WTN: Bucci Verdicchio 2007

What was supposed to have been a casual mid-week, food friendly drop turned out to have been quite a bit more interesting. In fact it slightly reminded me of Pieropan's Calvarino Soave - which was nice! With some lightly smoked halibut:

Azienda Agricola Bucci Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore 2007 - Marche; 13,5% abv; 14,77€; neutral oak cask for 3-6 months

A rather lovely nose of apples, hay and non-oaky nuttiness that I sometimes also find in good Soave. With air, the fruit turned more and more towards red aromas.

Full bodied, almost rich, bright in its fruit. It has fine acidity and overall grip and the aftertaste is very long. I think this is a lovely wine even though I wouldn't mind more minerality in it.

I hear some Verdicchios are supposed to age very well - is this a bottling that is known to age well or is it only Bucci's Riserva?

-Otto

Otto,

An aged Umani Ronchi (it was vintage plus 7 or 8 ) from Chicago's Italian Village introduced me to Verdicchio's ability to develope over time. It was very tasty. Unfortunately, it has been difficult to repeat the experience. I have high hope for Bucci even though an '03 earlier this year tasted tired; I suspect the vintage is to blame. I'm holding some of the '04s and '00 and '01 of the Riservas (which gets hit with some new oak, I believe) and I've got my figures crossed.

Speaking of crossed fingers, i'm opening the '88 Giroud Beaune 1er Bressandes for dinner tonight--looks like you've had a mixed experience.

Dan, good to hear about the Umani Ronchi.

Mixed experiences with the Giroud? All bottles I've had have been varying degrees of wonderful. Though if by mixed experiences you imply that of the four bottles I've had the opportunity to try, one tasted older than expected from my first taste and one was identical and one seemed very, very young - then yes I've had mixed experiences. But I wouldn't mind more of any of these experiences. IMO a truly lovable wine.

-O

Mixed experiences with the Giroud? All bottles I've had have been varying degrees of wonderful. Though if by mixed experiences you imply that of the four bottles I've had the opportunity to try, one tasted older than expected from my first taste and one was identical and one seemed very, very young - then yes I've had mixed experiences. But I wouldn't mind more of any of these experiences. IMO a truly lovable wine.

-O

Well that is good news.

The vast majority of Italian white wines are drunk young over there, Gavi being the only obvious exception (and I've had a ten-year-old white from Etna that was very good). I would have to say that Verdicchio di Matelica would in theory be a better bet for aging than Jesi, but I haven't had the experience personally.

Sadly, the Giroud was corked.

Otto,

I'm holding some of the '04s and '00 and '01 of the Riservas (which gets hit with some new oak, I believe) and I've got my figures crossed.

I don't think so. At least when I was there in 2003, there was no new oak as far as my eyes could see. Only big and old botti. I had the opportunity to taste some older vintages of the Riserva, from the second half of the '90s, and they had matured nicely, obtaining round and mellow characters that were very charming, but I would assume not everyone would like the lack of fresh fruit. I have some bottles of the 2001 Riserva and might try one rather soon. I'll let you know.
Here's Ampelio Bucci in front of his botti with the Riserva.

bucci4crs.jpg

BTW, it was amazing to see how his vineyards in September 2003 were fresh and green when the rest of the surrounding landscape was scorched brown and yellow. Good vineyard management, evidently!
Cheers, Anders

Otto,

I'm holding some of the '04s and '00 and '01 of the Riservas (which gets hit with some new oak, I believe) and I've got my figures crossed.

I don't think so. At least when I was there in 2003, there was no new oak as far as my eyes could see. Only big and old botti.

Interesting. I thought the Riservas had some new oak influence also, but you were there, so how can I say otherwise? What is the difference between the regular Bucci and the riserva then? Stainless vs foudre? Still saving a 2001 for later. One tasted last NiagaraCool this past spring was singing nicely and better than a bottle I had when it came out. The best riserva I had, however, was the 1998...very lovely stuff around 2004 when I had it.

Interesting. I thought the Riservas had some new oak influence also, but you were there, so how can I say otherwise? What is the difference between the regular Bucci and the riserva then? Stainless vs foudre?

Yes, Mark, I think I can be trusted on this one. Furthermore, I have checked on Bucci's website and also for other info on the web and it seems that there is definitely no new oak here. I think the main difference between the normale and the Riserva is the selection of the wines, probably already from the vineyard sites, and the further aging, both in the botti and some extra time in bottle.
/A