PNP, and decanted at the restaurant. Simply gorgeous deep yellow hue with an intoxicating bouquet and superb balance. Fantastic complexity and balance. Great viscosity a lengthy and elegant finish. Wish I had more. A wine with soul
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Tasted blind. Complex nose with notes of orchard fruit, white flowers, and maybe a hint of melon and citrus. Good acidity with nectarine and lime on the palate with excellent weight, without being overly rich. Great length. This was improving with air and felt incredibly young. Wow! Proud to say that I actually called Valentini Trebbiano, but thought it was 10 years or more younger...
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Steve P's btl and he has almost a case more! Same btl as R&Rler. At my table and a stunning well aged Italian white. Rarely, have I tasted a white from Italy that makes the impression this does. It has absurd depth, crunch fresh zip combines with some back end waxy roundness. Sterling minerality combined with orange zest, lemon, grapefruit and spice. I'll happily help Steve remedy his overstock of this wine! Warning, Steve this btl needed a ton of air at home before it was a pleasant and intriguing drink. He said it started out very funky. By the time I was drinking it, it was truly great aged white wine with a clean nose and palate.
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Annual Tasting Group Holiday Party (I Nonni, St. Paul, MN): Small taste. Wow, this was brilliant. Lopez like, lacquer, oraange zest, honey, with a potpourri of garden flowers, earthy, ocean shells, Meyer lemon, full bodied, good acid. Totally engaging. Loved it.
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Superb wine. Bottle was in perfect shape (cork damp about halfway). So beautifully complex, energetic, fabulously long. Nutty, wild herbs, glyceral texture. Probably greatest aged Italian white I’ve had. Good bottles should hold for years to come but certainly was ready to go now.
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Bottle and fill good, cork was soaked and might not have held out much longer. Bright and slightly cloudy, just a hint of gold - always a special wine and its own entity, so much depth - preserved lemon, sea breeze, honey, herbs; a full bodied mouth feel, but somehow dry and slightly bitter on the finish. A singular and regal white
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PNP at the restaurant. This wine is soaring right now and drinking at its peak. Pure balanced and focused fruit on a slightly viscous and focused palate. Simply round and delicious mouth feel with a lengthy, elegant finish. A wine with soul!
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Monthly Tasting Group: Whites at Monello (Monello, Mpls, MN): Light medium gold color. Drank 1 glass over 30 minutes. The bottle was in good shape, but I didn;t take much for notes. I liked it, it had the same earthiness that the '09 had the other day. A little of that oily, round texture, bees wax and lemon that was attractive as well.
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Wines Tasted at HDH Auction (Tru - Chicago IL): Don't recall ever having this wine before, but it was both fun and interesting. An intriguing start of shortbread and apple with a nice hint of fizz. Bright with lots of energy that combines well with the wine's innate richness to give it an elegant character. Thanks Jen and Phil.
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Intoxicatingly open sweet fruit nose with dried lemon, slight funk and a load of florality (common yarrow), resin and even menthol. Dry and round mid-weight palate with juicy acidity. Good concentration, but contrary to the sweetish expectations the palate just isn't about fruit. Very different vintage/bottle. Maybe botrytis? Lovely stuff.
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I was worried that it'd be rounder and flabbier but it really surprised me. Its richness was part weight/part flavor with some butterscotch, cinnamon and nuttiness that was complemented by a great stony and lemon element.
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Fabulous juice. Still very youthful with many years ahead of it. A fully round wine that is simply delicious. Pure and balanced with a 30 second finish. Over 90 minutes the wine just kept evolving and delighting the palate.
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Inizialmente poco piacevole al naso, sporco e muto con solo un po' di fieno. La bocca comunque è acida e ben strutturata. Poi comincia una lenta ed inesorabile progressione, toccando fiori bianchi, cioccolato, zenzero e chi più ne ha più ne metta
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Truly a different wine -- white or red -- which we shared at one of my favorite Italian restaurants in Greenwich, Ct, POLPO. A little fizz on the nose when first opened, which hangs around for about 30-min, and then it starts to fill out. The age is taking its toll: I think the wine is getting a little flabby, but I still love it.
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Leaking bottle. Sweat and lemonade nose. Good chalk and mineral elements. While still bright, an off-putting over-the-hill chemical element gets worse with time and makes me wonder whether this is representative. Enjoyable.
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Tasting Group Dinner - The Other Italy (Il Vesco Vino, St. Paul): Medium gold color. This smelled EXCATLY like a red Burgundy -- earth, forest floor, dark fruit, minerals, and a hint of smoke. Seriously, if I had been blindfolded, I would not have guessed that this was a white wine! On the palate, more earthy flavors, minerals, smoke, and a bit of honey. Nice weight and supporting acidity. This started tasting less like a red wine the more it opened up. Very interesting and quite delicious.
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Minneapolis Tastes the Other Italy: The color is pale yellow and the wine is extremely cloudy. The nose is fascinating. Steve thought it smelled like a red Burg, and this gets at the uniqueness here. The nose is very intense and expressive, but hard to describe. I'd need more time and a larger pour to analyze this better. The taste was also somewhat exotic, but I thought excellent. This is a medium weight wine with good acidity. It definitely should be paired with food. The finish was long and satisfying. I would guess this is a polarizing wine, but I thought it was exceptional.
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Astor Wine Fall Tasting of France and Italy: Light lemon color. Explosive, awkward but complex and interesting nose of herb, spice, mushroom, dirt and shellac. On the palate it has a certain prickliness, perhaps a bit less presence but also less awkward. This is a hard one to give a number to, since it is the sort of wine that will likely divide opinions.
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Deceptively light in colour, very pale and slightly cloudy. As another note mentioned, the cork was quite soaked and bloomed upon removal. Complicated nose - resin, salt breeze, nuovo olive oil, cumin in differing proportions and waves. Light on the palate, but incredibly rich and soaking into the tongue. There is fruit, but it is fruit that has gone over to a darker place. Loads of salinity and minerals, fatty brazil nuts and spicy lettuce. Develops slowly and almost randomly over the couple of hours it was open. I was expecting something a little more out there (like a Pepe or Gravner), but this is beautiful stuff with enough personality and class for five wines.
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Brought this to the Ken Vastola barolo tasting at the Tabard as my mystery white. It was a good choice. No one there had tasted Valentini before. Since these are unpredictable wines that have the density and depth of some reds, I decided to decant ahead of time. The cork was weird. Super saturated until about half way up -- it expanded almost like a champagne cork when I opened it. A little bit of particularate in the wine that I decanted out. The nose coming from the decanter was amazing. Full of ground nuts, honey, sea salt, peppery olive oil. My wife was so intrigued she insisted on a taste -- but it just wasn't open. By the time we got to it in the resturant, it was a little too cool. The nose was more muted. But as it warmed, both the nose and mouth came to life. I had it with some fabulous Tabard oysters and it was a great match. The nuttiness, dry minerality, sea salt and pepper were all there in abundance. Lovely example of Valentini's white.
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Dinner at La Zie with the NYC crew (New York, NY): Served very cold, this was fairly mute at first showing some notes of shellac with a slightly nutty edge. The palate was peppery and spicy, not very familiar to me. I figured it was probably some sort of Italian varietal given the theme, and indeed it was. Alas, I did not notice it, but Michel found there to be a faint and growing note of cork in the mid-palate, and Drew kept the leftovers and confirmed that it became extremely corky with time. Darn!
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Nose: Something disturbing along with the fruit, like formic acid. Palate: quite fruity and spicy like an apple pie, tart acidity, but smooth and soft on the finish. There's always something unique, quirky and fascinating about every bottle of Valentini's TdA. How to rate??
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6/17/2023 - vindictive wrote: flawed
Bottle, fill and cork all looked good. Wine was dead - WineBid label on bottle
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10/11/2022 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
PNP, and decanted at the restaurant. Simply gorgeous deep yellow hue with an intoxicating bouquet and superb balance. Fantastic complexity and balance. Great viscosity a lengthy and elegant finish. Wish I had more. A wine with soul
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10/19/2020 - glou.sf Likes this wine: 95 Points
Tasted blind. Complex nose with notes of orchard fruit, white flowers, and maybe a hint of melon and citrus. Good acidity with nectarine and lime on the palate with excellent weight, without being overly rich. Great length. This was improving with air and felt incredibly young. Wow! Proud to say that I actually called Valentini Trebbiano, but thought it was 10 years or more younger...
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4/16/2020 - LoireFan wrote: 94 Points
My white wine of the year so far.
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12/20/2019 - chablis28 wrote: 94 Points
Steve P's btl and he has almost a case more! Same btl as R&Rler. At my table and a stunning well aged Italian white. Rarely, have I tasted a white from Italy that makes the impression this does. It has absurd depth, crunch fresh zip combines with some back end waxy roundness. Sterling minerality combined with orange zest, lemon, grapefruit and spice. I'll happily help Steve remedy his overstock of this wine! Warning, Steve this btl needed a ton of air at home before it was a pleasant and intriguing drink. He said it started out very funky. By the time I was drinking it, it was truly great aged white wine with a clean nose and palate.
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12/20/2019 - rocknroller wrote: 94 Points
Annual Tasting Group Holiday Party (I Nonni, St. Paul, MN): Small taste. Wow, this was brilliant. Lopez like, lacquer, oraange zest, honey, with a potpourri of garden flowers, earthy, ocean shells, Meyer lemon, full bodied, good acid. Totally engaging. Loved it.
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11/11/2018 - vindictive wrote:
superb and singular
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9/24/2018 - LW31 Likes this wine:
Superb wine. Bottle was in perfect shape (cork damp about halfway). So beautifully complex, energetic, fabulously long. Nutty, wild herbs, glyceral texture. Probably greatest aged Italian white I’ve had. Good bottles should hold for years to come but certainly was ready to go now.
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7/24/2018 - vindictive wrote:
Bottle and fill good, cork was soaked and might not have held out much longer. Bright and slightly cloudy, just a hint of gold - always a special wine and its own entity, so much depth - preserved lemon, sea breeze, honey, herbs; a full bodied mouth feel, but somehow dry and slightly bitter on the finish. A singular and regal white
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7/8/2018 - rocknroller wrote:
Monthly Tasting Group: Interesting Whites (ABC) at Heirloom (Heirloom, St.Paul, MN): Literally had one sip of this. It didn't necessarily make me want to take another. This seemed to be rather bitter and sharp. My impression was not as favorable as last time. I didn't catch any others thoughts on it.
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6/8/2017 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
PNP. Took about 20 minutes to open and then it simply soared from the glass. Fabulous, depth, complexity and balance. A wine with soul!
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1/7/2017 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
PNP at the restaurant. This wine is soaring right now and drinking at its peak. Pure balanced and focused fruit on a slightly viscous and focused palate. Simply round and delicious mouth feel with a lengthy, elegant finish. A wine with soul!
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6/26/2016 - rocknroller wrote: 92 Points
Monthly Tasting Group: Whites at Monello (Monello, Mpls, MN): Light medium gold color. Drank 1 glass over 30 minutes. The bottle was in good shape, but I didn;t take much for notes. I liked it, it had the same earthiness that the '09 had the other day. A little of that oily, round texture, bees wax and lemon that was attractive as well.
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2/6/2016 - Herb K wrote:
Love sharing this interesting and declisious wine with others, who usually are not familiar with the grape or this style. And it ages so beautifully.
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9/20/2014 - Burgundy Al wrote: 91 Points
Wines Tasted at HDH Auction (Tru - Chicago IL): Don't recall ever having this wine before, but it was both fun and interesting. An intriguing start of shortbread and apple with a nice hint of fizz. Bright with lots of energy that combines well with the wine's innate richness to give it an elegant character. Thanks Jen and Phil.
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8/7/2013 - Lype Likes this wine: 91 Points
No formal notes, attractive oxidised style, apple on the nose, sweet mouthfeel.
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8/7/2013 - avp wrote:
Intoxicatingly open sweet fruit nose with dried lemon, slight funk and a load of florality (common yarrow), resin and even menthol.
Dry and round mid-weight palate with juicy acidity. Good concentration, but contrary to the sweetish expectations the palate just isn't about fruit.
Very different vintage/bottle. Maybe botrytis? Lovely stuff.
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5/28/2011 - bg2167 wrote: 90 Points
I was worried that it'd be rounder and flabbier but it really surprised me. Its richness was part weight/part flavor with some butterscotch, cinnamon and nuttiness that was complemented by a great stony and lemon element.
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12/22/2010 - cardsandwine Likes this wine:
Fabulous juice. Still very youthful with many years ahead of it. A fully round wine that is simply delicious. Pure and balanced with a 30 second finish. Over 90 minutes the wine just kept evolving and delighting the palate.
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5/7/2010 - Jossik wrote: 92 Points
Inizialmente poco piacevole al naso, sporco e muto con solo un po' di fieno. La bocca comunque è acida e ben strutturata. Poi comincia una lenta ed inesorabile progressione, toccando fiori bianchi, cioccolato, zenzero e chi più ne ha più ne metta
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6/6/2008 - Herb K wrote:
Truly a different wine -- white or red -- which we shared at one of my favorite Italian restaurants in Greenwich, Ct, POLPO. A little fizz on the nose when first opened, which hangs around for about 30-min, and then it starts to fill out. The age is taking its toll: I think the wine is getting a little flabby, but I still love it.
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8/12/2007 - psmith wrote:
Leaking bottle. Sweat and lemonade nose. Good chalk and mineral elements. While still bright, an off-putting over-the-hill chemical element gets worse with time and makes me wonder whether this is representative. Enjoyable.
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6/24/2007 - Siggy wrote: 92 Points
Tasting Group Dinner - The Other Italy (Il Vesco Vino, St. Paul): Medium gold color. This smelled EXCATLY like a red Burgundy -- earth, forest floor, dark fruit, minerals, and a hint of smoke. Seriously, if I had been blindfolded, I would not have guessed that this was a white wine! On the palate, more earthy flavors, minerals, smoke, and a bit of honey. Nice weight and supporting acidity. This started tasting less like a red wine the more it opened up. Very interesting and quite delicious.
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6/24/2007 - Dave Dalluge wrote: 93 Points
Minneapolis Tastes the Other Italy: The color is pale yellow and the wine is extremely cloudy. The nose is fascinating. Steve thought it smelled like a red Burg, and this gets at the uniqueness here. The nose is very intense and expressive, but hard to describe. I'd need more time and a larger pour to analyze this better. The taste was also somewhat exotic, but I thought excellent. This is a medium weight wine with good acidity. It definitely should be paired with food. The finish was long and satisfying. I would guess this is a polarizing wine, but I thought it was exceptional.
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9/28/2006 - dougsmith wrote: 91 Points
Astor Wine Fall Tasting of France and Italy: Light lemon color. Explosive, awkward but complex and interesting nose of herb, spice, mushroom, dirt and shellac. On the palate it has a certain prickliness, perhaps a bit less presence but also less awkward. This is a hard one to give a number to, since it is the sort of wine that will likely divide opinions.
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9/8/2006 - 14frimaire wrote:
I don't get it. Nice, but not special.
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1/10/2006 - AndrewSGHall wrote:
Deceptively light in colour, very pale and slightly cloudy. As another note mentioned, the cork was quite soaked and bloomed upon removal. Complicated nose - resin, salt breeze, nuovo olive oil, cumin in differing proportions and waves. Light on the palate, but incredibly rich and soaking into the tongue. There is fruit, but it is fruit that has gone over to a darker place. Loads of salinity and minerals, fatty brazil nuts and spicy lettuce. Develops slowly and almost randomly over the couple of hours it was open. I was expecting something a little more out there (like a Pepe or Gravner), but this is beautiful stuff with enough personality and class for five wines.
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9/16/2005 - SteveHyde wrote:
Brought this to the Ken Vastola barolo tasting at the Tabard as my mystery white. It was a good choice. No one there had tasted Valentini before. Since these are unpredictable wines that have the density and depth of some reds, I decided to decant ahead of time. The cork was weird. Super saturated until about half way up -- it expanded almost like a champagne cork when I opened it. A little bit of particularate in the wine that I decanted out. The nose coming from the decanter was amazing. Full of ground nuts, honey, sea salt, peppery olive oil. My wife was so intrigued she insisted on a taste -- but it just wasn't open. By the time we got to it in the resturant, it was a little too cool. The nose was more muted. But as it warmed, both the nose and mouth came to life. I had it with some fabulous Tabard oysters and it was a great match. The nuttiness, dry minerality, sea salt and pepper were all there in abundance. Lovely example of Valentini's white.
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8/9/2005 - Eric wrote:
Dinner at La Zie with the NYC crew (New York, NY): Served very cold, this was fairly mute at first showing some notes of shellac with a slightly nutty edge. The palate was peppery and spicy, not very familiar to me. I figured it was probably some sort of Italian varietal given the theme, and indeed it was. Alas, I did not notice it, but Michel found there to be a faint and growing note of cork in the mid-palate, and Drew kept the leftovers and confirmed that it became extremely corky with time. Darn!
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6/19/2005 - Barbara B wrote:
Nose: Something disturbing along with the fruit, like formic acid. Palate: quite fruity and spicy like an apple pie, tart acidity, but smooth and soft on the finish. There's always something unique, quirky and fascinating about every bottle of Valentini's TdA. How to rate??
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