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VULCANIA SOAVE 2012 and more (6)

Posted by Christian Callec on vrijdag, juni 29th, 2012

*  Please read all the previous and next articles about VULCANIA SOAVE 2012, about the SOAVE and  the COLLI EUGANEI regions *

THE BIG VOLCANIC TASTING

The big tasting was perfectly well organized; the presentations were all functional and educative for all of us. My special compliments go to the sommeliers of that day that did a fantastic job! The ‘guided’ and ‘commented’ tasting was sometimes just a tiny bit too much ‘patronized’, as if we couldn’t make out by ourselves how the wines smell and taste…  Tasting notes are always personal and not to extrapolate… We all have a part of the big truth, not the whole truth. Sometimes, somehow, we all seem to forget that.

Soave Vulcania tasting

During the Vulcania 2012 tasting – © Consorzio

My own impression of the wines we tasted that afternoon, in 4 different flights: SOAVE, VENETO, REST OF ITALY, REST OF THE WORLD.

SOAVE

  1. CORTE MAINENTE ‘TOVO AL PIGNO’ Soave Classico 2011: fresh, elegant, juicy, mineral saltiness, long finish. **(*)
  2. BALESTRI VALDA ‘VIGNETO SENGIALTA’ Soave Classico 2011: fantastic nose, very elegant, floral and yellow stone fruit. Very fresh and juicy, lovely aromatic, quite dry, nice mineral saltiness, long finish. **(*)
  3. CANTINA DI SOAVE ‘CASTEL CERINO’ Soave Superiore DOCG 2011: quite complex nose but not exuberant. Round and fresh, very juicy, elegant finish, bit short… Tastes more like great cellar work than vineyard terroir. **
  4. CORTE GIACOBBE – DAL CERO ‘RUNCATA’ Soave Superiore DOCG 2009: quite reductive, needed aeration. Fresh, floral, mineral, good structure, very juicy, a bit ‘monolithic’ but very good in a great vintage. ****

Consorzio_Soave_logo

VENETO

  1. MONTE CROCETTA  ‘SANTE MARIE’ Gambellara Classico 2011: fresh, floral and fruity (yellow stone fruits) in the nose. Round and juicy, very tasty, with a nice and refreshing finish. ***
  2. BERTANI ‘LE LAVE’ IGT Veneto 2010: quite peculiar nose, a bit herbaceous, some citrus, hazelnuts (seemed to contain some chardonnay)… not really my wine. *
  3. BORIN ‘FIORE DI GAIA’ MOSCATO IGT COLLI EUGANEI 2010: typical ‘moscato’ nose (varietal, roses), very fresh. Very well made, aromatic, fresh, juicy and slightly mineral in the finish. Not a super-wine but very enjoyable! **
  4. MARCATO LESSINI SPUMANTE METODO CLASSICO AR 2001: I asked my colleagues about ‘their’ wine, because mine was just definitely passed away… No bubbles in the glass, some on the tongue, very acidic, not much to tell anymore. Unfortunately, I was not the only one with the same conclusion. ??? (NB: ‘AR’ = just disgorged)

ITALY

  1. SASSOTONDO ‘ISOLINA’ BIANCO DI PITIGLIANO SUPERIORE 2011: nice wine, pretty common, very tasty and pleasant.  *
  2. CANTINE DEGLI ASTRONI ‘COLLE IMPERATRICE’ FALANGHINA CAMPI FLEGREI 2011: reductive nose, needed aeration. Nice wine, juicy, fruity, very fresh and mineral, a bit ‘warm’ in the finish. **
  3. CASA D’AMBRA ‘FRASSITELLI’ ISCHIA BIANCOLELLA 2010: much better than the previous wines, more in balance, very fresh, juicy and mineral. **(*)
  4. FEUDO CAVALIERE ‘MILLEMETRI’ ETNA BIANCO 2010: the best of this flight, very fresh, citrus in the nose and on the palate, full, well-balanced, juicy, very tasty, long finish. ***

vulcania-logo

A volcano wine is a volcano wine… NOT… © Consorzio

WORLD

  1. TONGARIRO RIVER ESTATE PINOT GRIGIO LAGO TAUPO 2011, NZ:  surely not the best ‘kiwi’ wine I tasted but quite well-done, round, medium-bodied, juicy and a bit ‘monolithic’. *
  2. BOUTARI SANTORINI 2010, GREECE: nice wine, juicy and fresh, quite ‘monolithic’ as well. Not really representative for a GREAT Santorini wine! (Try next year SIGALAS assyrtiko-athiri or the barrel assyrtiko…) *
  3. CHEHALEM ‘INOX’ CHARDONNAY WILLAMETTE VALLEY 2007, OREGON USA: what a great surprise in this pretty disappointing flight… Very well made, fresh, elegant, cool climate style, juicy, very tasty, with a nice and long finish… ***(*)
  4. NAKAIZU WINERY HILLS ‘SOUKI’ SPARKLING WINE 2010, FUJIYAMA, JAPAN: sometime it is hard to be ‘political correct’… This is such a case… What should I write about this wine excepted maybe repeating the worlds of a Japanese colleague: “this is not the kind of wine Japan should be proud of”… Need I say more? Fresh and ripe together, some juice, exotic, ripe apple in nose and on the palate, ‘quite… different’. *
  5. VOLCANO WINERY ‘SYMPHONY MELE’, BIG ISLAND, HAWAII: the worst had yet to come… The best I can say is that this wine has a great ‘folkloristic’ value… I had a strange association with a Tetra pack of grape juice mixed with some packed peach and apricot nectar, some added yeasts and a garage fermentation, resulting in a semi-sweet wimpy wine… As an Italian colleague said: “this is a nice project but it is still not really ready”.  ??!!
  6. SUAVIA ‘MONTE CARBONARE’ Soave Classico 2006: very nice from the organization not to finish this tasting with the past two wines… What a relief! Great wine from a top-vintage. Beautiful nose; very elegant, smooth, full and perfectly balanced, with a nice minerality and a long and sensual finish. ****

*  Please read all the previous and next articles about VULCANIA SOAVE 2012, about the SOAVE and  the COLLI EUGANEI regions *

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