No formal notes, as this was opened for Thanksgiving yesterday - not a situation suitable for formal analysis of vino . I had no idea really what to expect, this is reaching back further into a wines past than I've ever gone - not just for Italian, but for any wine.

The cork came out at about 2PM in the afternoon - remarkably good condition, the seal wast still intact, the cork level with the top of the bottle and dry on top, coming out in one piece with little effort but crumbling on exiting the bottle. The wine was left to "Audouze" with a neutral cork inserted until pouring at about 6:30PM.

The color was amber/orange, but still moderately dark with a significant clear miniscus toward the edge. The nose showed some madarized notes, but not totally maderized, with some nice sweet strawberries and roses peaking out. On the palate is where the wine became really interesting. Despite the maderized notes this was tremendously enjoyable, with fully resolved tannins, a very soft and broad feel in the mouth, and surprising sweet fruit fleshing out the mid palate. The finish was short, but quite pleasant, and the wine didn't fade in the glass over a period of about an hour. The pairing with an Italian recipe of braised rabbit with rosemary and white wine (with tomato paste) was simply to die for.

Very interesting, these old Italian wines!