Reviews

White Italy: verdict of experts
«Vinnaya Karta» №2 (93) March 2008

Grand Jury Europeen headed by Francois Mauss has tasted the world’s finest wines for 12 years.

One of the sessions in the recent series of tastings was dedicated to white wines of Italy.

The jury counts leading European critics and journalists (Michel Bettane, Bernard Burtschy, Joel Payne, Peter Moser, Enzo Vizzari, Victor de la Serna, Neil Beckett), sommeliers and restaurateurs (Andreas Larsson, Olivier Poussier, Markus del Monego), wine merchants and producers (Laurent Vialette, Christian Roger, Luciano Sandrone, Dirk van der Niepoort, Stephane Derenoncourt) and other wine experts and collectors amongst is members. All wines are tasted blind. The results are presented in a table where the final score is calculated through a sophisticated statistic formula. Results of all tastings are published on www.grandjuryeuropeen.com.

The latest series of tastings were held in Italy, in the renowned Villa d’Este hotel on the shores of Lake Como. White Italian wines were the topic of one of the sessions. The tasting proved interesting for several reasons. Firstly, because it was one of the rare occasions when the attention was given to white, not red, wines of Italy. International reputation of premium Italian wines is built on the red offerings. Thus focus on the whites was even more curious.

Secondly, Francois Mauss made a selection of wines from various parts of Italy. Among 32 samples there were representatives of Alto Adige and Friuli which are considered flagship white Italian wines. There were also examples from traditional areas of quality production such as Gavi di Gavi in Piedmont, Vernaccia di San Giminiano in Tuscany, Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi in Marche, as well as wines little known outside of Italy from small production centres of autochthonous varieties, such as Falanghina del Molise or Fiano di Avellino. Trentino was perhaps the only notable region that was missing from the tasting.

Thirdly, because not all members of the jury have extensive tasting experience or detailed knowledge of the Italian white category, the event provided a good indication of how Italian wines are perceived and assessed by international experts in general.

A few words about the winners. Planeta Cometa 2001 (Bianco di Sicilia IGT), Hofstatter Gewurztraminer Kolbenhof 2001 (Alto Adige DOC), Planeta Chardonnay 2006 (Sicilia IGT), Antinori Cervaro della Sala 2005 (Umbria IGT) and ColleMassari Irisse 2005 (Montecucco DOC) were in the top-5. At a glance the list looks surprising, but deeper analysis reveals not so many new discoveries.

Success of two Sicilian wines in the top-5 can be entirely attributed to their producer Planeta. The company that conquered the world thanks to its innovative work and high quality always had an ability to offer wines which, on the one hand, meet modern international requirements, and on the other — preserve the spirit of Sicily. The producer evolution appears to run alongside the evolution of consumer tastes. If a decade ago Planeta wines were loved for their power and obvious oaky flavours, today they impress above all by fine balance and skilled use of wood. The first place taken by Cometa 2001 in the overall rating was another proof of the producer’s masterful approach to wine. In his report related to the tasting Francois Mauss poses a question equally valid for experts and international consumers, “Isn’t it there a tendency to prefer known varieties which come from other regions?” Here Cometa can celebrate triumph as the wine is made from a local Sicilian grape Fiano. In the meanwhile, Planeta Chardonnay 2006 breaks stereotypes that Sicilian Chardonnay is always a powerful, full-bodied, simple fruit-driven wine. Planeta offers a quite refined, elegant interpretation of the grape, with excellent freshness and beautiful character.

As for the other two winners — Hofstatter Gewurztraminer Kolbenhof 2001 and Antinori Cervaro della Sala 2005 — Francois Mauss notes that “it is probably not a big surprise”. He also questions whether their success is related to the use of international grapes. Well, yes and no. In case of Hofstatter it is worth noting that the so called classic European varieties were brought to Alto Adige about a century and a half ago. Enough time passed for them to adapt to the mountainous terroirs of the South Tyrol and for winemakers to find the best methods of cultivating. Also, according to one of the main hypotheses, Gewurztraminer originates from a Tyrolean village Tramin. Kolbenhof vineyard is located right next to the village and has been considered one the South Tyrolean grands crus for the variety.

Appearance of Antinori Cervaro della Sala at the top of the rating is also quite appropriate. Patriarch of Italian winemaking whose name has become a brand for premium Italian wine, Piero Antinori knows better than many others what level of quality is expected on demanding international markets. His Cervaro della Sala, produced in Umbria since 1985, is one of the ‘icons’ of the white Italy.

ColleMassari Irisse 2005 that was awarded an honourable fifth place was a new discovery of the tasting. The biggest surprise is perhaps that the wine comes from Maremma on the Tuscan coast. With due respect to a great tradition of red wine production, Tuscany in the modern period has not been strong in making sought-after whites (except for Querciabella’s Batar and 2-3 other notable wines). Thus it is quite exciting to see a wine made in Maremma with autochthonous grapes, in the list of leaders. This is a great recognition of work done by Claudio Tipa, Castello ColleMassari owner who is also in charge of winemaking in the well known Bolgheri estate Grattamacco. ColleMassari Irisse is a blend of Vermentino with small percentage of Greco Bianco. The grapes are vinified in stainless steel tanks and in new tonneaux, with further 14 months aging.

One of the curious observations was that oxidative style wines didn’t find much support among the tasters. Here it should be noted that there is a wave of Italian producers who experiment with biodynamic and other natural approaches and who deliberately produce dry white wines with darker colour and oxidative flavours. Four of such wines made by respected estates were present at the tasting. Two of them didn’t even get in the final table, and the other two were listed at the bottom of the rating. Such low evaluation may perhaps be explained by the fact that the tasters didn’t approve of the style and ‘punished’ oxidative wines by lower marks. For instance, superb, in my opinion, amphorae-aged Joshko Gravner’s Bianco Breg Anfora 2002 was rated 30th. In personal tasting notes it was one of the two wines of the tasting to which I awarded the highest score.

Finishing on an optimistic note, the tasting revealed several wines still unknown on the international level, which can be considered gems of the white Italian winemaking — Ca’Brione Terrazze Retiche di Sondrio IGT by Nino Negri in Valtellina (Northern Lombardy) and Chardonnay Frissoniere Cuvee Bois Vallee d’Aoste DOC by Les Cretes in the Aosta Valley.

And the tasters found Trebbiano d’Abruzzo from the outstanding Abruzzo producer Valentini to be the most representative white Italian wine.