Alba restaurant is my venue of choice for corporate and public tastings and, it so happens that their wine list – all Italian of course – is a cracker. You can check it out on their website. A new chef – excellent by the way (especially the patisserie) presented an excuse to taste some wines. Here are my favourites:
Zonin Prosecco NV – a modern, fruity style of Prosecco with plenty of fresh pear with pear skin notes; good mousse so plenty of bang for your buck.
Franz Haas Traminer 2004 – fresh, musky, grapey nose and palate with a nice breadth of fruit – haven’t been disappointed by Haas yet.
Jerman Pinot Grigio 2005 – slightly creamy, concentrated pear fruit with a touch of fruit salad; a mineral undertow and long finish make for a classy Pinot Grigio.
Felluga Tocai Friulano 2005 – very good depth of pear and apple fruit with a touch of tannin on the nutty finish.
Vie di Romans Flors di Uils 2003 – very perfumed, floral, fresh wine; delicate yet concentrated.
St Micheal Eppan San Valentin Sauvignon Blanc 2004 – pungent, gunflint nose with greengage and prickly pear on the palate.
Amano Primitivo 2003 – loaded with earthy, sweet raspberry and spicy liquorice flavours. Well done full on style.
Candido Salice Salentino 2001 – chunky, spicy, leathery fruit with raisined notes and baked earth; ripe, supple tannins. Very good value for money.
Casteldelmonte Vigna Grande 2003 – I discovered that the Troia grape has a soapy fragrant nose and pretty redcurrant and cherry fruit; elegant, restrained style, especially for Puglia in the deep South.
Il Falcone Casteldelmonte 2001 - Troia features in this succulent blend which shows cinnamon and black cherry; nicely structured, elegant wine.
Lungarotti Rubesco 2002 – slightly funky, wild nose; juicy, sweet, ripe black cherries on the palate with textured tannins. Good.
Leonardo Morellino di Scansano 2004 – very ripe morello cherry with a touch of wet earth – well done, easy drinking style with soft tannins.
Tenuta dell’Ornellaia Le Volte 2003 – a restrained palate shows fresh cherry with a mineral undertow. Very good.
Tenuta di Trinoro Cupole di Trinoro 2000 – perfumed, exceptionally ripe, with a blast of sweet raspberry and black berry fruit and well integrated vanillin oak.
Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 1998 – readers of the last update will recall that I was disappointed by this iconic wine at a tasting earlier this year so it was a relief to taste this wine which was a very clear cut above the rest (at a price!) Tight, restrained nose and palate with flashes of ripe plum and cassis, cedar, violets and bay leaf; very classy burnish of oak and fine grained tannins. Excellent.
Finally…not listed at Alba but tasted the same night:
Tenuta dell’Ornellaia Ornellaia 2003 – this is the first vintage in which Petit Verdot was authorised in Bolgheri, just in time for the hot 2003 vintage. Together with the Cabernet Franc it played an important role lending freshness and aroma to the blend (60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot). While it was infanticide to taste the wine now, needs must and it rewarded us with sumptuous ripe black berry, cherry and raspberry and fruit, liquorice and spice. A swathe of ripe tannin bodes well for ageing once it sheds its puppy fat.
Sarah Ahmed
The Wine Detective
July 2006
