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TN: Sicily and Alsace
Betsy was taking Dave to airport Mon eve, so I was in charge of
dinner. Slow cooker with lentils and tomato, trumpet/creminis, salad, and garlic bread. I used some of the 2007 Hugel Gewurztraminer (375 ml) for the mushrooms, and we had as an apertif. Floral, some lichee and peach fruit, a little minty note. Decent acidity for Gewurz, not exciting but good for a $9 half. B/B- Dinner wine was the 2000 Calabretta Etna Rosso. At first I'm not a fan- there's a pruney note and some oxidation over a base of spicy red fruit. I like it better with air, where paradoxily (is that a word?) the oxidative notes fade a bit. Medium body, still a fair amount of tannin. Earth, spice, citrus zest. Not really what I expected (more tannic and rustic than the Biondi Etna I am used to) but nice wine. A pretty fair value in mid-$20s. 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.* * |
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TN: Sicily and Alsace
On Jan 11, 10:30*am, DaleW > wrote:
> Betsy was taking Dave to airport Mon eve, so I was in charge of > dinner. Slow cooker with lentils and tomato, trumpet/creminis, salad, > and garlic bread. I used some of the 2007 Hugel Gewurztraminer (375 > ml) for the mushrooms, and we had as an apertif. Floral, some lichee > and peach fruit, a little minty note. Decent acidity for Gewurz, not > exciting but good for a $9 half. B/B- > > Dinner wine was the 2000 Calabretta Etna Rosso. At first I'm not a > fan- there's a pruney note and some oxidation over a base of spicy red > fruit. I like it better with air, where paradoxily (is that a word?) > the oxidative notes fade a bit. Medium body, still a fair amount of > tannin. Earth, spice, citrus zest. Not really what I expected (more > tannic and rustic than the Biondi Etna I am used to) but nice wine. A > pretty fair value in mid-$20s. 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.* > * Interesting notes on the Calabretta Etna Rosso. I find the wines of Sicily to be somewhat paradoxical. I've found some good examples but generally I find poor either over-ripe wanna-be California knock-offs or very rustic, high acid plonk. I've never visited Sicily so I don't know if this is just what the importers offer us or if it is indicitive of Sicilian wines in general. |
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TN: Sicily and Alsace
On Jan 11, 10:36*am, "Bi!!" > wrote:
> On Jan 11, 10:30*am, DaleW > wrote: >> > Interesting notes on the Calabretta Etna Rosso. *I find the wines of > Sicily to be somewhat paradoxical. *I've found some good examples but > generally I find poor either over-ripe wanna-be California knock-offs > or very rustic, high acid plonk. *I've never visited Sicily so I don't > know if this is just what the importers offer us or if it is > indicitive of Sicilian wines in general. That was generally my impression- overripe glossy Nero d'Avolas, or somewhat poorly made wines. But I think Sicily is one of the most improved areas in last few year. I'm particularly fond of Etna Rosso, the wines are grown up high on Mt Etna, so not as obviously hot climate. There's a range of styles- the basic Terre Nere and especially the Biondi come across as almost Burgundian, the upper level Terre Nere wines are more slick/modern but very good, and some more rustic wines like this. But in general interesting appellation. I also like Montoni's Nero d'Avola, both regular and Vru-something. Arianna Occhipinti makes very interesting wines in the natural/ hipster mode. Frank Cornelissen also gets lots of acclaim (and some raspberries) but I've not tried. Actually, if anyone is interested in Sicily, this week's Tuesday sale at Astor Wines is Sicily. 15% off. |
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TN: Sicily and Alsace
On Jan 11, 10:57*am, DaleW > wrote:
> On Jan 11, 10:36*am, "Bi!!" > wrote: > > > On Jan 11, 10:30*am, DaleW > wrote: > > > Interesting notes on the Calabretta Etna Rosso. *I find the wines of > > Sicily to be somewhat paradoxical. *I've found some good examples but > > generally I find poor either over-ripe wanna-be California knock-offs > > or very rustic, high acid plonk. *I've never visited Sicily so I don't > > know if this is just what the importers offer us or if it is > > indicitive of Sicilian wines in general. > > That was generally my impression- overripe glossy Nero d'Avolas, or > somewhat poorly made wines. > But I think Sicily is one of the most improved areas in last few year. > I'm particularly fond of Etna Rosso, the wines are grown up high on Mt > Etna, so not as obviously hot climate. There's a range of styles- the > basic Terre Nere and especially the Biondi come across as almost > Burgundian, the upper level Terre Nere wines are more slick/modern but > very good, and some more rustic wines like this. But in general > interesting appellation. > I also like Montoni's Nero d'Avola, both regular and Vru-something. > *Arianna Occhipinti makes very interesting wines in the natural/ > hipster mode. > Frank Cornelissen also gets lots of acclaim (and some raspberries) but > I've not tried. > > Actually, if anyone is interested in Sicily, this week's Tuesday sale > at Astor Wines is Sicily. 15% off. I've probably had more wine from Andrea Franchetti than anyone else in Sicily. His wines tend to be a bit glossy but "Franchetti" is the flagship wine and I find it to be a bit over the top.. I really like the Passopisciaro and tend to think of it as the best example of good Etna wines. |
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TN: Sicily and Alsace
On 1/11/11 10:57 AM, DaleW wrote:
> But I think Sicily is one of the most improved areas in last few year. > I'm particularly fond of Etna Rosso, the wines are grown up high on Mt > Etna, so not as obviously hot climate. There's a range of styles- the > basic Terre Nere and especially the Biondi come across as almost > Burgundian, the upper level Terre Nere wines are more slick/modern but > very good, and some more rustic wines like this. But in general > interesting appellation. > I also like Montoni's Nero d'Avola, both regular and Vru-something. > Arianna Occhipinti makes very interesting wines in the natural/ > hipster mode. Arianna Occhipinti and her uncle at COS make some very interesting wines from unusual grapes like Frappato. Of the Occhipinti wines, I've most enjoyed the SP64 blend. > Frank Cornelissen also gets lots of acclaim (and some raspberries) but > I've not tried. Yes, Cornelissen's wines are about as controversial as any I can think of. There seems to be a lot of sentiment (as opposed to sediment) that a lot of them that reach the US have been damaged in some way. I dunno: too pricey for an experiment in my book. Mark Lipton -- alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net |
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TN: Sicily and Alsace
On Jan 11, 11:30*am, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> On 1/11/11 10:57 AM, DaleW wrote: > > > But I think Sicily is one of the most improved areas in last few year. > > I'm particularly fond of Etna Rosso, the wines are grown up high on Mt > > Etna, so not as obviously hot climate. There's a range of styles- the > > basic Terre Nere and especially the Biondi come across as almost > > Burgundian, the upper level Terre Nere wines are more slick/modern but > > very good, and some more rustic wines like this. But in general > > interesting appellation. > > I also like Montoni's Nero d'Avola, both regular and Vru-something. > > *Arianna Occhipinti makes very interesting wines in the natural/ > > hipster mode. > > Arianna Occhipinti and her uncle at COS make some very interesting wines > from unusual grapes like Frappato. *Of the Occhipinti wines, I've most > enjoyed the SP64 blend. > > > Frank Cornelissen also gets lots of acclaim (and some raspberries) but > > I've not tried. > > Yes, Cornelissen's wines are about as controversial as any I can think > of. *There seems to be a lot of sentiment (as opposed to sediment) that > a lot of them that reach the US have been damaged in some way. *I dunno: > too pricey for an experiment in my book. > > Mark Lipton > > -- > alt.food.wine FAQ: *http://winefaq.cwdjr.net All of this talk of Sicily made me recall that I had purchased a mixed case of Sicilian wine years ago and I still have a few bottles remaining so I just checked and I have a couple of bottles of 1985 Duca Enrico Rosso Sicilia Nero D'Avola. I'll open a bottle with dinner tonight and report. Not expecting much. |
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TN: Sicily and Alsace
On Jan 11, 10:12*am, Mike Tommasi > wrote:
> On 1/11/2011 5:30 PM, Mark Lipton wrote: > > > Yes, Cornelissen's wines are about as controversial as any I can think > > of. *There seems to be a lot of sentiment (as opposed to sediment) that > > a lot of them that reach the US have been damaged in some way. *I dunno: > > too pricey for an experiment in my book. > > Mark, they are damaged at birth. I know there are people ready to line > up for these wines, which proves how effective marketing can be. The > basic problem is that they don't know how to make wine. I too have been disappointed with Cormelissen wines and have yet to find one that appeals to my tastes. I'm still trying to find Sicilian wines I really like other than the ones I really can't afford like Vega. |
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