Petrolo Galatrona

P

Peter Creasey

Peter Creasey
Petrolo Galatrona Val d'Arno di Sopra '18 -- Inky dark, black fruits, herbs, subtle fruitfulness, big and full, a bit thick but with silky touch, nice balance, enduring, lots going with this trophy, no hurry to drink. [E]

Worked nicely with beef fajita salad and tortilla chips.

galt.jpg
. . . . . Pete
 
Curious about this I went to the web site which has some fascinating vintage reports including this one for 1996:

The sunny days of spring and summer allowed for a healthy growth of the plants. The September rain showers challenged grape production in Tuscany but did not affect Petrolo’s production as much as wild boars did. Being the first to ripen, the merlot grape of the small and low yielding vineyard of Galatrona did not stand the animal pressure.

NO PRODUCTION
 
originally posted by Peter Creasey:

Jim, per the label -- 14.5%. It must be well buffered/integrated as my atrophied palate didn't pick up on it.

. . . . Pete
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Pete,
There seem to be a large number of people who think that alcohol is not an issue if the wine does not taste “hot” or if there isn’t some other overt sign of it. And in fact, I have had excellent and long lived wines that were in excess of 14% (as reported on the label).

But I have had so many wines where I believe the effects of elevated alcohol are insidious such that it alters the wines in ways I find distasteful.
Aside from altering the texture, flavors and perceived weight of the wine, IMO alcohol alters the way the acid profile presents itself on the palate. Lower alcohol wines often seem fresher, more energetic, more nuanced and have greater focus. I’ve also had much better luck aging lower alcohol wines.

Since I seldom drink wine without food (and I don’t eat a lot of meat or heavy food) I pretty much assign higher abv wines to the cocktail cabinet; the wine you wrote up sounds like it would be just fine on the rocks (I know that sounds sarcastic but curiously, I’ve actually tried several higher alcohol wines with ice and usually like them better that way).

For myself, I simply don’t buy high alcohol wines any more. I may miss some lovely wines but that’s okay - the ones I buy, are perfect for me.

In any event, the next time you have a higher alcohol wine, concentrate on your perception of its acids - is it different from lower alcohol wine? It might be a fun experiment.
 
Jim, nicely stated and well formulated comments. I don't have the time or opportunity to shop for lower alcohol wines; plus, I am probably one of those folks who can abide a reasonably higher alcohol wine if there is not "some overt sign of it" and it works well with the food being served.

I had this selection with a hearty dish and it worked well for us.


. . . . . Pete
 
You don’t have the time or opportunity . . .?
While I applaud your range of wine enjoyment, I think you sell yourself short. The wines you’ve written about at lower abv make me think you have more time/opportunity than you admit.
 
"I don't have the time or opportunity to shop for lower alcohol wines;"

cry me a river. bullshit. really?? the places you buy wine exclude low and moderate level alcohol wines?

lordy.

no doubt I am egregiously Wrong, but you don't sound THAT busy. . . .
 
originally posted by Florida Jim: You don’t have the time or opportunity . . .?
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Jim, I don't buy much wine now and when I do it is a special offering by my wine purveyor friend (at a good price). Otherwise, I'll occasionally do an online search for a certain wine ... and more often than not it is not available locally. I loathe ordering wine to be shipped except for the two wineries I get annual shipments from.

I no longer go to wine shops and browse/shop.

. . . . . Pete
 
originally posted by Peter Creasey:

originally posted by Florida Jim: You don’t have the time or opportunity . . .?
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I no longer go to wine shops and browse/shop.

. . . . . Pete
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Um, This is a bit of a head-scratcher. Ok, understandably if you have limited mobility or don't own a car (could be the case of some of us geezers, though the latter would be more common in NYC).

But local stores probably deliver, right? How would you get light, fresh, un-aged whites or rosés for summer? Hard to believe anyone drinks big oaky reds in 100 deg weather.
 
originally posted by mark e: How would you get light, fresh, un-aged whites or rosés for summer?
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Mark, as mentioned before, mostly from my wine purveyor friend...and he delivers. Also, a few every-day-type wines from grocery stores.

Air-conditioning allows a lot flexibility as to wine profiles.

. . . . . Pete
 
“Hard to believe anyone drinks big oaky reds in 100 deg weather.”

They do in FL.
Top 15 skews in FL are Cabernet, Zin, Amarone and Belle Glos (I hesitate to call it Pinot).
 
originally posted by Florida Jim:
“Hard to believe anyone drinks big oaky reds in 100 deg weather.”

They do in FL.
Top 15 skews in FL are Cabernet, Zin, Amarone and Belle Glos (I hesitate to call it Pinot).
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Right. But how many of them post on teh bored here?
 
originally posted by mark e:
originally posted by Florida Jim:
“Hard to believe anyone drinks big oaky reds in 100 deg weather.”

They do in FL.
Top 15 skews in FL are Cabernet, Zin, Amarone and Belle Glos (I hesitate to call it Pinot).
Click to expand...
Right. But how many of them post on teh bored here?
Click to expand...
Point.
 
originally posted by Florida Jim:

There seem to be a large number of people who think that alcohol is not an issue if the wine does not taste “hot” or if there isn’t some other overt sign of it...But I have had so many wines where I believe the effects of elevated alcohol are insidious such that it alters the wines in ways I find distasteful.
Aside from altering the texture, flavors and perceived weight of the wine, IMO alcohol alters the way the acid profile presents itself on the palate. Lower alcohol wines often seem fresher, more energetic, more nuanced and have greater focus...the next time you have a higher alcohol wine, concentrate on your perception of its acids - is it different from lower alcohol wine? It might be a fun experiment.
Click to expand...

On average, lower alcohol wines within any particular region will have higher acidity, so there's that. Personally, I find that the negative effects of high alcohol wines are not related to the alcohol per se, but to the ripeness level of wines achieving such high alcohols - low pH, pruney/raisiny flavors, flabbiness etc. "Flabbiness" could relate to acidity perception, but it's hard to say without some kind of tasting where the alcohol and acidity are controlled and tasted in various permutations.

In any case, I recommend against an absolute alcohol limitation; IMHO it's better to have a sliding scale depending on appellation, terroir, and (where known) vintner or grower style.
 
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