VinItaly U.S. Tour (105 wines tasted)

Bently Reserve Bldg, San Francisco, California
Tasted Wednesday, October 21, 2009 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 1,896 views

Introduction

This was an educational trade tasting, and an opportunity to sample more Proseccos and Italian Verdicchios and Grillos than I've ever tried before in one place. From the same organization that organizes the massive five-day VinItaly tastings in Italy that include over 4,000 wines, this travel "snapshot" of one or more regions of Italy came to Chicago and San Francisco in the U.S. this year, and about a dozen other major world cities. I tasted 105 wines, or about 3/4's of what was poured.

I did gain an appreciation for the wide variety of Proseccos and Spumantes out there, including those from varietals and blends that I didn't know existed (e.g., Spumantes made from Kerner, Viognier, and even Cabernet). We tasted some Verdicchios, especially from the Marche, that were quite good. Besides the Marche, there was a focus on Sicily, including a morning tasting seminar with some representative wines. I also tasted a few very good sweet wines. On the whole, though, eight hours of tastings, including four hours of seminars and a four-hour walk around "grandtasting" made for a pretty exhausting day. It also seemed trickier than usual to get the various representatives to identify the vintages of what they were pouring, or the varietals involved, as though those weren't important questions. And there were lots of mediocre wines poured, including a number of disappointing Nero d'Avolas (a varietal I happen to very much like, when done well) and lackluster Amarones.

My very top wines of the tasting, with scores of 93 or more, were three: the delicious '06 Abraxas Passito di Pantelleria, the '07 Donnafugata Passito di Pantelleria Ben Rye, and the very impressive '07 Vicari Lacrima di Morro d'Alba del Pozzo Buono (which generated a lot of buzz during the grand tasting). My top Prosecco was the NV La Riva dei Frati Spumanate Extra Dry, my favorite Verdicchio was Bucci's Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Riserva, and the best Grillo was Colomba Bianca's '08 Baronia Lampiasi.

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Flight 1 - Abraxas (3 Notes)

Flight 2 - Arceno (5 Notes)

Flight 3 - Avide (6 Notes)

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Flight 4 - Birgi (6 Notes)

Flight 5 - Bucci (1 Note)

Flight 6 - Canicatti (1 Note)

Flight 7 - Carlina (5 Notes)

Flight 8 - Carpenè Malvolti (5 Notes)

Flight 9 - Colomba Bianca (2 Notes)

Flight 10 - Corbera Vini (6 Notes)

Flight 11 - Don Tomasi (3 Notes)

Flight 12 - Donnafugata (5 Notes)

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Flight 13 - Fina (1 Note)

Flight 14 - Gurgò (1 Note)

Flight 15 - Impero (1 Note)

Flight 16 - Le Terrazze (1 Note)

Flight 17 - Lungarotti (3 Notes)

Flight 18 - Madonnina del Chiaro (4 Notes)

Flight 19 - Martellozzo (2 Notes)

Flight 20 - Masi (2 Notes)

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Flight 21 - Montecappone (4 Notes)

Flight 22 - Paolini (4 Notes)

Flight 23 - Piantate Lunghe (1 Note)

Flight 24 - Pio Cesare (1 Note)

  • 2005 Pio Cesare Barbaresco 91 Points

    Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco

    Nice cherry, roses, dried cherries nose; tasty, dried cherry, tart cherry, mineral, charcoal palate with sweet tannins; medium finish 91+ pts.

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Flight 25 - La Riva dei Frati (4 Notes)

Flight 26 - Rivera (3 Notes)

Flight 27 - Rocca di Montemassi (1 Note)

Flight 28 - San Lorenzo di Crognaletti (1 Note)

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Flight 29 - Silvano Strologo (1 Note)

Flight 30 - Terre Magre (5 Notes)

Flight 31 - Tonnino (4 Notes)

Flight 32 - Trionfo (2 Notes)

Flight 33 - Umani Ronchi (3 Notes)

Flight 34 - Valdo (3 Notes)

Flight 35 - Vicari (1 Note)

Flight 36 - Villa Vinea (2 Notes)

Flight 37 - Zonin (2 Notes)

Closing

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