Community Tasting Notes 11

• acyso wrote: 70 points

  November 8, 2021 - Pergole Torte lunch (Chicago, IL): I sat next to the importer/distributor, who said that this bottle was what it was supposed to be, so I'm going to take that as truth. It's certainly not the sort of wine I'm used to. Extremely oxidative, with notes of pickled mustard seeds, butterscotch, and a whole boatload of volatility and other odd chemical notes. Most at the table liked this more than I did (which, to be fair, isn't really much of a statement). Certainly interesting; I didn't know you could make grapes produce the flavours I experienced today.

  Comment

• forceberry wrote: 84 points

  August 7, 2021 - Based on the vintage 2011. Made from Carricante, Cataratto, Coda di Volpe and Grecanico Dorato – a variety better known as Garganega. 13,5% alcohol. Tasted blind.
  
  Dark and murky yellow color with a somewhat brownish hue. Ridiculously volatile nose with heady aromas of nail polish and ether followed by funky notes of bruised apple, some nutty tones, a little bit of licorice root and light bretty notes of leather. Really wild stuff, obviously. The wine is dry, wild and funky on the palate with a medium body and very volatile flavors of ether, ripe citrus fruits, some nail polish, light bruised apple tones, a little bit of phenolic bitterness, a hint of oxidative nuttiness and a touch of herbal spice. The wine is high in acidity with moderately grippy medium tannins. The finish is quite long, moderately bitter and somewhat tannic with a slightly unclean aftertaste of apple peel bitterness, ethery VA, some pithy grapefruit, light nutty notes of chopped almonds, light bruised apple tones, a hint of stony minerality and a touch of herbal greenness.
  
  A heavily volatile orange wine where the elevated levels of VA and borderline unclean funky tones render the wine too natty for pleasure. Furthermore, the wine seems to be already past its peak with its bruised apple tones and nutty characteristics. Tasting this blind, it was quite easy to identify it as an orange wine (and not, say evolved white wine) from the moderately pronounced tannins, but that was about it - any sense of place was completely hidden away by the heavily volatile notes. Since natural wines are always quite variable, it might be that we just had a bad bottle that had been kept in too high temperatures for too long, but it might be that this vintage is already getting past its peak. Not completely shot yet, but this is getting so evolved that I wouldn't hold on to any bottles any longer. Decanting heartily recommended due to the ample sediment in the bottle. Not worth the 30€ anymore.

  Comment

• Tony Ling Likes this wine: 94 points

  August 22, 2018 - Frank Cornelissen Wine Lunch (LE JARDIN de Joël Robuchon, Hong Kong): 2011 vintage. PNP into Zalto Burgundy glass (“Fruit” day): Deep copper orange with lots of deposits.
  
  Very aromatic with ripe apricots, an assortment of yellow fruits and fresh herbs. Quite a deep nose.
  
  Petillance on palate. Highly acidic with great deal of minerality too. Very silky, weightless tannins. The finish is a little tight in a good way.
  
  Great stuff but can probably use more time in cellar. 93-94 points.
  
  Towards the end of the bottles with large amount of deposits: more peppery notes but not confusing the nose. Very good this is and retain at 93-94 points.

  Comment

• LW31 wrote:

  June 10, 2016 - Striking orange color. Painfully high VA on first opening but after decanting and about 30 min it blew off and an intense wine emerged. Citrus, nutty, wild herbs, a whole range of flavors. The acid remains just a bit too high to really get the whole wine, but a cool experience. Definitely not a wine for most people, but interesting to several of us at the table.

  Comment

• eschwet wrote:

  October 19, 2015 - This wine would scream flaw in any reasonable sense. My wife refuses to drink it. I'm trying, but man.....and I consider myself geeky when it comes to wine. With the natural background perhaps I've held on to it too long.
  
  visually orange with floating suspended yeast (I assume) Cloudy barely begins to describe it
  nose that I can't place at all. I come up with orange, probably because of the color. Floral aspects as well, but more muted...
  palate is weird and I can barely do better than that. Some sherry/nutty flavor that I would consider a flaw typically. Nice acidity with lemon overtones. I would buy the description of a fermented apple cider without carbonation, maybe, I guess.....
  
  Crazy wine....

  Comment

Pro Reviews 0

• No pro reviews found.

Wine Definition

• Vintage N.V.
• Type Orange
• Producer Frank Cornelissen
• Varietal White Blend
• Designation MunJebel Bianco 8
• Vineyard n/a
• Country Italy
• Region Sicily
• SubRegion n/a
• Appellation Sicilia

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 0 (0%)
• In Cellars 17 (33%)
• Consumed 35 (67%)

Food Pairing

Who Likes This Wine

More About This Wine