We tried last night (2/15/12) some New Italian Wines:
-
Badiali DOC: Lacrima di Morro d’Alba (13.5%) Morro d’Alba 2010: Very dark color; very strong black cherry/boysenberry
quite perfumed/fragrant some earthy/dusty/licorice slight rustic beautiful nose; rather tart some tannic/hard very
strong black cherry/boysenberry/framboise bit rough/rustic quite perfumed flavor; very long very strong black cherry/
boysenberry bit tannic/hard/rustic quite perfumed finish; much like a Refosco but more high-toned character; a
beautiful very perfumed wine at a great price. $20.00 (K&L)
-
Luigi Giusti DOC: Lacrima di Morro d’Alba (13%; www.VinityWineCompany.com) Montignano 2009: Med.dark color; some unclean/
goat pen/bretty/barnyardy slight floral/rose ppetal/perfumed/cherry almost cheap Chianti-like nose; rather tart unclean/
bretty/batnyardy/goat pen/hot climate hard/tannic/coarse/rough slight rose petal/cherry flavor; very tart quite
unclean/goat pen/barnyardy somewhat hard/tannic finish; way too unclean for my taste; inept winemaking destroys any
Lacrima character. $19.00 (K&L)
-
Ronchi di Cialla Rosso DOC: COdF (Schioppettino e Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso; 13%; www.RonchiDiCialla.com)
2008: Med.dark bit bricked color; lovely perfumed/fragrant/high-toned some cherry/black cherry/Schio quite aromatic
slight volatile/earthy attractive nose; somewhat tart some perfumed/cherry/Schio bit earthy/rustic fairly perfumed
flavor w/ slight tannic bite; long some perfumed/cherry/high-toned/Schio bit earthy/rustic/rough slight tannic finish;
a bit rustic but lots of high-toned character from the Schio; nice wine for the price. $16.00 (K&L)
-
LaTunella Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso DOC: ColliOrientali del Friuli (13%; www.LaTunella.It; L4366) Ipplis
2005: Very dark color; intense licorice/graphite/Kansas outhouse/pungent/tarry/ozone slight black cherry/boysenberry
nose; very sour fecal/metallic/graphite/earthy/pungent/tarry coarse/rustic some tannic flavor; long quite sour somewhat
rough/tannic/coarse/unclean pungent/tarry/fecal finish w/ fair tannins; a few interesting things therein but not very
pleasant on the whole. $20.00 (K&L)
-
urban legend Teroldego HollandLandingVnyd/Clarksburg (14.2%; www.ULCellars.com; Growers: Duke/Mike/Steve
Heringer; Winemakers: Steve & Marlene Shaffer) Oakland 200: Very dark color; rather perfumed/aromatic slight alcoholic/
volatile chocolaty/licorice/black cherry rather earthy nose; soft lush black cherry/earthy/grapey slight dishwater flavor
w/ light tannins; med.long bit tannic soft/lush/fat licorice/black cherry/earthy finish; bit on the soft/coarse side;
speaks mostly of Clarksburg and only slightly of Teroldego. $20.00 (K&L)
-
Cantina d’Isera Teroldego IGT: Vigneti delle Dolomiti (12%) Trenntino 2007: Med.dark color; rather burnt/charred/smokey
peculiar slight iodine/seaweed rather funky/complex nose; tart rather earthy/rustic/rough fairly charred/burnt/ozone/
pungent slight licorice/black cherry strange flavor w/ some tannins; long tangy/metallic/flinty/charred/burnt/used
fireworks slight licorice/black cherry finish w/ some tannins; not altogether unpleasant but rather weird/bizarre and
not much Teroldego fruit. $25.00 (WE)
-
Lachthaler DoP: TeroldegoRotaliano (12.5%) RovereDellaLuna 2009: Very dark color; lovely perfumed licorice/chocolaty/
black cherry light toasty/oak some complex very attractive/interesting nose; soft bit tannic/rough/hard strong chocolatey/
black cherry/licorice bit earthy quite attractive flavor; long chocolaty/black cherry/licorice/pungent light toasty/oak
loads of fruit bit tannic finish; needs several yrs; easily the most characteristic annd best of these Teroldegos.
$28.00 (MX)
-
Endrizzi DOC: TeroldegoRotaliano SuperioreRiserva MasoCamorz (13%) LakeGarda 2005: Very dark color; strong toasty/oak/
smokey bit earthy some black cherry/chocolaty/licorice rather modern-style attractive nose; tart bit lean/hard strong
toasty/oak/smokey some chocolaty/black cherry/black cherry cola/pungent bit earthy/rough flavor w/ fair tannins; fairly
long strong toasty/oak/smokey some black cherry/licorice/chocolaty/cola finish w/ some tannins; needs several yrs;
the modern winemaking style pushes down the Teroldego varietal character somewhat. $36.00 (WE)
-
Endrizzi IGT Groppello di Revo (Raetica descendant??; 12%) 2003: Light rather brown/murky color; very strong oxidized/
tired/wet-dog-fur unpleasant nose; old/tired/dried out/oxidized sour/tannic flavor; totally dead & gone. $25.00 (WE)
-
Claudio Morelli Suffragium IGT: Marche Rosso (14.5%; Vernaccia Rossa di Pergola) Fano 2008: Med.dark color; strong
grapey/chocolaty strong Fr.oak/charred/pungent very modern-styled nose; fairly tart bit tannic/hard strong Fr.oak/
charred/smokey slight chocolaty/raspberry flavor; long perfumed talc/Fr.oak/charred/smokey slight chocolaty flavor w/
fair tannins; any VernacciaRossa character has been destroyed by the modern winemaking style; boring & uninteresting.
$23.00 (K&L)
-
Cave des Onze Communes DOC: Vallee d’Aosta Tourette VinoRosso da Uva da Agricoltura Biologica
(13%; Biodynamic; PetitRouge/Tourette) NV: Med.color; very fragrant/perfumed floral/peppermint/ribbon candy earthy
bit high-toned/strawberry some funky/unclean/coarse nose; rather earthy/dusty some strawberry/high-toned/pepperminty
some toasty/oak flavor; med. bit funky/unclean rather earthy/dusty slight floral/strawberry/pepperminty finish w/
light tannins; some pleasant high-toned/Gamay-like character but a bit funky/unclean; Alice would love this. $24.00 (WE)
-
Passopisciaro IGT: Roddo Sicilia (14%; Nerello Mascalese; www.Passopisciaro.com) 2007: Med.light color; light
perfumed/aromatic rather earthy/rustic some bright cherry/strawberry/high-tomed almost Pinot-like nose; tart bit
lean/thin bright/cherry/strawberry rather earthy/mineral/dusty flavor w/ light tannins; med.long earthy/mineral/dusty
some bright/cherry/strawberry finish w/ slight bitey tannins; not the heavy/coarse/grapey character of many Sicilian
reds and almost Pinot-like in character; nice/interesting wine but pricey at $35.00
And the same ole BloodyPulpit:
- Lacrima: I had a btl of this variety in my Prima IlC shipment last Fall and was mightly impressed by it. It had
a nose redolent of black cherries & spice with a bit of a rough/tannic bite; quite a lot like Refosco but w/
some of the high-toned notes of Schioppettino. It is a variety that is indigenous to TheMarches around the town
of Morra d’Alba, and has nothing to do w/ the Piedmontese Alba. The Bidiali was probably the best Lacrima I’ve
yet had (out of four) whilst the Giusti was marred by inept winemaking. It’s a grape, like Refosco, that they
should be investigating in Calif, planting all up & down the State.
- RedLetterDay: Tonight’s tasting was a RedLetterDay for SteveCostigan. With four new varieties, he broke the
100 mark of different varieties that he’s tried. A Ch.Nairac '07 was the celebratory wine.
- Groppello: This variety, unique to the shores of LakeGarda, is thought (along w/ the Reve grape from the Swiss Valais)
to be a descendant of the ancient Raetica wine that was made famous by Pliny the Elder. This Groppello reminded
me of nothing like the Raetica’s I used to drink w/ Pliny, but it was sufficiently oxidized & over-the-hill that it
could have very well dated back to his time.
- Teroldego: Quite an interesting grape. Some like Refosco but mor high-toned character. It’s a sibling to Dureza, one
of the parents of Syrah. Primarily grown in Trentino & AltoAdige. I particularly like the two from Foradori. The regular
Teroldego is much more interesting, to me, than the IlGranito/high-end version. The best
of the Calif ones I’ve had has been JimClendenan’s IlPodere. One blogger described Teroldego as a cross between a
GrandCruBeaujolais and a Chianti/Sangiovese…a comparison that totally escapes me. It’s a grape that they should be
planting all up & down the Coast in Calif.
Tom