Italian-Ish Wine Dinner @ Red Hen

I got together with some friends at the Red Hen in DC for what I hope will be the first of many wine dinners. The food was fantastic and the service top-notch. A few folks brought some bottles and we ordered a few more off the list. The wine list isn't extensive, but I love it: lots of rustic, unique Italian wines at reasonable prices. They also have some Slovenian wines, orange wines and all sorts of oenophile oddities. Great times.

• 2008 Matthiasson Ribolla Gialla 90 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Whoa. An orange-marmalade color in the glass. Aromas of lemon zest, orange peel and some interesting mixed herbs. Tangy as hell on the palate, with intense acid. The creamy orange and white cherry fruit is pure and full, mixed with some funky, herbal tones. What a crazy wine. Fermented in old school fashion: whole clusters, stomped by foot, fermented dry with no yeast, sulfur or additives. Damn. One of the most unique Napa Valley wines out there. A really interesting orange wine.

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• 2010 Miani Chardonnay 93 Points

  Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Friuli Colli Orientali

  My wine of the night, and probably the best Italian Chardonnay I've tasted. Intoxicating aromas of white peach, lemon, candle wax and an herbal kick. Focused on the palate with bracing acid and minerals. Orange peel and limestone flavors mix with a strange but awesome flavor of green olive and soy. Probably not for everyone, but for fans of extremely brisk and mineral-focused Chards, try this and be amazed.

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• 2012 Massican Gemina 92 Points

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  Nose shows white peach, flowers, all sorts of minerals. Creamy but packed with minerals on the palate. The white peach, orange peel and green pear flavors are complex and full of wax and mineral notes. Delicious stuff. Wow. I tasted this alongside the 2010 Miani Chardonnay from Collio (which this producer names as an inspiration) and this was just a hair behind it in quality. A delicious and nervy Napa Valley Chardonnay that falls into a category of its own.

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• 2008 Movia Lunar 8. 90 Points

  Slovenia, Primorska, Goriška Brda

  Nothing like a skin-fermented Ribolla Gialla from Slovenia! Yes, this is a weird wine, but the fruit is high quality and the wine kicks ass. Looks like a combination of grapefruit juice and sandy beach break water. Smells like lemon and orange peel, herbs, some must, funk. Severe acid on the palate, which I love, also some minerals and bright floral tones. To be honest, this wine reminds me a lot of some sour ales I've tried, with its bracing acid and tangy lemon-funk notes. It's not simple though, showing lots wax and creamy aspects. I'd love to try this in a few more years to see what it does. Intellectually stimulating stuff but clearly not for everyone. It paired well with a salt cod dip.

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• 2001 Ca' Rome' di Romano Marengo Barbaresco Maria di Brun 91 Points

  Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

  I like the combination of sour and sweet cherries on the nose, and the notes of grilled herb, broth and mushroom. Ripe and plush on the palate, with silky-smooth tannins and solid acid. Ripe berry fruit but it's mixed in with lots of earth, tobacco and anise flavors. Very well-balanced and pure, this seems to be in an ideal drinking window.

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• 2007 Giuseppe Quintarelli Primofiore Veneto IGT 89 Points

  Italy, Veneto, Veneto IGT

  A blend of Corvina, Corvinone, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Great mix of aromas, sweet violets and raspberry jam, also some bell pepper, coffee and herbs. Juicy and ripe on the palate with zippy acid and plush tannins. Rich, saucy raspberry fruit combines with earth and herbal notes. Drinking very well.

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• 2008 I Vigneri di Salvo Foti Etna Vinupetra 92 Points

  Italy, Sicily, Etna DOC

  From the rocky hills of Etna, this wine brings aromas of earth, smoke, rose petals, olive and fig. Dense and firm on the palate, with hardline tannins and mouthpuckering acid. Some plum fruit, but it's the olive, mineral, charcoal and earth flavors that lead this wine. Not necessarily delicious, but intense and intriguing for sure. I'd love to try this again in a few years. Mostly Nerello Mascalese with some Nerello Cappuccio, Alicante and Francisi.

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