by Clint Hall » Wed Jan 18, 2012 1:23 am
I fell in love tonight, with a grape I'd never encountered before, Petite Arvine, which I see Jancis Robinson says is "the finest of the grape specialities of Valais in Switzerland." But this particular Petite Arvine is an outlier grown and vinified in Protetta in Italy by something called Les Cretes Societa Agricola Di Charriere & C.S.S., and it is one of the most delicious white wines I've ever tasted from that country. I see the Cellar-Tracker boys all seem to love it, too, and Galloni gave it a 93 in the Wine Advocate, and I wouldn't begrudge his adding a point to that. Thanks partly to heavenly mouthfeel this is luscious, with a honeysuckle nose and what I think of as baked apple, peach and grapefruit on the palate and long finish, and then a memory of crushed rocks. Robinson says in Switzerland Petite Arvine varies all the way from dry, fletri (a Swiss raisiny process), to "downright sweet," but this 2009 LES CRETES VALLE D'AOSTA DENOMINAZIONE DI ORIGINE PROTETTA PETITE ARVINE is about as sweet as a typical white Burg, but without as much acid, so it's ready to drink now, and that's probably how I'm going to drink my remaining two bottles as I won't be able to keep my hands off them. The wine was perfection tonight with saffron tagliatelle with my wife's sauce of cauliflower, pine nuts raisins, onion, and a smidgin of garlic, but Jon Rimmerman claims it "pairs with everything from lobster to poultry." The importer is Domaine Select Wine Estates LLC, New York.
