We tried (4/11/07) Some Friulian Biancos:
1. diLenardo Toh! da Uve TocaiFriuliano DOC: Friuli (13.5%) 2004: Light gold color;
rather dusty/stony some floral/gardenia perfumed nose; tart very dusty/stony/metallic
weak floral flavor; shart/tart/lean stony/metallic/dusty light floral finish; lacks
fruit but nice food white for the price. $11.00
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2. Palmina Tocai Friuliano HoneaVnyd/SantaYnezVlly (13.4%) 2005: Light gold color; lovely
fragrant/perfumed slight piney/muscatty very floral/aromatic slight earthy nose; very
tart/citric slight minerally very floral/perfumed bright/zippy flavor; long very citric/
tart some minerally/muscatty very perfumed finish; a bit on the screechy/citric side
but wonderful aromatics and floral character. $20.00
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3. Pierpaola Pecorari TocaiFriuliano DOC: Isonzo del Friuli (12%) 2002: Med.gold color;
some charred/burnt/caramel/nutty slight oxidized/nutty/musty/plastic little fruit nose;
tart rather earthy/nutty bit charred/burnt/oak slight nutty/oxidized slight bitter
flavor; med.short bitter some oxidized/nutty finish; seems past its prime and somewhat
oxidized w/ no fruit. $19.00
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4. Giondano Sirch DOC ColliOrientali del Friuli TocaiFriulano (13.5%) 2004: Light gold
color; very attractive fragrant/floral slight stony bit simple nose; tart light/bright/
zippy light floral/stony pleasant/simple flavor; med. bit metallic/stony light floral/
fruity finish; a pleasant/zippy good-drinking white at a fair price. $14.00
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5. Ermacora Friulano DOC: Colli Orientali del Friuli TocaoFriulano (13%) 2005: Pale yellow
color; very attractive floral/gardenia/carnation quite perfumed/aromatic nose; quite
soft/lush off-dry (??) light floral/carnation bit simple flavor; soft quite floral
off-dry finish; lovely nose but not quite delivers on the palate. $15.00
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6. Damian Princie ColleDiga DOC: Collio Tocai Friulano (13.5%) 2005: Med.gold color; some
spicy/garam marsala/curry/floral slight toasty/oak rich/perfumed nose; soft some toasty/
oak rich/lush very spicy/floral flavor; lo0ng lush/rich almost Chard-like light oak/
toasty very spicy/garam marsala/nutmeg ripe/floral finish; a big/rich very interesting
white; a serious and unique rendition of Tocai. Fairly priced at $25.00.
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7. Mastri Vinai Bressan IGT: Verduzzo Friulano (13%) 2002: Dark gold color; rather reduced/
sauerkraut/smokey/used fireworks/charred/oak very strange nose; soft very toasty/oak/
butterscotchy/caramel very ripe rather Chard-like flavor; long very ripe/lush rather
toasty/caramel/oak rather Semillon-like finish; pretty weird rendition of Verduzzo
but still interesting; bit pricey at $28.00
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8. Angelo Pittaro Pitars Verduzzo Friulano DOC Friuli (12.5%) 2005: Med.dark gold color;
ripe/lush bananna/pineapply very ripe/Semillon-like botrytis (??)/honeysuckle complex
nose; sweet very ripe/lush botrytis/pineapply/bananna almost Jr.Sauternes flavor; very
long/lingering pineapply/botrytis very ripe/lush honeysuckle complex finish; an
amazing Auslese-level semi-Sauternes white at a steal at $14.00.
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9. Tenuta Bonzara Vigna Antica Pignoletto Classico DOC: Colli Bolognesi Classico WW (13.5%)
2005: Med.gold color; very lovely floral/perfumed/honeysuckle/hair-oil almost GWT-like
wonderfully aromatic nose; soft slight minerally very lush/ripe floral/honeysuckle/
peachy loads of fruit flavor; very long/lush floral/honeysuckle/perfumed some minerally
finish; almost Roussanne-like but w/ structure; beautiful white at a great price.
$16.00
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10. Fattoria Monticino Rosso DOC Pignoletto Colli di Imola (14%) Zeoli Antiono/Imola/Bologna
2005: Med.gold color; quite perfumed/aromatic very floral/honeysuckle big fruit nose;
soft very lush/ripe very floral/perfumed/honeysuckle slight earthy/minerally rather
Roussanne-like flavor; long ripe/lush quite floral/perfumed/honeysuckle light mineral/
earthy finish; quite Roussanne like; a steal at $13.00
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11. Primosic Vitovska ZGP: Vipava DWW (12%) Product of EU; Btld by Primosic/Oslavia/Italy
2005: Pale yellow color; very attractive/floral/pineapply/Riesling-like some minerally
nose; soft light weight some floral/minerally/earthy attractive flavor; med.short light
floral/mineraly/earthy finish; quite an attractive wine at a very good price. $13.00
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12. Vare PinotGrigio NapaVlly (14.5%; 53 cs) 2005: Pale gold color; very attractive grapey
quite spicy light floral/earthy some pencilly/oak interesting nose; soft/lush pineapply
rather floral/spicy some pencilly/oak complex flavor; long some pencilly/toasty/oak
somewhat pineapply/floral bit minerally/earthy finish; a bit heavy on oak but plenty of
fruit underneath; lovely attractive PG. $20.00/500 ml
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13. Vare Bianca NapaVlly (RibollaGiallo/PinotGrigio/TocaiFriuliano/SauvBlanc/Chard; 193 cs;
14.5%) 2005: Light gold color; slight reduced/sauerkrautty nose that clears to herbal/
spicy/floral almost SauvBlanc-like bit minerally nose; tart some herbal/SB-like bit
earthy/minerally attractive slight oak flavor; long rather herbal/floral some minerally
finish; quite an attractive/interesting white that speaks mostly of SB. $22.50/500 ml
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14. Vare RibollaGialla NapaVlly (14.5%; 237 cs; http://www.VareVineyards.com) George&Elsa Vare/Napa
2005: Med.gold color; bit reduced/pungent nose that clears to rather charred/toasty/oak/
smokey rather floral/minerally bit earthy/minerally quite interesting nose; tart rich/
lush some pungent/oak rather floral/minerally/stony light earthy flavor; very long lush/
rich some toasty/charred/oak quite floral/minerally finish; my favorite of the three
Vare's; quite an interesting/complex wine. $25.00/500ml
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15. Primosic RibollaGialla ZGP: Brda (12%) 2005: Light yellow color; attractive/pleasant
floral/spicy nose; tart/zippy/bright spicy/floral perfumed slight stony/earthy flavor
w/ bit of prickle on front of palate; med. bright/zippy floral/spicy finish slight
stony/minerally finish; very attractive nose but a bit dilute on the palate; very
attractive white for the price. $12.00
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16. Venica Ronco della Cime DOC: Collio Tocai Friulano (13.5%) 2004: Med.gold color; very
attractive floral/aromatic/gardinia slight piney/mineral interesting/complex nose; tart
bit metallic/minerally light floral/gardenia/rose petal some stony/minerally flavor; med.
long stony/minerally light floral/gardenia finish; good acidity & balance; a very
attractive floral/minerally white; bit pricey at $33.00
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And more pontifications from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Many of these wines came from WineExchange/SantaMonica that Roberto steered me to. They
were universally quite good. I was turned on to the Vare's by MX at Enoteca in Calistoga.
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2. Pignoletto: My first real exposure to wines of this grape (thanks, Roberto). I was
mightly impressed by both of them. They had a character much like Roussanne in aromatics
but a structure not often found in Calif versions. This is a grape variety they should
be exploring. With barrell fermentation, a strong 200% new French oak barrel regime,
full M-L, lees stirring, 16% alcohol; they could be making world-class Pignoletto in
Calif and getting $40/btl for it.
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3. Primosic: Interesting wines. Made from Slovenian grapes but vinified in Italy. Both of
them had a slightly dilute quality that suggested overcropping. But pretty nice wines
for the $$'s.
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4. Friuli: This, along w/ AltoAdige, are the source of some of my most favorite of white
wines. Interesting whites at very reasonable prices (except for the Picolits). It's
right across the border from Slovenia where some equally exciting whites are being
made. Apparently there's quite a strong flow of both grapes and wine thru this rather
porous border. There are some producers there that are making some very bizarre (and
pricey) wines that are certainly not to everyone's taste but, by and large, the
mainstream producers are making very attractive wines.
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5. Vare: George Vare has a long and glorious history in the Calif wine industry, mostly
behind the scenes. He (& wife Elsa) have scaled back and now focus on winemaking of
Friulian varieties. Certainly he has that niche of the Calif market sewn up. He
interacts a lot with the greats of Friuli (Radikon, Simcic, Gravner) and looks to
them for guidance. These were my first exposure to his wines and, to say the least, I
was mightly impressed. Proud to say I followed his wines from the very start.
I was particularly excited about discovering his wines and bought an xtra btl to share
with BobbyStuckey. But I shoulda known...Bobby already knew about George's wines and had
already visited there. If you haven't eaten there, BobbyStuckey and Lachlan McKinnon's
Frasca restaurant in Boulder is one of the USofA's greatest Italian restaurants,
specializing in Friulian cusine. George flew in from Calif just for the Simcic dinner
they held there several months ago. It's worth the journey. Not only is the food
superb, the wine list (as you'd expect from Bobby) is incredible. I can't begin to count
the wines he's turned me on to. Incredible restaurant 'tis.
Tom