Wine & Spirits - June 2012 - (Page 54)

YEAR’S BEST SOUTHERN ITALIAN WINES Our blind panels tasted 308 new-release Southern Italian wines over the past 12 months. Joshua Greene rated 30 as exceptional (90+) and 22 as Best Buys. Find a complete list of wines tasted and all reviews at wineandspiritsmagazine.com. WHI TE C A M PA N I A | D’Orta e De Conciliis $ 2010 Greco di Tufo Oro (Best Buy) A joint venture between sommelier Vincenzo D’Orta and brothers Bruno, Paolo and Luigi De Conciliis, this biodynamically farmed wine is very greco in its cool mineral essence, balancing dark earth tones with bright, juicy pear ﬂavors. Its lovely ripeness tingles with acidity, a refreshing match for spaghetti alle vongole or polipo e patate. Vignaioli Selection, NY 181722 | Villa Matilde and silken layers of ﬂavor. Scents of honey laced with fresh cream and pear gain depth as the wine develops with air, building toward spiced quince and kumquat while it retains mouthwatering freshness. An elegant white with dimension and energy in the glass, this will beneﬁt as much from further bottle age as it will reward decanting. Serve with a whole roasted sea bass stuﬀed with rosemary. Tradizione Imports, NY 181746 $ | Feudi del Pisciotto $ 2010 Falerno del Massico (Best Buy) This brisk falanghina has a tart crabapple scent and a hint of orange zest in its acidity. The texture is like cool citrus ﬂesh; suited to crab. Empson USA, Alexandria, VA 181730 | Feudi di San Gregorio $ SARDEGNA 181674 2009 Greco di Tufo Cutizzi This is the ﬁrm’s top selection of greco, grown in chalky soils and aged on the lees for ﬁve months before bottling. Stirring the lees has enriched it, bringing out the scent of lilies, a focused, pear-like fruit ﬂavor and a smoky note that drives into the ﬁnish. That’s where it blossoms into ﬂavors of orange meringue and spice. A statuesque aperitif to serve with cracked crab. Palm Bay Int’l., Boca Raton, FL | Feudi della Medusa $ 2009 Isola dei Nuraghi AlbaChia This wine buzzes with complexity, as if it had been plugged into a current of spicy acidity, charging the fat and supple fruit and focusing it in a long ﬁnish. It’s a blend of vermentino and malvasia with a little nasco, another local variety. Pour it with grilled calamaretti. The Sorting Table, Napa, CA 181479 2008 Sicilia Carolina Marenga for K This is a new project in the coastal hills northwest of Vittoria, an ancient estate where the ﬁrst modern vines were planted in 2002. To launch the brand, Paolo Panerai invited fashion designers to create labels for wines like this grillo, donating a portion of the sales to the restoration of local Sicilian art works. The wine itself is a bold splash of ﬂavor, as naked (unoaked) as the ornately tattooed female torso adorning the label. Lees aging and time in bottle have brought this to a satin-textured complexity, with juicy pear and smoky notes of spice. For grilled swordﬁsh drizzled with olive oil and oregano. Vias Imports, NY 181681 | Surrau | Graci $ $ 2010 Vermentino di Gallura Sciala A bright and zesty vermentino, this has the delicate perfume of green almonds and the crisp ﬂavors of pear and peppery olive oil. The fruit touches on sweetness but the wine is completely dry, with pointed acidity carrying the ﬁnish. For soft-shell crab. A.I. Selections, Long Island City, NY 2010 Etna Bianco (Best Buy) A ﬂoral scent rises oﬀ the potent acidity of this wine, edgy with ﬂavors of tart apple, white cranberry and grapefruit pith. It’s as pointed as a bee sting, for sardines stuﬀed with pine nuts. Massanois Imports, Washington, DC 181420 | Baglio del Sole $ S I C I LY 182239 181729 | Benanti $ 2009 Sicilia White (Best Buy) A blend of inzolia and catarratto, this contrasts sweet, candied pear ﬂavors with savory walnut and peppery olive oil notes. It’s tight and ﬁrm, built to chill for crab. Vias Imports, NY | Feudi di San Gregorio $ 2010 Fiano di Avellino (Best Buy) With its beeswax and fresh nectarine scents, this classical ﬁano feels both broad and ﬁrm. Its green melon astringency will match grilled branzino. Palm Bay Int’l., Boca Raton, FL 181440 54 W I N E & S P I R I T S J U N E 2 0 1 2 2007 Etna Bianco Superiore Pietramarina From 80-year-old bush vines, this carricante grows in the sandy, volcanic soils of Milo, on the eastern side of Etna at 3,100 feet. The wine is so obsessively mineral that it’s a little stinky when ﬁrst poured, though it immediately shows textural reﬁnement ROSE 177067 | Di Giovanna $ 2010 Sicilia Rosato di Nerello Mascalese From a 30-acre organically cultivated vineyard in Contessa Entellina, just south of http://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com http://www.palmbay.com/feudi http://www.palmbay.com/feudi

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - June 2012

Wine & Spirits - June 2012
Editor’s Note
Happenings
Contents
Fined & Filtered: Bordeaux 2011, Diamond Jubilee Port, News in Brief
Jamon + Jerez
Spirits: Agave Distilled, by Lou Bustamante
Tequila Comes to Dinner
Sauvignon from the Heights
Geology Jazz
Value Brands of the Year
Tastings Overview
Top 100 Values
Sauvignon Blanc
Southern Italy
Ribera del Duero
American Wines
Imported Wines
Books: Summer Reading

Wine & Spirits - June 2012