We tasted ystrday (9/23/20) as part of SFW&CF Friuli Wines w/ (a virtual) Bobby Stuckey:
1. Scarpetto PinotGrigio DOC: Friuli (12.5%; Curated by MS BobbyStuckey & Chef LachlanPatterson/Frasca;
www.ScarpettaWine.com) Cantina di Rauscedo 2018: Pale yellow color; fragrant floral/carnations/PG
light chalky/perfumed talc fairly attractive nose; bit soft lightly floral/carnations/PG light chalky
flavor; med.long pleasant light PG/floral/carnations finish; a pleasant expression of PG, but just
that; a good porch-pounder or tajit wine at a more than fair price. $15.00
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2. Ronco del Gnemiz Friulano San Zuan DOC: Friuli Colli Orientali (13.5%; GiulianiImports/Boulder)
SanGiovanni al Natisone 2018: Light yellow color; very fragrant floral/Friuliano/gardenias/spicy some
chalky/mineral quite aromatic lovely nose; lightly tart spicy/floral/gardenias/Friuliano some mineral/
chalky quite dry but not austere somewhat rich flavor; very long/lingering gardenias/Friuliano/floral/
spicy slight mineral finish; one of the better Friulianos I've had and a classic expression of Friuliano.
$48.00
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3. Venica Sauvignon Ronco del Cero Dd'OC: Collio (13.5%; GiulianiImports/Boulder) Gianni & Giorgio
Venica/Dolegna del Collio 2019: Light yellow color; very fragrant SB/melony/ripe slight herbal/grassy
bit pungent beautiful aromatic nose; fairly tart strong SB/melony/herbal slight chalky/mineral lovely
flavor; very long/lingering ripe/SB/melony/herbal slight chalky/earthy finish; a classic expression of
Friulian SB, where (and in the Sudstiermark) some of the world's best SBs are produced. $28.00
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4. EdiKante Malvasia IGT: Venezia Giulia (13%; KermitLynchImports; www.Kante.It) Duino Aurisina/Trieste 2016:
Light yellow color; lovely very fragrant floral/Malvasia d'Istriana/slight muscatty slight mineral/chalky/
stony beautiful aromatic nose; fairly tart/tangy very strong floral/gardenias/Md'I/bit muscatty some
mineral/chalky/perfumed talc beautiful flavor; very long/lingering bright/floral/gardenias/Md'I/light
muscatty some mineral/perfumed talc/chalky finish that goes on&on; a beautiful expression of Md'I with a
nice minerality. $35.00
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5. SandiSkerk Vitovska IGP: Venezia Giulia (12%; OliverMcCrumImports) 2012: Med.dark gold some cloudy color;
some phenolic/skin-contact/resiny bit herbal/Kansas haymow some orangey/honeyed/honey comb very complex
beautiful nose; fairly tart/tangy some resiny/phenolic/Macerati totally dry/bit austere slight tannic
some honeyed/oranget/honeycomb rather complex flavor w/ slight tannic bite; very long/lingering some
resiny/skin-contact/phenolic rather honeyed/honeycomb very complex finish w/ light tannic bite; a
beautiful example of Vino Macerati that'll probably go out at least another 10 yrs. $26.00
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6. Ronchi di Pietro Schiopettino L'Anime de Nestre Tiare DOC: Friuli Colli Orientali (13%;
EnotecImports/Denver) Zorzettig Francesco & Fulvio/Cividale 2015: Horribly unredeemingly corked from the
TCA. $22.00 (SFW&S)
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7. Ronchi di Pietro Picolit DOCG: Colli Orientali del Friuli (14%; www.RonchiSanGiuseppe.com) 2012: Med.dark
gold color; beautiful honeyed/orangey intense grapey/passito slight herbal/Kansas haymow quite complex
nose; bit soft very rich/lush quite sweet intense grapey/passito very honeyed/orangey bit fig newton/
graham cracker/vanilla wafer quite complex flavor; very long/lingering quite sweet very honeyed/orangey/
vanilla wafer very intense grapey/passito finish that goes on & on; a beautiful expression of Friuli
Picolit that will go on another 10-20 yrs; reasonably priced at $61.00/500 ml (KK)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Because of the COVID, the SantaFe Wine&Chile Fiesta went to virtual tastings this year. You signed up
for a tasting which include btls of 3-4 different wines. You then tasted them w/ some friends in person,
as the host described the wines and made commentary upon them whilst you were all connected on a Zoom Webinar.
In this tasting, the host was BobbyStuckey, co-owner of Frasca restaurant in Boulder, truly one of the
great Italian restaurants in the USofA, based on the cusine of Friuli. Bobby & Lachlan Mackinnon have just
released a new book:"Friuli Food and Wine: Frasca Cooking from Northern Italy's Mountains, Vineyards,
and Seaside". It is an absolutely stunning book. Not just a collection of recipes, but also a terrific
guide to use for touring Friuli and sites that you must not miss visiting. And filled with beautiful pics.
Highly recommended.
The Wine section is, of course, very thorough & hits all the top producers and some less known. One of
the more profound ideas in the wine section is Bobby coining the term "Vini Macerati" for whites made by
skin-contact; wines that are oftentimes (incorrectly) termed "orange wines". But orange wines are only a
subset of the skin-contact whites genre.
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2. This virtual tasting was hosted by Laura & Dustin at Pig+Fig restaurant here in WhiteRock for some 8
others in my wine group. The first 4 wines were the ones Bobby chose to highlight the glories of
Friulian wine. The last 3 were wines I added to fill out the tasting. As we tasted thru the wines,
Laura served a light meal designed to accompany them. First course was a light spinach salad. Then came
a soft polenta and fresh shrimp dish... a Louisiana take on the classic Friulian shrimp & grits dish.
But the coup de gracie came when Laura passed out spoons to each of us and then passed around cans of
that classic Friulian dish, Spam, one of the true highlights of the Friulian cusine. We eagerly scooped
out spoonfuls of Spam directly from the can and it proved to be an ideal match with the SandiSkirk
Vino Macerati Vitovska. But this was Spam Laura imported directly from Cormons by a producer named
Lorenzo d'Osvaldo, who is regarded as the producer of the greatest Spam in the World. It was a special
treat. We finished up with a light/airy peach upside-down cake that matched splendidly with the Picolit.
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3. The d'Osvaldo Spam was exceptional. You can find all about the Hormel Spam at: www.spam.com . But be
careful if you go there...it's a very scarey site. It puts pate in a whole nuther light. And Google also
turns up a similar product: Etsy Creamed Possum w/ Sweet Taters and Coon Fat Gravy. Now there's something
I can't wait to try. But the whole idea has inspired me to try making my own Spam from Proscuitto and
Porchetta. I'll report back here on the results.
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4. Malvasia: This is made from the Malvasia d'Istriana grape cultivar. It can, and often does, make an
exceptional wine in Friuli/Slovenia/Croatia. It is dirrent from the far more common Malvasia Bianca,
which makes an in-your-face/slutty kind of Malvasia usually, and often off-dry to sweet. I wish it were
planted/available from FPS in Calif. I'd love to see what Enrico/Letezia/ArbeGarbe could make from that
variety.
EdiKante is one of my favorite producers. Located in the Carso near the village of Prepotto (Zidarich/
SandiSkerk), close by to the Slovenia border. Some of Friuli's best wines come from the Carso and I
wish there were more of them in the USofA.
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5. Skerk: Sandi is one of my favorite producers in the Karst/Carso. Most of his whites he makes w/ varying
degrees of skin-contact. They can oft be on the tannic & austere side when young. But this '12 has shed
much of its phenolic character and is evolving into a beautiful example of a Vino Macerati.
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6. Picolet: At one time, Picolet was regarded as one of the World's great dessert wines, alongside d'Yquem
and TokajiAszu. Then it was thought to be suffering from a disease called "floral abortion", the yields
dropped precipitously, and Picolit fell from favor. In point of fact, Picolit is a sterile variety
(cannot self-polinate) and, when they quit interplanting with Verduzzo, the bunches had many shot berries,
and therefore tiny yields.
Still, because of low yields, Picolit can be very expensive. This RdP is one of the best Picolits I've
had and not at all unreasonably priced for Picolit.
Tom