Easter lunch, no TN, from memory. Golden color, not too deep, clear and still looks young. Dried hay, herbal and yeasty notes. A wonderful mix of freshness and lightness and deep minerality. Wonderful.
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Nose of tropical fruits, notably pineapple and with a strong herbaceous side.
On the palate, the juice has great maturity, with aromas of exotic fruits then a beautiful minerality and freshly cut herbs which return in the second part of the palate. Creamy texture, the acidity appears sufficient for the wine to stand the test of time even if we are not on a model of straightness given the richness that the wine displays. Beautiful finish, oscillating between wet stone and soft herbs, over a good length.
Very good white wine, very consistent.
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100% organically farmed Bombino Bianco (more likely a local synonym for Trebbiano Abruzzese than Bombino Bianco the variety). The wine is made from approx. 5-10% of the best grapes harvested, the rest is sold off as bulk. Fermented spontaneously and aged in old oak casks. Spontaneous MLF. Bottled unfined, unfiltered and without any SO2. 12% alcohol. Tasted in a Valentini Trebbiano 2014-1999 vertical.
Deep, intense and still relatively youthful yellow-green color. The nose feels slightly more restrained compared to the younger Valentinis tasted alongside with a quite healthy dose of bretty funk and more restrained mineral nuances. There are aromas of almost lambic-like leathery funk and phenolic spice along with aromas of hay, some crunchy green apple, a little bit of evolved honeyed richness, light mineral notes of wet rocks and salty sea air, a hint of something vaguely meaty or gamey and a touch of zesty citrus fruits. The wine feels remarkably concentrated, powerful and rather oily on the palate with a quite full body and bold, bone-dry flavors of cool stony minerality, tart notes of green apples and zesty grapefruit, some saline mineral notes, a little bit of apple peel bitterness, light smoky nuances of phenolic spice, a funky hint of bretty leather and a touch of hay. The rather high acidity lends great sense of balance and intensity to the overall feel. The finish is long, dry and powerful with complex, slightly evolved flavors of stony minerality and smoky phenolic spice, some lemony citrus fruits, a little bit of herbal bitterness, light tart notes of Granny Smith apple, a hint of tangy salinity and an evolved touch of honeyed richness.
A very powerful, ripe and opulent vintage of Valentini's Trebbiano - but here ripeness doesn't really translate to sweetness of the fruit, as the wine is as bone-dry as any vintage of Valentini. No, instead here the ripeness means the acidity might be a tad lower than is typical of the label, but at the same time the wine shows even more power, concentration and dry extract than it normally does (and Valentini Trebbiano is typically a very powerful white with lots of dry extract). The wine really does have some tactile presence and even if the wine never once feels particularly heavy, the mouthfeel does have some viscosity one might normally associate with bold and extracted red wines rather than white wines. Yet the wine is all about freshness, precision and minerality. Although still a mere youngster, this vintage is noticeably more approachable compared to the very lean, incisive and tightly-knit 2010 vintage that was tasted alongside. While I expect both wines to age wonderfully for at least another decade or two, I'd say this 2009 vintage will reach its apogee sooner. A terrific wine that is immensely impressive already now and in all likelihood will continue to improve years and years more.
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The mouth has an attack on wet stone before the juice settles serenely on aromas of exotic fruits and very marked anise. The acidity may seem low but the balance is not threatened. Saline finish where we find freshness over a good length.
A very good white wine, quite atypical for those who love straight-up Chardonnays.
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Pnp. My first bottle of the 2009. Terrific juice. Gorgeous golden yellow hue with rich and elegant bouquet. Perfectly balanced palate, endowed with great focus, finesse and complexity that kept evolving with each sip and finished with lasting elegance. I expect this to age beautifully over the decade or two. A wine with soul!
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Tasted in Sensory glass made by Roberto Conterno (of Giacomo Conterno) in collaboration with Schott Zwiesel 1872.
Oh my, this is one of the older Trebbiano's by Valentini that I have tasted. Personally have more experience with vintages >2010, but it truly does benefit from extensive bottle age. I am going to bury the 2014's and 2015's I still have. This was a great wine on the terrace this afternoon, really having the telltale Valentini Trebbiano nose, weight and overall balance throughout the entire bottle! Textural complexity.
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bright golden yellow, super precise on the nose, very Marsanne-like, plenty of honey, wax, ripe yellow apple (med intensity). Good weight on the palate, complex, almost some tannins. Very good wine and perfect with fatty fish (we had this with scallops, beautiful). Developping, is it going to get much better? Not sure but there is no urgency.
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somewhat disappointing, nose was nice, with mildly mature notes, but very shy, didn't evolve much over 2-3 hours, the palate was very shallow and under-delivered compared to the nose, lack of acidity leaves me scratching my head on how many years this vintage can go on without rolling off the cliff. Given the price of these wines, I was not impressed at all
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Blind. A smoky/animal note that I first though was Sulphur, but it did not blow off. Modest acidity, yellow fruits, slightly tropical, but first of all musky, interesting. Developed with air. After some fumbling I did at least get the region right.
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Quite disappointed with this bottle: not much aroma, a hint of lemony citrus, but not much going on -- Neither richness nor succulence, but remarkably thin and wan. Not bad, just not exciting.
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Decided to try this, even though most advice is to allow further development. On opening, smelly--but dissipated quickly. First night, it was quite soft and floral, without much structure. Second night it had found focus and the citrusy elements came through. On the third night it was still drinking well. It will take some discipline to not drink through my modest collection, but gonna try to give the next bottle a few more years.
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Initially hampered by a musty cellar note of wet cloth which subsequently went away. A full-bodied wine with peach, citrus, minerality. May have been an off bottle.
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Gambero Rosso 2012 (Metropolitan Pavilion): The nose of the Valentini Trebbiano was rich yet fresh with fragrant white floral notes, minerals, a hint of wood and undergrowth. On the palate, it was focused and rich with pit fruits and citrus notes filling the senses and leading to a clean and fresh finish.
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3/31/2024 - gilrbo Likes this wine:
Easter lunch, no TN, from memory. Golden color, not too deep, clear and still looks young. Dried hay, herbal and yeasty notes. A wonderful mix of freshness and lightness and deep minerality. Wonderful.
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2/2/2024 - Benoit Hardy Likes this wine: 93 Points
Bottle drunk for the first time in 2022.
Nose of tropical fruits, notably pineapple and with a strong herbaceous side.
On the palate, the juice has great maturity, with aromas of exotic fruits then a beautiful minerality and freshly cut herbs which return in the second part of the palate. Creamy texture, the acidity appears sufficient for the wine to stand the test of time even if we are not on a model of straightness given the richness that the wine displays. Beautiful finish, oscillating between wet stone and soft herbs, over a good length.
Very good white wine, very consistent.
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6/29/2022 - forceberry wrote: 94 Points
100% organically farmed Bombino Bianco (more likely a local synonym for Trebbiano Abruzzese than Bombino Bianco the variety). The wine is made from approx. 5-10% of the best grapes harvested, the rest is sold off as bulk. Fermented spontaneously and aged in old oak casks. Spontaneous MLF. Bottled unfined, unfiltered and without any SO2. 12% alcohol. Tasted in a Valentini Trebbiano 2014-1999 vertical.
Deep, intense and still relatively youthful yellow-green color. The nose feels slightly more restrained compared to the younger Valentinis tasted alongside with a quite healthy dose of bretty funk and more restrained mineral nuances. There are aromas of almost lambic-like leathery funk and phenolic spice along with aromas of hay, some crunchy green apple, a little bit of evolved honeyed richness, light mineral notes of wet rocks and salty sea air, a hint of something vaguely meaty or gamey and a touch of zesty citrus fruits. The wine feels remarkably concentrated, powerful and rather oily on the palate with a quite full body and bold, bone-dry flavors of cool stony minerality, tart notes of green apples and zesty grapefruit, some saline mineral notes, a little bit of apple peel bitterness, light smoky nuances of phenolic spice, a funky hint of bretty leather and a touch of hay. The rather high acidity lends great sense of balance and intensity to the overall feel. The finish is long, dry and powerful with complex, slightly evolved flavors of stony minerality and smoky phenolic spice, some lemony citrus fruits, a little bit of herbal bitterness, light tart notes of Granny Smith apple, a hint of tangy salinity and an evolved touch of honeyed richness.
A very powerful, ripe and opulent vintage of Valentini's Trebbiano - but here ripeness doesn't really translate to sweetness of the fruit, as the wine is as bone-dry as any vintage of Valentini. No, instead here the ripeness means the acidity might be a tad lower than is typical of the label, but at the same time the wine shows even more power, concentration and dry extract than it normally does (and Valentini Trebbiano is typically a very powerful white with lots of dry extract). The wine really does have some tactile presence and even if the wine never once feels particularly heavy, the mouthfeel does have some viscosity one might normally associate with bold and extracted red wines rather than white wines. Yet the wine is all about freshness, precision and minerality. Although still a mere youngster, this vintage is noticeably more approachable compared to the very lean, incisive and tightly-knit 2010 vintage that was tasted alongside. While I expect both wines to age wonderfully for at least another decade or two, I'd say this 2009 vintage will reach its apogee sooner. A terrific wine that is immensely impressive already now and in all likelihood will continue to improve years and years more.
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4/17/2022 - Benoit Hardy Likes this wine: 93 Points
Nose on exotic fruits such as pineapple or mango.
The mouth has an attack on wet stone before the juice settles serenely on aromas of exotic fruits and very marked anise. The acidity may seem low but the balance is not threatened. Saline finish where we find freshness over a good length.
A very good white wine, quite atypical for those who love straight-up Chardonnays.
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5/24/2021 - hprphf wrote: 92 Points
Quite delicious, bare and open, can pass of as a grassy Burgundy. 92
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12/26/2020 - janberger Likes this wine: 93 Points
Stunning wine. It is very much it's own master. Definitely an orange wine, dried fruits, oranges, very nice acidity and balance.
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9/18/2020 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
Pnp. My first bottle of the 2009. Terrific juice. Gorgeous golden yellow hue with rich and elegant bouquet. Perfectly balanced palate, endowed with great focus, finesse and complexity that kept evolving with each sip and finished with lasting elegance. I expect this to age beautifully over the decade or two. A wine with soul!
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6/9/2020 - Barry Rothof wrote: 93 Points
Lunch @ Vineum || This is elegant, focused and textured with fresh, stylish lemon, lime and savoury citrus. Long, young and exciting!
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6/2/2020 - dvansteenderen Likes this wine: 93 Points
Small tasting glass @ VINEUM during service.
Tasted in Sensory glass made by Roberto Conterno (of Giacomo Conterno) in collaboration with Schott Zwiesel 1872.
Oh my, this is one of the older Trebbiano's by Valentini that I have tasted. Personally have more experience with vintages >2010, but it truly does benefit from extensive bottle age. I am going to bury the 2014's and 2015's I still have. This was a great wine on the terrace this afternoon, really having the telltale Valentini Trebbiano nose, weight and overall balance throughout the entire bottle! Textural complexity.
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11/24/2019 - bigop Likes this wine: 92 Points
bright golden yellow, super precise on the nose, very Marsanne-like, plenty of honey, wax, ripe yellow apple (med intensity).
Good weight on the palate, complex, almost some tannins. Very good wine and perfect with fatty fish (we had this with scallops, beautiful).
Developping, is it going to get much better? Not sure but there is no urgency.
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2/2/2019 - axisx Likes this wine: 93 Points
dont judge this as a regular white. At less than 13 abv it is nuanced, elegant and full bodied, so savory and appetizing
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1/1/2019 - sburtt Likes this wine: 89 Points
somewhat disappointing, nose was nice, with mildly mature notes, but very shy, didn't evolve much over 2-3 hours, the palate was very shallow and under-delivered compared to the nose, lack of acidity leaves me scratching my head on how many years this vintage can go on without rolling off the cliff. Given the price of these wines, I was not impressed at all
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4/23/2017 - AudunG wrote: 89 Points
A bit cloudy appearance. Exiting and floral aromas. Full bodied and more sweet fruit than in the 2008.
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8/29/2016 - LWI wrote: 92 Points
Blind. A smoky/animal note that I first though was Sulphur, but it did not blow off. Modest acidity, yellow fruits, slightly tropical, but first of all musky, interesting. Developed with air. After some fumbling I did at least get the region right.
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8/27/2013 - Italiana wrote: 87 Points
Quite disappointed with this bottle: not much aroma, a hint of lemony citrus, but not much going on -- Neither richness nor succulence, but remarkably thin and wan. Not bad, just not exciting.
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6/27/2013 - Italiana wrote: 90 Points
Decided to try this, even though most advice is to allow further development. On opening, smelly--but dissipated quickly. First night, it was quite soft and floral, without much structure. Second night it had found focus and the citrusy elements came through. On the third night it was still drinking well. It will take some discipline to not drink through my modest collection, but gonna try to give the next bottle a few more years.
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11/4/2012 - Rani Likes this wine: 92 Points
Reduction on the nose. Oysters, sea salt. Huge on the palate, fat and quite aggressive. Quite edgy at the moment, needs time.
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8/15/2012 - mwanasheria wrote: 87 Points
Initially hampered by a musty cellar note of wet cloth which subsequently went away. A full-bodied wine with peach, citrus, minerality. May have been an off bottle.
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2/17/2012 - Eric Guido Likes this wine: 92 Points
Gambero Rosso 2012 (Metropolitan Pavilion): The nose of the Valentini Trebbiano was rich yet fresh with fragrant white floral notes, minerals, a hint of wood and undergrowth. On the palate, it was focused and rich with pit fruits and citrus notes filling the senses and leading to a clean and fresh finish.
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