Arnt Egil Nordlien
Arnt Egil Nordlien
Notes from a tasting at the fine wine-bar Terroiristen in Jgersborggade in Copenhagen August 6th. It included also other whites made with unusual characters (to most people).
flight 1:
Grave del Friuli Friulano 2007, Castello di Arcano (not macerated)
Straw/greenish colour. Grape-typical on the nose with hints of flowers, citrus, light vegetal hints and a touch of anise. Fresh and clear Friulano in the mouth. Decent concentration. Clean and simple style. Lightly underripe fine flowers notes. Citrus. Light anise in the back. Medium acidity and length. A nice everyday and forgettable Friulano.
Colli Orientali del Friuli Friulano Anonimo 2006, Castello di Arcano (macerated)
Yellow colour, lightly cloudy. Smokey, almost honeyed nose. Minerality, ripe fruit-notes. More concentrated and powerful wine in the mouth. Riper fruits. Honey and a smokey depth. Decent acidity. More alcohol, from the higher ripeness, is showing on the finish. Light tannins. Good wine with especially fine and interesting fruit. A little hot.
Venezia Giulia Pinot Grigio 2003, Bressan
This is aged sur lie for a long time. Golden colour. Pretty nose. Mineral, honey. Again ripe style, but with a fine flowery depth on the nose. More exotic fruitiness. Fullbodied. A touch hot style, definitely from a warm vintage. Honeyed, exotic pinot grigio. Mineral and with some anisy hints. Medium to low acids. Decent length. Again this shows fine fruit, but is a little too ripe for me.
Vipavska dolina Burja 2006, Sutor
This is a cuvee of malvasia/rebula/Riesling italico. 20% of the juice is macerated. Straw colour. Pretty nose. Fruitier and lightly aromatic. Some anise, smokey, minerality. A more elegant wine in the mouth. Lightly aromatic, but subdued malvasia-fruit. More minerality, smokey hints. Anise-notes. Citrusy finish. Well-made wine with a finer and balance and more seemless. Very good.
Flight 2:
Els bassots 2006, Escoda-Sanahuja
100% Chenin blanc from Conde de Barbera DO in Spain. Macerated for 22 days. Golden colour. Toasted nose. Hints of flowers, toast, some citrus. Fullbodied and weird wine in the mouth. Again highly toasted fruit. Some fine florality. The strange acidity seems to not integrate in the wine. Burnt, toasted finish with some tannins showing. Odd wine and not good.
Santa Chiara 2005, Paulo Bea
A blend with Grechetto as the main grape. Macerated for 8 days. Yellow colour. A bit shy on the nose. Flowery, seaweed, citrus. Some anise-notes. Fine and elegant wine in the mouth. Quite powerful. Fine fruit. Some minerality. Quite a lot of sweet anise on the finish. Fine acidity. Light tannins. Good wine, that is a bit closed.
Goriska Brda Teodor Belo 2005, Simcic
A blend of Rebula with pinot grigio and sauvignonasse. The three grapes treated differently. Deep yellow colour. Fine nose. A little sweetish with good intensity. Flowers, sweet lilies, orange-peel, anise. Complex. Powerful wine in the mouth. Pretty made macerated wine. Finely tuned fruit. Orange-peel, apples, but also minerality and complexity. Tannins showing at the back. A little high alcohol. But very nice stuff.
Arbois Pupillin 2004, Pierre Overnoy/Emmanuell Houillon
Voile-aged Jura-wine. Not macerated. Deep cloudy yellow colour. The nose shows voile, oxidation, nuts, flowers. Complex, but a tad more oxidative than it perhaps is meant to be. Fresh and quite slim Arbois in the mouth. Prett fruit. Lots of voile, flowers, citrus, nuts. Fine balance. Good acidity and length. A little burnt notes on the finish. Very interesting wine.
Flight 3:
Carso Malvasia 2006, Zidarich
Deep cloudy yellow colour. Aromatic nose. Orange-spice, flowers. Fresh and typically aromatic Malvasia in the mouth. Powerful style with fine freshness. The aromatics is the most prominent in the fruit, with less of the "macerated" aromas. Nicely done and some depth. Fine acidity and some tannins showing in the finish. Very good wine.
Sogno di Bacco 6 (2006), Trinchero
We end with perhaps one of the most extreme wines. Very ripe malvasia-grapes are aged on the skin in stainless steel with no temperature-control, no fining or filtering. The wine is very dark and brownish. Reminiscent of a Cognac XO. The nose is intense and perfumed. Lots of dried fruits, flowers and sweetness. Very powerful wine in the mouth. Also very fresh and aromatic. Dry wine with a flowery, sweet fruit and hints of orange-peel and perfume. Good depth. Fine acidity. Some tannins showing in the back. This drinks very nicely now and is a very good wine in it's highly peculiar style.
As I conclusion I think we can say that the slovenes seems to have a better fingerspitzgefhl in the making of these macerated whites. The wines turn out more complete and elegant in the making. Also the two last wines from the Malvasia-grape was very interesting. The Trinchero being the weirdo of the tasting.
flight 1:
Grave del Friuli Friulano 2007, Castello di Arcano (not macerated)
Straw/greenish colour. Grape-typical on the nose with hints of flowers, citrus, light vegetal hints and a touch of anise. Fresh and clear Friulano in the mouth. Decent concentration. Clean and simple style. Lightly underripe fine flowers notes. Citrus. Light anise in the back. Medium acidity and length. A nice everyday and forgettable Friulano.
Colli Orientali del Friuli Friulano Anonimo 2006, Castello di Arcano (macerated)
Yellow colour, lightly cloudy. Smokey, almost honeyed nose. Minerality, ripe fruit-notes. More concentrated and powerful wine in the mouth. Riper fruits. Honey and a smokey depth. Decent acidity. More alcohol, from the higher ripeness, is showing on the finish. Light tannins. Good wine with especially fine and interesting fruit. A little hot.
Venezia Giulia Pinot Grigio 2003, Bressan
This is aged sur lie for a long time. Golden colour. Pretty nose. Mineral, honey. Again ripe style, but with a fine flowery depth on the nose. More exotic fruitiness. Fullbodied. A touch hot style, definitely from a warm vintage. Honeyed, exotic pinot grigio. Mineral and with some anisy hints. Medium to low acids. Decent length. Again this shows fine fruit, but is a little too ripe for me.
Vipavska dolina Burja 2006, Sutor
This is a cuvee of malvasia/rebula/Riesling italico. 20% of the juice is macerated. Straw colour. Pretty nose. Fruitier and lightly aromatic. Some anise, smokey, minerality. A more elegant wine in the mouth. Lightly aromatic, but subdued malvasia-fruit. More minerality, smokey hints. Anise-notes. Citrusy finish. Well-made wine with a finer and balance and more seemless. Very good.
Flight 2:
Els bassots 2006, Escoda-Sanahuja
100% Chenin blanc from Conde de Barbera DO in Spain. Macerated for 22 days. Golden colour. Toasted nose. Hints of flowers, toast, some citrus. Fullbodied and weird wine in the mouth. Again highly toasted fruit. Some fine florality. The strange acidity seems to not integrate in the wine. Burnt, toasted finish with some tannins showing. Odd wine and not good.
Santa Chiara 2005, Paulo Bea
A blend with Grechetto as the main grape. Macerated for 8 days. Yellow colour. A bit shy on the nose. Flowery, seaweed, citrus. Some anise-notes. Fine and elegant wine in the mouth. Quite powerful. Fine fruit. Some minerality. Quite a lot of sweet anise on the finish. Fine acidity. Light tannins. Good wine, that is a bit closed.
Goriska Brda Teodor Belo 2005, Simcic
A blend of Rebula with pinot grigio and sauvignonasse. The three grapes treated differently. Deep yellow colour. Fine nose. A little sweetish with good intensity. Flowers, sweet lilies, orange-peel, anise. Complex. Powerful wine in the mouth. Pretty made macerated wine. Finely tuned fruit. Orange-peel, apples, but also minerality and complexity. Tannins showing at the back. A little high alcohol. But very nice stuff.
Arbois Pupillin 2004, Pierre Overnoy/Emmanuell Houillon
Voile-aged Jura-wine. Not macerated. Deep cloudy yellow colour. The nose shows voile, oxidation, nuts, flowers. Complex, but a tad more oxidative than it perhaps is meant to be. Fresh and quite slim Arbois in the mouth. Prett fruit. Lots of voile, flowers, citrus, nuts. Fine balance. Good acidity and length. A little burnt notes on the finish. Very interesting wine.
Flight 3:
Carso Malvasia 2006, Zidarich
Deep cloudy yellow colour. Aromatic nose. Orange-spice, flowers. Fresh and typically aromatic Malvasia in the mouth. Powerful style with fine freshness. The aromatics is the most prominent in the fruit, with less of the "macerated" aromas. Nicely done and some depth. Fine acidity and some tannins showing in the finish. Very good wine.
Sogno di Bacco 6 (2006), Trinchero
We end with perhaps one of the most extreme wines. Very ripe malvasia-grapes are aged on the skin in stainless steel with no temperature-control, no fining or filtering. The wine is very dark and brownish. Reminiscent of a Cognac XO. The nose is intense and perfumed. Lots of dried fruits, flowers and sweetness. Very powerful wine in the mouth. Also very fresh and aromatic. Dry wine with a flowery, sweet fruit and hints of orange-peel and perfume. Good depth. Fine acidity. Some tannins showing in the back. This drinks very nicely now and is a very good wine in it's highly peculiar style.
As I conclusion I think we can say that the slovenes seems to have a better fingerspitzgefhl in the making of these macerated whites. The wines turn out more complete and elegant in the making. Also the two last wines from the Malvasia-grape was very interesting. The Trinchero being the weirdo of the tasting.