The grumblings began with the very first still, white wine which was a 2010 Sardinian Vermentino from producer Arigolas which was just charming - or so I thought. Dr. Krebs, yet again, had to point out that not all wines of the world are made in Napa's image. And that, like the wines of Spain and Portugal, Italian wines are really intended as an accompaniment to food. So someone piped in and suggested that the Vermentino might pair well with calamari, at which point the professor regaled us with a story of meeting a model, down in San Diego in the 70s, who had posed for the International Calamari Council's (or something like that) industry calendar wearing nothing but calamari. He never did find out which month she had been!
There were several standout wines for me tonight. Amongst the whites, besides the Vermentino, I enjoyed a Sicilian Notalusa, 2009 Grillo and a Campanian Feudi di San Gregorio, 2010 Falanghina. My preferred reds of the evening included; a Terre dei Sicani, 2008 Nero d'Avola (IGT Sicily); a Luisi, 2010 Barbera (DOC Asti); a Zenato, 2007 Amarone (DOC Valpolicella); a Fattoria del Cerro, 2008 'Vino Nobile' (DOGC Montepulciano); and, last but not least, my favourite of the night, a Rivetto, 2008 Barolo (DOCG Serralunga). Not surprisingly, the majority of the class enjoyed a Ponti, 2009 'Super Tuscan' (IGT Toscano) priced at $120.99. Of course they did, it was the wine that was most Napa-like!
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8 comments:
Feckin eejits!
Oh my gosh I might have to come back and re-read this. Got mulleted last night on some Kiwi whites and feel grotesque. Maybe I might have felt better if they were Italian reds? What say you? Its got to be the tannins(not the quantity of course)
Thud: My classmates certainly have their moments.
ALW: Sorry, but I think this is definitely a quantitative issue :)
V-girl, Rivetto 2008 Barolo (DOCG Serralunga) implies you like tannic reds? No? Acidic too?
Would be interesting to get a full review of this wine (your favorite)and you trying this again in five or six years from now.
I just bought 2 ea. one for now and one for years from now if I can control myself: three different Montefalco Sagrantino DOCG red wines, and my understanding is they too are are quite tannic. Well, I see. Have you come across this wine?
Heh VG, you have more choice there than I do here! Interested about the Barbera d'Asti. This evening I have drunk a Gutturnio, slightly fizzy yet dry red from the hills around Piacenza - just love it! Onwards and downwards.
NHW: In my notes I wrote "strident astringency" which just about sums up a young Nebbiolo don't you think? So seemingly, like my classmates, I was favouring a highly tannic wine. However, it was the grape tannins that I was applauding, not the over-application of new French oak (a la Napa), and the perfect, succinctly captured expression of this fabulous grape variety.
Ron: Dr. Krebs has been sourcing wines for this class for 20+ years, he finds some wonderful examples for the students to try. The Luisi was great. Fantastic fruit and acid...and only 13% alcohol.
I need to make a mini Vinitaly for you!
2B: If only our Whole Foods here carried the wines you sometimes recommend.
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