1. Skerk Vitovska IGP: VeneziaGiulia (13%; OliverMcCrumImpts; L1) Prepotto 2011: Med.gold color slightly cloudy;
strong appley/apple pie/honeyed/pear/spicy light floral/honeysuckle light earthy phenolic/cidery/resint
quite complex nose; bit soft strong apple/pear/apple pie/spicy light phenolic/resiny/cidery slight earthy
complex/exotic flavor w/ light tannins; soft very long/lingering floral/honeysuckle/apple pie/spicy/pear/
apple light phenolic/resiny finish w/ light tannins; a very exotic white w/ a low-level of phenolic
character. $33.00 (K&L)
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2. Zidarich DOC: Vitovska Verde/Carso (12.5%; LV32) 2000: Med.dark gold color; very pungent/smokey/slight nutty/
oxidized quite phenolic/resiny/honeyed/cidery some toasty/caramel/oak/figgy very complex beautiful nose; bit
tartstrong butterscotchy/nutty/bit oxidized very phenolic/resiny some caramel/figgy/smokey flavor w/ light
ripe tannins; very long/lingering some phenolic/resiny/cidery rather figgy/caramel/ripe/butterscotchy bit
nutty/oxidized very complex finish w/ light tannins; a very exotic wine that words do not do justice to;
clearly has some age but not going downhill; resembles some an old Kalin Semillon, some a very old HunterVlly
Semillon; amazing stuff at a great price. $20.00 (K&L)
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3. Skerk Ograde IGP: VeneziaGiulia Bianco (25% Vitovska/Malvasia/Sauvignon/PinotGrigio; 13.5%; L1;
Skin macerated for 2 weeks; Left to mature on lees for 18 mo. in wooden barrels) 2011: Dark gold/burnished bronze
color; quite fragrant apple/pear/spicy bit hops/beer/herbal light phenolic/resiny/cidery perfumed talk quite
complex nose; lightly tart some phenolic/resiny/nutty some apple/pear/orangey bit herbal/hops very complex balanced
fairly rich flavor w/ light wiry tannins; very long/lingering apple/pears/orangey/honeyed lightly tart rich/
balanced slight phenolic/resiny/cidery very complex finish w/ light lean tannins; a very complex/exotic white
w/ only a light phenolic character given the skin contact; words fail on this wine. $38.00 (K&L)
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4. Zidarich Prulke Carso Bianco VdT (13.0%; LP32; http://www.zidarich.com; Vitovska/Malvasia/Sauvignon) Prepotto-
Prapot/Trieste 2000: Med.light gold color; very perfumed floral/orangey/old R/orange blossom slight nutty/caramel
bit toasty/oak/smokey/pungent quite complex nose; bit soft/ripe slight nutty/oxidized/toasted hazelnuts/oldRhone
some phenolic/resiny bit old-Semillon/figgy flavor w/ very little tannins; very long/lingering bit oldR/old-
Semillon/caramel/figgy light nutty/oxized/toasted hazelnuts slight phenolic/resiny quite complex finish w/
light ripe tannins; again words fail to adequately describe this wine; a very interesting/complex old white.
$35.00 (K&L)
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5. Skerk Malvazija IGP: VeneziaGiulia (14%; L1) 2011: Med.light gold color; lovely floral/perfumed/slight muscatty
light earthy/mineral/spicy very fresh/bright very light phenolic lovely nose; lightly tart slight saline/tangy/
metallic quite floral/perfumed/light muscatty/carnations slight phenolic/resiny flavor w/ very light tannins;
very long/lingering quite floral/carnations/bright/light muscatty light earthy/saline slight phenolic/resiny
finish w/ very light tannins; a lovely/very pretty expression of Malvasia. $38.00 (K&L)
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6. ErmaCora Pignolo DOC: FriuliColliOrientali (14.5%; L29; http://www.ermacora.it) Premariacco 2009: Med.dark color; rather
plummy bit herbal/rosemary/thyme rather dusty/earthy slight blackberry complex nose; bit tart quite hard/tannic bit
plummy/herbal/rosemary/thyme somewhat earthy/dusty interesting flavor w/ ample hard/rough tannins; long slightly
unclean/bretty fairly early/dusty bit plummy/herbal/thyme some tart finish w/ ample hard/rough/rustic tannins;
nothing compelling to make me want to try Pignolo again...but I probably will keep searching. $30.00 (K&L)
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7. Jermann Pignacolusse VeneziaGiulia IGT Rosso (14%; Pignolo) 2001: Med.dark color; rather funky/earthy/dusty/
loamy/Kansas root cellar/dirty feet/Kansas outhouse nose w/ little fruit; very sour earthy/loamy/fecal/dirty feet/
unclean flavor w/ ample hard/grippy tannins; very long outhouse/fecal/earthy/loamy finish w/ ample hard/rough
tannins; not a shred of fruit here and seems to have some bacterial problem; no testimony for Pignolo. $52.00 (LCSWS)
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8. Skerk Teran IGP: VeneziaGiulia Terrano (15%; L1) 2011: Very dark color; very intense blackberry/black cherry/
black cherry cola/licorice/bit chocolaty beautiful complex very Refosco-like nose; lightly tart strong blackberry/
black cherry cola/licorice slight herbal/peppery light earthy/dusty flavor w/ some hard tannins; very long/
lingering licorice/black cherry cola/blackberry slight herbal/dusty structured complex finish w/ some hard
tannins; a beautiful example of a Refosco-like wine w/ more interest & structure than most; needs some 2-6
yrs of age; beautiful Teran. $33.00 (K&L)
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9. Skerk Teran-Terrano IGP: Venezia Giulia (15%; http://www.Skerk.com) Prepotto/Prapot-Duino Aurisina/Trieste 2011: Very
dark/near black color; slightly more ripe/overripe very strong boysenberry/black cherry cola/licorice some
dusty/OV bit herbal/thyme/grassy quite complex nose; slightly tart strong ripe/overripe intense blackberry/
boysenberry/black cherry cola/licorice quite dusty/OV bit herbal/rosemary/thyme w/ some smooth/ripe tannins;
very long/lingering very ripe/boysenberry/black cherry cola/blackberry/licorice slight herbal/thyme/peppery
some dusty/OV structured/rich finish w/ modest ripe/smooth tannins; more ripeness than #8 but also more
interesting/exotic; beautiful Teran. Euros nc (SS)
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10. Zidarich DOC: Teran Carso (11.5%; LT82) 2000: Med.dark color; slight funky/earthy/bacterial rather toasty/
pencilly/oak bit loamy/earthy/mushroomy/truffly little fruit rather strange/interesting nose; tart bit lean/
green earthy/loamy/funky/unclean slight mushroomy little fruit flavor w/ light hard tannins; long some earthy/
loamy/compost pile/mushroomy/funky rather lean/green/hard finish w/ w/ light bitey tannins; somewhat on the
funky/unclean side and not aged very well; a rather strange red that has some interesting things therein but
perhaps has a bacterial problem. $40.00 (K&L)
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11. Vigne del Malina Refosco dal PeduncolaRosso IGT: VeneziaGiulia (13.2%; NF; http://www.VigneDelMalina.com;
StellinaImprts) Orzano/Udine 2007: Dark color; rather earthy pretty TCA/corked nose; soft very corked flavor;
nothing left. $23.00 (WEx)
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12. Conte d'Attimis-Maniago Tazzelenghe DOC: Friuli Colli Orientali (13.5%; http://www.ConteDAttimisManiago.it;
L4 051) Buttrio 2010: Med.light color; old stamp collection/wet newspapers dreadfully TCA-infected nose;
tart moldy/musty/TCA-infested flavor; even worse TCA on this one. Euros 28.00
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And the usual stuff from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. I've never, over all these yrs, had two corked wines, back to back. Particularly disappointed over the
Tazzelenghe as I hand carried this back from Friuli.
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2. Vitovska: This is a variety that originated in the Carso/Karst region. It is a cross between Malavasia
Bianca Lunga ( neutral Tuscan variety) X Prosecco Tondo. Prosecco is a variety that evolved near the town of
Prosecco near Trieste in the Carso; where it was known as the ancient Glera variety. Unfortunately, the
folks in the Veneto near Valdobbiadene stole the Glera variety, took it to the Veneto, ran with it, and
changed the name of the variety to Prosecco and decreed it could only come from that area. Alas, the
folks in Prosecco/Carso can now only make Sparkling Glera, but cannot call it Prosecco. Friggin' thieves.
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3. Skerk: This is a producer in the Carso that was brought in by OliverMcCrum sometime ago. I tried them almost
three yrs ago and was blown away by them. My comments of then:
2. Skerk: Sandi's WebSite (http://www.Skerk.com) has some beautiful pics of his operation....but precious little in
technical details. Oliver has a Site (omwines.com/skerk) that provides much
more in the way of information. Sandi makes wine by "natural" winemaking techniques, whatever you choose
that to mean. For his whites, he makes them w/ extended skin contact ("orange" wines made in a reductive
manner). He feels the tannins from the skins allows him to use much lower, if any, added SO2.
Across the board, I thought the Skerk orange wines were some of the best of that genre that I've had.
Though they all four had a distinct phenolic/cidery character; on the palate they were not nearly as
tannic/bitey as many orange wines and the seemed to have more aromatics than most. The Ograde was one of
the most exotic orange wines I've had..very good stuff.
This tasting marks my third go at the Skerk wines. I am mightly impressed. Some of the best skin-contact
whites I've had...that tread a fine line between skin-contact phenolic character and the fruit of conventional
white wine ferments. The wines are different from most of the Friulian wines but well worth seeking out.
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4. Zidarich: Ben Zidarich is one of the people credited for rescuing Vitovska from near extinction in the Karst.
The younger Zidarich wines I've had have been distinctly phenolic/tannic. These two whites clearly had some
age on them and have evolved into very exotic wines. These three wines were currently available from K&L.
Not quite sure how long they've had them, but they're fairly old for currently available Friuli wines. And
very reasonable prices. WebSite: (http://zidarich.it/en). Some beautiful pics of the surrounding area there.
It was quite a coincidence in that Zidarich was on my list of producers I wanted to visit, but wasn't
able to work it in. When we finally found SandiSkerk's place & headed down to the wnry, I noticed a large
new bldg right there on the same narrow road that looked like a wnry. As we were bidding adieu to Sandi,
I looked back down the road and saw these large letters right there on this new bldg..."Zidarich".
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5. Pignolo: This is a rare variety that is indigenous to the Rossazo area of Friuli. Once thought extinct,
a row of own-rooted/very old (pre-phylloxera) Pignolo was discovered at the Abbey di Rossazo and rescueded
by the Dorigo folks in the '70's. The name is Italian for "fussy" which describes its growing character.
It also refers to the pine-cone shape of the bunches.
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6. Malvasia: Also known as Malvasia d'Istria or Malvazija Istarska or Malvazija del Carso. This is one of a
whole family of Maalvasia grapes grown around the world. Malvasia Istriana, grown throughout Friuli, is one
of my favorites because it's usually finished dry and not as strongly muscatty as many and they don't usually
show that bitterness that you get on many dry Muscats. This Skerk is easily one of the best.
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7. Teran/Terrano: This variety is a member of the Refosco family and mostly found in the Karst of Friuli and
Slovenia. In Slovenia, it is often labeled as Refosk, instead of Teran. They are belived to have different
DNA's. The Croatians claim that Teran actually originated on the Istrian Peninsula of Croatia. With Croatia's
entry into the EU, their use of Teran became illegal. The story of the controversary can be found at:
(http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2013/0 ... s-istrian/)
The day we were visiting SandiSkerk, the Italian authorities had banned, that day, the use of Teran as a
grape label. This will have enormous effect of the producers in the Carso. How this eventually plays out
is yet to be determined.
It is stated (Wikipedia) that Teran does not age well and should be confirmed within the first year.
"chemical analyses have confirmed that the content of bivalent iron starts to diminish radically two years
after fermentation"...I have no clue as to what that statement means. Certainly, the Zidarich hadn't done well.
But I have had aged Friulian Refosco (dal PeduncolaRosso) that had aged quite nicely. I see no reason why
the Skerks would not age well...but maybe those pesky "bivalent irons" will spell its doom.
What is the difference in these two Skerk Terans I have no idea. The first one I bought at K&L. When we tasted
the other w/ Sandi, I was so impressed that I asked if I could have the (small) remains in the btl, as I
wanted to save the label of that very special wine. Sandi rejected the thought and retrieved another
unopened btl for me as a gift. I've no idea what it sells for there at the wnry. The labels are distinctly
different and the character of the two a bit different.
Tom