It was a good night for a tasting at the Chelsea Club and there were good wines from South Italy to be tasted. There may have been unusual aromas and flavours, but there was not a bad wine in the tasting. The tastings consisted of one white and three red flights, and focussed on grapes native to the region; only one wine, in fact, was composed of ‘international’ varieties.

The while flight, with all wines exhibiting a light gold colour, started with what turned out to be a fan favourite of the evening. The Falanghina from Feudi di San Gregorio was a tropical fruit bowl of pineapple, mango, and kiwi with some mineral. There was good follow-through on the palate with a persimmon taste coming through. The second wine, another Falanghina from Cantina del Taburno, was less pronounced than the first. It showed pear and pineapple with more earthy notes as well as chalk and mineral. Honey and florals came forward with time. The next two whites were Insolia/Inzolia blends. There were more pronounced earthy notes on both of these wines. The Abadir ‘Solito’ made from Catarrato and Inzolia had muscat, lime, and a waxy character. The Corvo ‘Oniris’ from Grillo and Insolia grapes was reminiscent of Loire Chenin Blanc with citrus, apple, wool, and good acidity.

The wines of the first red flight all had Pinot Noir–like colour. The odd wine here was the blend of Gaglioppo, Nerello, and Greco Nero from Cantine Lento of Calabria. This one had raspberry and big cherry with green pepper and some dried tomato and earth on its sweet nose with good follow-through on the palate. The next two wines were primarily made with Negroamaro. The Masseria Monaci ‘Eloquenzia’ from the Copertino DOC had good cherry, red plum, and spice with barnyard perfume. Good tannins and well balanced, it was an easy-drinking middle of the road wine. The Salice Salentino from Leone Castris had a big bouquet of lilac and hibiscus, and a sweet nose of cherry and cloves. It was very chewy with a long finish.

One of the big favourites of the night, the Primitivo-Negroamaro blend called ‘Amativo’ from Cantele, was a deep red with big extract. It had dark fruit, black plum and cherry nose and taste. Dark and rich, it was full, hot, chewy, and long. The Masseria Pepe ‘Portile’, a Primitivo del Tarantino, had good fruit but also cinnamon, florals, chocolate, and tar with a medium body. The third and fourth wines of the flight were made from Aglianico. The Cantina del Taburno had red plum and a dusty floral character and big tannins. Even bigger tannins were found in the Agricola Del Monte version with its big structure and plum-cherry flavours.

The Sella & Mosca ‘Medeus’, from a newer IGT of Sardegna, Isola dei Nuraghi, and made from Merlot, Carignano, Cannonau, and Cabernet, started the last flight. Well layered and balanced with red fruit, plum, earth, leather, with Cabernet Franc character and sweet oak. The ‘Il Falcone’ from Azienda Vinicola Rivera had a restrained nose of plum, with licorice, tobacco and earth. The Planeta ‘Santa Cecilia’ was 100% Nero d’Avola. Overwhelming raspberry at first, it was well layered with depth and an intriguing chocolate-raspberry dessert character. It was well-balanced with integrated tannins. It was a fine flight to round off the evening.

Once again, the tasting proved that there is great value and great wines to be had in the south of Italy. 

Here’s the line-up. As usual, all wines were tasted blind.

Feudi di San Gregorio, ‘Sannio’ Falanghina, 2003, DOC, Campania $18.95

Cantina del Taburno, Falanghina, 2003, Taburno DOC, Campania $18.95

Abadir, ‘Solito’, 2003, Sicilia IGT, Bottled by Baglio Hopps (Catarrato, Inzolia) $14.95

Corvo, ‘Oniris’, 2003, Sicilia IGT, Bottled by Casa Vinicola di Sicilia (Grillo, Insolia) $13.95

Cantine Lento, ‘Dragone’, 2002, Lamezia Rosso DOC, Calabria (Gaglioppo, Nerello, Greco Nero) $14.95

Masseria Monaci, ‘Eloquenzia’, 2000, Copertino DOC, Lecce, Puglia (70% Negroamaro, with the
possible addition of Malvasia di Brindisi, Malvasia Nera di Lecce, Montepulciano and Sangiovese) $12.95

Leone di Castris, Salice Salentino Rosso Riserva DOC 2001, Puglia (90% Negroamare, 10% Malvasia Nera di Lecce) $17.95

Cantele, ‘Amativo’, 2001, Salento IGT, Puglia (60% Primitivo, 40% Negroamaro) $28.95

Masseria Pepe, ‘Portile’, 2003, Primitivo del Tarantino IGT, Puglia $14.95

Cantina del Taburno, ‘Fidelis’, 2001, Aglianico del Taburno DOC, Campania (90% Aglianico, 10% Sangiovese and Merlot) $18.95

Agricola Del Monte, ‘Ocone’, 2001, Aglianico del Taburno DOC, Campania $15.95

Sella & Mosca, ‘Medeus’, 2000, Isola dei Nuraghi IGT, Sardegna (Merlot, Carignano, Cannonau, Cabernet) $29.95

Azienda Vinicola Rivera, ‘Il Falcone’, 2000, Castel del Monte Riserva DOC, Puglia (70% Nero (Uva) di
Troia and 30% Montepulciano) $21.95

Planeta, ‘Santa Cecilia’, 2001, Sicilia IGT (100% Nero d’Avola) $44.95