediately remniscent of the fruit meeting the earth. What a primal and but majestic nose, free run cherry-rasp juice, tar, crushed purple flowers, a custard like sweetness in the background. I think of rich fertile soil when I smell this. Soft but fresh on palate with a pure blackberry compote that layers immediately to tertiary complexity of fall leaves, loam, faint hints of saddle leather and finally returning with a beautiful sweet but also tart cherry finish...the purity of the fruit is allowed to speak here and I'm so excited about that. This wine is all encompassing in the mouth, and oh so long, low + tannin, med + acid, med concentration, med - alcohol.....93pts

and I will add that this wine changed dramatically at the 3 hr point, gaining alot more depth and rusticity moving away from the femine aspects of the wine earlier into lots of smoke, tar, minerals and dark fruits on the nose and palate. Towards the end I almost got some northern rhone-hermitage "esque" elements in this wine

best barbera i have ever had.