WTN: Open Italy night with the Dorks

[Jenise]

Eight tasters present, of which four are ITB. Our format is a single blind tasting, wherein the lineup is decided spontaneously by whoever decides their wine should go next. An amazing array of grapes.

As usual, we started with whites.

2015 Ottin Petite Arvine Valle d'Aosta
Bart's. Medium yellow, lemon curd tart with good structure. Soave-ish. Nobody's ever heard of the grape Petite Arvine before. 14.5% alcohol is surprising. Nice.

2015 Gumphof Markus Prackwieser Valle Isarco / Eisacktaler Praesulis Weissburgunder
Bart's. Pretty nose, pale yellow, melon and pear. Texturally, a fascinating juxtaposition of crisp and minerally entry and an unusually creamy malo finish. Liked this a lot.

2011 La Viarte Colli Orientali del Friuli Friulano
Tim's. Very pale, and to the extent color signals body, this wine had unexpected viscosity with balanced flavors of white melon and pear tempered by fresh grass. Excellent.

2013 Vignale di Cecilia Colli Euganei Benavides White Blend
Gabe's. Saline nose, pretty fruit, bright, dry and memorable. Astonishing blend of 50/50 garganega and moscato (which isn't evident) for an astonishingly small price, just $10 retail. A true QPR winner.

2014 Vadiaperti Fiano di Avellino Fiano di Avellino DOCG
Tim's. Marzipan, nectarine and sweet corn give big body and flavor to this rich, cool-vintage white. I guessed Kerner, which was wrong but it could have been. Very good.

And now to the reds:

2015 Cavatappi Winery Sangiovese Wahluke Slope, Washington
Gabe's. A ringer. Dilute, simple and grapey. Note: I've had very decent Amer-Itals from this winery, but this particular bottle was underwhelming. Anyway, in trying to figure this one out, someone tossed 'teroldego' out as a guess, so if that's what they thought of the grape I thought this was the perfect moment to see what they'd do when faced with the most iconic version of the real deal and whipped out this:

2006 Foradori Granato Teroldego
Initial comments: "very modern", "does not taste Italian". They were surprised it wasn't a ringer. They then proceeded to exhaust every big bodied, earthy red Italian grape they could think of, starting with La Grein, to no avail, at which point I threw out the bone of Dolomite appellation which progressed us not at all, so finally had to toss out "iconic and attractive lady winemaker". NOW they knew what it was. A real credit to the wine that it so exceeded expectations for that grape, and though 3 of the 4 ITB guys had tasted some vintage of this wine at some point, all were on release and no one knew what to expect of a well-aged version. (I decanted it at home and found it ready, just separated it from the sediment and returned it to the bottle.)

2007 La Serena Rosso de Montalcino
Initial and uncomplimentary nose of dark chocolate and Vitamin B led into some typical Italian flavors, but lack of structure made it mushy-soft on the palate--this passively stored bottle was past peak.

2012 Manincor Schiava Lago di Caldaro "Kalterersee Keil"
Tim's. Grape is Sciava. Another taster notes 'pinot'--is sciava another name for PN? Anyway: light bodied clear red with strawberries, blood and celery on the palate. Closer to Beaujolais in flavor than Italy, a fun surprise. Nice!

2011 Uccelliera Brunello di Montalcino Sangiovese
Vic's. Spicy dark fruit profile with a lot of fun changes in the glass every sip. Cinnamon and coconut made brief appearances. Very good, and that 15% alcohol surprisingly doesn't show.

2011 Avignonesi Grifi Toscana IGT SuperTuscan Blend
Mark's. The 30 or so % new oak was evident initially, but behind that were plum fruit, mushrooms, and those classic Italian flavors. A big wine with big tannins that could age for a long time--2025 anyway.

2011Cote di France, Ciro, 100% Gaglioppo
Gaglioppo is so ancient that it is believed to be what made the wine the gladiators drank. Smokey, grapey, more oak, cherry fruit, grippy tannins--all of which sounds normal enough but overall it's an odd wine and I don't know how to describe the weirdness. So I'll give it a grade: D-.

NV Les Cretes Vina de Tavola Syrah
Mine. This was left at my home 5 or 6 years ago by a friend and god knows how long he'd had it around or where he got it, though Garagiste wouldn't be a bad guess. I decided to toss it in as a novelty. Probably not my best idea this week as whenever it was made was just too long ago, it was a pretty awful shell of a wine with notes of two principal and incompatible flavors of asphalt and watermelon candy.

2007 Bruno Giacosa Barbera d'Alba
Mine. Decanted at home to remove sediment, returned to bottle and corked--it was gloriously ready to go. Oohs and ahs were immediate. As others on CT have noted, it's drinking very well right now with big flavors and resolved tannins--what age has done is give this usually rustic grape an elegant and refined disguise. One of the WOW wines of the night.

2006 Azienda Faraone Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Santa Maria dell'Arco
Bart's. Very complex and attractive. Pine, blackberry, black raspberry, spice, serious structure. Will reward rare red meat and future cellaring.

2015 Mario Lucchetti Lacrima di Morro d'Alba
Gabe's. Initial VA blows off quickly leaving a weird grapey note complicated by a heavy, rosewater perfume like what you might imagine a Tunisian bordello to smell like. Light on the palate, like tomato water. Gabe LOVED it, I HATED it, and others were mostly in between. Or they were just being nice. I can't be nice about such things: how can someone hate Chateneuf du Pape but love this??? Gabe does. (And he's ITB.)

2009 Albatreti Brunello di Montalcino Sangiovese
Some oak showing with prominent mushroom notes, otherwise classic BdM on the softer side due to the vintage.

2014 Punta Crena Rossese Riviera Ligure di Ponente Vigneto Isasco
Tim's. Very pale red (Rossese is the grape), attractive nose but disappointingly hollow on the palate. Am guessing it's shut down but being unfamiliar with the grape, can't assess.

1997 Parusso Barolo Piccole Vigne Nebbiolo
My wine. Decanted at home for two hours to relax the tannins. Iron, orange rind, cranraisins, roses, tea and tar. Aged with elegance and in great shape. Decanted for two hours; almost zero sediment. Unanimous WOTN. Should hold here nicely for years.

1994 Azienda Bricco Rocche (Ceretto) Barolo Brunate Nebbiolo
Also mine. Uncorked at home and deemed OTH, so I pulled the Parusso instead for my 'showstopper' but brought this along anyway for academic purposes: brownish with necrotic flavors.

And Tim had a showstopper too:

2008 Gravner Breg Anfora Venezia Giulia IGT
An orange wine!!! Very cool. It's an amphora-aged blend of chardonnay, pinot gris, sauv blanc, riesling italico and god knows what else. I was so excited about this that I didn't write anything after 'bone dry' and 'dried nectarine', but I know we were all super proud of Tim for bringing it.

[David M. Bueker]

I do not think I have ever had a Parusso

[Jenise]

I took one to one of Bill Spohn's tastings once--it showed extremely well, and no one up there was familiar with it either. Not sure how much gets to North America period. Cool thing this time was that one of the guys went to a large tasting when travelling to Piedmonte, and the Parusso barolos were apparently his favorite of the lot. He never thought he'd see one again.

Thanks for the info. I have four bottles of 95 Parusso barolos and will look for an excuse to open one.

Various Parusso wines not hard to find in NJ, but I've never tried one.
The name Folonari used to be associated with inexpensive 1.5 L bottles of Soave or Valpolicella. Is that the same producer as the Teroldego?

Great notes
On East Coast Parusso is pretty easy to find. A tad surprised (but only a tad, wine often if not always defies my expectations) that a '97 modernista showed so well, Parusso was a big player in de Grazia's stable back then and I haven't generally liked. In more recent years I found their Langhe Nebbiolo a very good value.

Schiava is not PN, also known as Trollinger (Germany). Lighter, spicier wines, I tend to like.

Damn, I thought I'd had a BdM named Sirena, but can't find notes.

I ended up with some '80s Av. Griffi in a mixed lot, always decent, never exciting.

[Jenise]

Various Parusso wines not hard to find in NJ, but I've never tried one.
The name Folonari used to be associated with inexpensive 1.5 L bottles of Soave or Valpolicella. Is that the same producer as the Teroldego?

I'm embarrassed. It wasn't Folonari, it was Foradori, the Granato. I've corrected my note.

[Jenise]

More about the orange wine, the last of my notes, from the Italian Wine Merchant's site:

"A gorgeous, textured wine, the saffron-hued '05 Breg has a righteous mouth-feel that's filled with velvety tannins, a deceptively chewy body, and Gravner's trademark psychedelic palate. After growing his grapes with strict biodynamic protocol, Gravner lets his white grapes sit on the skins in his amphora for around twelve months; then he ages the wine in casks for about six years before bottling, without fining or filtration. Unlike some other natural winemakers, Gravner does add small amounts of sulfur, believing that a tiny amount will keep his living, breathing wines from oxidizing, or dying a premature death. Ripe apricots, honeycomb, wildflowers and spices swirl and meld in the '05 Breg, a wine whose food-friendliness will surprise and ultimately delight."

[Jenise]

Great notes
On East Coast Parusso is pretty easy to find. A tad surprised (but only a tad, wine often if not always defies my expectations) that a '97 modernista showed so well, Parusso was a big player in de Grazia's stable back then and I haven't generally liked. In more recent years I found their Langhe Nebbiolo a very good value.

Schiava is not PN, also known as Trollinger (Germany). Lighter, spicier wines, I tend to like.

Damn, I thought I'd had a BdM named Sirena, but can't find notes.

I ended up with some '80s Av. Griffi in a mixed lot, always decent, never exciting.

Thanks for the clarifications and additional information. And I solved the Sirena problem--it's Serena. Corrected my note. Interesting to see Parusso referred to as a modernista. I've had three or four bottles, all around age 20, and that far out they didn't read modern to me (who is not expert in Italian wines) even among players that wouldn't be considered "modern". Should try a young one some time.

Anyway, it was a fun tasting. I love this group. Three of us (me and two retailers) have been cellaring wine awhile, and I have the deepest cache of older wines and more expensive wines. The distributor guys bring great curiosities from their portfolios, and the two who are newer to cellaring go out of their way to find worthy and interesting stuff at current retail to share. In all, we balance each other out quite well, and obviously, everyone brings multiple bottles so each tasting offers a lot of experiences. I choose differently for this group than I do for, say, Bill Spohn's lunches which are generally oriented toward cellar treasures or at least wines of a certain value/pedigree or above, or my Los Angeles group which is more social, less serious.

Ah,Serena, that's why I couldn't find either.

Parusso was an icon for de Grazia's modern styled stables. Here's Asimov in '03 in NYT:
Parusso, whose wines have been highly praised by Mr. Parker and other critics, is a flag-bearer of the modern style, devoted to barriques. ''Purity comes from new wood,'' he said over a lunch of salt cod with capers and braised capon at a little restaurant in the center of Monforte d'Alba. ''You need good technology and an open mind.''
But it sounds like it turned out ok for you. Hard to predict- I tasted a few other 89, 90, 96 modern producers where it seemed oak integrated, but just as many where it stuck out.

I too like having different groups that allow me different choices. A local very social not so serious group, SOBER where it's very serious but when I host I get to choose all wines, and a serious city group where there's usually a theme and coordination. Each has its strengths, and I'd hate to give up any of them.

Various Parusso wines not hard to find in NJ, but I've never tried one.
The name Folonari used to be associated with inexpensive 1.5 L bottles of Soave or Valpolicella. Is that the same producer as the Teroldego?

I'm embarrassed. It wasn't Folonari, it was Foradori, the Granato. I've corrected my note.

Here I was thinking that maybe I could get a nice 1.5 L bottle of Teroldego for $10!

2006 Foradori Granato Teroldego
Initial comments: "very modern", "does not taste Italian". They were surprised it wasn't a ringer.

I haven't followed her comprehensively from vintage to vintage, but in general I'm a big fan of the wines. There is definitely a polish, but usually also a reflection of the grape/place. These days I don't buy them for home but often choose them on restaurant lists (and they show up quite a bit) because they can appeal to my friends/associates who don't want anything too fierce, while also appealing to me!

[Jenise]

I haven't followed her comprehensively from vintage to vintage, but in general I'm a big fan of the wines. There is definitely a polish, but usually also a reflection of the grape/place. These days I don't buy them for home but often choose them on restaurant lists (and they show up quite a bit) because they can appeal to my friends/associates who don't want anything too fierce, while also appealing to me!

I'm pleased you chimed in with that, because I liked it a lot and didn't find it all that "modern". Not enough to question whether or not it was Italian, for certain. I wrote down their comments in disbelief, as much as anything. I think it's just that it followed the Cavatappi and had that weirdness factor of being a different grape. Had it been served later, like after that awful Gaglioppo, I doubt it would have been questioned.

I haven't followed her comprehensively from vintage to vintage, but in general I'm a big fan of the wines. There is definitely a polish, but usually also a reflection of the grape/place. These days I don't buy them for home but often choose them on restaurant lists (and they show up quite a bit) because they can appeal to my friends/associates who don't want anything too fierce, while also appealing to me!

I'm pleased you chimed in with that, because I liked it a lot and didn't find it all that "modern". Not enough to question whether or not it was Italian, for certain. I wrote down their comments in disbelief, as much as anything. I think it's just that it followed the Cavatappi and had that weirdness factor of being a different grape. Had it been served later, like after that awful Gaglioppo, I doubt it would have been questioned.

Good to know! Not sure how much you know about her, but she's imported to the US by Dressner (not exactly a hot bed of modern wines) and flirted with biodynamie for a while. She has tried lots of different things over the past 10 years, so I can't claim to have a perfect read on the latest developments. But for a while she was a darling of the hipster wine scene, while being more stable and reliable than many others in that scene.

[Jenise]

I knew enough about her to buy that bottle in the first place many years ago. Actually bought two, sampled one WAY too early. What I learned the other night from the guys is that apparently she's immensely attractive. Guys!