Spectacular as my morning and early afternoon were, the real kicker was the Fontanafredda (www.tenimentifontanafredda.it) Barolo vertical tasting I was planning on attending. I know the wines of Fontanafredda well and most drinkers of Italian wine probably had them at some point as well. Unfortunately most people probably know them for their silver-labeled reasonably inexpensive Barbera d' Asti, Nebbiolo, and the like-that's what I remembered them from my early days stocking shelves in the wine shops.

The 1999 vintage of Barolo has the middle child syndrome.  Stuck in the middle of a string of excellent and diverse vintages, the 1999's got a polite hand on the head before being shuffled out of the kitchen to the back yard where the dog lay,  awaiting a comrade.