Fasoli Gino Soave Superiore "Pieve vecchia" 2006
100% Garganega. This is fermented and aged in 500-l barrels and I suspect they are new because bitter oak is all I could smell and taste. It also tasted very alcoholic so I wasn't surprised to see 14,5% abv on the label. It was frankly quite disgusting.
But things got much, much better and the other two wines I thought were quite awesome!
Fasoli Gino Liber Bianco Veronese IGT 2006
100% Garganega. This is aged in 25hl casks. It reminds me a bit of Pieropan's La Rocca except with less overt oak, but it still has the same spicy, red tones almost like ketchup, but gladly for my taste these strange aromas aren't as strong as I find them in La Rocca. Rather a citrussy brightness is what is most memorable. Full bodied but brightly acidic, mineral. The 13,5% abv doesn't stick out at all. Nice!
Though I have mostly seen references to Fasoli Gino's Soaves and other Garganegas, I think the star tonight was the Fasoli Gino Rosso Veronese IGT Corvina 2007. Senza aggiunta di solfiti it says on the label and indeed my first sniff took me back to the vulcanic "natural" wines from Cornelissen that we tasted last week. It is sweet and obviously a very ripe wine but it is extremely bright in its aromatics and promises much refreshing character on the palate. And the promise is kept: obviously ripe but very light on its feet, terpsichorean even, crunchy and refreshingly tannic. Lovely, lovely wine.
But I must wonder why such different wines as the Etnas from Cornelissen and this Venetian can smell so eerily similar? Is "natural" wine akin to spoofulation in that it homogenizes wines from different regions and grapes? I am sure there must be a better reason why these wines are so alike?