We tried last night (11/14/07) Some (Mostly) Friulian Biancos:
1. Stanislao Radikon DOC: Colli Bianco Oslavje (14%; http://www.Summavitis.com) 1999: Very dark
golden/brownish/murky color; rather oxidized/wet dog fur/apple cider/honeyed very
bizarre little fruit nose; tart/lean some astringent/bitter apple cider/earthy bit
honeyed/creme brulee somewhat oxidized very bizarre flavor; very long lean/tight
slight floral oxidized astringent/bitter slight creme brulee finish; very weird/bizarre
stuff; much like a dry VinSanto. $36.00
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2. Kante Edi Sauvignon DOC: Carso (13%) 2001: Light gold color; low key bit floral slight
SB/herbaceous some minerally/earthy nose; tart clean/crisp light minerally/earthy some
melony/SB flavor; very long clean/crisp minerally/chalky light SB/melony finish; quite
an attractive low-key SB that may improve w/ age. Or maybe not. Bit pricey at $36.00
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3. Zuani Vigne DOC: Collio Bianco (13.5%; TocaiFriuliano/Chard/PinotGrigio/Sauvignon)
Societe Agricole Zuani di Felluga Patrizia e Figli/S.Floriano del Collio 2006: Light
gold color; lovely floral/aromatic light minerally/metallic/steely perfumed nose; tart/
bright/vibrant floral/aromatic rather minerally/chalky slight metallic flavor; very long
minerally/bright/zippy rather spicy/floral/carnations finish; a very attractive Tocai
at an attractive price. $16.60
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4. Giovanni Puiatti LeZuccole Tofni TocaiFriuliano DOC: Isonzo del Friuli (12%;
http://www.Puiatti.com; no oak) 2006: Med.light gold color; slight herbal/minerally pleasant/simple
fruity nose; off-dry 7Up/Sprite rather watery/weak low fruit flavor; short watery/dilute
light earthy/minerally finish; pleasant enough nose but dull/simple/lifeless on the
palate. $17.00
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5. Sirch TocaiFriulano DOC: Colli Orientali de Friuli (14.0%; http://www.SirchWine.com) 2006: Light
gold color; very attractive very floral/perfumed some minerally lovely nose; dry/austere
some floral/carnations slightly bitter/lean almost Riesling-like flavor; long floral/
perfumed some minerally finish; very attractive white almost like an Oz riesling. $17.00
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6. Venica Ronco delle Cime DOC: Collio TocaiFriuliano (14%) 2006: Med.light gold color; slight
floral bit earthy/minerally rather ripe/overripe/fruity/rotted apples slight oak nose; soft
rather appley light floral quite ripe/lush glycerined flavor; long quite appley/ripe/rotted
apples finish; very ripe and little Tocai character. $23.00
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7. Scarpetta Vino di Tavola e Bianco TocaiFriuliano (Bobby Stuckey & Chef Lachlan
Mackinnon-Patterson/Frasca; 13.5%; http://www.ScarpettaWine.com; Lot 20-06) Az.Agr. Duri
Giovanni Battista/Prepotto NV(2006): Med.light gold color; some oaked/smokey rather earthy/
dusty slight floral/fragrant some ripe/appley nose; soft slight metallic/minerally/earthy
ripe/appley slight smokey/oak flavor; long some oaked very ripe appley slight floral/
perfumed finish; interesting/attractive bianco but a bit overpriced.
$27.00 (BWM)
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9. Movia Tocaj Gradic-Tokai Friuliano (12%) 2005: Med.gold color; very ripe appley/floral slight
oxidized quite spicy/perfumed bit gunflint/used fireworks/pungent rather complex nose; tart/
crisp/clean very minerally/appley/chalky slight pungent/gunflint quite spicy flavor; very long
clean/crisp quite spicy/minerally rather floral finish; a bright/crisp white that's very
nice for the price. $20.00
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10. Edi Simcic Tokata (Small Vnyds selection; 13.5%; Friulano) GoriskaBrda/Slovenia
2004: Med.gold color; very ripe/rotted apples/floral very perfumed/creme brulee slight nutty/
oxidized rather Roussanne-like nose; tart bit oxidized very minerally/overripe-rotted apples
creme brulee/buterscotchy complex floral flavor; very ripe/rotted apples somewhat tart/minerally
complex finish; seems older than a '04; lots of very ripe/overripe and nutty/oxidized
character like an older Roussanne; quite an interesting wine. $35.00
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11. Dorigo DOC: ColliOrinetali del Friuli RibollaGialla (13%; http://www.MontsClapade.com) 2005: Med.
gold color; rather earthy/dusty/minerally slight fruity/appley nose; soft bit earthy/dusty
clunky/low fruit flavor; med. soft earthy/dusty low fruit/appley finish; earthy and little
fruit; dull & uninteresting. $18.00
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12. Movia Ribolla/Rebula Vino di Qualita' Ad Origine Controlleto: Goriska Brda Product
of Slovenia (12%) EB by Mirka & Ales Kristancic/Ceglo/Dobrova 2004: Med.gold color; rather
toasty/charred/smokey slight floral/appley/fruit nose; tart very spicy/minerally/floral rather
charred/toasty/oak rich very interesting flavor; very long tart ripe/spicy/minerally fairly
toasty/charred/smokey/oak finish; plenty of oak but lots of things going on in this wine;
nose a bit shy but wonderful flavors. $28.00 (BWM)
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13. Bolognani DOC: Trentino MoscatoGiallo (12%; http://www.OMWines.com) 2005: Light golden color;
strong muscatty very floral/cheap hair oil/carnations some minerally very perfumed/aromatic
nose; soft light/floral/muscatty/spicy/soda pop slightly bitter flavor; long very muscatty/
floral/cheap hair oil slight minerally finish; an attractive muscat at good price. $15.00
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14. Bosco del Merlo Prine DOC: LisonPramaggiore Chardonnay (12.5%) Paladin & Paladin/Veneto
1998: Med.gold color; rather earthy/dusty some peachy/botrytis strong tobaccoy/oak/pungent/
creme brulee complex; rich/lush off-dry slight peachy/botrytis fairly oak/pungent/toasty/
tobaccoy slight earthy/minerally complex flavor; quite long peachy/botrytis off-dry fairly
oaked/tobaccoy finish; quite an interesting wine w/ some botrytis present. Greg's mystery.
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16. Crimea Mycket (16%; RS: 20%, 7 yrs aging) Deep gold color; very intense botrytis/muscatty/
floral/orange peel/peachy very ripe some oxidized nose; quite sweet soft/lush bit alcoholic
very intense muscatty/orangey/rotted peaches slight oxidized flavor; very long/lingering
powerful muscatty/orangey very sweet some complex finish; quite a lot like a Moscatel de
Setubal. $8.00
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15. Osborne PedroXimenez (19%) Imported by Corti Bros. 1827: Black color; huge/intense/
creasote/raisened/pruney classic PX bit complex nose; quite sweet very thick viscous intense
raisened/pruney PX flavors; very long/lingering/mouth coating intense raisened/pruney
bit complex finish; stunning treacle; classic incredible PX at a great price. $17.00
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And more ruminations from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Radikon: This was my 2'nd experience w/ a Radikon wine. Very much like the first. Last
March, afore RhoneRangers, I had dinner at PerBacco. There was a group of obvious wine geeks
at a nearby table. They ordered a white wine that the somm brought out, decanted, and
sloshed around. They all got a 2-3 oz pour of the wine after 15 min or so of breathing.
It was clear from the looks on their faces and their rush to move on to the next wine
that they were not impressed. The decanter was left half full. Unable to restrain myself
(a lifelong problem), I took my half-drunk btl of Marzeminno over to their table and asked
what the white (or brown) wine was and if they'd like to swap tastes w/ mine. Offer
easily accepted. They told me it was a Radikon, a legendary wine I had never tasted but
always wanted to. My reaction to it was much like the note above.
Radikon makes his wines by very strange methods. No sulfites during fermentation or
bottling. Extended macerations. Long aging in barrels. Asimov, in his blog, claims the
Radikon wines are NOT oxidized and his techniques makes them resistant to oxidation, even
w/o sulfites. Whatta crock of merde. It smells and tastes like some/many of the oxidized
wines I've had over the yrs. I left the btl standing on the counter for several days with
about a third of the wine remaining. It did not change substantially over that period.
So...did I like the wine??? Were I served it blind, I would have dismissed it immediately
as badly oxidized and probably dumped it out. It was probably one of the lousiest examples
of what I recognize as Friulian white wines I've ever had.
But this all illustrates the fallacy of blind tasting and the importance of knowing what
you're tasting so you can modify your expectations of the wine. Knowing it was a Radikon, that
I'd a bit of experience with before, I actually liked it on some sort of intellectual level.
It was Radikon speaking to me that this is what he thinks Friulian wine should be. And I
could appreciate that message. Had I chosen a Friulian dish that goes with a typical Friulian
white, I would have disliked the wine. But, knowing what it was, I think I could probably
come up with some dish with which I would have actually enjoyed the wine.
Most people, were they served this blind, would immediately reject it as an oxidized white
wine. However, if they were told that famous authorities regarded this as one of Friuli's
great white wines, would have praised it to the skies. It's all about expectations and knowing
what a wine is "supposed" to be like.
So...did I like the Radikon wine?? On a certain intellectual level I did. It was certainly
interesting and had a lot of things going on it it. It was a pretty weird/bizarre wine that
I could appreciate for what it was. Most of my tasters thought it pretty oxidized, did not
like it, and shook their head's in puzzlement at this, supposedly one of Friuli's great white
wines. OTOH, maybe the emperor wears no clothes. OTOOH, maybe Radikon simply marches to the
beat of a different drummer. I'm clueless, as usual.
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2. Scarpetta: This is a wine that Bobby and Lachlan but some barrels of and had bottled w/ their
label and imported into Colorado. I tried it up there at Frasca a month ago and liked it OK,
but just that. This btl seemed somewhat better. "Servicable" would be a good description.
The label has a big porker on it in reference to the importance of pig parts in the cusine
of Friuli. The Scarpetta (little shoe) is in reference to breaking up the crust of bread &
dipping into your soup because it looks like a little shoe.
If you've not eaten at their restaurant (Frasca) in Boulder, specializing in Friulian
cusine, then you've really missed out. Working w/ fresh/local ingredients (I know...seems to
be trivialized these days), Lachlan is turning out some incredible Friulian-inspired food;
food as good as any Italian food I've had at any restaurant in the USofA. It's one of America's
great Italian restaurants. And Bobby and somm Matthew have put together an incredible and
reasonably priced wine list; focused mostly on Friuli and other Italian wines, a bit of Calif,
and a smattering of other wines from throughout the world. It's a place not to miss. Getting
reservations can be a problem.
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3. Slovenia: I've always had a fond spot in my heart for Slovenia because of the two professors
from Instut Josef Stefan/Ljubliana I worked under at K-State. One of my Slovene classmates
is now Minister of Energy for Slovenia. But pretty much all the wines I've had from Slovenia
have been amazingly good. Particularly the ones of Edi Simcic. I believe that many of the
Friulians think that the best grapes in their region are grown across the border in Slovenia
and that a lot of those grapes make their way into the Friulian wines. Never done see'd,
though, a Slovenian red.
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4. Crimea: This is a wine Roman brought to share in honor of his being named a Lab Fellow. He
had picked it up when he was back there visiting family, but had not tried it. It was an
impressive example of an aged Muscat. The label was entirely in the Cyrillic alphabet, so
I could not glean much info from it.
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5. Osborne 1827: This wine was originally brought into the USofA by Darrell Corti back in the
late '70's (that would be 1970) when he was visiting the Osborne Cellars and stumbles upon
several large barrels of this PX that was labeled 1827 and was essentially of that vintage.
He convinced the Osborne folks to bottle up a few cases of it and sold it as the Osborne
Venerable 1827 in the high teens$$. I bought severl btls then and was simply incredible; one
of the most powerful/intense/complex wines I've ever had. When he did that again, the price
had jumped up to around $60 or so. It came with a tan/buff colored label w/ black lettering.
When I was shopping in Calif recently, I stumbled across a few btls of this on the shelf
at this incredible $17 price. My eyes light up. This was near Darrell's original price and
I figured a few btls of that original import must have made it down here. Except..the label
was not the original buff color but off-white. But I had to try it, so bought one.
The wine did not disappoint. Huge/powerful PX but it didn't quite have the power and
complexity of Darrell's original import. It's a steal at $17. A subsequent phone call to
Darrell (he refuses to do e-mail, doesn't even have a computer in his office...very quaint)
confirmed that this was not his original stuff. Apparently the Osborne people are now
shipping this PX that is only soleraed from that original stash Darrell found. Still, even
if it is fraudulent, it's pretty terrific PX.
TomHill