We tasted last night (9/12/12) Some New Whites:
1. Ca'Lojera DOC: LuganaSuperiore (Trebbiano di Lugana or Turbiana; 13.5%) Tenuta Tiraboschi/Rovizza di Sirmione/
Brescia/Lombardy 2006: Med.gold color; rather dried fruits/mango/floral/carnations quite spicy almost PinotGris-
like very aromatic/perfumed nose; tart lovely perfumed dried fruits/dried mango/floral/spicy/appley/apple pie
slight earthy/stoney flavor; very long/lingering spicy/dried mango/floral/appley light earthy very perfumed
finish; a beautiful balanced aromatic white at a great price; almost Alsatian in aromatics. $20.00 (CB)
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2. Ca'Lojera DOC: LuganaSuperiore (Trebbiano di Lugana; 13.5%) 2005: Deep golden color; very strong orange/very
ripe to overripe/grapey/passito-like light earthy nose; soft very ripe/overripe/passito-like quite dry rather
dried mango/orange/rotted apples dry/tannic slight oxidized bit bitter flavor; very ripe/overripe/passito-like
dry bit oxidized/sherry dried mango/orange some bitter/tannic flavor; very strange and totally different from
the '06; almost seems like a skin-contact passito wine; not altogether bad but very strange. $20.00 (CB)
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3. Scubla Friulano DOC: ColliOrientali del Friuli (13.5%) Ipplis 2010: Light yellow color; lovely fragrant
Friulano/spicy/floral bit mineral/stoney quite perfumed nose; tart/lean rather perfumed/floral/spicy some
mineral/earthy bit appley/herbal flavor; long tart/tangy perfumed/Friulano/spicy/appley/floral some mineral/
stoney finish; very attractive Friulano aromatics but a bit light/dilute on the palate; a pleasant enough
Friuliano but expect more for the price. $26.00 (BWM)
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4. Movia Sauvignon (12.5%) AlesKristancic/Brda/Slovenia 2007: Med.gold color; strong orangey/appley/apple peel
almost orange muscat/resinous some musky/pungent nose w/ no SB character in the usual sense; some bitter/
tannic/phenolic appley/orangey/resinous/earthy slight oxidized flavor; long slight bitter/tannic/phenolic
strong appley/orange/resinous finish; definitely an orange wine but more like an orange-lite; not much orange
in color; a bit like Jim's Isa but a bit more overdone; no evident SB character; a food wine for certain.
$30.00 (KK)
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5. Orsolani LaRustia DOC: Erbaluce do Caluso (13%) S.Giorgio 2009: Very light yellow color; quite floral/
aromatic/spicy/cinammon/apple rather mineral/flinty/steely quite attractive/perfumed nose; quite spicy/apple
pie/cinammon/floral dry some mineral/flinty/steely fairly full-bodied quite lovely flavor; very long appley/
apple pie/spicy/cinammon/floral fairly rich somewhat tart finish; lots of richness for an Erbaluce and much
more aromatics then most; one of the best dry Erbaluces I've had; nice balance of fruit and mineral; a really
lovely wine. $28.00 (BWM)
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6. Q la Murola Ribona (Maceratino) DOC: ColliMaceratesi Ribona (12.5%; www.CantinaLaMurola.It) LeMarche
Urbisaglia 2011: Light gold color; rather ripe/mango/dried fruits/fruit cocktail/peachy/pear slight mineral/
earthy quite attractive nose; quite tart/lean stoney/earthy/flinty some mango/peach/floral flavor; long
peachy/floral/mangos/fruit cocktail some earthy/stoney bit lean/austere finish; quite attractive aromatics but
a bit lean/diluteeviscerated on the palate; really nice wine for the price. $10.00 (vRT)
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7. PuntaCrena Vigneto Ca de Rena Pigato DOC: RivieraLigure di Ponente (12.5%; www.Puntacrena.It; KermitLynch)
Sarona/Liguria 2011: Light gold color; rather stoney/earthy/mineral/briney/flinty slight peachy/fragrant/
pear rather attractive aromatic nose; tart bit light/dilute light peachy/fruity/floral some earthy/mineral/
saline/stoney slight bitter almond fairly attractive flavor; med.long bright/zippy stoney/mineral/briney
quite pretty floral/carnations/peachy slightly bitter finish; a ratherr pretty wine but a bit pricey at
$26.00 (BWM)
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8. Arnoldo-Caprai Grecante DOC: ColliMartani Grechetto (13%; www.ArnoldoCaprai.It) 2010: Light gold color;
rather light earthy bit simple/fruity slight smokey pleasant low-key/shy nose; tart light stoney/earthy
light fruity/simple bit watery flavor; short bit dilute/watery light earthy/stoney slight fruity/floral
finish; a rather dull/simple/vapid/watery white; a big disappointment from a vaunted producer; no
bargain at $13.50 (PrimaIlC)
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9. LaMancina Pignoletto Frizzante DOC: ColliBolognesi (12.5%; www.laMancina.It; www.MantinicusWines.com)
2010: Light gold color; rather creamy light muscatty/floral/fragrant almost 7Up/Sprite/soda pop nose;
dry frizzante/soda pop/Sprite/apple cider/floral/muscatty slight oxidized rather vapid flavor; short
dry/austere frizzante bit bitter/apple peel/apple cider slight floral/muscatty finish; a rather vapid
wine that has only bubbles going for it; no bargain at $14.00 (BWM)
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10. Domaine Lafond Roc-Epine AC: LiracBlanc (13.5%; 50% GrenacheBlanc/30% Roussanne/20% Viognier) Tavel
2011: Med.gold color; strong perfumed/floral/GB/fragrant very Calif-like slight earthy nose; soft/lush/ripe
GB/floral/spicy/nutmeg/tropical fruit attractive perfumed flavor; med.short soft quite floral/GB/tropical fruits/
spicy slight earthy finish; very Calif in style and lacks the stoney/earthy character of a RhoneBlanc; rather
pleasant white at a good price. $18.00 (BWM)
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11. BigTableFarm Riesling BrooksEstateVnyd/EolaAmityHills (12.5%; slin contact) 2010: Med.gold color; rather
pungent/ozone/acrid/used fireworks slight pineapple/floral/piney/OR Riesling/gout de petrol very unusual/
interesting/downright weird nose; tart slatey/mineral/piney/PineSol/wet forest slightly bitter rather stony/
mineral bit grassy/gout de petrol very interesting flavor; very long piney/PineSol/wet forest somewhat acrid/
resiny bit grassy/angel food cake some mineral/stoney/flinty complex slightly bitter finish; a very bizarre
Reisling that screams of terroir; quite eccentric but I like it a lot; definitely a food wine. Pricey at
$37.00 (BWM)
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12. BigTableFarm PinotGris WirtzVnyd/WillametteVlly/OR (12.4%; skin contact) 2010: Very orange/redish/golden color;
rather strong TCA/musty/corked nose that goes some to orangey/orange peel/fried fruits somewhat earthy very
strange nose; tart/lean rather bitter/tannic/phenolic earthy/orange peel/dried fruit slight corky/musty flavor;
long rather tannic/bitter/phenolic orange peel/dried fruits strange finish; pretty phenolic in character and
the TCA somewhat distracting. $36.00 (BWM)
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13. Ch.Graville-Lacoste Graves (12%) HerveDubourdieu 2011: Light yellow color; some grassy/SB/cat pee/celery/
herbaceous light earthy/stoney nose; soft slight smokey/OscarMeirWeener some herbal/grassy/SB/celery light
earthy flavor; med.short SB/herbal/celery/smokey finish; a pleasant enough Graves at a good price but lacks
the lean/stoney/minerality I look for in a Graves. $20.00 (WC)
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14. Dom.JeanVullien et Fils Montmelian AC: Vin de Savoie (100% Jacquere; 12%) Freterive 2010: Light gold color;
rather stoney/mineral/flinty fairly attractive/fruity/appely classic Savoie nose; tart/lean mineral/stoney/
flinty light appley/fruity fairly light flavor; med.short tangy/grapefruity rather mineral/chalky light
appley/fruity finish; a pleasant/interesting/simple Savoie, but just that. $16.00 (LM)
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And the usual pontifications from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Maceratino: This is a very rare grape grown in the heart of the LeMarche in ColliMaceratesi. Apparently indigeneous
to that area and near extinction. There apparently are only 2 ha left in the world. I thought the wine was pleasant
enough, especially for the $, but just that. But it has me a bit worried. If we don't start buyin this wine, so they
can ramp up production, this grape is going to go extinct. Come on, folks....is $10 too much to ask to save a grape
from extinction?? I'm in for a case...let's get the ball rolling.
I've been having guilt feelings about my driving GreenHungarian extinct. Back in the '70's, Sebastiani used
to make a modest little GreenHungarian that was pleasant enough. They dropped the varietal, though. The only
holdout for GreenHungarian was Weibel up in MendocinoCnty. The wine was dull as dishwater...tasted like crap.
When they dropped their GreenHungarian, my reaction was..."right on". This grape was not worth saving and
rightfully should be tossed onto the dustbin of vinous history. Consumer reaction to this crap wine drove the
wine to extinction. Some varieties aren't worth saving from extinction....just like that stupid-looking dodo
bird. The FPS/Davis no longer has it available. The world is now a better place w/o GreenHungarian.
But, now, MattRorick of ForlornHope wants to make a GreenHungarian. I have little doubt that it would be the
greatest GreenHungarian ever made in the World. But could he find any GH grapes you think??? Nope....not a bit
of it to be found. He finally did track down a few GH vines and has lined up a friend to propagate them into
a small planting. So...down the road...there will, once again, be a Calif GreenHungarian. And I'm confident,
knowing Matt's winemaking skills, that it'll be darn good. But I feel soooo badly about making Matt's dream so
much harder...all because I didn't buy more of that crap Weibel GH.
So let's not let this sorry tale be repeated. Get out there and buy more Maceratino...so it won't go extinct!!!
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2. Some of these are pretty obscure grapes. I'd highly recommend RobTebeau's FringeWine blog:
(http://fringewine.blogspot.com/) for a particularly good discussion of Turbiana and Maceratino.
One of his statements therein caught my eye: "The slight differences in the DNA of Trebbiano di Lugana and
Trebbiano di Soave found in the previous study are here attributed to slight differences in the soil and
microclimate where the grapes are found, which, it turns out, can cause slight changes in a vine's genetic
expression." That's something I'd not heard before. But, turns out it's true, according to one DNA authority and
noted chocolate brownie producer:
"Differences in environment (i.e., soil, climate, etc.) can indeed cause
differences in a vine's morphology and/or fruit composition. Those
differences may or may not be a result of a change in the expression of the
vine's genes. Could just be caused by a modification of a biochemical
pathway that's sensitive to environmental conditions. Or they could indeed
be caused by a change in gene expression. What is less likely is that the
environment caused a change in the genes themselves (although that also is
possible).
The current thinking is that Verdicchio bianco, Trebbiano di Soave and
Trebbiano di Lugana are all the same variety (which also goes by over 40
additional names). http://www.vivc.de/datasheet/dataResult.php?data=12963
But the trouble with many Italian studies is that they can be so parochial.
A study from one institution may use vines from a collection in its own
region and the next study, from a different institution, uses vines from a
collection in a different region. Italian history being what it is, vines
listed under the same name in these different collections may not actually
be the same. So that, of course, will tend to give confounding results."
So...there you have it. Italians and their grapes can be so frustrating!!
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3. Lugana: This wine is made from Trebbiano di Lugana. There's a whole range of Trebbiano di XXX throughout
Italy. Trebbiano is also known as UgniBlanc in France; Burger in Calif. Trebbiano, as a rule, makes pretty
dull & ordinary wines. Which is why I looked askance at DarrellCorti when he instructed me to try this
wine. Turns out that Trebbiano di Lugana is not a Trebbiano, but a variety called Turbiana.
The '06 version was an absolutely drop-dead gorgeous wine. The '05 version was a totally different beast;
dramatically different in style. Since I doubt this was the winemakers intention, I would suspect that the
'05 btl was compromised in some way.
Tom
