Bea 2006 Santa Chiara (Umbria) Dark bronze, rather than orange, yet color aside all the signs of an orange wine are here: stiff tannin, a powerful mlange of spices, dried citrus rinds, and earthen characters, and an insistentnay, demandingmouthfeel. Served after a procession of red wines with a cheese course (varied stuff, toogoat, blue, salty & hard, triple-cream), and it performs brilliantly where any given white or red wouldnt. An absolutely delicious, compelling, complex wine. (9/09)
Castello di Corbara 2002 Lago di Corbara (Umbria) 50% sangiovese, the rest split evenly between cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Light, with a dark-toned exterior. Flavorful but thin, and kinda pointless. (8/09)
Gulfi 2007 Nero dAvola Rossojbleo (Sicily) Dark, and not just in terms of fruit (which is extremely dense), but also minerality and general mood. I think I taste black ash soil here, but that could just be the power of suggestion; Im sure, however, that the soil component is significant. The wines heavy, to be sure, and neither traditional nor thoroughly modern. Its probably not for everyone, but neither is it some individualistic outlier. Id definitely want to give it some time in the cellar, to see what happens, but the synthetic cork closure negates that desire. Drink up. (8/09)
Lageder 2007 Moscato Giallo Vogelmaier (Alto Adige) Nectarines infused with the usual wild muscat perfume. The fruit helps reign the aromatics into something better-suited for genteel company, and theres an appealing rock salt counterpoint as well. The only drawback is that, as with most muscats, the wine tends to dominate almost any food with which its served, so its probably best-suited as an apritif. (8/09)
Montevertine 2002 Pian del Ciampolo (Tuscany) Succulent, beautifully balanced, but in no way overworked to get to this state. Gentle red fruit and brown earth, light spice, smooth-textured cotton. Pure loveliness. Primary, partially tertiaryits hard to care when the wine is this good, at any stage. (9/09)
Bruno Rivetti Cascina Vano 1998 Langhe Duetto (Piedmont) While theres a hard-edge crust of probably-unresolvable tannin, I think the rest of the elements are fully mature. Fine-particulate flower petals, dusty (and old) reddish-black fruit, walnut shells, some earth, and a fair murmur of acidity linger. A nice wine, albeit probably one without a peak as such. (9/09)
Serra dei Fiori 2005 Langhe Il Fiore (Piedmont) 70% chardonnay, 30% riesling. This would, under normal circumstances, be a blend from hell. Here it sorta works, but only sorta. Bright, sunny fruit fuller than riesling would be able to provide is sharpened and cut by riesling, and theres a little minerality in evidence. The problem, as I see it, is that while the riesling is transparent to whatever its grown in, weak-willed chardonnay is here transparent only to the riesling with which its blended. This works better than I would have guessed, and its a nice, drinkable wine, but I just dont see the point. (9/09)
Roagna 2005 Dolcetto dAlba (Piedmont) Corked. (8/09)
Mastroberardino 2004 Fiano di Avellino Radici (Campania) Wax and dust, beehive and bone. Mild-mannered and only medium in length, but refreshing and nice. (8/09)
Mastroberardino 2004 Greco di Tufo Nova Serra (Campania) Dried-out fruit over ash. Short, a little acrid, and disappointing. (8/09)
Castello di Corbara 2002 Lago di Corbara (Umbria) 50% sangiovese, the rest split evenly between cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Light, with a dark-toned exterior. Flavorful but thin, and kinda pointless. (8/09)
Gulfi 2007 Nero dAvola Rossojbleo (Sicily) Dark, and not just in terms of fruit (which is extremely dense), but also minerality and general mood. I think I taste black ash soil here, but that could just be the power of suggestion; Im sure, however, that the soil component is significant. The wines heavy, to be sure, and neither traditional nor thoroughly modern. Its probably not for everyone, but neither is it some individualistic outlier. Id definitely want to give it some time in the cellar, to see what happens, but the synthetic cork closure negates that desire. Drink up. (8/09)
Lageder 2007 Moscato Giallo Vogelmaier (Alto Adige) Nectarines infused with the usual wild muscat perfume. The fruit helps reign the aromatics into something better-suited for genteel company, and theres an appealing rock salt counterpoint as well. The only drawback is that, as with most muscats, the wine tends to dominate almost any food with which its served, so its probably best-suited as an apritif. (8/09)
Montevertine 2002 Pian del Ciampolo (Tuscany) Succulent, beautifully balanced, but in no way overworked to get to this state. Gentle red fruit and brown earth, light spice, smooth-textured cotton. Pure loveliness. Primary, partially tertiaryits hard to care when the wine is this good, at any stage. (9/09)
Bruno Rivetti Cascina Vano 1998 Langhe Duetto (Piedmont) While theres a hard-edge crust of probably-unresolvable tannin, I think the rest of the elements are fully mature. Fine-particulate flower petals, dusty (and old) reddish-black fruit, walnut shells, some earth, and a fair murmur of acidity linger. A nice wine, albeit probably one without a peak as such. (9/09)
Serra dei Fiori 2005 Langhe Il Fiore (Piedmont) 70% chardonnay, 30% riesling. This would, under normal circumstances, be a blend from hell. Here it sorta works, but only sorta. Bright, sunny fruit fuller than riesling would be able to provide is sharpened and cut by riesling, and theres a little minerality in evidence. The problem, as I see it, is that while the riesling is transparent to whatever its grown in, weak-willed chardonnay is here transparent only to the riesling with which its blended. This works better than I would have guessed, and its a nice, drinkable wine, but I just dont see the point. (9/09)
Roagna 2005 Dolcetto dAlba (Piedmont) Corked. (8/09)
Mastroberardino 2004 Fiano di Avellino Radici (Campania) Wax and dust, beehive and bone. Mild-mannered and only medium in length, but refreshing and nice. (8/09)
Mastroberardino 2004 Greco di Tufo Nova Serra (Campania) Dried-out fruit over ash. Short, a little acrid, and disappointing. (8/09)