a relaxed rectangularity

angiolino maule's sassaia is a nice garganega from gambellara in the veneto, all coppery nosed and cloudy, and used to be trivially priced. no longer: it's up in the mid-$20s now, from $11-ish. three apartments ago in 2009, having enjoyed the sassaia, i splashed out for a bottle of 2004 pico (the bottle has a tag on it that says $29.95). i had just begun to explore natural wines and it felt like a lot of money. so it stayed unopened in a succession of basements, rolling around in a box next to my bags of dovetail chisels and handplanes. i finally opened it today to celebrate certain events in the universe. the cork resisted but was eventually persuaded to exit with grace. the wine is surprising but not outlandish and quite fine: the smell of cooling blood, a relaxed rectangularity, sweetness with a touch of apple acid and resin, warmth in the back of the palate and the throat. i'd drink it with rare venison and walnuts; one out of two ain't bad.