Ok, today I can tick off three more grape varieties on my quest to qualify for the Wine Century Club. These three will put me at 70 – Pretty good for an old guy, but still 30 short of the 100 variety requirement.
On Friday, we opened a bottle of 2004 Broglia Gavi La Meirana. Gavi comes from the Piedmont area in Northern Italy.Having never had a Gavi before, I wasn’t sure what to expect –
It really was unpleasant and I’m sure it was a flawed bottle. It wasn’t completely bad, but bordered on it, almost like it was cooked. It really reminded me of sherry – with a nose and taste very reminiscent of fortified wine. It was semi-sweet with a medium to dark golden color.
So, I’m going to assume it was a bad bottle and try another Gavi to verify it – we’ll see. Needless to say, I was very disappointed. I picked it up at a local retailer and it was the only Gavi that I saw and just thought I should try it.
At the same retailer I ran across a bottle of 2006 Terredora Falanghina. Ok great, another variety that I’ve never tried. Falanghina primarily comes from Campania in the South of Italy near Naples.
Now the Falanghina, unlike the Gavi was excellent – loads of fresh fruit, good balance and mouthfeel, …hmmm, a little cinnamon on the mid-palate. Very nice, full bodied white with a light golden straw color. At $13, a great QPR. I like this a lot and will have to have more.
The third variety is Counoise. And it contributes about 14% to the 2000 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastle. 
Counoise (pronounced “Coon-wahz”) is a key component of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The label image to the right says 2002, but the wine we tried is the 2000 vintage. The tasting notes in CellarTracker on this wine we’re ok, but not great. I found it to be excellent – loads of fruit and silky smooth with good balance. I actuall picked this up at the same local retailer and they we’re closing it out at 25% discount, so QPR was excellent.
So, there you have it – three new varieties:
Seventy varieties down and thirty to go — should be fun!
Posted by DRHamp in Wine-Wine-Wine