Shared these two w/ Susan last weekend:
1. Skerk Malvazija IGP: Venezia Giulia (14%; L1; Oliver McCrum Wines) Prepotto/Trieste 2011: Deep golden/burnished bronze color; rather strong resiny/phenolic/skin-contact rather honeyed/orangey light Malvasia/muscatty/floral quite perfumed quite complex ose; lightly art some skin-contact/phenolic/resiny some orangey/honeyed/graham cracker/bit pungent light Malvasia/muscatty quite complex flavor w/ light smooth tannins; very long/lingering some phenolic/resiny/skin-contact quite smooth some orangey/honeyed quite complex beautiful flavor w/ light tannins; lost most of that hard/tannic/phenolic edge and developed into a beautiful/complex orange wine w/ no signs of oxidation whatsoever.
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2. Skerk Vitovska IGP: Venezia Giulia (13%) Prepotto 2011: Deep gold/burnished bronze color; very strong phenolic/skin-contact/resiny slight cidery lightly honeyed/graham cracker/vanilla wafer some earthy/bit peppery/spicy quite complex nose; quite tart/tangy rather tannic/austere very strong phenolic/resiny/skin-contact slight graham cracker very dry/austere some complex flavor w/ modest brisk bit bitter tannins; very long/lingering fairly tart/lean/dry/austere some tannic bit graham cracker rather complex bit peppery finish w/ some hard austere tannins; the tannins are starting to resolve but probably needs another 6-10 yrs.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. SandiSkerk is one of my most favorite producers in all Friuli. First introduced to me by Oliver McCrum. We did a visit with Sandi some 3-4 yrs ago there in Prepotto. Sat out there on his crush pad and tried a bunch of his wines, whilst looking out onto the Adriatic way off in the distance. He makes a white wine, Ograde, a blend of 3-4 varieties, that is fabulous. And his Teran is an outstanding expression of that grape. Great producer but hard to track down.
I rather preferred the Malavasia because of the aromatics. The Vitovska was pretty austere/tannic on the palate, but should be a fabulous example of a skin-contact white w/ more age.
Tom