Thursday, July 17, 2008

Drinking off the list

A mellow dinner at Pop’s with my folks and an old friend of theirs upon their arrival from Montana. It's nice to be able to easily drink off a wine list at a local restaurant, as opposed to SoCal where having a choice of good affordable wine was very rare.

2006 Franco Toros Collio Tocai Friulano
Thanks to Damon who turned me onto to these wines. Really exceptional depth and clarity. I like all the Toros wines, but this one is probably my favorite. Something about the fruit quality in Tokay really appeals to me. It is like if there were a version of lemon custard that wasn’t so blurry, sort a clear wax version. Anyway, my dad went gaga over it, which is always a good thing.

2005 Montesecondo Chianti Classico
An old favorite, this has been showing really well lately and seems to be prospering despite the supposedly poor vintage. Pleaty of fruit, earth, and leather, with lots of snap and tannin to wash down food. It really is a delightful food wine and this is the third or fourth bottle I’ve enjoyed in the last month. Not sure that it’ll make bones, but should drink well for the next few years at least.

2 comments:

Iuli said...

Hey VLM,

Tell me. . .what do you think of the reductive fermentation of most italian white wines?

I used to LOVE Toros. . .and i still like the wines, ok. But, well, they all smell very similar, and in some vintages exactly alike.
(Although they do maintain a variety of typical textures, for sure)

I'm personally a bit tired of reductive fermentation. I don't think it 'keeps the fruit fresh' as most wine makers have claimed. I think it homogenizes the varietals.

Yes, Tocai and Pinot Grigio are still different. But how different are reductively fermented Tocai and Sauvignon?

I often wonder why there's so little in terms of diversity in style between say Gravner & radikon on one hand. . and Schiopetto and Felluga on the other? Maybe i'm just bored. . ..

the vlm said...

Iuli-

That is a big question, and maybe should be the subject of it's own post (and maybe, if I can convince him, a guest poster).

Reductive winemaking has been taking over for a long time now, sometimes with good results, but it does obscure, at least in youth, some differences. It isn't as bad as bullshit hipster winemaking, and for whites at least, has some common sense to recommend it.

I don't think the savignon and the tocai are at all alike, the tocai and the pinot bianco, that might make things tighter.

I don't think everyone should make wines like Radikon and Gravner, those are extreme examples that require a level of insight and dedication that not everyone is up to.