Nine

Nine Greco di Tufo wines from nine different producers were highlighted at a tasting in Naples on Wednesday.  As part of the Vitignoitalia congresso at the Mostra d'Oltremare, it was one of the many events at Vitignoitalia emceed by the Mezzogiorno's favorite wine and food writer, Luciano Pignataro.  Aside from featuring my favorite southern white variety, Greco, the event was notable in that Luciano had picked wines only from small producers, many of whom have been bottling their own wines for just a few years.  Each of the nine was from the Greco di Tufo DOC zone, and some of those were DOCGs -- the top level from an appellation point of view.

One of the most exciting aspects of tasting wines from the Campanian hinterland is that they don't taste like they had their origin in either a lab or a focus group somewhere in Maryland.  They're individually distinct even as they share their recognizable traits of nervy acidity and peach with citrus notes, at the very least.  One of Pignataro's key points was that these wines are capable of ageing well, although neither the producers nor the consumers seem to realize this.  If someone hears of a vertical of Grecos dating to the 1990s, let me know and I'll be there.

Naturally, some of the wines were rather bland and boring while others were bursting with mineral and fruit flavors and entrancing aromas of spices.  The factors of terroir, plant selection and producers' vineyard management and vinification had their usual range of effects.

Following are my very brief notes.

All of these wines were from the 2007 vintage.  Several were bottled just before the congresso.

1. Calafe' -- closed, reticent.  Bland nose, almost water-colored.

2. Fattoria De Lillo -- Floral, appley scent.  Deeper color than #1, straw-yellow.  Very slight bitterness of almonds on finish.  Very tiny azienda -- their sole wine.

3. Macchialupa -- A but tomato-soupy on first sniff.  Almost as deep color as #2.  Nice finish, rather short.  Pignataro termed it "piu' moderno" (more modern). 

4. Colline del Sole -- Very structured.  Oak is evident, though judiciously used.  Comes from the highest vineyards of Campania at almost 800 meters.  Chestnut and honey notes.  Very nice.  (I had had this one at some little place in Naples.  Immediately wondered if it was imported into the US.  Yes, it is.)

5. Angelarosa -- Precise flavors, apples and peaches, tangy acidity -- high-elevation vineyards, no wood.  Some residual sugar evident when re-tasted after some other wines.  Long long finish. 

6. Cantine dell'Angelo -- Lovely perfume of roses, spice.  Not so pleasing to the palate on first tasting.  Later, after it had had time to open up, it was much more so -- excellent fruit although a bit lacking in structure.

7. Contea de' Altavilla -- Lacked acidity, way too much banana.  Tasted strange.  No.

8. Petruro -- Similar to Angelarosa (#5) but with drier finish.  Not as long.  Fruit forward, tropical -- there's some pineapple there as well as the peach and apple.  A wine to track for a few years.

9. Bambinuto -- Very different organoleptic profile with salty, maritime notes.  Tasted and felt like a coastal wine even though it is grown in the upcountry DOCG zone.  Rather exciting.

I have to say that, after tasting the wines three times, in order of presentation, I came away with two firm favorites:  #4 and #5 -- Colline del Sole and Angelarosa, respectively.  Distinct from each other yet true-to-type examples of this wonderful grape/zone, Greco di Tufo.  I found the Petruro and Bambinuto examples highly interesting and worth following up on. 

At this time I think only two of these wineries are imported to the US or under contract, Colline del Sole and Angelarosa.  Their production is very small, of course, so they won't be easy to find. 

All credit to Luciano Pignataro for putting this tasting together.  His  commentary was valuable and concise.  His co-presenter, also a journalist, was another story.  Someone sitting near me said of this guy, "He's talking bullshit.  Has he actually tasted these wines?"  And he just wouldn't shut up; give an Italian a microphone and it's all the damned predica lunga. 

Comments

[AC]

Have you already abandoned the rating system touted in your May 13 post?

[th]

Well, sort of. I don't know. I need to tinker with it.

[tracie b]

what little place in naples?! did you do aperitivo nelle barette nel centro?

'dems was bei tempi.

"dice stronzata,l'ha mai assagiati?" is that what he said? i can totally hear that.

[th]

In truth it was both more polite and more condemning. I paraphrase en anglais.

BTW, tb, thank you for being YOU.