Monday, December 17, 2012

Poor Neglected Blog

I apologize for the lack in posts during the past several days.  I had a lovely little diddy about the wines we drank at our holiday party written up yesterday until it somehow mysteriously deleted itself.  Out of anger I did not re-write it.

Today's post shall cover new ground.  Moving on, moving on.

Last night Summergate and Linguini Fini hosted An Italian Odyssey last night.  Here's how Summergate describes it:

Join this event by Summergate: a fun pre-Christmas Italian wine tasting at Linguini Fini and taste the differences across the Italian peninsula with the wines of our internationally acclaimed wineries from Veneto, Friuli, Piedmont, Tuscany and Sicily. Meet the winemakers and immerse yourself in the magic of Italian wines with the nibbles from Linguini Fini!




It was a fantastic night with some fantastic wines and wonderfully fantastic food...if you could get it.  We ended up ordering the burrata, calamari, clam pizza, and veal and oxtail ragu.  Seriously, if you're in need of an Italian fix, this place will sort you right out.

Ohh were all of the wines were amazing.  We started in Sicily, swam up to Piedmont, hopped over to Friuli, back to Veneto, and finished in good old Tuscany.

First up, Gavi d'Gavi from Beni Di Batasiolo, which was rich with nice acid and a wonderful nose.  I'm a big fan of Cortese and this was particularly lovey.  

Then to Friuli for something totally remarkable!  Friuli is probably my favorite region in the world (for the moment) for white wines, and one of the Livio Felluga wines was voted #1 Italian white wine by the 'Oscars del Vino 2009.'  It's a real thing.  The 2009 Terre Alte is a blend of Friulano, Pinot Bianco and Sauvignon grapes,and is just totally sock blowing.  It changes and excites your tongue with every sip and has amazing notes of oak and vanilla from a light oaking.  I could drink this all day, but with it's $700 price tag, I most likely will not be.  
Lovely bottles with unique designs of individual vineyards

We moved over to Tuscany and had a lovely 100% Vermintino from Poggio al Tesoro.  Then twas time to swtich to the reds. I will highlight the Allegrini wines as those were the only ones I took notes on.  Although, I can say there was a lovely IGT from Ricasoli---> 100% Merlot. Divine.

So yes, Allegrini.  Here's what I tried:

Valpolicella Classico DOC 2011--->this was ok, but I think too young.  Give this a few more years and it will develop something more for me to talk about. 

Palazzo della Torre, Veronese IGT 2009---> this had that wonderful dirty, earthiness to it that I love.  The best part was the long sticky finish.  This was described as a baby Amarone. 

La Grola, Veronese IGT 2009-------->80% Corvina 20% Syrah.  Young cassis nose.  Firm tannins and a wonderfully long finish.  This was delicious! It was also explained to be an ex-Valpolicella Superiore.  I'm guessing this has something to do with the Syrah.  Anyone?


Amarone della Valpolicella DOC 2008---- who doesn't love an Amarone.  To me this fell on the lighter side of the spectrum for an Amarone, but then again I'm not that well versed in the Amarone world. 

La Poja, Veronese IGT 2007(100% Corvina).....of course the most expensive is going to be the favorite.  This is what we took back to the table to enjoy with the ragu.  And enjoy the ragu we did. 

Another great find!

1 comment:

  1. The Merlot was the Casalferro 2008 and you're right....very, very nice! :)

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