I have a dinner to attend tomorrow where the hosts have made wine in Italy and are currently making wine for Quioxte, assisting at Bryant and have 2 of their own labels. I brought these back from Italy about 2 years ago and have tasted none of them. Which of the following are drinking best.
Poggio Antico 97
Banfi 97
CastelGiacondo 97
Renato Ratti Marenasco 97 (I know this is not Brunello but who cares)

ThanX in advance!

1st Poggio ; 2nd Banfi

I had the '97 Poggio Antico Altero, their more modern-style wine, at the winery in May, and it was still several years away from being anywhere near where to drink.

Another thread noted that the '97 Banfi was also very tight, and should be cellared for more time.

Can't comment on the '97 Castelgiocondo, but the '96 would be drinking well now if you had a bottle!

Edit: I would imagine that the more traditionally styled Poggio Antico Brunello normale would be further away from drinking than the Altero.

i wish I had the 96 or other options for that matter. Unfortunatly, that is the extent of my Brunello portion of the cellar. I have the most of the Castelgiocondo which is what I was leaning towards until my search revealed it is nowhere near ready. Do you think extended decanting will help? These guys are used to big wines so that doesn't bother me much.

If you've got more Castelgiocondo, then I would go in that direction. At least you can see how it's evolving.

You'll probably need to decant the wine for a couple hours, and then follow it in the glass to see how it comes along.