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cornalin

Rovettaz main Ian, devil

[vineyard]Grosjean 2006 Cornalin Vigne Rovettaz (Vallée d’Aoste) – This is a wine that seems to propel itself along parallel tracks. On the left, there’s a rail of a gritty, steely structure; neither powerful nor dominant, but present and insistent nonetheless. On the right, a meandering weave of crisp (occasionally sour) flavors that are only related to identifiable berries by marriage rather than genetics, yet are unmistakably fruity nonetheless. For a reason I can’t quite identify, this wine reminds me of drinkable popcorn…not in flavor, but in contrasts of absorbent and crunchy structure, airy absence and lingering aftertaste. It’s much more interesting than it is good, but I suspect that this is a judgment that will prove highly malleable with time. (2/10)

Cornalin-to

[vineyard]Grosjean 2004 Cornalin Vigne Rovettaz (Vallée d’Aoste) – Aromatically difficult, and it seems like it should be more generous, so I may just have caught this at a bad time. There’s a tension between a sweet-fruited, earthy-floral core and a rougher, shouldery structure that reminds me a bit of the similar tension in Piedmontese dolcetto, but there’s decidedly more minerality here, and the structure isn’t quite as strident. Seems very promising, but now isn’t its time. (7/09)