JUNE 1 RESULTS: ITALIAN WHITES. The attractive sketch on the Donnafugata Anthilia bottle originally inspired Chip and Charles to consider a "pretty labels" theme. (Scroll down to see it.) But ultimately, they went with other Italian white wines -- which turned out to be a good idea, given that at that point the weather was finally settling into a typical New Orleans summer. Most or all of these came from Cork & Bottle and cost in the $15 range.
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     We started, as an aperitif, with the 2003 Almondo Giovanni "Bricco delle Ciliege" Roero Arneis. In this case, Roero is the D.O. -- it's in northern Italy -- and Arneis is the grape. We didn't discuss this wine, and I didn't take any notes, because we were waiting for everybody to arrive and get settled in. But some of us later decided that this opening wine was the best of the evening.
     1-tie) "Belarus." 2003 Tenuta di Nozzole "Le Bruniche" Chardonnay, I.G.T. Toscana. Avg. 13; range 12-14. A light, airy, simple, straightforward Tuscan white. Gary thought it smelled like melons and pronounced it a "great summer white." Not a tone of body; Steph thought it might be better with food. Chip thought it didn't really stand up to food and was better quaffed on its own.
     1-tie) "Carte." 2003 Broglia "La Meirana" Gavi, 100% Cortese. Avg. 13; range 11-14. This white, from Gavi in northern Italy, isn't one of those Old World wines that aspires to be a fruit-forward New World grape juice. (Or if it does, it doesn't succeed.) It's got an unusual brass-doorknob nose -- newly shined brass, Charles thought -- with a little Euro-terroir-stanky undertone. Reminded people of pears, green apples and honeydew rind. Chip thought it was a quiet wine. "A little girl with curls and glasses," he said, looking at Steph. Becky thought the nose was "chemically harsh" and couldn't get past it.
     3) "Album." 2003 La Carraia Orvieto Classico. Our assessments of this wine, which comes from Orvieto in Umbria, were all over the map. Becky found it clean and fizzy, like San Pellegrino. Chip thought it was chalky, and it smelled to him like lemon grass. It reminded Charles of an old lady with perfume. I thought it was more muscular than most of the others, big-boned rather than small-boned. But there are better big-boned white wines out there.
     4) "Snow." 2003 Donnafugata Anthilia; 50% Ansonica, 50% Catarratto. Avg. 11.3; range 9-13. Buttery nose with a hard metallic undertone. Becky thought it smelled like nail polish remover at first, but it improved as it breathed. chip, who'd had this wine before, said that previously it tasted like a little flower bud opening, but he didn't like it as much this time. Steph and Gary picked up some weird "bodily" flavors, but Gary thought it went down OK.
     5) "Du Bois." 2003 Terredora Dipaolo Falanghina Irpinia; 100% Falanghina. Avg. 9.5; range 5-11. This wine comes from Campania, and we didn't care so much for it. One person thought it wanted to be light and fruity but had a weird chocolate flavor cutting through it, and it reminded another person of gin. Somebody else was "intrigued by how you get a wine to taste like peanut butter."
     Statistical note: Charles liked these wines the most, and Becky the least.
     As for the fake labels: All the names suggest, in one language or another, things that are white.
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     Gary and I hosted. I did the cooking. I've been stir-frying a lot lately and wondered if you could get the ultimate Asian technique to produce Mediterranean results if you use basil, rosemary, olive oil, chicken stock and various Western spring/summer vegetables. Short answer: No, not if you also use as much fresh ginger as I did. My attempt at Asian-Italian fusion failed, but at least the dish went OK with the wine.
     The menu also included a salad with salami and pine nuts, a grits souffle with a pesto sauce (modeled on a recent Cooking Light recipe) and a basil-infused version of key lime pie.
 :: posted by Dante at 9:21 PM
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