Quick Taste: Altanuta

By Rob Bralow, Wine Post Editor

I profess not to be a lover or Pinot Grigio. Too often I find it watery, or strained with tropical, or simply flawed. Therefore, when I find a Pinot Grigio I like, I find it to be almost a miracle.

Altanuta Pinot Grigio is good wine. From Valdadige, Italy this Pinot Grigio is the real deal. This is a delicious wine that I can see myself enjoying during a meal or just sitting around on an afternoon. There is a grassy, lime and creamy smell to the wine, with lots of minerality. The creamy smoothness comes out on the palate and is joined by soft pears and peaches.

I received this wine as a sample from Total Beverage Solution.

Pretty but missing something

By Rob Bralow, Wine Post Editor

It amazes me how old Europe is. I can only say that as an ignorant American in his mid-twenties, but when I compare some wines in California, many of which where non-existent before the 1990's, and the wines from Italy or France, many of which have history going back to the 1600's, it just boggles my mind.

That is how I felt when I received samples from Tiziano. In the About section, Tiziano talks about how old the Chianti Classico region is and how lucky Tiziano is to be part of that tradition. Somewhat misleading, since what I really want to know is the age of Tiziano winery. A pretty website, with very little information.

The wines somewhat echo that sentiment and being almost done. The winery makes a Chianti, Chianti Classico, Chianti Riserva, and a Pinot Grigio. Below are my tasting notes:

2008 Tiziano Pinot Grigio, Veneto, Italy - Starts with bright kiwi and fresh cut flowers in the glass. The taste is extremely light and grapy, with a slightly metallic taste upfront.

2007 Chianti - Earthy and rich with blackberry and slightly barnyard characteristics. Yes, that's a good thing. The taste is light and a little creamy. It is a simple wine, but easy to drink and destined for Tuesday night with pasta marinara.

2006 Chianti Classico - Fresh raspberries and stawberries are almost growing out of the glass. Such fruity sweetness on the nose! Then there are notes of dark chocolate and toast that mixes with the fruit. The only thing holding this wine back is the mass of woody dryness that cuts away the fruit on the finish.

2005 Chianti Riserva - Not sure what happened with this wine, but it was not my favorite. There is a super sweetness to this wine which is almost immediately dropped and dissapears. I tried two different bottles and both had the same result.

Let's talk Pinot Grigio

I do not really know much about Pinot Grigio. I have always considered the wine to be a harmless and uninteresting, something that someone looking for a harmless sip of wine with dinner or just sitting outside in the sun. My experience has been that if a person well advanced in years is not drinking white zinfandel it is a good bet that they are drinking Pinot Grigio.

I cannot point to statistics, I cannot say that I have surveyed this possibility among a sample population, but I think it is true. My personal opinion of the wine is negative. Sorry for having an opinion.

Not really sorry though.

Then I was sent a bottle of Tenuta Ca'Bolani Pinot Grigio 2007 from Friuli. Friuli is in the north eastern corner of Italy. Ca'Bolani seems to be the largest estate in Friuli and is owned by the Zonin Family Vineyards. Pinot Grigio makes up roughly 1/6 of the Ca'Bolani land under vine. The rest is a wide variety, including, Pinot Blanco, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Riesling, Tocai, Prosecco, and more.


I tasted the wine with a variety of other white wines (I was having a samples tasting day of wines such as Torrontes, Albarino, and Sauvignon Blanc) and found that I really enjoyed the wine. There was some nice peach with a little hint of cream on the nose and very zesty, tangerine and lemon zest on the tasting. It was a sipping wine, not a wine so intensely citric as a Sauvignon Blanc that it would need food. I am not saying that the wine would not go well with food, but it does not need it.

Worth a try. I found it online listed for $20 at its highest, and $7 at its cheapest, which means one of those retailers is ripping people off like CRAZY.

Wines tasted on October 15th, 2008

Pinot Grigio (Gris)

1) Villa Dugo Pinot Grigio 2007, 13% ALC., DOC Friuli Isonzo, Italy

2) Erste & Neue Kellerei Pinot Grigio 2007, 13% ALC., DOC Alto Adige – South Tyrol, Italy

3) Ponzi Vineyards Pinot Gris 2007, 13.3% ALC., Willamette, Oregon, USA

Sauvignon Blanc

4) Sileni Cellar Selections Sauvignon Blanc 2007, 12.5% ALC., Marlborough, New Zealand

5) Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon Blanc 2007, 12.5 ALC., AOC Tourain, Loire, France

6) De Martino Parcela 5 Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc 2007, 13.5% ALC., Casablanca, Chile

My Review:

1) I thought this wine was a bit boring. It had a little bit of vanilla and smokiness to it. Makes me think there was a bit of oak. Something I would suggest as a large party wine, not too expensive and bland enough to be inoffensive to everyone.

2)Much more interesting wine, with a bit of a floral note in the nose. The taste was still rather spicy, fruity with a little it of orange citrus.

3)A very different wine than the first two, more of a passion fruit and orange rind nose. The taste was a little sweet and creamy to me, although there was still plenty of acidity.

4)Like a freshly opened can of string beans. Lots of asparagus here, although the taste had a little bit of tropical fruit.

5)Really interesting. Like putting my nose into a bag of werthers originals. This wine was really aromatic with vanilla and butterscotch everywhere. The taste had some nice grapefruit to it, but the werthers were definitely overpowering.

6)Asparagus bomb! So much boiled string beans. I had to run out of the room.

7)We opened another bottle to see if we could find a classic Sauvignon Blanc. We did in the De Martino Organic Sauvignon Blanc 2007, 13.3% ALC, Maipo Valley, Chile. Thank goodness. There was the grapefruit I was looking for. This wine was spicy, zesty and very fresh.