Anything except Sangiovese or Nebbiolo. Brief notes, skipped one, missed one (both mine, hah.)
2024 Montenidoli Vernaccia, Tuscany, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, “Tradizionale” (13.5%). Darkening gold color, flat, block-like. Smoky, minerally nose, pear skin, lemon peel, chugs ahead more than lifts. Full-bodied, close to stern, really gives you a pop. Lemony, stony before and odd semi-creamy finish. In terms of fruit more pear to apricot skin. Tough, the kind of white you decant.
2016 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Cerasuolo (13.0%). Dark purple, glowing magenta rims, fairly clear, impressively different from expectations. Leather and sweat dominated nose, dense cherry to almost plum scents, on the heavy side so can’t tease out much more. Full-bodied, the tannin mutes it some. Fruit flavorful but sluggish. Tree bark, twigs and then lemon peel. The finish is blunt. Bottle isn’t flawed but something is up here.
2024 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Cerasuolo (13.5%). Crystal clear ruby-violet, great shine. Bright raspberry, red cherry scents, lower level of leather, more pure than complex. Medium-bodied with cleansing acidity leading to a tingly mouth feel. More of that lively berry fruit. Lemon zest and dusty pebbles. Tight finish. To me it was better chilled than approaching room temperature.
2023 Massara Pelaverga, Piedmont, Verduno Pelaverga (13.5%). Crystal clear, light ruby in hue, consistent core to rims. Penetrating nose with zippy strawberry to raspberry accents, crunchy, stony, grassy, breezes right by you. Light-bodied, crazily acidic. Clamps down the moment it hits the tongue. As a result that red berry fruit becomes attenuated. Lemon zest fares better. Who says lighter wines can’t be bruisers too?
2018 Tagliafierro Campania, Costa d’Amalfi Tramonti, “Tramunte” (12.5%). Sleek and saturated ruby-purple. The nose is blunt, has a “tannic” nostril feel, herbaceous with dark fruits. Light-bodied, delivers on that tannin premonition. At first progresses well across the palate before clenching in the mid-palate. Merde, tar pierced by white grapefruit. Offers blue/black fruit of no particular type. Astringent finish. Unspecified percentages of Tintore, Piedirosso.
2017 Palazzo Tronconi 100% Lecinaro, Lazio, Frusinate, “Zi’tore” (13.5%). Dark blackish purple, clarity shows at the rims, borderline immoderate. Outdoorsy nose of sous bois, damp earth, leather, herbal, basic cherry to blackberry fruit scents, sinks in deeply. Medium-bodied, puckering, both tannic and acidic in spades. Smoke, charcoal, leather. Plummy along with cherry reduction. Real chewy finish, country style wine.
2019 Ilatium (Morini) Veneto, Valpolicella Superiore, “Prognài” (14.0%). Dark, clean purple from core to the rims. Minty, oaky nose, plummy fruit, seems made in a “modern” style, not registering any other elements. Full-bodied, smooth given its weight. Mocha dovetails with the heavyset plum, blackberry fruit. Tannic finish takes care of that smoothness. Did not warm to it, a bit too challenging for the type of wine. Unspecified percentages of Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara.
2007 Le Macchiole Toscana, “Paleo” (14.5%). Opaque black purple core, thin magenta rims. Herbaceousness and bell pepper imbue the nose with typicity, crushed stone and rich plum, cassis fruit scents, residual oak toast, weaves into your nostrils in a hurry. Med to full-bodied, relaxed tannin. Tangy blue fruit. Oaky, however, very likely much less than in its youth. Total bell pepper, no duh it’s Cabernet Franc. Good in an obvious fashion, at face value I liked it.
2008 Passopisciaro Rosso Sicilia, “Franchetti” (14.5%). Saturated opaque purple, broad magenta rims. Very ripe, plummy nose along with sweet baking spices, dense lift, imagine a crane slowing lifting a generator, something like that. Full-bodied and bottom heavy, flops onto the palate. Cinnamon, ginger with plum, same as the nose. Angularity of the white grapefruit component very welcome to break up things. Found it hard to get into a dialogue with it. Unspecified percentages of Petit Verdot, Cesanese d’Affile.
2008 Sette Ponti Toscana, “Oreno” (14.5%). Dark, dark purple, heavy magenta rims. Churning nose of black fruits, oak toast, potpourri, medicinal notes, somehow manages a decent lifting sensation. Full-bodied, slow to move, no tannin nor acidity. Overripe prune to plum fruit. Possessed of a “theatrical” character, no subtlety. Not really my thing. Unspecified percentages of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese.
Attendee recommended edit to note that a wine I didn’t take notes on was the Praesidium Montepulciano which I had already written up so chose to focus more on other wines (A Few Recent Tastes (Posted 2026-02-12)). Good wine.