WTN: Plozner Refosco '07...(short/boring)

Tried this out in Venice last weekend:
1. Plozner Refosco dal Peduncola DOC: FriuliGrave (12.5%; L9317G) 2007: Med.color w/ slight bricking; rather earthy/plummy/Refosco/smokey/black cherry classic fragrant nose; rather tart some tannic/bitey/rough strong plummy/black cherry/earthy/dusty bit toasty/smokey flavor; med.long strong plummy/black cherry/earthy/dusty/Refosco slight smokey/toasty finish w/ a bit of a rough/tannic bite; pretty classic Friuli Refosco a bit on the rough/rustic side and lots of bass notes; maybe starting to show its age a bit. $17.00
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A wee BP:
1. This was a pretty mainstream Friulian Refosco w/ lots of black cherry/plummy character and starting to show some age. Wish there were more of this planted in Calif.
Tom

Maybe a bit of a problem with a Davis education, Tom. We walk through the experimental vineyard tasting grapes. All pretty nice and tasty. then we hit Refosco, and it just hits as a mouthful of tannin, really astringent with a fair amount of bitterness. I think it's no wonder that most of us grew up thinking it was a potentially useful grape for blending, but just too danged tannic to think of as a primary grape in its own right. Of course, tastes change over the course of 30 years. Tannat is a darling of the industry among some who go for "more", and Refosco should be more popular.

Maybe a bit of a problem with a Davis education, Tom. We walk through the experimental vineyard tasting grapes. All pretty nice and tasty. then we hit Refosco, and it just hits as a mouthful of tannin, really astringent with a fair amount of bitterness. I think it's no wonder that most of us grew up thinking it was a potentially useful grape for blending, but just too danged tannic to think of as a primary grape in its own right. Of course, tastes change over the course of 30 years. Tannat is a darling of the industry among some who go for "more", and Refosco should be more popular.

Interesting, Craig. That the grape itself tastes so tannic & astringent. Most of the Refoscos I taste don't seem particularly
all that tannic. Maybe the winemakers are holding back on the skin-contact they use??
Tom

Even more interesting, I did a quick internet search. "When Mondeuse noire was first introduced to California in the 19th century, some plantings of the vine were misidentified as the Italian wine grape Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso. This confusion was exacerbated in the 1960s when cuttings of Mondeuse noire labeled as "Refosco" were taken by the University of California, Davis from a vineyard in Amador County that was established in 1880s and propagated. In 1990s ampelographers began suspecting that these cuttings were not Refosco but rather Mondeuse noire, a fact later confirmed by DNA profiling.[3]" (From Wikipedia's article on Mondeuse). If so, all of us Davis guys up through the '80s would have been exposed to Refosco that was, in fact, very tannic Mondeuse.

Even more interesting, I did a quick internet search. "When Mondeuse noire was first introduced to California in the 19th century, some plantings of the vine were misidentified as the Italian wine grape Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso. This confusion was exacerbated in the 1960s when cuttings of Mondeuse noire labeled as "Refosco" were taken by the University of California, Davis from a vineyard in Amador County that was established in 1880s and propagated. In 1990s ampelographers began suspecting that these cuttings were not Refosco but rather Mondeuse noire, a fact later confirmed by DNA profiling.[3]" (From Wikipedia's article on Mondeuse). If so, all of us Davis guys up through the '80s would have been exposed to Refosco that was, in fact, very tannic Mondeuse.

Ahhhh...that makes sense then, Craig. I was aware of the Mondeuse/Refosco confusion at FPS. It just didn't dawn on me that might be the
reason your "Refosco" grapes were tannic brutes.
That vnyd in Amador was the Jackson Experimental Station. Olmo went up there in the '40-'50's to salvage what was left after it was abandoned
to bring down to Davis, using an old varietal map from the 1880's. Mistakes were made. There still exists some plant material there, but the
current owners (relatives of the original donors) are loathe to let UC/Davis folks onto the property.
When Antinori planted his AtlasPeak vnyd w/ DickPeterson way back when, he put in a small block of "Refosco" (heaven knows why).
DarrellCorti made, back in the '80's, several CortiReserve wines that he labaled Refosco/Mondeuse (the "Mondeuse" being a reflection, upside down,
of the "Refosco" on the label); reflecting the then-current thought that Refosco & Mondeuse were the same variety. Subsequent DNA showed that that
was not the case. He made a 2010 Mondeuse from the last crop in 2010 (or 2009) afore Antinori pulled that block (so sad) at Trinchero. It was a herbal/
rosemary/tannic brute of a wine (still is).
The only planting I know of of true Refosco dal PeduncolaRosso is at SteveMatthiasson's place in Napa. The one I tasted was terrific. Maybe the
best Refosco I've ever had.
And there is even a planting of LaCrima di Morro d'Alba in Calif (Unti). Exciting times...for those of us weirdos who care for such things.
Tom