Giacosa, Schmiacosa or how I learned to stop loving important expensive Italian wines and decide to stuff my cellar full of Beaujolais

Everytime I have an experience like last night I always question the traditional quality hierarchy in wine. On paper a $699 1982 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva (98 points - Antonio Galloni) should outclass and be a better quality beverage than an unrated $28 1999 Clos de la Roilette Fleurie Cuvee Tardive from a "lesser" appelation that is "limited" by what it is. Well the truth is in the bottle and man did Mr. Coudert make Mr. Giacosa look silly last night. But first there were other wines.

Started off with the 1989 Robert Denis Touraine Azay-Le-Rideau Sec. This was one of the most individual unique examples of Chenin Blanc I have ever had. Robert Denis is somewhat of a legend among hardcore wine geeks and now I see why. This wine was painfully young but had such an amazing core of beautifully detailed Chenin fruit you could not deny its greatness. There was Denis' famous dose of S02 on the nose which took a very long time to go away. After the sulfur blew off there was a wonderful lemon curd richness on the palate and a beautiful nose of ripe pears, apple cider and seashells. This wine reminded me of old-school Chablis. Like a less polished version of Oliver de Moor Chablis "Rosette." The finish was very long and kind of harsh in the beginning but the acid soon integrated. I will not open my next bottle for five years.

Next up was a Riesling. It was a last minute decision but we went with 2005 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Spatlese #8 and it was wonderful. Classic Domprobst on the nose with apple spice, slate and ripe pears. Became more expansive and honeyed aromatically as it opened up. Palate was detailed and very chiseled with great acidity and a good amount of apple and spiced pear fruit. Concentration was great and the finish was long. So sleek, so mineral and so chiseled and so expressive of Domprobst. This has years ahead of it.

We then moved onto the best Beaujolais I have ever had. The 1999 Clos de la Roilette Fleurie Cuvee Tardive. The nose had attributes of Northern Rhone with black olive, garrigue, saucisson as soon as it was opened. There was also incredible vivid Gamay character. Incredibly concentrated wine with the purest red berry Gamay fruit you can imagine. The texture is like velvet and the wine reminded me of high-class Cote-Rotie more than anything else. Long finish and incredible rich stuff that gained a more and more meaty character as the night went on. Truly profound and truly unreal wine. I want more..oh yeah . .I've got more.

Then finally the planned centerpiece of the night...the 1982 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Santo Stefano Riserva which was nice wine but no where near the bottle I had a couple years ago at a Crush tasting. Nice nose of roses, lavender, tea, cherries, tar and earth. Very aromatic but became muted as the night went on. The palate was lush and concentrated with excellent delineation but it was a bit hot and that came more pronounced as the night went along. Good wine but no where near what I was expecting.