WTN: Nonbubbling, volcano

My first Coda di Volpe and still par-xar-mac combo:

2007 Parés Baltà Penedès Blanc de Pacs [42% Parellada, 33% Xarello, 25% Macabeo] (Penedès DO, Catalunya, northeastern Spain) cork closure, 11.5% - imported to USA by Boutique Wine Collection, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – don't be fooled by the grapes, this one is still, not sparkling – appears very pale, few bits of suspended spritz, smell flat and sweet with a bit of tart, kind of a familiar herbal pineapple smell, big fruity nose, mouthfeel slightly thick with some suspended spritz in back, taste tart simplicity, quite a bit of power, fiery minerals balanced by slight fruity elements. On day two the herbal pineapple thing is even more integrated and more delicious. Nothing tiring about this wine, at $14 this was a very tasty midweek wine.

2005 Villa Dora Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio Vigna del Vulcano [80 percent Coda di Volpe, 20 percent Falanghina] (Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio DOC, Campania, southwestern Italy) - cork closure, 13.5% - imported to USA by Blackbird Wines/Oliver McCrum Wines, Richmond, California – appears bright yellow, smell bits of cheese and hay and slight plantain, very nice, very inviting nose, mouthfeel is thin and direct, taste integrate acid, light stone touch, scrumptous with spicy elements coming in on the finish, beautifully structured and assembled, with lively different taste of spicy light tang and light on its feet while very flavorful. Bravo! Fiery, spicy and rock elements did indeed call forth the volcanic soil on which the grapes are grown. I wasn't planning on pairing it, but it went pretty well with a bowl of tom yum kung (hot and sour shrimp soup). It didn't go so well with the sweetness of the shrimp, but with the tang, spice and sweet of the broth, the wine combined purity, earthiness, and spiciness, very impressive. Incredibly different on day two, smelling almost exactly like a dead ringer for white burgundy, well integrated oak, soft, smooth, vanilla and having a similar intro before packing in a ton of high verve excitement on the finish. Quite likable but totally different than on day one. And odd as the label notes it was fermented in stainless steel and there was nothing indicating oak on day one. Is someone conniving Folger's Crystals with my bottle in the fridge? In any case, a delicious dry and crisp wine and well worth the $28.

Keith,

I am glad you liked the Volcano Wine. The soil it's grown in looks like black volcanic Grape-Nuts, and I think that's where the gunflint quality comes from. I like it too.

No oak, as you say.

[b]2005 Villa Dora Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio Vigna del Vulcano (Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio DOC, Campania, southwestern Italy) - cork closure, 13.5% -... very inviting nose, mouthfeel is thin and direct, taste integrate acid, light stone touch, scrumptous with spicy elements coming in on the finish, beautifully structured and assembled, with lively different taste of spicy light tang and light on its feet while very flavorful. Bravo! Fiery, spicy and rock elements did indeed call forth the volcanic soil on which the grapes are grown....

Keith, I had to do a doubletake and realize you were talking of a white wine. I merely glanced at the grapes, said to myself "I thought Lacryma wines were piedrosso" and then read the notes which the parts I parsed sound similar to a red Mastroberadino 2005 I just consumed. Spicy, rocky elments, a little austere. Then I read back to the front, and noticed you were talking white grapes here!

Keith, I had to do a doubletake and realize you were talking of a white wine. [snip] the parts I parsed sound similar to a red Mastroberadino 2005 I just consumed. Spicy, rocky elments, a little austere.

Good to hear the volcanic elements seemed to show through in the red as well--I rather liked the effect.