Sunday "TNs": Felsina's Rancia

Got together with a fellow drinking buddy and our spouses for the first time since the inception of the “stay at home” order in PA. I had been wanting to do a vertical of Rancia for some time, and there’s no time like the present, right? We had the following vintages:

1997
2004
2005
2011
2012
2013

Paired up with some De Lorenzo’s pizza, all the bottles drank well throughout the afternoon/evening. I believe this was my first time actually trying a 2013, and that wine is a worthy addition to the 2010 and 2015 as young Rancia’s that will seemingly be the complete package when they eventually reach maturity.

Our three favorite wines were the '97, the 2004 (a vintage that is now drinking great) and the aforementioned 2013. The other wines were nice, but just not a the level of those three wines. [cheers.gif]

I’ve had the 2013 a few times both in Italy and at home. Delicious wine with a great future.

Thanks, Bob! Glad to hear that 2004 is hitting its stride. I felt the same way recently about a 2001. It’s also nice to hear that 2013 (and 2015 and hopefully 2016) are continuing the strong tradition. I don’t think that Rancia will convert someone who doesn’t like sangiovese, but for those of us who do, what a nice wine and value.
Regards,
Peter

I bought three bottles of the 97 several years ago. The first one was disappointing, though I made the key mistake of not doing the extended standing up, and the wine was clouded and bitter tasting. The second one I did the right standing up, and it still was just so-so. Maybe it’s just not for me.

Rancia is one of my favorite wines. The combination of consistency, quality, price, and age-ability is pretty stellar.

2013 was the first vintage of Rancia I bought. Glad to hear positive things about it. Haven’t had De Lorenzo’s pizza in a long time.

Bob - That is a fun vertical.
I recently had a bottle of the '97 from the batch I bought on release. Man, was it good. Definitely at some sort of peak. Curious to see where my remaining bottles go in a few years. Best.

I have a magnum of 97. Time to open?

Alan, this was a 750, but we both commented that over the four or so hours that we were doing this, it did seem to tire with time. So I would say fully mature, probably drinking great from magnum, no decant, and plan on drinking in the near term.

I had my first sort-of-mature Felsina Rancia the other day, a 2010, and it was absolutely fantastic. High up there on my list of the greatest ~$40 wines in the world, along with Foillard Morgon and a couple of others. I understand that was a particularly great vintage there, but hear the 2015 and 2016 may be as good.

Bob, I’ve had very good success with Rancia from '04-'06 recently. This past weekend I popped a 2016 Felsina CC; really fine wine for a mid $20s bottle. Terrific producer!

I’ve got a '95 and a '99 on tap to open in the coming weeks. Does anyone have any recent experience with either of these? My assumption (based purely on putting my prior experiences with Chianti in these vintages together with my prior experiences with Rancia) is that the '95 may be a bit monolithic and inexpressive and the '99 may be a little tart and lacking in stuffing. I’ll be thrilled if either wine speaks to me in any meaningful way. I did recently have a gorgeous bottle of '94 Fontalloro…

What…no Oregon Chardonnay? [cheers.gif]

RT

DeLorenzos …fantastic pizza flirtysmile

Thanks for the info!

We opened a 1994 about 2 months ago. It was a nice bottle! Fantastic showing for a bad vintage. Rancia, for me, is an automatic buy every vintage.

Should be absolutely otherwordly. I’d plan something fun with it Alan, while it’s pretty studly on it’s own with charcuterie, its really a great food wine. And it’s big enough to accompany beef.

I had the ‘95 Rancia last year. Fully mature and very nice but it did lose some steam over the course of the bottle - time to drink up IMO.

Thanks Bret, that’s good info!