Adventures in Collio

Estate Vineyards of Skok, San Floriano del Collio (Photo ©Tom Hyland)

Well on my 49th trip to Italy, I finally made it to the gorgeous Collio zone in the Friuli region. Clearly I was overdue to finally visit this temple of great Italian white wines. It was a brief three days, but I was able to visit several influential producers as well as attend some informative and excellent dinners.

Collio - the name literally means "hill" - is all about hillside vineyards. Tucked along the border with Slovenia in southeastern Friuli, the Collio zone is one of the premier white wine producing zones in all of the world. Here varieties such as Friulano, Malvasia and Ribolla Gialla are implemented on their own or in blends simply labeled as Collio Bianco. Other varieties used include Sauvignon - the examples here are among the most distinctive for this variety anywhere in Italy - as well as Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay.

I enjoyed my ride on the Vespa, but ...

(Photo by Alessandra Gruppi)

One of the highlights of my time there was a special dinner at Rosenbar Ristorante in Gorizia with several producers of Ribolla Gialla from the small commune of Oslavia. Gialla means "yellow" in Italian and as you can see from the photos, yellow is a major theme with the wines of Collio. Think yellow and you think of the sun and nature- two appropriate descriptors for the identity of the Collio district. 

But with these Ribolla Gialla, it was orange and not yellow that was the common color for these wines. Producers including Radikon, La Castellada and Dario Princic take this grape very seriously, aging their wine for several years - sometimes as much as six years - before releasing their wines. We tasted examples from 2004 through 2008 from the various producers and the wines display lovely freshness as well as marvelous texture. These are among the best evidence that Italian wines can age for many years - it was clear from the 2005 Radikon (and the 2001 I tasted the following evening) that the wines have at least another 5-7 years of life ahead of them.

... I much preferred my time in the Porsche Carerra 

(Photo by Paola Antonaci)

I will write a more in-depth post on the wines of Collio on my other blog, Learn Italian Wines, very soon. For now, I will give you a short list of some of my favorite Collio wines from my recent trip:

• 2010 Zuani "Vigne" (Collio Bianco)
• 2009 Gradis'ciutta "Bratinis" (Collio Bianco)
• 2010 Muzic Malvasia
• 2010 Skok Friulano "Zabura"
• 2010 Venica Sauvignon "Ronco del Cero"

• 2006 La Castellada Ribolla Gialla
• 2008 Il Carpino Ribolla Gialla
• 2005 Radikon Ribolla Gialla
• 2008 Livon "Terre Alte" 
• 2009 Carlos de Pradis Friulano

• 2006 Marco Felluga Sauvignon Riserva
• 2008 Renato Keber Friulano 

Marko Primosic (Photo ©Tom Hyland)

While there were so many excellent wines I tasted during my brief stay, there was one that stood out above the others and it was no surprise. The wine was the 2008 Primosic "Klin"; designated as a Collio Bianco, it is a blend of Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Ribolla Gialla and Friulano. I mention that this was not a surprise, as I have tasted two previous vintages of this wine and have been amazed at the intensity of the aromas, outstanding concentration and structure of this wine. The 2008 is as fine a bottling of this wine as I have had; with aromas of spiced pear, lavender and beeswax and outstanding persistence, this is for me, one of the very best of all Italian whites. 2008 was a wonderful year in Collio and the wines have striking acidity and the potential to age for many years - I expect this to be at its best in 7-10 years and it may drink well beyond that. Bravo Marko Primosic!

Gavi - Front and Center

Gavi has historically been one of the favorite Italian white wines in America, but recently it seems to have been lost in the shuffle. Pinot Grigio has taken some of the business away and then there are just so many other wines out there a consumer can choose from, be it from Italy or a dozen other countries.

I recently went to Piemonte to try the new vintages of Barolo and Barbaresco, but of course, I needed some white wine to balance out all that red. I tried some lovely bottlings of Arneis, but I kept coming back to Gavi for some pleasant surprises. Here is a report on three wines I enjoyed very much during my trip.

One of my favorites was the newly released 2010 from Fontanafredda, a winery that has rediscovered its greatness over the past decade. There are many factors for this, from the direction of general manager Giovanni Minetti to the winemaking style and expertise of Danilo Drocco to the new vision of owner Oscar Farinetti. I've experienced greater complexity as well as more freshness in their wines as of late and this is certainly on display in this Gavi. My notes list fresh Bosc pear, Meyer lemon and a hint of mango for the juicy aromas, while the wine has lovely texture, lively acidity and even a hint of minerality. I'd love to pair this wine with risotto or shellfish and the price should be around $22 or so a bottle, which I think is quite reasonable. You may find the 2009 vintage on shelves now; that wine was also well made and quite flavorful and delicious. And while I rate 2009 as a superior vintage in Piemonte as compared with 2010, this new release from Fontanafredda is as complete and an complex a Gavi as I've had from them. Don't miss it. (For those interested in these things, this particular bottling is labeled as a Gavi del comune di Gavi, meaning the grapes were grown in Gavi and the wine was made in a cellar in that township.)

Gavi #2 that impressed me was the 2010 Francesco Rinaldi. Yes, you read that right - the historic winery known for their traditional Barolos from the Brunate and Cannubi vineyards, has produced its first white wine. It so happens that their winemaker owns a vineyard in Gavi and decided to produce a wine under the Rinaldi label. This wine has appealing Bosc pear, lemon peel and lilac aromas, is medium-full and sports very good acidity and persistence. It will be an excellent choice over the next 2-3 years with asparagus, lighter chicken preparations or with most shellfish.

The Gavi that impressed me the most during my trip was the 2009 Rovereto from Michele Chiarlo. Chiarlo produces three different offerings of Gavi and I first tried this bottling about six years ago on a visit to the winery in the Asti province. I had tasted the regular bottling of Chiarlo Gavi on many occasions at home, so this was a revelation for me, as I had not sampled a Gavi with this sort of richness and complexity.

The 2009 has those same qualities and is from an outstanding vintage. There are aromas of fresh Bosc pear along with quince and mango and there is excellent persistence. This Gavi has lovely texture and a lengthy, flavorful finish and is a step up from most bottlings of this wine type. I enjoyed it thoroughly with my tajarin with asparagus at one trattoria and with seafood at another ristorante. 

Unfortunately, this wine is not imported into the United States, so the only way most of us can try it is in Piemonte. Now you have another reason to go!

Anyway, it's nice to see that Gavi is still a healthy, vibrant wine in Piemonte. Let's hope it regains some of its former sales success here in America.

Palmina - Italian Varieties beautifully done in California

Steve Clifton and his wife Chrystal Seals (Photo courtesy of Palmina)

As my specialty in the wine business is reporting on the wines of Italy, I'm often asked to taste examples of California wines made with Italian varieties, so called Cal-Ital wines. Over the years, I've sampled some nice whites - primarily from Mendocino County - as well as a nicely crafted red or two from various zones in California (a Luna Sangiovese from more than a decade ago is a pleasant memory).

But I can't say that any of them have greatly impressed me; yes, they've been pleasant and nicely balanced and in some cases, even displaying the lively acidity you expect from these varieties. But few of these wines have the structure or complexity of their Italian counterparts. 

I started to think that maybe it's just not possible to make notable wines from Italian varieties in California. After all, the conditions - from soil to climate - are radically different and let's face it, the growers are going to plant successful varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and others in the finest sites; Italian varieties will often have to thrive in less than stellar conditions in California.

But then I tried the wines of Palmina from Santa Barbara, which has me thinking, yes, it is possible to make beautifully crafted wines from Italian varieties in the Golden State. The brains behind Palmina is Steve Clifton, who is one-half of the Brewer-Clifton winery that produces brilliant Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays, primarily from small vineyards in the Sta. Rita Hills appellation (I'll post on these wines in the near future). Steve founded the operation in 1995 and named it after a dear friend who taught him all about the love and wonder that goes into Italian wine and food.

Steve has clearly learned these lessons well, as his wines are as fine a collection of Cal-Ital wines as I've tried. I tasted the wines with Steve last week at a distributor tasting in Chicago and while I didn't try everything, I was very impressed with several of the wines. Regarding the whites, the clear winner for me was the 2009 Arneis. This variety yields a medium-bodied white with aromas of pear and pine and is generally made without any oak aging (or very little) in Piemonte. The Palmina is partially aged in neutral oak, so the perfumes are not hidden under the wood notes; also the wine has a slight touch of minerality and very good acidity (the Honea Vineyard in the Santa Ynez Valley from where this fruit is sourced, is influenced by fog, meaning cool temperatures and a long hangtime). This is a wine that will drink well over the next 2-3 years and would be fine with a variety of foods, from shellfish to roast chicken.

The 2009 Dolcetto, sourced from two Santa Barbara vineyards (one the Honea vineyard and the other the Zotovich vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA), has pleasant freshness with youthful black cherry and black raspberry fruit with good acidity. This has medium-weight tannins and is quite tasty; this is a Dolcetto with very fine typicity- you might think you were drinking an example from Piemonte. Enjoy this over the next 2-3 years with pizza or lighter pastas or red meats.

The real surprise for me was the 2006 Nebbiolo. Now you have to understand that for me, Nebbiolo is almost sacred. Only in a few small zones in Piemonte - most notably Barolo and Barbaresco along with Gattinara - as well as the Valtellina district in northern Lombrdia - have historically displayed the proper conditions in which this variety can yield world class wines. So anyone who plants Nebbiolo in California has their work cut out for them (they may also need to have their heads examined, given the folly of such an adventure, but that's another story).

The 2006 Palmina Nebbiolo was a wonderfully pleasant surprise for me then. The wine has the proper deep garnet color; that along with the dried cherry and cedar aromas told me that Clifton had properly aged the wine in large wooden casks. During the 1980s and 1990s, there was a movement in Piemonte to age Barolo in small oak barrels, as if to give the wine a more modern identity - one with more spice and perhaps a bit more flash, if only to influence certain wine critics. While a few producers made brilliant wines, too many of these wines for me were not what I wanted from Barolo. Tradition had been replaced in these wines by ripeness and power.

So I clearly love traditional Nebbiolo and that is exactly what this Palmina wine is all about. Clifton aged the wine for three years in large wooden casks, ranging from 3500-7000 liters; producers in Barolo who use large casks work with sizes ranging from 3000-5000 liters). The wine is quite elegant, even with its youthful tannins and has very good acidity. This is a wine of balance and varietal character, not a wine of power or strength. Now I'd never mistake it for a cru Barolo or Barbaresco, but it is quite recognizable as Nebbiolo and it compares well with some examples of Nebbiolo d'Alba or Langhe Nebbiolo.

I'm not sure I'd ever thought that was possible in California. But thanks to the dedicated work of Steve Clifton and his team at Palmina, Nebbiolo, Dolcetto, Arneis and a few other Italian varieties are performing beautifully in the New World. The key, like it is with the best Italian restaurants in America, is capturing the spirit of Italy. I can't wait to try some of the single vineyard Nebbiolos from Palmina. Nice work, Steve!

Struggling with Syrah in Chile

Given the success of Syrah across the globe - there are notable examples from warm and cool climates - it is only natural that the producers of Chile would want to work with this variety. There certainly are plenty of warm areas in the country where the variety thrives, be it modestly priced bottlings from the Central Valley or more full-bodied offerings from an excellent territory such as the Colchagua Valley, some 175 miles south of Santiago. 

Lately however, some vintners are experimenting with Syrah in cool climates and results are encouraging, though wildly uneven. A cool climate for a variety such as Syrah will often mean a very deep color as well as very good natural acidity. As the tannins are never very strong with Syrah, the wines are approachable upon release, though the structure of these wines argue for at least a few years of aging.

To date, my favorite Syrah from Chile has been from Maycas in the Limarí Valley in northern Chile not far from the Pacific Ocean. There are only a handful of producers that are working here and the wines from Maycas, especially the Sauvignon Blanc and Syrah, display excellent varietal character and intensity along with beautiful complexity. These are not simple, fruit-forward wines, but bottlings with ideal structure for aging for 5-7 years and they are priced quite fairly right around $20 or even a few dollars less.

So I was intrigued to learn what's been going on with Syrah in Chile lately, especially with versions made from grapes in cool climates. I tasted versions from Limarí, Leyda, Casablanca and Lolol Valleys are the results were a bit disappointing. The best wine I sampled was the 2009 Reserva from Tamaya in Limarí Valley. Though not as rich as the Maycas (the 2008 was the most recent Syrah I've tasted from them), the Tamaya did offer very fine complexity and balance with an appealing note of dark chocolate in the finish. The wine should be at its best in 3-5 years, while the $18 price tag is fair for this style and quality.

I also enjoyed the more approachable 2009 Undurraga from Leyda Valley, part of their T.H. series of wines (T.H. for terroir hunter, a clever name!). This is a medium-bodied, round, straightforward Syrah with blackberry, black plum and chocolate flavors, medium tannins and good acidity. It's got a little bit of spice, making it a nice partner for grilled meats and lighter game. It's very elegant and well made, though the $25 price range seems a bit high for the overall quality.

There were other Syrahs I tasted recently that just weren't very good; I don't believe in embarrassing producers, so I won't mention them. But overall, I'm just not finding the quality with Syrah in Chile as I have been recently with Pinot Noir (see post). Too many of the wines are overly ripe and have deep purple colors, yielded no doubt from the ever present Chilean sunshine as well as too much time in small oak barrels (one example I had was basically black in color and opaque - you literally couldn't see through it). Do we need all this oak with Syrah from Chile? Do we need jammy, super ripe bottlings of Syrah from Chile? It's as though the producers were chasing points when they crafted these wines. They may be for some people, but they're not for me. I have to think that even the people that like them now may do so for a momentary pleasure, as this style is a bit of a flash in the pan. These wines are not elegant and would overwhelm most food.

So what I've learned so far about Syrah in Chile is that Limarí is an ideal zone for this variety as is Leyda (I've also enjoyed a few lovely examples of Syrah from Matetic/EQ in Leyda- the wines offer excellent structure). I have to think there are other areas as well that are capable of notweworthy Syrah. I just haven't tried many, I'm sorry to say. 

Perfecting Pinot Noir in Chile

For decades now, vintners in Chile have known the benefit of the warmth of the sun. Theirs is a moderate to warm climate, meaning that conditions are ideal for varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and their local grape, Carmenere. The country's finest reds have been made from these varieties, from areas such as Maipo Valley (especially the Alto Maipo, a bit southeast of Santiago), Colchagua and Aconcagua Valleys.

But there are a few dozen producers that have wanted to scratch an itch for years and that itch is working with cool climate varieties, especially Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling and Syrah. It all started in the 1980s when Pablo Morandé planted several varieties in Casablanca Valley some 12-15 miles from the Pacific Ocean. He took the chance, it paid off with many lovely wines and today, there are many established wine estates in Casablanca, while many other source fruit from this zone.

About a decade ago, a few more intrepid producers ventured even farther west, planting Pinot Noir, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Riesling and one or two other varieties in the Leyda and San Antonio Valleys. These wine zones are extremely close to the Pacific, with some vineyards as close as 2-5 miles from the ocean. This is a razor's edge climate, so ripening it sometimes difficult, but when it works, it does so brilliantly.

To date, I've tasted some lovely Pinot Noirs from San Antonio and Leyda, most notably from Casa Marin as well as Leyda Vineyards. I've also tasted some beautiful examples from Morandé and William Cole in Casablanca. However, I've also had some bottlings from these zones that have been disappoining, ranging from overripe to underipe to harsh and slightly bitter. It's clear that while Chilean Pinot Noir has improved dramatically over the past two decades, much works needs to be done.


I recently tasted three fine examples of Chilean Pinot Noir that I'll mention in brief.

The first was the Valdivieso Reserva 2009 from Casablanca Valley. My notes mention "fresh, attractive aromas of bing cherry along with a note of cardamom spice; medium-bodied, this has good concentration and varietal character, medium-weight tannins, tart acidity and a light touch of wood."

This is an elegant Pinot Noir that is styled for many types of food and is fairly priced at $17. I think most consumers looking for Pinot Noir in this price range would be very happy with this wine.


The second wine was the Veramonte "Ritual" 2009 from Casablanca Valley. I've enjoyed this winery's bottlings for many years now, be it the delightful Sauvignon Blanc or the red blend known as Primus. The wines are well made and offer very good to excellent character for their prices.

But as good as those wines are, they did not prepare me for the qualities, complexities and character of this new Pinot Noir. Displaying aromas of bing cherry, cardamom and a hint of bacon fat, this wine has delicious varietal fruit with perfect ripeness and a lovely elegance. The finish has good length and is quite flavorful and everything is in balance- the acidity is very good, tannins are round and silky and the wood notes are quite subtle.

For $20 retail, this is a steal. I would be happy to pay $30 for this, as here is a wine with beautiful varietal character, lovely texture and impeccable balance. I've tasted $40 and $50 Pinot Noirs from other countries that haven't had this sort of complexity and finesse. Best yet, this is a lovely food wine - I think it would pair especially well with a Thai preparation of chicken or pork.

Finally, I sampled the Cono Sur "Ocio" 2008 from Casablanca Valley. This producer has a series of special selection and single vineyard wines that have greatly impressed me in the past (especially the "20 Barrels" Sauvignon Blanc). This Pinot Noir has lovely varietal character, excellent depth of fruit and a velvety feel in the mouth. It is quite rich with beautiful ripeness, very good acidity and excellent persistence.

The only problem I have with this wine is the excessive oak; the wine was aged for one year in small oak barrels. Oak in Pinot Noir is a delicate thing and it doesn't take much for a wine to be laden with wood notes. I prefer a different approach to aging a glorious wine such as this in oak, but the winemaker was looking for a particular style. This approach is also taken with numerous vintners of showcase Pinot Noirs in California and Oregon, so this wine is not alone in its balance of fruit and oak. Besides, the wine still has an elegant feel to it; there are no bitter wood tannins present.

This is a trophy wine, so to speak, and is a fine example of what Chile can produce with Pinot Noir. Producing notable wines from this grape is a work in progress in many great areas around the world, even in superb zones like Sta. Rita Hills or the Santa Lucia Highlands in California, so Chile is holding its own with the variety. Based on these three wines, the future looks exciting for Pinot Noir in Chile.


P.S. A final note- the Cono Sur bottling retails for $65, this price no doubt due to its limited availability. But for me, I'll take three bottles of the Veramonte "Ritual" over one bottle of the Cono Sur bottling every time!