Havana South Wine Club - Wines of Veneto

Very nice setup at Havana South, with hors d'ouevres that unfortunately were anything but neutral (flakey empanadas filled with adobo-like meat), so they had to wait until the end. Ezra, the wine director, organized the event, which was led by Scott, the National rep.

• NV Zardetto Prosecco Brut 80 Points

  Italy, Veneto / Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Prosecco

  Light straw-green in the glass. Fresh, light nose of faint apples and faint baguette. Palate: light body, med- mousse, clean with good acid. nice. $14

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• 2009 Zenato Lugana San Benedetto 81 Points

  Italy, Lombardia / Veneto, Lugana

  Light straw in the glass. Low+ intensity nose of rose petals and melon. A bit like moscato in the mouth (detergent-candy-melon) with med- bitterness, light body, low alcohol, dry, med acid. nice. $14

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• 2007 Masi Pinot Grigio Verduzzo Masianco 82 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Venezia

  Very interesting nose of cantal cheese and mushroom. Surprising that there's no oak given the earthier aromas (I've seen oak present this way in Cali chards, Stefania...). Palate. Notable lack of sweetness with an interesting character and a rather sauerkraut-y flavor and tartness. Light body, low alcohol, med+ acid, tart. Good and interesting. $14

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• 2008 Allegrini Valpolicella 78 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella

  Medium ruby in the glass. Nost of dusty raisin. Light body, low+ alcoho, med+ acid, faint cherry flavors in the mouth - not much fruit. Overall pretty thin. $17

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• 2008 Zenato Valpolicella Classico Superiore 86 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Valpolicella Classico Superiore

  Medium garnet in the glass, the nose is musty, barely skirting the land of oxidative flavors. There's some funk, a light brett presence, all wrapped around a mouth-watering black-currant-liquorice core. In the mouth: medium body, medium tannins, ripe fruit, med+ acid, med alcohol. Very nicely balanced, with subtle but arresting fruit presence. $14

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• 2007 Allegrini Ripasso della Valpolicella Corte Giara 80 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Ripasso della Valpolicella

  Med+ ruby. Delicious nose of pure fruit gently enveloped in warm dustiness. In the mouth, fleshy. Needs acid - a bit flabby. $23

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• 2007 Masi Campofiorin Flawed

  Italy, Veneto, Veronese IGT

  First bottle: corked (I picked up something wrong, but didn't immediately identify it as TCA). Doug then confirmed that it was corked. Pretty obvious on first sniff, but harder to detect (as expected b/c of habituation) on subsequent sniffs).

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• 2007 Masi Campofiorin 79 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Veronese IGT

  Second bottle: Unimpressive nose of mild fruit. In the mouth, medium body, med- acid, low brett. $18

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• 2007 Zenato Ripassa 82 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Ripasso della Valpolicella Superiore

  Medium+ ruby in the glass. Very funky nose of huitlacoche. Not much fruit. Med tannins. Med+ body, med alcohol. nice. $32

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• 2007 Allegrini Palazzo della Torre Veronese IGT 85 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Veronese IGT

  Med+ ruby in the glass. Med intensity nose of dark raisiny fruit. Ripe. Palate: rich, ripe, and delicious, with med+ body, med+ alcohol, med+ acid, and a firm grippy med+ tannins. $20

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• 2003 Santi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 82 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

  med- garnet in the glass. Weird nutty stemmy nose, not much here. Oxidative-ish. Palate: ripe, rich, med+ body, med+ alcohol, med+ acid. $50

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Overall I wasn't too impressed with the concentration/extraction achieved by the ripasso technique. As far as my palate was concerned, these were still within Old-World levels of ripeness, concentration, alcohol, and acidity. There were several reds where I found myself unimpressed with the acidity, which I'd thought would be preserved and even enhanced by ripasso. There was a lot of pleasant dust and raisiny flavors on the nose, which might be associated with the ripasso technique, but I'd be hard-pressed to pick it out in future blind tastings. I guess I need more experience with ripasso. Overall the show-stealer was the $14 Zenato Valpolicella that succeeded mainly on the basis of an arresting, attention-getting, but classic nose, with a well-balanced palate to back it up.