I pulled out another case from my orphan stash last night. “Ohhhh…here’s some interesting friends I haven’t visited w/ in a long time”. But after a hard night on the fencing strip…I just decided I wasn’t man enough for the task…so I cracked:
- Bastianich Adriatico Malvasia Istriana (12.5%; www.AdriaticoWine.com) Momjam/Istria/Croatia 2010: Pale gold color; very strong floral/perfumed/apple blossums/bit muscatty light herbal/spicy/earthy lovely fragrant nose; fairly tart very dry strong appley/apple blossom/floral/fragrant/quince light herbal/spicy/muscatty slight earthy quite attractive flavor; very long slight herbal/quince/appley strong floral/apple blossom/bit muscatty/earthy tart/dry zippy/bright/brisk finish; not as perfumed as some Malvasias but an absolutely great-drinking white that rose to the level of the tomatoes. $21.00 (BWM)
A wee BloodyPulpit:
- One of the things I miss most about Kansas, other than the people and slopping the hogs, is the sweet corn and the tomatoes. One of our group, TomLopez, grows some great tomatoes and often gifts me w/ his largess. As I look at this platter of fresh sliced tomatoes, w/ crumbled Dr.FieldGoods smoked bacon, crumbled Belgian blue cheese, covered w/ a $hitload of fresh green basil, and all topped w/ a ball of Buratta and EVOO and a splash of balsamic…I just wanted to drink something deelish & not think much about. This Malvasia just hit the spot. Life doesn’t get any better than this.
- MalvasiaIstriana: There is a whole family of varieties known as Malvisia. They all mostly have a low-key muscatty character. The variety was first brought to the area from Greece. This is the variety grown in the Collio, named after the Istrian Peninsula. This is also a variety called Malvasia Istarska, found down towards Croatia. I’ve not been able to figure out any of the differences. It may be the same grape, but just called Istarska in Croatia.
This is a variety that I wish they had planted in Calif. Don’t know that anyone has planted it. Mostly planted in Calif is the Malvasia Bianca…which seems to have a more intense muscatty character and is often left w/ some RS to cover the bitterness.
Tom