I got to try quick tastes of some apparently high-end Tuscans that I hadn't previously heard of and their IMO more interesting project on Etna.
Tenuta di Trinoro is the name of the property and apparently they are made in a hot micro-climate in Tuscany and their top wine costs something over 200€ and they are Bordeaux blends heavy on Cab Franc. This didn't sounded promising to me. The "cheaper" wine (that still is around 30€) Cupole was shown as both 2006 and 2007, with the '07 seemingly more a warm climate wine though I thought '06 was supposed to have been the hot year. Anyway, they were very ripe and sweet aromatically, but had good structure: palate-cleansing tannins and healthy acidity in addition to primary fruit. No oak. I dislike the primary character, but liked the structure and lack of oak. Not like any other Super-Tuscan I've tried. I can actually imagine enjoying these once the exuberant fruit fades.
The top wine, the super-expensive Tenuta di Trinoro 2007 was ... actually not that bad. Did the recent bout of man flu just make my sense of smell and taste awry? I didn't smell oak in this either, though apparently this does see a little bit of new oak. Also primary and too sweet for now, but with lovely structure. Very similar to the cheaper Cupoles, but coiled up tighter. Also nice (but not 235€ nice). Should I just dismiss my impressions because of the circumstances or are these actually "real" wines?
Anyway, their project in Etna, Passopisciaro, was also interesting and more to my taste. They first showed a white, Guardiola 2009, which is an unoaked Chardonnay that was very rich and fat but with wonderfully racy acidity. Quite a strange style of Chardonnay, but actually quite enjoyable - at least in small amounts. Racy enough that I think I could drink a couple glasses.
Then we had a bunch of their Nerellos. Passopisciaro 2007 was a wine with aromas much like the Cornelissens I have had (I have not had wild, funky, spoiled Cornelissens so far): full of aromatic, sweet red fruits; strong tannins but such bright and racy fruit that they don't seem harsh at all. Nice stuff at least in my current condition.
In 2008, they made single vineyard wines instead of a single blend of Nerellos from different sites. I didn't see all that much difference between the four sites (however the man flu caveat applies here). The Contrada Chiappemacine was from a vineyard at 500m elevation; the Contrada Porcaria was from 650-750m, the Contrada Sciaranuova from 800m and finally the Contrada Rampante was from 1000m (are there higher vineyards in Europe?). Anyway, they were all intriguing wines with lovely, bright aromas; lots of crunch on the palate. The only one that I really saw some major difference in was the Rampante which had more acidity and more brightness, more of a cool climate feel to it. I wouldn't turn down a glass or three of any of these.