Monday, 19 June 2006
Reported by Dawn Harvie

The planned event for this Scuola Italiana was the Italian Northeast wine regions, but Antonio Mauriello, our host for the evening, decided that there was just too much to cover in the Veneto region to spend any time talking wines from other regions. We will do those at a later date.

The first flight featured four distinct wines. The Il Rose was pink, of course, and had strawberry and floral notes. It was a frizzante with strawberry and itrus flavours, and good acid with a touch of sweetness. The Sante Pietre was also pink, but had some herbaceous notes on the nose—a touch of freshcut grass. In the mouth, there was not a lot to it with the exception of an austere acidity. The Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso had an unusual nose liciting descriptors such as “new shower curtain”. In addition it had some smokiness, tobacco, and herbaceous notes. In the mouth, it had somepeppery spice and some bright fruit, but it was not well-balanced with the acidity tipping the scale on the heavy side. It definitely needs food. The 1980 ramaggiore Merlot had a bit of a funky oxidized nose with notes of cola, black licorice, white chocolate, figs, and red/black cherries. Many of thesenotes came through on the palate.

The first wine of the second class, the 1982 Folonari Valpolicella was brown in colour and had an “old” nose, a little oxidized, with notes of figs, prunes nd other dried fruits, and molasses. Some thought it was a little like a dry Oloroso Sherry. In the mouth though, there was a depth of flavour that you do not find in a sherry with the dried fruit and molasses coming through. The 1998 La Grola had aromas of bright red fruit, chocolate, earth, coffee, ushrooms, and some herbaceousness which all followed through on the palate with some nice acid, bitter almond, and a long finish. The Santo Stefano Ripasso had some stewed fruit, dried fruit (including dried cherries), leather, chocolate, and a touch of cedar. In the mouth, the stewed/dried fruit came through with good acid, nice tannins, and overall good balance. All three of the above wines had votes for favourites, but the overall favourite of the flight was the Due Torri Amarone Classico which was very flavourful with red fruit, chocolate, cedar, eucalyptus, floral notes, and lavender soap! On the palate, the bright sweet red fruit came through with some of the chocolate and some smoky flavours, and nice acid and tannins with a nice mouth feel and a long finish. The Negrar Amarone Classico also got some votes for favourite (not as many as the Due Torri). It had some oxidized notes, with tar and dried tobacco, sweet cigar, and stewed fruit which all came through on the palate; however, the fruit was rather washed out. It did have a long bitter-chocolate finish. Oh, and I must mention the three very delicious cheeses! Asiago Pressato DOP, Montasio DOP, and the Piave Vecchio. And if we hadn’t had so much fun matching and pairing the cheeses with the wines, there might have been a more detailed description of the matches here!

Flight three started witht the Dindarello, which was light gold in colour with aromas of honey, nectar, fresh Muscat, tropical fruit (mango, pineapple, a huge basket of yellow fruit!), and some floral notes. On the palate, it was perfectly balanced with acid and fruit (a mix of the above!). It was hands down the favourite of the flight. The Acinatium Recioto di Soave, a rare white Recioto, had some notes of caramel, white chocolate, banana, ineral, nuts, and pine most of which came through on the palate. A very interesting wine! The Recioto Della Valpolicella, a more common red Recioto, had smoked bacon, bitter chocolate, and earth on the nose. In the mouth, it was full of bitter chocolate, tobacco, and cigar, and would make a nice match with a chocolate dessert. A very nice wine. During the evening, Antonio discussed the Veneto region in some detail, so in the end, not only did we try some really interesting wines, including many old vintage wines, we learned a lot too. Thanks Antonio for a fabulous evening!

Flight 1

• Il Rose', Mionetto, IGT Veneto, 10.5% alc. (Raboso, Cabernet, Merlot) $14.00
• Sante Pietre, Lamberti, 2005, Bardolino Classico, 12% alc. (60% Corvina, 20% Rondinella, 10% Molinara, 10% Merlot) $11.00
• Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso, Paladin, 1999, Lison Pramaggiore DOC, 12% alc. (100% Refosco) $11.95
• Merlot, Pramaggiore, 1980, Lison-Pramaggiore DOC, 12% alc. (100% Merlot) N/A

Flight 2

• Valpolicella, Folonari, 1982, Valpolicella Classico Superiore DOC, 12% alc. (Corvinone, Rondinella, Molinara) $14.00
• La Grola, Allegrini, 1998, IGT Veronese, 13.5% alc. (70% Corvina, 15% Rondinella, 10% Syrah, 5% Sangiovese) $29.95
• Santo Stefano Ripasso, Boscaini, 1995, Vino da Tavola, 13.5% alc. (Corvinone, Rondinella, Molinara) $29.95
• Amarone Classico, Due Torri, 1998, Valpolicella Classico DOC, 14% alc. (Corvinone, Rondinella, Molinara) N/A
• Amarone Classico, Negrar, 1985, Recioto della Valpolicella DOC, 14% alc. (Corvinone, Rondinella, Molinara) N/A

Flight 3

• Dindarello, Maculan, 2002, IGT Veneto, 12% alc. (100% Moscato) $11.00
• Acinatium, Suavia, 2002, Recioto di Soave DOCG, 13.5% alc. (100% Garganega) N/A
• Recioto, Corte Lenguin, 2003, Recioto della Valpolicella DOC, 14% alc. (Corvinone, Rondinella, Molinara) N/A