originally posted by Joel Stewart:
Great idea.....am curious what a list of potential contenders (and their vintages) would look like. I wonder also -does "cloudy" or not make a difference with aging...and if so, in what way?
Here are my general thoughts, open to comment/modification from the group/board.
To speak to the cloudy question, I think that is a separate issue: see for example Villa Dora "Vigna del Vulcano", certainly cloudy, but not, if I understand correctly, macerated on the skins.
In terms of aged (possible?) skin contact whites from elsewhere than Italy, certainly '59 Chateau Musar white was beautiful, haunting, exclamation, exclamation (one of the benchmark wines of my career), and certainly I have had Lopez white back into the '60s showing well. In terms of Italy, I think that it might be worthwhile to deal with amphorae separately, which is another way of saying I think Gravner is a whole together different deal (I don't know anybody else doing an amphorae white, maybe Lispida does?). I think that this is the case because you can actually taste the savory clay imprint in amphorae wines like Pithos, Guttarolo, and Gravner. So I think that is a different situation.
What I am proposing I don't think would be too expensive, because I am actually suggesting that certain not-that-expensive wines have undergone pretty radical changes in terms of taste in the last, uhm, 6 months or so. Which is to say generally that Italy is a hot bed of skin contact whites of late, and that there isn't much of a track record to speak of regarding the category, and that the wines produced in said fashion "can change on you" in a relatively short period of time.
There isn't much of a track record (so far as I know) for, for instance, Carlaz, Harmoge, Giacomelli "Boboli", Casa Costa Piane "Tranquilo", "Coenobium", "Nottediluna" and others. To some degree there is a record of Kante, Radikon, and Ageno.
What I am saying is this: a fair amount of interesting producers are using a technique, and no so many people, myself certainly one of them, understand how that technique will affect the ageability of the bottles produced. In a general sense. I mean, really, Casa Coste Piane Tranquilo has changed so much in such a short period of time that it is almost incomprehensible to me. This is not "White Burgundy", sur lie or otherwise
Jeebus-wise: I will offer donated space and time at a restaurant in Manhattan that I am familiar with, as well current vintages of all the Italian wines I have spoken about above, for those willing to contribute something to the context and breadth of the inquiry stated, as long as they shall agree to a certain date and time that are not too busy inside of a restaurant context.
Seriously. I wonder what is going on. If I buy a wine in a certain quantity, I would like to have some idea of how that wine will taste 6 months hence. But I can state flatly that I am unsure of certain skin-contact wines at this time, as far as their future development. Maybe we can all get a handle on the subject together. At least I put it out there.
