Browse Tag

white

Rico

[bottle]ca’Rugate 2005 Soave Classico San Michele (Veneto) – Delicate and lightly herbal, showing sun and air and a mild, lemony character, but not a whole lot else. It’s perfectly fine, it’s just…eh. (8/07)

The full Monte

[bottle]ca’Rugate 2005 Soave Classico Monte Fiorentine (Veneto) – While this is not entirely unlike the San Michele, there’s a clean bell-tone of fennel and fruit in the middle, plus a rounded, polished mineral core, that gives this wine the clear advantage over its brother. It’s no Pieropan (or Anselmi), but it’s a good wine in its own right. (8/07)

Tufi luck

Teruzzi & Puthod 2005 “Terre di Tufi” (Tuscany) – Very shy at first, but as it airs it takes on layers of sun-blanched melon and almonds covered with layers of volcanic dust. It’s interesting enough on its own, but it also does an agreeable dance with food, seeping into the corners and crannies with grace and growing intensity. The finish is on the short side, but that’s a minor complaint. This wine is easy to like. (9/07)

Nosiola-cancelling headphones

Lavis “Bolognani” 2006 Nosiola (Trentino) – Viognier’s rustic cousin, with all the intensely floral aromatics but slightly less class, and more balancing acidity than you’ll usually find in a viognier. There’s also a drying, papery exterior that somehow seems to work in this wine. Intriguing and very good, but not particularly complex. (9/07)

Pigato in a poke

Bruna “Le Russeghine” 2005 Riviera Ligure di Ponente Pigato (Liguria) – Vague gestures in the direction of old nuts and long-faded perfume. There are flor-like notes as well, though here they achieve less than they do in Sherry. Otherwise, very short and generally vapid…and given the price, a spectacularly poor value. (9/07)

Trappist family singers

[courtyard]Monastero Cuore Cistercensi Trappiste Vitorchiano “Coenobium” Vino da Tavola Bianco (Lazio) – Non-vintage, but it’s the 2005 release, and a blend of verdicchio, grechetto and trebbiano toscana. Lemon (fresh, juiced, preserved and rind) is the dominant characteristic, but in no way does this actually taste like fermented lemons…there’s plenty of grey-lit sand and flower-petal texture to it as well. There’s an austerity to the package that holds back most of the more boisterous notions. Very pleasant. (9/07)

I don’t know why you say goodbye

Regli 2005 Hallauer Goldspross Riesling x Sylvaner (Hallau) – Why they don’t just call it müller-thurgau, I don’t know, but the actual grape is relegated to the fine print on the back label. Anyway, this is pretty dismal. Flat and lifeless despite pointed acidity, it takes like fermented paper which has then been stripped of all character. Plus, there’s some volatile acidity up top. It’s not awful, though the aromas are fairly pathetic, it’s more that it’s overwhelmingly dull. (7/07)

Chignin-up

Raymond Quenard 2004 Chignin (Savoie) – Biting and overly brittle, showing iced-acid structure and bitter, rindy fruit. This bottle has character to spare, but I find it oddly repellent. (8/07)

Roussanne, you don’t have to turn on the red light

[label]Tablas Creek 2002 Roussanne (Paso Robles) – Gauzy and almost, but not quite, oxidative; I have some doubts about the provenance of this bottle. Despite that, the straw and apricot fruit remain, with fair balance and a textural context between a dense forepalate and a crispy finish is developing. There’s much to like here, and the wine expands in the presence of aggressive food, but I’ve had better bottles. (8/07)

A striking Brézèmblance

[grapes]Texier 2005 Côtes-du-Rhône Brézème Roussanne (Rhône) – This suggests rather than delivers extreme weight, and in fact turns out rather well-balanced. Nut oils and stone fruit residues are in evidence, along with some spice and a fetid peachiness. A nice wine, crisper than many of its ilk, but with the flavors one expects. (7/07)