Italian Wine Primer
Rainbow Room, NYC
Tasted January 22, 2005 by 97mjr with 2,124 views
Introduction
"Ancient Greeks called Italy Oenotria, the land of wine. And in the last decade, the Italian wine industry has been living up to this title. Better winemaking has since resulted in wines that impress, from indigenous grapes to experiments with international varieties. Alessandro Lunardi teaches this course that covers geography, history, grape varieties, understanding labels, and explains in detail each wine region. Prosciutto di San Daniele and regional, artisanal formaggi freshly flown in from Italy will be served to accompany the wines"
Alessandro began with an informative lecture on the history of Italian wine. Followed by tasting of whites then reds.
Flight 1 - Whites (4 notes)
White
2002 Bastianich Friulano Plus
Italy, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Venezia Giulia IGT
($20) Deep yellow. Fruit mostly concord grapes, vanilla on the nose; apple, butter, spice, a little syrupy. Not for me.
Flight 2 - Reds (14 notes)
Red
2000 Gaja Barbaresco
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
($150) Rudy red in color, tinges of orange at margins. Big aroma. On the palate, ripe black fruit, methonal, high tannins, nice balance, superconcentrated; still very young, but enjoyable.
Red
1999 Bruno Giacosa Barolo
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
($80) deep cranberry color. Leather (wet) , orange on the nose, on the palate dark fruit, vanilla; initally had an acetone flavor but it dissappeared as the wine softed significantly over the 2 hrs. With 2-3 hrs decanting offered more pleasure than I expected despite its youth and traditional style.
Red
2001 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia
Italy, Tuscany, Bolgheri, Bolgheri Superiore
($150) Deep purple color. Cabernet Franc dominant on the nose with peppers, leather, minimal fruit. Concentrated Bordeaux Blend, though obvious international influence. On the palate intense tannins, chocolate, dark fruit. Very young, but enjoyable nevertheless
Red
2001 Arnaldo-Caprai Montefalco Sagrantino 25 Anni
Italy, Umbria, Montefalco, Montefalco Sagrantino
($125) Grape color. On the nose leather and sweet fruit. Intense dark fruit/blackberry, mocca, overwhelming tannins with red fruit finish. Infanticide, but great.
Red
2001 Feudi di San Gregorio Irpinia Serpico
Italy, Campania, Irpinia
($40) almost black color c purple margins. Jammy nose. On the palate massive, lush dark fruit (blackberry, black cherry); bright red fruit on the finish. Wish I had a few.
Closing
Great tasting. Great wine selection. The meats and dessert were an added bonus.
Alessandro Lunardi undertook the monuental task of covering Italian wine in 2.5 hours. The course ran over by about an hour, but there was 1' of snow outside so there was no were to be.
To appreciate each selection as well as all of the food was a little overwhelming. By the end I was exhausted. To fully a appreciate all of the great wine as well as the cheeses, meats, and deserts was too much for my amateur palate. But no pain . . .
The best of the reds included: the 25th Anni, Serpico, Gaja, Ornellaia, Montesodi, and Allegrini Amarone; the Pinot Grigio was the best of the whites.
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