Had these three Italians over the last few days:
1. G.D.Vajra Luigi Baudana Dragon DOC: Langhe Bianco (13%; www.Baudana.com; Chard/SauvBlanc/Nascetta/Riesling) Barolo 2018: Med.gold color; strong floral/rose petal/magnolia/quite spicy/some R/melony almost muscatty/musky rather ripe lovely nose; lightly tart/tangy rather rich/lush ripe/melony/floral/magnolia almost muscatty slight perfumed talc lovely flavor; very long/lingering melony/ripe/floral almost muscatty finish; speaks mostly of a very floral/fragrant (Chard Musque?) more than anything; a beautiful Piemonte white at a great price. $20.50 (KK)
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2. Fatalone Teres Primitivo IGT: Puglia (14.5%; BonVivantImports/Boise/ID; CertifiedOrganic; 2'nd crop Zin; www.Fatalone.It) Pasquale Petrera di Orfino Rosa/Gioia del Colle/Puglia 2019: Med.light color w/ tiny bubbles that float on the top; rather appley/raspberry/Zin/underripe/spicy almost Bojo-like some earthy/dusty/rustic bit coarse very atypical nose; slight spritzy bright/Zin/raspberry/appley/maelic rather earthy/rustic/dusty rather refreshing flavor w/ almost no tannins; med.long bright/brisk/raspberry/Zin/appley some earthy/rustic finish w/ no tannins; reminds a bit of the old Montevina Zin Nuevo but not as much fruit; not really a Bojo but some CarbonicMaceration character; a pretty/clean lightweight red. $21.50 (KK)
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3. Collepazzo Cesanese Dd'OC: Olevano Romano (13%; www.CantineRiccardiReale.It; CriticalMassSlctns; T.ElentenyImprts/NY) Piero Riccardi/LorellaReale/Bellegra 2015: Dark color; fairly fragrant cherry/black cherry cola bit Sangio-like rather earthy/dusty/loamy/coarse rather rustic bit unclean/bretty nose; soft rather unclean/bretty/rustic earthy/loamy/coarse slight black cherry cola/cherry/Sangio flavor w/ light coarse tannins; med.long fairly unclean/bretty earthy/loamy/rustic some black cherry cola finish w/ light tannins; some interesting things therein but way too unclean/bretty for my palate; reminds some of a Kansas outhouse (a two-holer) on a hot summer day w/ the Sears/Roebook catalog resting nearby. $23.00 (AV)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Baudana: I Had low expectations but was rather impressed w/ this white for its rich/lush character. I gather that Baudana is still their own small winery, but that G.D.Vajra does their exporting/marketing for them.
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2. Primitivo: This is a "natural" wine for which I had low expectation for. But it was perfectly clean as a whistle and no natty character whatsoever.
One of the characteristics of Zin is that it can often set a fairly large 2'nd crop. Normally the 2'nd crop fruit is dropped to the ground. In this case, the 2'nd crop was retained and harvested separately to make its own wine in a light/refreshing style. I've had two 2'nd crop Zins from Calif. They have been totally weird wines. The flavors are not as strong as 1'st crop Zin and can be rather mushy and lacking in structure. This wine was not like those I've had.
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3. Cesanese: A grape variety (w/ several bio-types) that is found almost exclusively in the Lazio south of Rome. It is a very late ripener and the wines can often be thin & weedy. Clearly...a grape they should be planting all up&down the Coast of Calif....NOT!!
Tom