I attended the recent Idlewild SundaySchool focusing on wines of Italy's Sudtirol:
1. Pojer e Sandri MullerThurgau 2017: Light gold color; quite fragrant/perfumed bit earthy/M-T/floral lightly spicy quite attractive nose; quite tart/tangy slightly sour/earthy bit metallic fairly floral/gardenias slightly coarse flavor; very long/lingering rather floral finish; shows a bit of the M-T coarseness but a rather high-toned expression of M-T.
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2. Weingut Koferhof Sylvaner Valle Isarco 2016: Light gold color; rather fragrant/grapey/Sylvaner/carnations slightly spicy lovely nose; bit soft fairly rich bit simple grapey/Sylvaner lightly floral/carnations flavor; long floral/Sylvaner finish; a rather pleasant Sylvaner if a bit on the simple side.
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3. Weingut Koferhof Kerner Valle Isarco 2017: Light gold color; quite fragrant floral/fresh peach/spicy slight earthy quite attractive nose; fairly tart bit stony/mineral rather floral slight metallic/tangy totally dry bit rich/lush flavor; very long fairly floral bit stony/mineral finish; a bit more interesting & complex & more high-toned than the first two; quite an attractive expression of Kerner.
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4. Alois Lageder PinotGrigio "Porer" 2017: Light gold color; slight herbal/phenolic/hay mow/new mown grass somewhat complex nose; quite tart/tangy light phenolic bit metallic bit herbal/haymow some floral/PG flavor; very long/lingering quite tart lightly phenolic finish; not your typical bland PG; clearly has some skin-contact but the phenolic character is pretty low-key and makes for a more complex wine.
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5. ElenaWalch GWT Tramine 2017: Light gold color; powerful lychee/GWT/hair oil/very spicy slight smokey/smoked Hebrew hotdogs beautiful complex nose; fairly tart rich/powerful/lychee/GWT/cheap hair oil/very spicy slight earthy totally dry flavor; very long/lingering powerful GWT/lychee/very spicy finish; a beautiful/powerful expression of GWT; this is what great Alsatian GWT was like afore Z-H; outstanding GWT.
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6. Kellerei/Cantina Kurtatsch Schiava Grigia 2017: Light garnet color; very bright cherry/maraschino cherry/floral/roses slight earthy/loamy lovely aromatic nose; fairly tart bright/perfumed/cherry/floral/Schiava bit earthy/loamy flavor w/ light gentle tannins; very long/lingering light bright/cherry/floral/roses/high-toned bit earthy/loamy finish w/ light gentle tannins; a very pretty drinkable Vin de Soif w/ lots of cherry perfume; a great introduction to Schiava.
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7. Weingut/Tenuta Ebner Blauburgunder 2016: Light color; rather earthy/dusty/loamy bit black cherry/spicy/forest floor interesting nose; fairly tart strong earthy/loamy/dusty alpine/cherry/black cherry slightly rustic flavor w/ light ripe tannins; very long rather earthy/dusty/loamy rather black cherry/forest floor finish w/ light tannins; a pretty classic expression of Sudtirol PinotNoir w/ not much high-toned Pinot character.
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8. Kellerei/Cantina Terlan Lagrein "Gries" 2015: Very dark color; strong plummy/Mourv-like/black cherry/bit licorice some earthy/loamy/dusty/forest floor bit herbal/gamey/animal-like quite interesting bit rustic nose; fairly tart/tangy strong earthy/loamy/dusty/forest floor rather grapey/plummy/Mourv-likw fairly rich bit rustic flavor w/ modest chewey tannins; very long rather earthy/dusty/loamy some plummy/black cherry/Mourv-like finish w/ some ripe tannins; pretty classic expression of Lagrein w/ lots of Mourv-like/plummy character.
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9. Foradori Teroldego "Sgarzon" IGT: Vigneti delle Dolomite 2018: Dark color; beautiful Teroldego/plummy/black cherry/slight licorice light earthy/dusty very perfumed some complex nose; fairly tart rich/structured strong black cherry/plummy/Teroldego slight earthy complex beautiful flavor w/ ample ripe/chewey tannins; very long/lingering Teroldego/black cherry/black cherry cola/plummy/bit licorice very structured finish; clearly needs some age; Elisabetta at her best.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. The first Sunday of each month, they hold a "Sunday School" tasting in the Idlewild tasting room. Each one focuses on wine from a particular region of Italy. Since they were doing Sudtirol/AltoAdige, one of my favorite regions, I made the trip out to Calif for just this event. The SS tastings are organized by Thomas DeBiase, son of Tom DeBiase, a long-time/active poster on the WB wine board. Thomas is a wealth of information when it comes to Italian wines and makes an extraordinary effort to ferret out interesting wines for the tastings. These tastings are well worth attending, even if you are not a religious type. Oftentimes, other local winemakers are in attendance to learn from Thomas.
Of the whites, they all showed that fragrant/floral/bright character that characterizes whites from the Sudtirol. The first three were very pleasant/drinkable white but not that distinctive. The Lageder, because of its skin-contact, was the most interesting/complex of the bunch. But the Walch GWT was the highlight of the five. Anymore, Sudtirol is my go-to region for great GWT. This is where they now make the World's best, consistently, GWT. Made in the old-timey style like they used to do in Alsace before the Z-H style of soft/off-dry/blowsey style took over. They show a bit more rustic character and do better w/ a big plate of weenies & kraut.
The Schiava was particularly good. This is a variety also called Vernatsch and Trollinger in the Baden region of Germany. There are actually three bio-types of Schiava: SchiavaGrigia/SchiavaGentile/ and SchiavaGrossa. The wines are usually just labeled Schiava and this is the first time I've seen one labeled by the biotype name.
The other two reds were pretty typical Sudtirol reds w/ lots of that earthy/loamy character those wines display. Though tart, they have a richness & broadness on the palate that makes Sudtirol reds so good, if a bit on the rustic. They remind me a lot of the Burgenland reds. The Lagrein is a grape native to the Sudtirol/Trentino region. The Gries indicates the village nearby to Bolzano where the best Lagreins are thought to be grown.
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2. Foradori Teroldego: That area of Italy is often refered to as Trentino/AltoAdige. Its inclusion didn't quite fit the theme but was a preview to a future tasting of wines from Trentino.
ElisabettaForadori is, of course, the master of Teroldego. This Sgarzon is one of her vnyd-designates Teroldegos. She also makes a rare Cylindrica version of Sgarzon that has a different aging regime. According to Thomas, this vnyd was planted from Teroldego seeds, rather than the customary propagation from cuttings. That seems sorta strange. I've not been able to corroborate that bit of information, though.
Elisabetta ferments her wine in clay amphorae (called tinajas) from Spain made by Juan Padilla, regarded as the master of Tinija production: JuanPadilla.
Tom
