Hello all and welcome back for another taste of my tasting blog. Sorry for the lag the last couple days but I am getting really busy with all the arrangements that go with moving to Italy. I'm excited today, let's jump right in because very now and then you find a wine that just plain out surprises you. This has happened to me a couple of times in the past few days. It can go both ways though, from the perplexed and disappointed to the amazed and well excited. Its very easy to do this too, and like I always say its great to try new things to experience new wines. Sometimes this doesn't work out so well, but sometimes it does.
For myself, it is usually in the case of a rare obscure varietal or bottling which can definitely go both ways. The best thing to do is to take something you like, for instance California Pinot Noir, and branch out a little at a time-baby steps. Oregon, New Zealand, Burgundy, Italy, Alsace, Germany, Australia, we get the point.
The wine we are looking at today is an Italian white wine. When I say Moscato most people think sweet. It is a grape that produces good levels of sugar and is most famously made into sweet sparkling wines, Asti (Spumanti) and Moscato d'Asti. These wines are both from Piedmont in the Northwest of Italy. Todays Moscato is from the Alto Adige in Northeastern Italy, way up in the Dolomite Mountain range. The fun thing is this wine is dry not sweet! I received the bottle in a wine club for organic/biodynamic wines out of Soif WIne Bar in Santa Cruz.
http://www.manincor.com/en/winecellar
Manincor Moscato Giallo Alto Adige 2008
This wine is starbright with a bright golden color clear with a high concentration. Very youthful with no gas or sediment with moderate coating of the tears and very faint rim variation.
Clean with a high intensity of aromas. The wine smells sweet based on how intense the fruit is. Asian pear and peach syrup, hints of kiwi and some lime leaf. There is some florality and faint minerality of cool rocks. Very fragrant indeed, this wine was a hit with all those who tried it.
The palate is rich with similiar fruit flavors medium bodied with moderate plus acidity. The finish is long and the wine was complex and I had this great candy lemonhead finish. It even developed a touch of that florality across the palate also. It was dry though and the acidity really drove the finish, transforming greatly on the palate.
I was recommending people to try this with a prosciutto, peach, and arugula salad dressed with a whole mustard seed vinager dressing. The ripe sweetness of the peaches and the saltiness of the prosciutto was great.
Also check out this link to an amazing small production Syrah I got to taste on Tuesday:
http://www.ambullneovineyards.com/wine.php?wine=red&vin=2006&id=6
Salute!
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