I went through a bit of a phase where I just couldn't be bothered with wine because so little fun stuff was available here and ordering from abroad is always complicated and costly and I have so many other hobbies to spend time and money on. But now I feel genuinely excited again. And what is weird is that I'm excited about wine actually available in Alko of all places! I wonder if this is a first sign of madness. And would the second sign be that I was genuinely impressed by the second of these wines made from Glera, a grape I don't generally feel is terribly interesting?Col del Lupo Prosecco Brut 2015
A pretty standard Prosecco, but nice. Quite neutral aromas with a bit of that annoying pear aroma that seems so typical to Prosecco. Nicely dry with enough acidity to keep it moreish. Refreshing and really nice. Unfortunately at 22€ the price is kind of high – even for what is a good Prosecco. Well into the positive territory at a solid +34 points on my negative to positive infinity scale.
Col del Lupo Notae Prosecco Valdobbiadene 2013
Ok, this is where things get interesting. Hazy colour so I guess we’ve moved into “natural” wine territory. Lovely naturalistic aromas: it smells earthy and wild with a mix of citric sharpness and stone fruit sweetness. Small bubbles. Fully dry, almost austere in texture except that there is elegant, pure fruit there, with little of the wildness of the scent showing. Long finish where both the slightly bitter and the sweet, fruity elements fight each other for dominance but none seem to win the battle so it just goes on and on. I know this will be a divisive wine which anti-naturalist fundamentalists will call foul. Despite not liking most of the philosophy behind natural wine, I still for some reason aesthetically like many of them and find them genuinely interesting. This one is no exception. I genuinely had no idea Glera could make anything this fun and interesting. Not a cheap Prosecco at 20€ but I think my score is +172 points and buy again.