Tag Archives: Italy

April 7, 2013 · 3:43 pm

Manincor – 21/03/2012

Eichhorn Pinot Bianco 2010
Deep but delicately youthful and closed, with balanced texture and concentrated harmony.

Sophie Chardonnay 2010
Very contained leesy citrus nose, showing lemon curd and peach skin characters, retaining some crispness with the oak and lees texture influence.

Di Lieben Eich Sauvignon 2010
Bright mineral notes reminiscent of chablis, purity and elegance with texture and restraint to boot.

Mason Pinot Nero 2009
Very delicate, almost too quiet on the nose, with fresh acids and light tannins and fruit.

Mason di Mason Pinot Nero 2009
By comparison had a much stalkier and earthier concentration on the nose, showing at the same time ruby-red cherry and mineral notes, with more ageing potential.

Cassiano 2009
Equal blend of syrah, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, petit verdot and tempranillo. Full yet bright, soft and mellow yet tannic and warm, dense but not heavy or alcoholic, it had great focus and complexity and will age wonderfully.

Bio-dynamic lawn mowers

Bio-dynamic lawn mowers

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April 7, 2013 · 3:32 pm

Cantina Terlano – 21/03/2012

Terlaner 2011 DOCG
A blend of pinot bianco (60%), chardonnay (30%) and sauvignon blanc (10%). Bright juicy yellow apple nose, light yet rich and textural on the palate with some nice warmth and ripeness.

Vorberg Pinot Bianco Riserva 2009
Very closed subtle nose, but on the palate had great focus, purity and restraint, with a lightly creamy lees derived texture.

Vorberg Pinot Bianco Riserva 2004
A lot bolder with stone fruit and more prominent oak, and looked a little clunky.

Chardonnay 1999
Sat on lees for ten years in tank, extremely subtle and hauntingly familiar with soft and gentle acids but plenty of life left in it.

Lagrein Rose 2011
Lovely and fresh, great fruit characters and a savoury edge, a bit dark and stormy too.

Gries Lagrein Riserva 2009
Lovely and soft on the palate, great intensity and spice, full in fruit without being too heavy.

Porphyr Lagrein Riserva 2009
A deeper chocolate spice element, fuller and more intense on the palate, showing more oak as well.

The Cantina Terlano range

The Cantina Terlano range

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April 7, 2013 · 3:18 pm

Zenato – 23/03/2012

Lugana 2008
100% trebbiano, which had a very ripe honeyed lemon barley nose, robust rich weight and texture partly from oak, and seemed somewhat aggressive and too heavily worked.

Valpolicella Superiore 2009
A very full dark plum and currant nose, brightness and intensity at the same time, with good firm but soft tannins.

Ripassa Superiore 2009
The same intensity but a more earthy character, with some dark floral notes and a little warmth that will settle down given time.

Cresasso 2005
100% corvina, bold and tannic, oak and alcohol very well-integrated but looking a little too macerated and not enough fruit.

Amarone Classico 2007
Dense spicy jammy nose, very big and powerful on the front but a little disjointed and fruit sweet on the back. It is difficult to see the balance of acidity and fruit in this wine.

I love this kind of tasting, unique to Italy

I love this kind of tasting, unique to Italy

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April 7, 2013 · 3:10 pm

Speri – 23/03/2012

Valpolicella Classico 2011
A lovely bright light ruby colour, has a fresh spicy red cherry nose, and is very clean and palatable to match with simple local food or on its own.

La Roverina Valpolicella Classico 2010
Technically of Superiore quality but not classified as it is sealed with a screw-cap. Softer yet fuller, quite juicy and plump with great balance and flavour.

Ripasso 2009
Valpolicella Superiore that has had additional maceration on Amarone skins, has a deeper dark cherry cassis nose, much more velvety and slightly toasty characters, but with good balance of acidity that would push it through at least five years.

Amarone della Valpolicella 2007
Has had at least three years of cask age and another year of bottle age. Lovely chocolate and hazelnut aromas greet you, with dark plum and cassis fruit plumpness on the palate, but it is so gloriously well-integrated that you don’t notice the alcohol or the residual sugar sweetness.

Amarone della Valpolicella 1983
Still showing very young, but as the tannins alcohol and oak had subsided the fruit sweetness was coming through a lot more, supported with nutty toasty caramel and cocoa notes.

Recioto La Roggia 2008
Showing gentle raisined chocolate notes, with some complex oxidative characters and intense tannin sweetness to boot.

The amazing 1983 vintage I tasted with Luca Speri

The amazing 1983 vintage I tasted with Luca Speri

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April 7, 2013 · 2:54 pm

Allegrini – 28/03/2012

Soave 2011
Very crisp and fresh, with some nice depth and texture, something I like to see in the style.

Valpolicella Classico 2011
Bright floral juicy nose, and was pleasant and spicy on the palate.

La Grola 2009
Much darker and tighter, slightly fuller and darker as well – a good wine but hardly unique.

Amarone Classico 2008
Very fresh and had lovely fruit sweetness, supple yet firm tannins and great balance.

La Roya Amarone 2007
A significant step up; very deep and intense (possibly due to the warmer vintage), very prominent on oak at the moment, showing some great signs of complexity but requiring a bit of cellaring to open up some more.

A gorgeous view over Valpolicella

A gorgeous view over Valpolicella

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April 7, 2013 · 2:35 pm

Drei Dona Tenuta la Palazza – 30/3/2012

Il Tornese  2010
85% chardonnay, 15% riesling, fairly tropical fruit drive, with the chardonnay dominating the peach and apricot notes, full and fruity with generous approachability.

Le Vigne Nuove Sangiovese 2010
Slightly meaty earthy plum aromas, was juicy and plump on the palate with generous tannins and some cassis and liquorice to boot.

Notturno Sangiovese 2010
Showed softer sweeter black fruit, and was a lot more subtle and quiet, but had more oak and tannin elements.

Pruno Sangiovese 2008
Very full and intense, and had very prominent new oak characters overwhelming the plump dark fruit.

Cuvee Palazza Sangiovese 2009
More floral savoury notes, was very inky and focused on the palate, with tight savoury tannins.

Drie Dona wine library

Drie Dona wine library

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April 7, 2013 · 2:30 pm

Fattoria Zerbina – 30/03/2012

AS Albana di Romagna DOCG 2010
Made from the indigenous Albana grape. Had crisp fresh citrus notes with some floral aromas, was very clean and bright with good fruit and acid, and was an uncomplicated and unadulterated white wine.

Pietramora Sangiovese Riserva 2008
Darker fruit notes combined with earth and floral elements, was more intense and firm on the tannins, and had some fruit sweetness in its youth.

Pietramora Sangiovese Riserva 2007
Closed but showed riper fuller yet softer characters than the 2008.

Pietramora Sangiovese Riserva 2006
The most intense and integrated, with the prominent oak and earth characters of youth softer and more complex.

Marzieno 2007
A blend of 75% sangiovese, and 25% cabernet, merlot and syrah, combined blackcurrant and crushed flowers & herbs, but in its youth is overwhelmed by oak and very dense grippy tannins.

Scacco Matto Albana 2007
Had floral, vegetal celery, eucalyptus, dried herbs, potato and even a subtle chlorine element.

Fibreglass tanks at Fattoria Zerbina no longer used

Fibreglass tanks at Fattoria Zerbina no longer used

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April 7, 2013 · 2:22 pm

Ronco dei Tassi – 2/04/2012

Ribolla Gialla 2011
Recently sulphured so was quite reductive on the nose, but was very fresh and light on the palate, showing harmony and texture with pure green apple characters.

2011 Pinot Grigio
Showed the same freshness, but with more floral and nashi pear notes, more warmth and texture and some lees derived creaminess.

2011 Friulano
Looking quite funky and cheesy, having much more lees contact, and was ripe and powerful on the mid-palate with a clean mineralic finish.

2011 Malvasia
More crunchy tropical ripeness, and whilst being bold was haunting and smoky on the back of the palate.

2011 Collio Bianco
A blend of ribolla gialla, pinot bianco, friulano and malvasia, quite possibly the best Italian white wine I have tasted. It had lovely fresh apple and kiwi notes on the nose, coupled with a mineralic blue cheese complexity. It was subtle and expressive, elegant and rich, lofty and confident.

Enrico Coser in the Ronco dei Tassi winery

Enrico Coser in the Ronco dei Tassi winery

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April 7, 2013 · 2:19 pm

Livio Felluga – 2/04/2012

Pinot Grigio 2010
Great apple, kiwi and lime purity, subtle and balanced texture, and was great with the prosciutto and polenta we had with lunch.

Friulano 2011
A variety which I need to have more familiarity with as in my opinion is the most important variety in the region. The 2011 had a clean herbal green papaya and kiwi nose, but having been recently bottled was a little shocked. On the palate it also looked a little hot, but had balanced fruit and acid with full flavours and lees derived texture and richness.

Sauvignon 2011
Took me by surprise, as it was one of the most complete and complex I’d seen without any barrel influence.

Abbazia di Rosazzo 2009
Initially showed too creamy and buttery, with vanilla coconut and rich peach notes, a little too fat. After it had opened up it started to show its complexity, but was quite warm and textural.

Terre Alte 2009
The highlight of the tasting, a blend of pinot bianco, sauvignon blanc and friulano. It had very subtle lees derived complexity, and had a wide variety of fruit notes, was bold and rich in character but also gentle and balanced.

Refosco dal Peduncolo 2007
Showed quite rustic, but inspired me to discover more wines made from this variety.

The Terre Alte

The Terre Alte

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April 7, 2013 · 2:12 pm

Collavini – 3/04/2012

Ribolla Gialla Spumante 2008
A gentle apple and lychee fruit nose, vibrant and fresh yet full on the palate, dry and approachable, not serious but seriously good.

Broy Bianco 2009
A blend of friulano chardonnay and sauvignon blanc, had great floral and apricot concentration on the nose, rich and texturally viscous on the palate, but very well-balanced and lengthy.

Broy Bianco 2008
Much more powerful and toasty on the nose, showing more crunchy oak texture and was a little flabby and flat.

Turian Schioppetino 2005
Candied vanilla raspberry characters, quite soft and full on the palate with fruit-sweet tannins and richness.

Forresco Refosco 2005
Lovely and plump, combining dark fruits with some dried coconut and dark chocolate, mellow yet intense and dense, a real long-liver.

Collavini range of wines

Collavini range of wines

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