Wine Focus for April: Italians, white or light

Tim,

The red wines from Etna have justly received a lot of attention, but the best whites are I think at least as good. They can age well, too. (The best example is Benanti's 'Pietramarina.')

Oliver, I have a bottle of Pietramarina 2010 awaiting my attention . Am I right it expecting it to be richer and more complex than this Cottanera? Not an oyster wine!?

Thanks for your V. Matelica Colle Stefano recommendation from a few years back which I remembered when making up my recent parcel from Milan.

Tim,

Pietramarina isn't rich, exactly, it's very minerally, restrained, deep, Savennières-like maybe. The '10 will be a baby; try it, then buy a few more bottles and put them down for a while. It's one of the most age able Italian white wines.

I am glad you liked the Colle Stefano Verdicchio. He's started making a Classic Method sparkling wine from Verdicchio, too.

You guys will have to bear with my reviving this thread as I work through all the goodies which were in the parcel which I ordered from Milan; another Etna white and a Friulian white as well as a Friulian CabFranc to come.

2010 Livio Felluga Colli Orientali del Friuli Refosco - Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Colli Orientali del Friuli (5/10/2015)
This one is much fuller and more serious than my previous experiences of Refosco. Colour quite deep with purple tints. Nose expressive with savoury fruit, plum mainly, ivy and just traces of wet leather and of caramel, the latter probably from still undigested oak ageing. Palate medium/full bodied with a nice mass of savoury fruit, some minerals, lively acidity, more wet leather hints and a firm tannic backbone infused with the same caramel traces perceptible on the nose. I guess still some improvement potential; I would appreciate fuller absorption of those wood traces. Good.

Posted from CellarTracker

Tim, this producer features nicely at DeVines downtown so I will look out for this one. I know that the whites are quite expensive, welcome to AB eh.

Tim, this producer features nicely at DeVines downtown so I will look out for this one. I know that the whites are quite expensive, welcome to AB eh.

Bob, did you see the warning from the UK that Felluga uses quite a heavy hand with oak on his reds? Admittedly I've had far worse than this one in that respect but it had profited from 5 years to integrate better. Not cheap here; €18 including €2 delivery.

I continue to empty the mixed case which this thread inspired me to buy. This is another good one from Friuli, an area which I increasingly regret not having explored more.

2011 Vigna Petrussa Colli Orientali del Friuli Cabernet Franc - Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Colli Orientali del Friuli (5/24/2015)
As a nutter for Loire wines, I find it difficult to avoid a comparison. For example colour is a darker red than usual there and the nose is fruitier was less evidence of graphite, charcoal, other minerals and noble greenness, the last of which will please the modernists. The medium bodied palate showed a lot of ripe but fresh red fruit with traces of gracious sweetness, juicy acidity, an attractive underlying roundness and the right firmness on the finish with caramel traces from wood raising which should, IMO advantageously, disappear in a year or two. Good+.
Posted from CellarTracker

This is the last, I think, of the varied selection in the case from Milan which I ordered for this thread. I am grateful for this encouragement to widen my Italian horizons. We must do it again .

2012 Ronco del Gelso Friuli Isonzo Malvasia Istriana vigna della permuta - Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Friuli Isonzo (7/24/2015)
The first sniffs and sips of this medium+ bodied wine were very appealing. Flavours were original showing grapey and exotic fruit, lots of spice, even ginger, lively acidity and a slightly bitter alcoholic burn (14.5%) on the finish. It was this last which became rather tiring as the bottle emptied. Nevertheless good.



Posted from CellarTracker

Just back from the Rockies Tim and great to see you have livened up this thread.

It's a pity that I only had one bottle of this famous white Etna because a badly chosen pairing diminished it.

2010 Benanti Etna Bianco Superiore Pietramarina - Italy, Sicily, Etna DOC (10/8/2015)
I regret not having read the CT reviews of this wine before selecting it last night to accompany a fish and prawn dish in a rich sauce containing tomatoes and cognac; the wine's finer points were swamped. From the first glass before eating, I retain a memory of a medium- bodied very dry wine with a lot of finesse showing white fruit gently citrus, quite complex mineral and saline notes, decent acidity and a honeyed undertow. With goat cheese at the end of the meal, these flavours again came out with the honeyed note much less perceptible. I think that with a quite plain seafood dish I would have enjoyed this wine a lot. As to ageing potential, I can only quote Oliver McCrum who wrote above that at present my 2010 would only be a "baby".