October Wine Focus: Fall-anghina and Italian whites

Fair point opposite white Burgundy from the Côte d'Or but less so against Chablis. The Mâconnais and Côte Chalonnaise are also delivering increasingly attractive white Burgundy. Dry Loire chenin, except Coulée de Serrant, is often under €20 and most dry German and Alsatian Rieslings don't break the bank although into the €30-40 range. Some Austrian Rieslings are getting quite pricey, though..

That makes abundant sense for you in France, Tim. Less so, I fear, in Donald Trump's USA.

You all have an opportunity to do something about that in a few days time.

[David M. Bueker]

Italian white in California take II

2015 Idlewild Cortese Fox Hill Vineyard - USA, California, North Coast, Mendocino County (10/13/2020)
Last bottle, and predictably best bottle. It’s full on orange wine now, with skin contact and age combining to create a color not unlike a 30 year old Riesling. I frankly expected oxidation based on the color, but the wine was completely fresh, if offering an evolved aromatic and flavor set. Orange peel, raw almond, spice, apricot- it again echoed older Riesling, but with zero residual sweetness. It managed to be quite food friendly, as the spice and nut tones worked well with our Indian fare. I don’t see it getting more interesting from here, but then I have always been dubious about aging orange wines. This seemed to be a sweet spot in the evolutionary path.

That is a nice note David. No chance of finding anything like this (calif) in my area.

[Robin Garr]

I haven't had a Soave for quite some time, and that was a Pieropan, so I was a little wary about picking up an unfamiliar label the other day. But it clicked all the right boxes - an Indigenous Selections import, single-vineyard, 100% Garganega, fermented on the skins, stainless steel, and left on the lees. And a mid-teens price in the era of the tariff. It was a good choice. I really liked it a lot. Anyone else tried Tenuta Santa Maria? (Skurnik also handles it, by the way.)

Tenuta Santa Maria 2018 "Lepiga" Soave ($16.99)

Made from the Veronese Garganega variety, this attractive Northern Italian white is a light greenish color, a distinct brassy hue. Its light but delicious aromas speak of orange peel and lemon alongside subtle pear and melon scents. Its dry, pleasantly acidic flavor fills the mouth with gentle mixed-fruit flavors that follow the nose, with hints of fresh herb and limestone minerality with light 12.5% alcohol. Remarkably, there's a distinct whiff of salt – a common descriptor for Soave – in a long, snappy finish. U.S. importers: Indigenous Selections LLC, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Skurnik Wines & Spirits, NYC, and other regional importers. (Oct. 13, 2020)

FOOD MATCH: The winery suggests enjoying it as an aperitif or pairing it with appetizers, raw fish including sushi, and white meat. We found it food-friendly and versatile, and enjoyed it over a couple of meals with food as diverse as Yucatan cochinita pibil and nopales to meatloaf and fried chicken from a local soul food storefront.

WHEN TO DRINK: Soave is not a wine made for aging, so I'd recommend enjoying it rather than putting it away in a cellar, but It should be fine for a few years assuming reasonably good storage conditions.

VALUE:
My $17 local price is close enough to Wine-Searcher.com's $16 average U.S. retail to keep me happy. Considering today's prices and, in particular, new U.S. tariffs on European wines, it's a decent value.

WEB LINK
The winery offers an extensive fact sheet in English at this link. (It appears to be down for an update today, but check in later for an informative page.)

For more about the wine and winery, see this page from another importer, Skurnik Wines & Spirits

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Check prices and find vendors for Tenuta Santa Maria "Lepiga" Soave on Wine-Searcher.com.

Follow this Wine-Searcher link to learn more about Soave and browse dozens of other wines from the region.

[Jenise]

Brought over by a friend last night, and I served it with a salmon and macadamia nut pate on crostini:

2017 Bruno Bulgarini Lugana Turbiana, Verdicchio
Much better than one would expect based on the one prior CT note a year ago. Bright stone fruit and green apple balanced by ample lemon acidity and minerality, emphasis on minerality. Quaffer-priced around $12 best I can tell but way better than quaffer performance.

Seems a drier style?

[Jenise]

Yes, nicely dry. The previous reviewer on CT called it fruity and simple, neither of which I agree with about ours which had the advantage of another year of bottle age.

speaking of Skurnik and Soave, they also bring in another very nice Soave, Gini..

[Jenise]

2017 Palamà Verdeca Arcangelo Salento IGT
Impression pretty close to 10 months' ago--bright yellow: briney, minerally and dry. But now the minerality has even more depth. An unusually savory wine from a very unusual grape that was perfection at cellar temp with a before-dinner cheese course. Absolutely killer QPR for $11.

I do not think I have seen a Friulano this month so pulled this one out of the cellar.

2015 Volpe Pasini Colli Orientali del Friuli Friulano.

13% alc, good nat cork, $23 Cda. On in initial sampling thought "no real excitement..give it sometime, did I cellar too long?".
Color is a medium straw yellow. Aromatics flow after a warm up with herbal, almond, white flowers, apple lemon zest..so pretty correct eh.
Dryish, white stonefruit, medium acidity and again some typical almond on the finish. Grapefruit pith noted but not a huge fan of this one. Pity.