Testaroassa Palazzio 2006 Pinot Noir

About a year and a half ago I discovered the wine shop in Naperville I mentioned in the last post. They had recently bought out a wine shop that had been there since I'd met my hubby. At first I was a bit hesitant since I tend to be loyal to the shops I enjoy. But then I discovered first their huge variety of wines, and second the glorious sale they have every year around my birthday. Every year they have a huge sale, a buy one bottle get another for a penny. Any bottle as long as you buy two of the same. The owner happened to be there when I discovered the sale and was wonderfully lost and overwhelmed in a sea of wine trying to figure out what to buy.
He steered me to some wines that were higher priced and I hadn't heard of before. We chatted about what we enjoyed to drink and he told me about how his wife had the daunting task of tasting all the wines and figuring out what they should sell/stock. She happened to particularly like the Testarosa 2006 Palazzio Pinot Noir. They were priced at thirty something dollars a bottle but with the sale I figured that was reasonable and I wanted to try something new and exciting.
I opened the first bottle not long after I purchased them and found it to be strong and very bitey for a pinot noir. This was probably the first pinot noir priced over $12 that I'd ever drank, and so I was not used to needing to let a pinot noir breath. Of course at the time I didn't realize this and figured it was kinda a eh wine. More of what I would expect from a cab sav, which was not what I was wanting then. The second bottle was put on the rack and forgotten about. And then I got pregnant.
It took until the babe was near 9mo old and my wine supply freakishly low before I thought about opening this second bottle. This time I let it breath. I poured it into my decanter and then poured a glass and let it all sit in the air for at least an hour. The first sip is still sorta bitey for a pinot noir but that bite goes away after the second sip. And then by the third it turns into a sigh of contentment. Not many wines let me make yummy noises w/ every sip, this one does/did. It's a beautiful crimson red wine with complex flavors. I can't pin point the fruit in it and that makes me happy. And its oh so smooth, how air does wonders for some wines. Or maybe maturity of my pallet but this wine is definitely 5 stars, lip licking good, and won't be forgotten for quite some time. You definitely can't just a wine by its label or even its first taste in this case.