08 Sibilla Piedirosso

S

Salil Benegal

Salil Benegal
Bright cherry and raspberry fruit accented by smoky and meaty notes in a light, elegant package that's very easy to drink with good acids and gentle, silky tannins. Fantastic stuff that would be worth the price of admission for the incredible smoky and pork-brothy aromatics alone - I need more of this.
 
Keith's been all over this for several vintages. I've just had the 2007, which was very good, but I understand (via Keith) that the 2008 is more exciting.
 
I just had a wine that reminded me a lot of the Sibilla, and it was from the Canary Islands, which I understand are also volcanic, and perhaps also own-rooted.

I am glad you like it.
 
The 2005 still tastes pretty much exactly the way it did on release, so at least short-term aging is no problem. I don't know how this would react to serious 10+ year storage, but I also don't know if there's a point to it -- the tertiary flavors and harmonious texture that other wines need cellar time to develop are in this wine from day one. It's pretty hard to imagine how it can get any better. Not that I don't plan to find out from my own huge stash.
 
The Galardi Terra di Lavoro contains a percentage (~10-15%) of piedirosso in with the aglianico. This is very age worthy(and pricey), though it may not be telling of the piedirosso itself. Marissa Cuomo's Furore is quite age worthy in my experience(more affordable, but not cheep).
 
There is also some cabernet in there i know of, but its backbone is aglianico with bits of piedirosso. Def. more of a stylized wine but in my experience very well balanced. I havent tasted the latest releases of the wine given what i consider the outlandishly high prices it is demanding. The 2002 is the wine i have most experience with and i quite enjoyed it.
 
In 2004, I tasted the Galardi 98 Terra de Lavoro "Roccamonfina" with Zul. It was disgusting: cedar, green pepper, plastic and rubber. Zul said it was the Veronelli sample so that was what it was supposed to taste like.
 
Well, I hesitate to say this, because honestly Terra di Lavoro is not for me, but it is true that I tried the '05 this evening. I thought the Piedirosso signature was pretty clear in the wine. The smokey ash notes that are as apparent and easy to Piedirosso as jammy fruit is to zin. But there is probably some Cab Sauv in that Terra di Lavoro as well. Very likely so.
 
Just to mention, I think that if anyone desires to try raw and savage Per'e Palumno/Piedirosso, they should find themselves a bottle of Giuseppe Apicella Tramonti Rosso and see what's what.
 
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
Well, I hesitate to say this, because honestly Terra di Lavoro is not for me, but it is true that I tried the '05 this evening. I thought the Piedirosso signature was pretty clear in the wine. The smokey ash notes that are as apparent and easy to Piedirosso as jammy fruit is to zin. But there is probably some Cab Sauv in that Terra di Lavoro as well. Very likely so.
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I was give Terra di Lavoro blind by a passionate amateur wino in Naples maybe 3 years ago, can't remember the vintage, and he said 'what's the first variety you think of when you taste this wine?' The answer was obviously Cabernet, but I wouldn't speculate on the percentage. Cabernet has an amazing ability to hijack indigenous varieties in Italy, even at very low percentages.
 
originally posted by Oliver McCrum:
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
Well, I hesitate to say this, because honestly Terra di Lavoro is not for me, but it is true that I tried the '05 this evening. I thought the Piedirosso signature was pretty clear in the wine. The smokey ash notes that are as apparent and easy to Piedirosso as jammy fruit is to zin. But there is probably some Cab Sauv in that Terra di Lavoro as well. Very likely so.
Click to expand...

I was give Terra di Lavoro blind by a passionate amateur wino in Naples maybe 3 years ago, can't remember the vintage, and he said 'what's the first variety you think of when you taste this wine?' The answer was obviously Cabernet, but I wouldn't speculate on the percentage. Cabernet has an amazing ability to hijack indigenous varieties in Italy, even at very low percentages.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you and understand what you are saying, but I think Piedirosso as a grape variety is pretty hard to hijack. It is pretty distinctive.

I figure that is one reason why so few producers add it to their Taurasi, as they could do.

Anyway, there is clearly Piedirosso in the '05 Terra di Lavoro.
 
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
The 2005 still tastes pretty much exactly the way it did on release, so at least short-term aging is no problem. I don't know how this would react to serious 10+ year storage, but I also don't know if there's a point to it -- the tertiary flavors and harmonious texture that other wines need cellar time to develop are in this wine from day one. It's pretty hard to imagine how it can get any better. Not that I don't plan to find out from my own huge stash.
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drinking fantastically today; with "gricia" pizza at delphina pizzeria. Might age for a year or 3, but have to agree it is so fun and pretty now, why wait? The wine i nicely balanced now, so I wouldn't want to risk losing any of the fruit.
 
originally posted by Oliver McCrum:
originally posted by Levi Dalton:
Well, I hesitate to say this, because honestly Terra di Lavoro is not for me, but it is true that I tried the '05 this evening. I thought the Piedirosso signature was pretty clear in the wine. The smokey ash notes that are as apparent and easy to Piedirosso as jammy fruit is to zin. But there is probably some Cab Sauv in that Terra di Lavoro as well. Very likely so.
Click to expand...

I was give Terra di Lavoro blind by a passionate amateur wino in Naples maybe 3 years ago, can't remember the vintage, and he said 'what's the first variety you think of when you taste this wine?' The answer was obviously Cabernet, but I wouldn't speculate on the percentage. Cabernet has an amazing ability to hijack indigenous varieties in Italy, even at very low percentages.
Click to expand...

How true. Look what it has done to most Chianti.
 
Is it cabernet doing the flavor hijacking or the French oak barrels?
Cabernet is not an especially bold-flavored grape, but the taste of French oak is pretty strong.
 
originally posted by Keith Levenberg:
Is it cabernet doing the flavor hijacking or the French oak barrels?
Cabernet is not an especially bold-flavored grape, but the taste of French oak is pretty strong.
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Does it matter? Shouldn't they both be, like, not there?

Call me old fashioned, but I confess to militant opposition to French grapes and French oak barriques in Italy. Which I suspect does not make me unique around here.
 
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