Terroir-istes International - Italy, Southern Whites

Two tasting centering on Italian Whites. The first from the South and then the second from the north. 5 Flights of Southern Italian whites were then followed by our Christmas Gala dinner with some further wines.

• 2017 Terrazze dell'Etna Terre Siciliane Ciuri 87 Points

  Italy, Sicily, Terre Siciliane

  (Tasted Blind): Light+ lemon colour, the aromas are strawberry and cream, sweet yellow flowers and dry rocks.
  The palate is intense with southern Italy's sweet, warm fruit with crushed roses, strawberry flesh and guava. The acidity is mineral-edged with wet pebbles on the back palate and a medium finish.

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• 2012 Terrazze dell'Etna Terre Siciliane Ciuri 85 Points

  Italy, Sicily, Terre Siciliane

  (Tasted Blind): A mid-lemon to deep straw colour. Marked aromas of honey, terpenes and beeswax suggested a developed wine interspersed with strawberry, flint, and cordite, which suggested otherwise...
  The palate has some evolved notes with a satin, honey-over-stone texture, reminiscent of a Chenin Blanc.
  There is breadth to the mid-palate, good length, and vibrant acidity. Closes with red apple and bitter almond. A little developed.

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• 2014 Pietradolce Etna Archineri Bianco 88 Points

  Italy, Sicily, Etna DOC

  (Tasted Blind): A light straw colour the aromas are mineral notes reminiscent of crushed stone, giving it a distinct rock-like character. Gently perfumed with white flowers, aniseed and cistus, a little Roussillon-like...
  Fairly penetrating entry, the wine is elegant and livelier with a dry stone wall texture and refreshing greengage flavours. The acid is borderline piercing and, together with the mineral quality, gives a lemon pithiness that just about keeps this bone-dry white on track. A long, lingering finish, this has a leanness to it.
  Sourced from 75-year-old vineyards on volcanic soils.

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• 2017 Curatolo Arini Zibibbo Gagliardetta 88 Points

  Italy, Sicily, Sicilia

  (Tasted Blind): A medium lemon to deep colour; the aroma is quite pungent with a fragrant scent of yellow flowers, violet, spun sugar, lychee, paw-paw and orange blossom. I also picked up a positive geranium note, and the nose isn't too far from Gewurztraminer.
  The entry is sherbet lemon, candy floss, strawberry and candied orange with light terpenes (petrol) qualities. It is quite a pure, fresh wine with vibrant acidity and a firm, almost tannic finish to give it structure and a long length.

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• 2014 Curatolo Arini Zibibbo Terre Siciliane Le Case e le Vigne 88 Points

  Italy, Sicily, Terre Siciliane

  (Tasted Blind): A deep lemon white and yellow flowers, lucerne, fynbos, orange peel, crushed mint and lime (reminiscent of a mojito!). Touch of geranium. Unusual, changing. With a suitable depth of flavour, the entry is all about lemon and oranges with a terpene note featuring linalool and geranium characteristics. Very open-knit, the wine has a refreshing zesty acidity, vibrancy, and flavours reflect the nose along with apple and peach pip. It flows along in a simple, unobtrusive way.

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• 2015 Donnafugata Sicilia SurSur 87 Points

  Italy, Sicily, Sicilia

  (Tasted Blind): A light+ lemon colour with sweet fruited aromas of strawberry, stone fruit, leafy herbs and lemon peel.
  The entry has a bracing acidity softened by the sweeter intense fruit. Quite a captivating wine, if fairly simple; the flavours are pineapple, lemon, and peach to give a juicy sappiness, whilst some mineral and smashed rocks give a little sharpness of edgy to the short-ish finish.

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• NV Curatolo Arini Marsala Superiore Riserva Secco 89 Points

  Italy, Sicily, Marsala Superiore

  (Tasted Blind): A distinct orange colour towards a tawny rim indicates some age. Pronounced rancio-style fruit notes, evoking images of orange slices, marinated apricots, toffee, crushed nuts and candied fruit.
  The full-bodied palate has bracing acidity and vibrancy that cut through the flavours. Refreshing with nutty undertones and a salty tang, the wine feels drier than the suspect 30+ g/L RS. Lovely breadth to the mid-palate supported by a warming alcohol presence. Closes with rum and raisin, walnut and a hint of butterscotch.

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• 2017 A Mano Fiano - Greco Puglia IGT 89 Points

  Italy, Puglia, Puglia IGT

  (Tasted Blind): A light yellow lemon colour with lifted aromas of red apple, Asian pear, pine resin/needles, yellow cling peach and pawpaw, all lightly sprinkled with white pepper and thyme.
  A fresh, linear entry, the flavours are direct and intense with candied fruits, honeysuckle, dried peach and a herbal/minty nuance. Whilst there is a candy-floss sweetness, the acid is sour but razor-sharp. With some weight to the mid-palate, I liked the prettiness of the wine, that juiciness with the purity of fruit shining through. The wine closes with a hint of smoke, orange segments, sour worms (candy) and an impression of fynbos, all leading to a bone-dry medium finish.

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• 2018 Masseria Li Veli Verdeca Askos 90 Points

  Italy, Puglia, Salento IGT

  (Tasted Blind): A mid-yellow/straw colour; ripe stone fruits join dried and fresh pear scents.
  A soft and voluptuous palate with a creamy texture with flavours of oranges and ripe peach flesh. Quite deep, the wine is slightly heavy in the mid-palate with its more medium acidity. However, it did have a pithiness on the back palate that helped extend its length over the ripe, pulpy fruit.

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• 2017 Vigneti del Vulture Pipoli Bianco Basilicata IGT 91 Points

  Italy, Basilicata, Basilicata IGT

  (Tasted Blind): A mid-lemon colour, enticing aromas of light herbs, stones, and white pepper with rising strawberry, blackcurrant pastille, pine forest and honeydew melon.
  The palate displays weight and depth, with the ripe fruits filling the mouth with notes of lemon rind, kumquat, Asian pear, mango and pinenuts.
  Thanks to its vibrant acidity, a crunchy freshness lifts the whole wine up and gives a decent length to the finish. Closes with some lemon verbena and blood grapefruit that is distracted towards grassy green, herbaceous notes. Hmm - still an enjoyable wine.
  Blend of Fiano and Greco.

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• 2015 Vesevo Falanghina Beneventano IGT 86 Points

  Italy, Campania, Beneventano IGT

  (Tasted Blind): Refreshing and straightforward, this presents delicate aromas suggesting exotic fruit and a whiff of spring blossom. The bright palate offers banana, green apple, juicy citrus, light mineral notes, and fresh acidity.

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• 2016 Bucci Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Riserva Villa Bucci 87 Points

  Italy, Marche, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico

  (Tasted Blind): A light+ lemon colour. Fairly intense aromas of white pepper, tarragon, chamomile, white pear and stone fruits. A touch of celery stalks adds a slightly vegetal component, and there is a hint of mineral.
  The entry has a fresh, vigorous acidity, and again, the focus is on soft, freshly picked herbs with tarragon angelica joining bitter almond, cling peach and yellow apple.
  A gentle, pithy texture leads to a grippy finish accented by the bitter almonds. Just about enough flesh to coat the wine's more pointed, spindly structure. Reasonably complex, the finish is medium to long. It would have been nicer to have amped up the fruit and slightly toned down the mineral edges.

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• 2014 Bucci Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Riserva Villa Bucci 86 Points

  Italy, Marche, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico

  (Tasted Blind): A mid-yellow to light gold colour. Ripe stone fruits and red apple towards toffee apple intersperse Meyer lemon, mineral, fynbos honey and celery salt.
  A ripe entry with flavours of strawberry emerging, again that bitter almond and cling peach, but this time more flesh and the wine feels more assertive. This is helped on its way with a mineral-edged acidity, a citrus and dry stone quality and brightness that all give a pleasant contrast. Fair finish; there is some age being revealed with the honey, but it hanging in there.

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