Grand Cru Tasting Group (Perth) – Italian White Varietals

[Waiters Friend]

G’day

I realise that the theme may be ambiguous. What we aimed for was varietal wines made in Italy – they did not have to be indigenous grape varieties. Most were, however, and we covered most parts of the country.

Tasted blind from youngest to oldest as usual. However, keen observers will notice a bottle of Champagne in the pictures – definitely not Italian! We were celebrating one of our members successfully completing his WSET Diploma. Good onya!

Even keener observers will note that one of the wines was not Italian (but made from an Italian grape variety. The member was duly chastised, and I have not included notes for that wine.

To complicate matters further, two of us brought the same wine. This has happened infrequently before, and below is a composite of the two tasting notes (fortunately they are similar).

Nicosia Grillo 2022 (Sicilia): Yellow with gold hints. A modest nose, with lemon blossom, white pepper, lanolin, and lemon thyme. The palate is thin, with hints of grapefruit, apricot, lime, white pepper and old mandarin. The owner of the wine claims this is not a representative bottle, and may be stripped due to cork taint.

Pieropan Soave 2022 (Veneto): Pale yellow. A couple of tasters noted a slight spritz. Modest nose (this featured in many of the wines), but closer inspection showed stone fruits, herbs, pawpaw, orange, papaya, honeydew melon and a stems character. In contrast the palate is relatively powerful, with apricot and peach skin, mandarin, lime curd and high acid. Medium to long finish and well regarded by the group.

Velarino ‘Terre Siciliane’ Vermentino 2022 (Sicilia): Pale yellow. A slightly sweaty nose, with lantana, tree sap, green beans broccoli and sour beer. The words ‘rubber’ and cat pee’ were also mentioned. The palate showed apricot, almond, carrot juice, and there’s a little fruit sweetness which partially offsets the acid. A lingering finish.

Notie Rossa Fiano 2022 (Salento): Pale yellow. A spicy nose, with lychee, musk and ginger. The palate is similarly spicy, with lychee, apricot and pineapple, and tasted like a gewurztraminer. Short finish.

Antonella Corda Vermentino 2022 (Sardegna): Pale yellow. One taster noted a touch of spritz. A modest nose, with acacia flower, orange peel, herbs and ginger. The palate is richer, with citrus pith, wet pebbles, spice and white pepper. Slightly tart acid and a medium length. Well regarded by the group.

Passeti Collectivetta Pecorino 2022(Abruzzo). Pale yellow colour. Modest nose with white flowers and cumquats. There’s plenty of acid on the palate, alongside lime, apricot kernel, lanolin and finished with a touch of bitterness. Apparently ‘collectivetta’ means the best grapes from various sites.

Vietti Roero Arneis 2021 (Piemonte); Yellow tending towards golden. A modest nose with lemon rind, and a flor / yeast character. Others noted crème brulee and ’slightly burnt Danish’. There’s more flor on the palate, with orange juice and peel, baked pear, apricot kernel and bergamot. A slight bitterness on the finish. We suspected the wine had seen some skins contact. Well regarded by the group.

Monte Schiavio Verdiccio 2021 (Marche): Yellow in colour. Pineapple, lantana, almond and white flowers on the nose, with some salinity and one taster noted kero. The palate was light bordering on neutral, and showed tangerine mandarin, oregano, lemon curd, and a slight bitterness on the finish.

Zafara Catarratto 2020 (Sicilia): Initially shy nose, with pineapple, mango, herbs, tropical fruits and a touch of nutmeg. The palate showed more of these fruits, including passionfruit, blood orange, lemon pith marmalade and honeysuckle. I slight astringency and a linear finish.

Vigneti Boveri Giacomo ‘Piccolo Derthona’ Timarosso 2019 (Piemonte): Pale yellow, especially for the oldest wine in the tasting. One taster noted a touch of spritz. Spices, ginger and citrus on the nose, with more ginger, lime and pine needles on the palate. Highly regarded by the group, and turned out to be Wine of the Night.

One of the surprises from this tasting was the difference between the noses (especially the modest ones) and the palates on these wines. It was also noted that most if not all the wines worked better with food than without (fortunately, we were dining well).

Many thanks as always to Mark and Jodie at the wonderful Lulu’s little Bistro, and to all who attended.

Cheers
Allan

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[Ian S]

Good to see such a wide range of regions covered, and good whites can be found pretty much all over the country. Good also to see a Timorasso in the mix. I'd had mixed results with Boveri: a fancier bottle very good indeed, but a more modest one suffered from a synthetic cork. I don't know if 'Piccolo' has any formal definition, or it's simply a lighter version of Derthona. What I've tried are, but are still substantial and so well worth trying.

[Waiters Friend]

Thanks Ian, and good to hear from you.

You've reminded me - I should have posted this on the Itanian WInes board. I'll rectify that now.