2004 Gaja Ca'marcanda Promis

I have quite a backlog of wines to blog about. There are several factors that have caused this. Things have been incredibly busy at work shipping new versions of the product; Sara got a new job and is working two jobs while she transitions to the new place; Sara's parents were in town for a week staying with us, so I did a lot of wine-drinking but zero wine-blogging. Also, I sometimes forget to post. But I always remember to get the photo. Here is a glimpse of things to come:



But those guys are at the end of the queue. Today's post is about a wine further back in my backlog, the 2004 Gaja Ca'marcanda Promis.



I reviewed this wine a year and a half ago, but that was before blogger made it easy to upload photos. My opinion of it has not changed much, but it has mellowed out quite a bit. We decanted it and had it with pasta, and it was just a great, easy-drinking wine that tasted the way medium-bodied Italians should.

The Promis is one of the wines that I just buy a half case of on release every year and keep on hand to open when we have people over for dinner. It's a great wine to which everyone should consider subscribing, though at ~$35-$40, it can be pricey. It is the price you pay for consistency and quality in Italian wines.

2004 Gaja Ca'Marcanda Magari

For Ben's birthday, we went to Tonsoni's and I brought the 2004 Gaja Ca'Marcanda Magari. A blend of Cabernet Sauvingon and Sangiovese, this Super Tuscan didn't thrill me as much as it's younger brother Promis did. And it was nearly twice the price at $57.

The wine had a really nice inky purple color and when the waiter was decanting it across the table, I could smell the wine from about 5 feet away. It was shaping up to be an amazing wine and I was really excited. Then I tasted it and I was disappointed. It's not a very approachable wine. It's very subtle. Nabil recommended one hour in the decanter, but that didn't seem to do much for it. There wasn't a lot of fruit, or anything else for that matter.

You could tell it was a classy, well-made wine... I dunno. Maybe it needed more time in the bottle. Maybe, like the Wilson Gunn, it needs two days to open up. I'm still in love with Gaja, but I'll be putting my money into the 2005 Promis that was just released.