I'm not a huge Pinot Grigio drinker. They seem to fall into three categories-
cheap dull wines from Trentino or "Italy", $15-20 wines worth $8 like Santa
Marg., or nice wines like Jermann's that really push the price envelope. But a
couple of weeks ago I had 10 wines in my cart, and was looking for a couple
more for the mixed case discount. I spotted the 2002 Campanile Pinot Grigio,
with a shelftalker re the Friulian fruit. Friuli usually produces my favorite
whites, and you seldom see sub-$10. I threw that and another bottle of
Heretiques in the cart. My stepson and his friend wanted to help Betsy cook
Wednesday, and they made a vaguely Italian vegetarian meal- spicy cooked
arugala, chickpea soup with spinach, and rice with parmesan. I opened the 2002
Campanile Pinot Grigio, then noticed the label said "delle Venezie" IGT. But
the back label indeed says it's from Friuli. Hmmmm. Anyway, the wine had some
decent green apple fruit, with a citrus twist. Decent acidity, but the word
that kept running through my mind was "insubstantial." B-

Thursday Betsy didn't have time to cook (after a day of opera showcase that
included an opera re Jim Jones- isn't THAT cheery). One advantage of our little
town with a large Italian-American population is we have a branch of an Arthur
Avenue meat market. So she picked up some fresh mozzarella, bruschetta topping,
assorted kebabs (lamb, sausage with cheese and broccoli rape, beef with
mozzarella, and chicken), some squash, and some beans. A few minutes with the
grill and we had another nice Italianesque meal. Opened the 2002 Morgante Nero
D'Avola (Sicily). Much better acidity than at a store tasting (was it too warm
then?), rich dark berry fruit, a little touch of oak, some nice spiciness.
Pleasant fairly light-bodied wine to sit outdoors with after a hard day. B/B+

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a
good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where
it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy,
and certainly not of consistency.
Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

Ciò che ha detto
Dale Williams )
è così interessante, che devo dire la mia:


I opened the 2002 Campanile Pinot Grigio, then noticed the
> label said "delle Venezie" IGT. But the back label indeed says it's
> from Friuli. Hmmmm.

In the 19th century under the Austrian empire Venice, Trento and Trieste
were called "The three Venice", and their territories (among wich Friuli)
"Triveneto".

Luk

>In the 19th century under the Austrian empire Venice, Trento and Trieste
>were called "The three Venice", and their territories (among wich Friuli)
>"Triveneto".

I think of the Tre Venezie as Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, and Trentino/Alto
adige. But my point was as "delle Venezie" is a more general designation (am I
wrong?), if fruit was all Friulian why don't they use the more prestigious
designation?
To me this is like getting a Bordeaux AC wine and back label saying it's from
St. Estephe.

Confused in US,

Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

"Dale Williams" > ha scritto nel messaggio
...


> I think of the Tre Venezie as Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, and
Trentino/Alto
> adige. But my point was as "delle Venezie" is a more general designation
(am I
> wrong?), if fruit was all Friulian why don't they use the more prestigious
> designation?
> To me this is like getting a Bordeaux AC wine and back label saying it's
from
> St. Estephe.
>
> Confused in US,

Yes, it is confusing.

Your wine was not a DOC but a IGT. Friuli has three IGT: "Alto Livenza",
"Delle Venezie" and "Venezia Giulia".

The latter covers the Trieste territory, the first a small area on the
boundary with Veneto. As far as IGT "Delle Venezie" is concerned, it covers
a large part of Friuli (where probably your wine was made), the province of
Trento and all the Veneto region. The most famous wine districts in Friuli
are under this last IGT, so if for some reason a wine maker want to make a
wine outside the DOC rules, he probably must label it as "IGT Delle Venezie"
..

"Luk" > ha scritto nel messaggio
...
>
> "Dale Williams" > ha scritto nel messaggio
> ...
>
>
> > I think of the Tre Venezie as Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, and
> Trentino/Alto
> > adige. But my point was as "delle Venezie" is a more general designation
> (am I
> > wrong?), if fruit was all Friulian why don't they use the more
prestigious
> > designation?
> > To me this is like getting a Bordeaux AC wine and back label saying it's
> from
> > St. Estephe.
> >
> > Confused in US,
>
> Yes, it is confusing.
>
> Your wine was not a DOC but a IGT. Friuli has three IGT: "Alto Livenza",
> "Delle Venezie" and "Venezia Giulia".
>
> The latter covers the Trieste territory, the first a small area on the
> boundary with Veneto. As far as IGT "Delle Venezie" is concerned, it
covers
> a large part of Friuli (where probably your wine was made), the province
of
> Trento and all the Veneto region. The most famous wine districts in Friuli
> are under this last IGT, so if for some reason a wine maker want to make a
> wine outside the DOC rules, he probably must label it as "IGT Delle
Venezie"
> .

Sorry...

Luk

Luk, thank you for the informative reply! Now I'll wonder what rule kept it
from DOC status (I know I've had Friulian PG, so not variety).

One of the great things about this group is the knowledge from all over!
Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply