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WTN: Tasting Italian w/ Sam/Idlewild...(long/boring)

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TomHill

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WTN: Tasting Italian w/ Sam/Idlewild...(long/boring)

by TomHill » Thu Jul 05, 2018 11:28 am

Tasting With SamBilbro/Idlewild (6/26/18)
We tasted at the Idlewild tasting room some Italians:
1. Bovari Derthona DOC: ColliTortonesi Timorasso (14%) 2015: Light gold color; very fragrant almost Viog-like
perfumey bit spicy lovely nose; lightly tart/tangy very floral/bright Timo almost Viog-like lovely perfumey
flavor; very long/lingering floral/Timo finish; a lovely expression of Derthona Timo.
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2. OltreTorrente Timorasso DOC: ColliTortonesi(13.5%; www.BowlerWine.com; David Bowler Wines) 2014: Light golden
color; very perfumed/fragrant rather R-like peach/pear bit smokey/phenolic beautiful nose; lightly tart/tangy
very floral/R-like/pear/peach bit waxy quite spicy slight phenolic/resiny beautiful flavor; very long/lingering
strong floral/R-like/peach slight phenolic finish; seems to have a slight skin-contact (their web site suggests
not) but plenty of aromatic Timorasso fruit.
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3. Cascina Baricchi VinoBianco Neviglie (12%; 3 days on skins; 30 mo. in old oak) Vitole Simonetta 2013: Deep gold
color; slight nutty/aged rather phenolic/resiny slight volatile bit appley rather complex nose; bit soft savory/
saline bit nutty/aged rather phenolic/resiny appley/fresh/apple pie rather complex flavor; very long/lingering
slight nutty/aged some phenolic/resiny finish; dominated by the skin-contact phenolics but some fragrant Timo
peeks thru. $15.00
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4. Marina Coppi Fausto DOC: Colli Tortonesi Timorasso (14%) Francesco Bellocchio/Castellania 2013:Med.gold color;
very fragrant/perfumed Timo/floral/almost R-like/peach beautiful aromatic nose; bit soft/ripe rich/lush/textured
very floral/Timo/R-like/peach beautiful flavor; very long/lingering intense floral/Timo/R-like/peach soft/rich/
lush/ripe finish; lots of ripeness but loads of floral/Timo fruit. $48.00
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5. laColombera DOC: ColliTortonesi Timorasso IlMontino (14%; OliverMcCrumSlctn) 2012: Med.dark gold color; very
perfumed/fragrant intense/floral/Timo/R-like peach/honeyed/honeycomb bit perfumed talc somewhat complex nose;
soft rich/lush/textured/honeyed intense floral/Timo/peach/R-like spicy/honeycomb complex flavor; very long/
lingering intense Timo/floral/peach/Rlike/spicy rather complex finish; the most intense Timo yet; almost
essence of Timo.
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6. VareVnyd RibollaGialla NapaVlly (14.5%) 2005: Deep golden bit brownish color; somewhat oxidized/nutty bit tired
nose; soft resiny/pine sap/pitch somewhat oxidized/nutty bit phenolic flavor w/ little fruit; rather oxidized/
nutty somewhat tired finish; probably made by Abe Schoener for George w/ some skin-contact.
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7. Ryme RibollaGialla VareVnyd NapaVlly (13.4%; 4 mo. skin contact) 2011: Deep golden color; rather phenolic/resiny
bit honeycomb/honeyed some peppery/appley complex nose; lightly tart/tangy rather phenolic/resiny some savory/saline
honeycomb/spicy flavor w/ bit of tannic bite; very long/lingering slight peppery/appley/RG strong phenolic/resiny
finish w/ bit tannic bite; quite an interesting RG but not totally dominated by the phenolic character; very
savory/saline white that needs food; should age well.
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8. Harrington Friesa SkowVnyd/SanBenitoCnty (13.2%) 2017: Med.dark color; rather fragrant strawberry/Freisa bit
earthy/herbal slight Nebb-like/floral quite interesting nose; rather hard/tannic/tart light strawberry/Freisa
bit pungent/licorice flavor; long light strawberry/Freisa rather hard/tannic bit licorice/pungent finish;
attractive Freisa aromatics but the Nebb character comes thru pretty hard on the palate; needs some age.
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9. G.D.Vajra Kye DOC: Langhe Freisa (13.5%) 2014: Med.color; very fragrant/perfumed strawberry/floral/alpine
strawberry/spicy slight earthy lovely nose; rather tart/lean strong strawberry/Freisa/alpine strawberry
slight earthy/pungent flavor w/ some hard/bitey tannins; very long bright/strawberry/Freisa bit tart/lean
hard finish; lovely Freisa aromatics but a bit hard on the palate.
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10. Cantine Garrone Prunent (13%) Domodossola/Crevoladossla 2013: Med.dark color; beautiful fragrant/lilacs/
floral/violets slight earthy/pungent rather complex nose; bit soft/rich/lush/mouthfilling very strong floral/
violets/lilacs/Nebb bit earthy/dusty slight oak complex flavor w/ light hard/brittle tannins; very long/
lingering soft/rich/lush strong violets/lilacs/floral/Nebb bit earthy/dusty finish w/ modest hard tannins;
lots of bass notes for Nebb; a rather exotic expression of Nebb. $28.00 (WM)
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11. Skerk Terran IGP: Venezia Giulia (15%) Prepotto 2011: Dark color; strong blackberry/licorice/black cherry/
Refosco-like slight plummy bit earthy/dusty fairly lush nose; lightly tart rich/lush very strong blackberry/
black cherry/Refosco light earthy/dusty flavor w/ modest ripe tannins; very long/lingering strong blackberry/
Refosco finish; a lovely expression of Terrano that still needs a few more yrs.
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12. Batic Angel GrandeCuvee v.o. Vipovska Dolina (13.5%) 2009: Deep gold color; very slightly corked/TCA rather
low-key pencilly/cedary/tobaccoy/pungent some phenolic/resiny nose w/ little fruit; tart/tangy/brisk/clean
some phenolic/resiny quite savory/saline flavor w/ modest tannic bite; med. some phenolic/resiny/pine sap
slight appley/fruit pungent/earthy/tobaccoy savory/saline finish; the TCA is faint in the nose but probably
has compromised the rest of the wine.
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13. Ronchi di Pietro Picolit l'Anime da Nestre Tiare DOCG: Colli Orientali del Friuli (14%;
www.RonchiSanGiuseppe.com) Cividale del Friuli 2012
: Deep golden color; very intense orangey/honeyed/passito/
grapey slight earthy rather complex perfumed nose; slightly tart quite sweet passito/grapey/honeyed/honeycomb/
orangey very lush/ripe complex flavor; very long/linger passito/grapey/orangey/honeyed quite sweet finish
that goes on & on; a beautiful dessert passito. $74.00/500 ml
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Several months ago, I sent SamBilbro/Idlewild three btls of wine I thought he should try. Since he hadn't
yet had time to try them, I suggested we put together a tasting when I was out there for NEB#8, which he
thought was a fine idea. Joining us was RyanGlaab/RymeCllrs, Tom DeBiase, tasting room manager Sharia, and
Alex Hill. Dropping in during the Charlie Musslewhite concert down on the square was long time friend from
SantaFe, Josie Goldsmith. Alex works at UntiVnyds and we've tasted together in their tasting room and he's
shipped numerous orders to me. He is very knowledgeable (understandable at Unti) on Italian wines, so I
invited him to join us when I was out at Unti several days before. Tom I'd known some yrs ago at HdR and
on the WineBerserkers board. Tom's son, Thomas, has recently come on board at Idlewild to help in the tasting
room and become sort of a ChrisCottrell at Idlewild. Alas, a wreck on the 101 prevented him from joining us.
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2. Timorasso: This was probably the biggest tasting of Timorasso ever held in Healdsburg. Timorasso is a variety
rescued from extinction by WalterMassa in the early '90's and found mostly in the ColliTortonesi near the town
of Derthona. It makes, to my judgement, the best white in the Piemonte, with Walter's sorta the flagship
Timorasso. These five Timorassos were all right up there with his.
The Bovari was pretty straightforward Timo, but still quite lovely. The Baricchi was quite interesting/complex
but the Timo fruit a bit beaten down by the skin-contact; The Coppi was probably the most varietally correct of
the Timo and quite lovely.
The laColombera was probably the best of the Timos. This IlMontino is their special/single vnyd Timo. They
also produce a Derthona Timo that doesn't nearly measure up to this version. They make a wide range of wines,
including reds from Barbera, Croatina, Cortese and Nibio grapes. I would love to try their complete lineup.
A pretty incredible collection of Timorassos. When FPS releases the Timo from quarantine, Sam is supposed to
get a first shot at cuttings. He'll plant it in their YorkvilleHighlands vnyd and, in a few yrs, be making
world-class Timorasso. Trust me on that one.
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3. Prunent: This is the local name for Nebbiolo in the Val d'Ossola. Garrone uses it for their Nebbiolo that comes
from the oldest vines. Some believe Prunent might have been the original Nebbiolo that migrated southward.
Darrell pointed out at NEB#8 that there is no mention of Prunent in the Italian book of recognized varieties.
I was quite taken by this unique expression of Nebb, but Sam and the others were less impressed.
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4. Terran: Or Terrano, is a member of the Refosco family. Grown mostly in Croatia, the Friuli Carso, and the Slovenian
Kras. At one time, the EU ruled that only Terran grown in the Slovenian Kras could use that name on their label.
Sandi Skerk's Terran is always one of the best.
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5. Batic: When I first tried the single-vnyd Angel from the VipavaVlly of Slovenia, I was mightly impressed by it;
one of the best skin-contact whites that I'd had, with a very good balance between phenolic character and lush
fruit. So this was one I shipped out to Sam because I wanted Ryan to try it. Alas, the btl was slightly corked
and not as special as I recall it being.
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6. Picolit: At one time, Picolit was regarded as one of Europe's great dessert wines; of the status of d'Yquem.
Then the variety contracted "floral abortion", yields plummeted, and plunged into obscurity. I wrote a Wines&Vines
article some time ago that "floral abortion" is not a new disease, but simply that Picolit is a sterile variety
that cannot self-pollinate. I've tried some 15-20 Friuli Picolits over the yrs and the Ronchi Pietro is easily
the best I've had. Only the Vignalta Alpinae comes close to this passito wine.
Tom

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