This is a sparkling Ribolla from Friuli. Interesting. Light golden in color. A fair amount of medium to large bubbles. On the nose there are a lot of minerals with some burnt orange peel and also a blood orange note. Very clean. On the palate, this is refreshing with good acidity. Someone said it was dry but to me there is a bit of sweetness especially on the finish. Not lot of depth to it. The blood orange note continues to the palate along with a nice minerality. Nice finish. $20. At that price, it is better than most Proseccos but not all that can be found for $5 bucks left. Very happy to drink it though any time.

Really interesting wine. Light golden in color. The nose has pine, cinnamon, orange peel and smoke. Slightly viscous but dry. On the palate, this is different but good. Orange peel, slight honey and a dried fruit note. Very smooth. Citrus comes out more on the finish. 12.0%. The crowd seemed confused but I really liked this wine. $30.

100% Grecanico (Gargenega). Med gold in color, slight copper. The nose has some green apple, slightly oxidized/nutty and slight char. On the palate, grapefruit rind and slightly nutty. 11.5%. This was added as a bonus and was interesting to compare to the Rami. This seemed more oxidized/less fresh but maybe a bit more complex too.

I love these wines. The first time I tried it was at a bar in Boston (waiting to meet Ron Kramer) and I ordered the 05 not realizing that it was "orange" or Slovenian. It was a pedestrian list with this on it for some reason. I was already a fan of this type of wine, but it blew me away that night. It can be hard to find, so I was excited to hear it was coming to Ohio. Actually, i was told it was the Lunar 9 (Chard), but I prefer this Ribolla Gialla.
This bottle has a ton of sediment in it. The bottle was decanted leaving about a cup of grey/green sludge (more on that later). Medium orange/gold in color. The nose is great. Oranges, slightly nutty, dried fruit, and nutmeg. On the palate, this has some viscosity. Great acidity. Deep and layered with oranges, orange peel, cinnamon, minerals and honey. Really different but so interesting. Very fresh and yet hints of oxidation at the same time. How does that happen?
After having this wine, I thought about the sediment. After all, this sells for $48 and to lose almost a third to sediment is a lot. I tasted it and it was great as well. The nose was virtually the same but perhaps a bit more yeasty (or did I imagine that). The sediment is very fine grained and really not texturally noticeable. It is fresh and vibrant and I am not sure I would decant it. I get why one would. This is such a different and difficult sell when clear, that to serve it that cloudy would take a real wine geek. But that's ok. I would not decant and I would only serve to someone getting their geek on. Fun wine. I bought a couple and looking to see how well it ages.

I brought this from home to add. It can be difficult to find a time to open wines like this and this had sat in my cellar for a long time waiting for the right time. Actually, I had intentionally let it sit to see how these age. IIRC, this is Pignolo. After this vintage, they didn't make it for a while due to frost damage. For some reason I thought this was also before the amphorae era, but the rep said disagreed and thought it was always in amphorae. In any event, we decanted the wine but that wasn't really necessary. There was not a lot of sediment. Golden in color. The nose is really nice; hazelnuts, orange rind, slight honey and minerals. On the palate, this is one of the most complex white wines I have ever had. Just so much going on but so well orchestrated. It doesn't seem to have budged much since I first had it maybe 15 or so years ago. It may have tasted "old" then, it tastes young for 22 now. Orange rind, nutty, and mineral drive with fresh acidity. Long finish. Not sure what the crowd thought, but for me this was gorgeous.

I threw this one in to the mix as well. "Florida" Jim (or is he now Sonoma Jim) does some really interesting things in Sonoma. One of them is this Ribolla Gialla aged on its skins. Probably would show a bit better after some oaky Cal Chard but it held its own. Medium golden in color. The nose has nice citrus and bit of peach. On the palate, the peach carries thru but not boisterous. No real oxidation or nuttiness on this. It seems to lack acidity but I think that is after these very strong acidic wine. Once my palate adjusts, the acidity is just fine. Shows youthful. It was very cool to add this to the tasting IMO to see what California can produce.

Dan said he thought this was similar to Cru Beaujolais and that is spot on. In a good way. Ruby/purple in color. The nose has deep cherries with a bit of smoke. On the palate, bright cherry fruit. Medium tannins. Some depth. Very fresh with good acidity. Nice finish. Needs food I think to be at its best (it is an Italian wine). Wonder how well this ages. $35

I really liked this. Nero D'Avola. Deep ruby in color. The nose has dark cherries, roasted herbs, and slight tobacco notes. On the palate, this has a nice layering already but it still drinks young. Cherries and dark cherries, earth and fresh tobacco. Good acidity. nice finish. 12.5% seems like there is still some upside.

Trocken. After the tasting we had a discussion about Riesling and this got opened. I have been drinking a lot of 2015 Riesling lately so I am a bit spoiled. This is very solid but it just didn't strike me as great last night. Light gold. Steely with minerals on the nose. The palate has "wet rocks" and hints of grapefruit. Dry. Slight depth. For $20, there is some value here though. Its good if not great.

This was opened to finish the evening. From a 375. Another odd, oxidized wine. Light gold/brown in color. The nose is interesting with almonds and alcohol. On the palate, this is dry. Almonds. Slightly bitter. Would make an excellent digestive. I have no idea how to score this. I liked it but have no real context. Perhaps a dry sherry? I believe it is fortified as the alcohol is noticeable. Very cool to try but a little goes a long way.