Vigne della Bra 2013
Quite powerful and builds on the palate, quite fresh but lovely citrus pith texture. Richness without excessive warmth.
Monteseroni Garganega 2013
Fresh mineral oxidation. Full yet light? Fresh but mellow? A bit odd.
Turbiana 2013
Nice density concentration still very light and fresh with hints of savoury.
Filippo Filippi
Filed under Tasting Notes
Last year was a particularly good year for drinking for me, I have to admit it. Thanks to all the fantastic people I met and venues I discovered, who all work with some beautiful products, I got to both taste and drink (sometimes a bit too much) some amazing stuff. Some of these wines were tasted at events or trade tastings, some at my favourite bars & restaurants, and a few were tasted at wineries I visited (which was too rare in 2014). You’ll notice that many of these wines are Italian which very much reflects where I was at this year working for an importer of Italian wines, and also visiting Italy in June.
Let me know what you think, and tell me in the comments what were your highlight wines for 2014.
2014 was a momentous year as it was the first time I tasted Claret!
Filed under Musings
Castelcerino Soave 2013
A little closed at the moment, showing the salty shellfish, hints of volcanic. Vibrantly fresh with fantastic balance of fruit, acid herbs and minerality. Long.
Vigna della Bra 2012
Lovely briny capers, juicy vibrant and a little fat. Rich fantastic and complex, mouth-filling, delicious and unique.
Turbiana 2012 (trebbiano)
Similar shellfish notes, wild herbal green fruits. On the palate slightly haunting, still bright and fresh, more open and elusive though.
Filed under Tasting Notes
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
Filed under Tasting Notes
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| The castle sits overlooking the village of Soave |
Filed under Winery Visits
Soave 2011
Lovely bright citrus honeyed slightly grassy and herbaceous, a little oily on the nose, very aromatic and soapy. Wonderfully textural, ripe and oily with some warmth but still wonderfully fresh, bright tight, floral influence on the palate. A little creaminess and very subtle sweet nuttiness, roasted chestnuts.
Calvarino 2010
Deeper richer and riper on the nose with more concentration, more subdued spice and green notes, ripe citrus and melon notes. Bright tight focused acids, very intense but also quite subtle fruit characters, soft generous extremely long and complex, rolling around the palate, stone fruit and some pear as well.
La Rocca 2010
Rich ripe very strong creamy crunchy oak character, very burgundian in style, plenty of malolactic and battonage characters, dried stone fruit and citrus. Pretty extreme toastiness. Soft and gentle on the front, but builds with some very intense work characters, at the moment it is difficult to see past the winemaking characters of the wine, particularly in this vintage the fruit and terroir is not showing as much. Approaching Californian chardonnay characters. Opens up nicely once allowed to breathe.
Ruberpan Valpolicella Superiore 2010
Wonderfully spicy and peppery, sloe berries, dark fruit and florals, crushed rosemary. Lovely and soft and fresh, still bright but excellently approachable with lovely depth and length, fills the palate, tight and bright but generous and ageable for at least five years.
Amarone Vigna Garron 2009
Soft ruby nose with some dark cherry and plum characters but also some lovely savoury notes as well. Soft generous smooth velvety tannins, dried berries lovely and intense, certainly in the ripe sweet region, the tannins are very long and grippy. Very balanced alcohol, deceptively well balanced.
Le Colombare Recioto di Soave 2008
Subtle but intense citrus marmalade oxidative characters, some lemon curds and lemon tart, still a little spice and grass notes. Very fresh and not cloying at all, subtle and generous, focused and bright, rolling and yet lifted, exceptional acid holding things together. Wonderfully balanced and full of personality.
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| Pieropan |
Filed under Tasting Notes
A podcast about wine, wine culture and wine people. Every week a different guest from the wine industry joins host The Intrepid Wino (aka James Scarcebrook) for a casual chat about the world of wine.
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