WTN: Feudi di San Gregorio Wines

Feudi di San Gregorio (from Campania) presented its line of wines to my wine club last night. I only have sketchy notes (mostly no vintages!) but I thought they were worth repeating. I was skeptical before the tasting, but was very impressed, especially with the reds-these wines showed excellently.

Falanghina- bland, pinot grigio-esque white
Fiano di Avellino- to my taste, this was oxidized, with a hint of sherry and definite nut and honey notes, but the presenter from the winery swore this was varietal character. YMMV, but I thought this was flawed.
Greco di Tufo- lots of acidity and minerality- almost Muscadet-esque. Nice.
Rubrato Aglianico- light, fragrant, cherry fruit and olive. (I got a strong whiff of olive from both the Aglianico wines.) Very nice, but somewhat simple.
Taurasi- 100% Aglianico. Fantastic. I checked the vintage on this, it was 2004. 13.5% alc. A good whiff of VA, but underneath, deep red & dark cherry, licorice, olives, provencal herbs.....well balanced, and just enough tannin to provide some structure. There was oak, but it was far from overwhelming. I doubt this is an ager, but it's terrific now. Among the most enjoyable wines I've had so far in 2009.

Ognissole Primativo di Manduria- I think this was an 2006, and it wasn't under the Feudi di San Gregorio label even though its owned by them. This was terrific for what it was- red, brambly fruit, fragrant and relatively transparent, with an incredible secondary note of provencal herbs. To my mind, this had a clear similarity to good American Zin, but dialed down on the ripeness. No tannin here-this is an early drinker. I really liked this.

Privilegio- Very good. Nice acidity, not too sweet. Some botrytis, but they raisin the grapes before pressing and my guess is that this is where most of the concentration of the sugars comes from. Complex and unusual- there was the usual apricot/pineapple stuff that you get in dessert wines, but I thought black currant was the dominant fruit note, with a minty secondary aroma. Everyone who tasted this liked it, everyone thought it was complex. Not too high in alcohol-- I think 13%ish.

In sum, I thought this was going to be internationally-styled swill, but while these wines were clearly not built for aging, they were extraordinarily complex for young wines and not fruit-bombs or extremely alcoholic. I was surprised- these wines showed better than Lagrange and d'Issan did last week.

Good post David, have been keeping an eye on this selection/shelf downtown. Might be time to actually buy!

I used to a fan of both colours at Feudi San Grgorio, but lately those reds encountered at tastings have struck me as over muscular, up-front and woody, particularly the more ambitious cuvées. I still remain a fan of the whites and think that your bottle of Fiano sounds faulty.

The Primitivo has never come my way; it sounds nice.

Here is my take on their range from a big sip and spit tasting last Autumn.

Feudi di San Gregorio, Sorbo Serpico Avellino, Campania
I like the whites here better than the more pretentious and highly priced reds.
Fiano d’Avellino 2007 (€14) was delightfully fragrantly citrus, fresh and mineral; 16/20.
Greco di Tufo 2007 (€14) was softer and more ampler but also coarser; 15/20.
Greco di Tufo Cutizzi 2007 (€17) showed tropical fruit, liqueur touches, while keeping minerality, together with subtlety and finesse; 16/20++.

Rubrato 2006, 100% Aglianico (€12), showed fleshy dark fruit marred at present by strong toffee notes; 13.5/20.
Taurasi 2004 (€27), 100% Aglianico, was much better with a resinous touch to the aromas, deep tangy dark fruit with good structure; 15/20.
Taurasi Piano di Montevergine 2001 (€40), 100% Aglianico, showed greater fragrance in aroma with attractive cigar box touches with smooth deep and sweet fruit, liqueur and English fruit cake touches; 15.5/20+++.
What has happened Serpico (€50), 100% Aglianico, which used to be forbiddingly dense but impressive in its youth? This 2005 was up-front with soft rich fruit, burgeoning fruit cake flavour and lots of dry caramel; 13/20.

There is also a very pricey Merlot cuvée, Pàtrimo, which I have sampled in previous years and which I remember as also fitting the broad description of muscular, up-front and woody.

I still have a few bottles of reds, mainly from 2001, I think. Your notes encourage me to have another look to see how they are faring after a few years in bottle.

Here is a link to the estate's website http://www.feudi.it/eng/intro.aspx .

Weird- I totally didn't get oak notes in my Rubrato, and in fact, I think I remember the presenter saying after the tasting that they try to limit the new oak in that wine. I wonder if I was tasting an '07?

I used to a fan of both colours at Feudi San Grgorio, but lately those reds encountered at tastings have struck me as over muscular, up-front and woody, particularly the more ambitious cuvées. I still remain a fan of the whites and think that your bottle of Fiano sounds faulty.

The Primitivo has never come my way; it sounds nice.

Here is my take on their range from a big sip and spit tasting last Autumn.

Feudi di San Gregorio, Sorbo Serpico Avellino, Campania
I like the whites here better than the more pretentious and highly priced reds.
Fiano d’Avellino 2007 (€14) was delightfully fragrantly citrus, fresh and mineral; 16/20.
Greco di Tufo 2007 (€14) was softer and more ampler but also coarser; 15/20.
Greco di Tufo Cutizzi 2007 (€17) showed tropical fruit, liqueur touches, while keeping minerality, together with subtlety and finesse; 16/20++.

Rubrato 2006, 100% Aglianico (€12), showed fleshy dark fruit marred at present by strong toffee notes; 13.5/20.
Taurasi 2004 (€27), 100% Aglianico, was much better with a resinous touch to the aromas, deep tangy dark fruit with good structure; 15/20.
Taurasi Piano di Montevergine 2001 (€40), 100% Aglianico, showed greater fragrance in aroma with attractive cigar box touches with smooth deep and sweet fruit, liqueur and English fruit cake touches; 15.5/20+++.
What has happened Serpico (€50), 100% Aglianico, which used to be forbiddingly dense but impressive in its youth? This 2005 was up-front with soft rich fruit, burgeoning fruit cake flavour and lots of dry caramel; 13/20.

There is also a very pricey Merlot cuvée, Pàtrimo, which I have sampled in previous years and which I remember as also fitting the broad description of muscular, up-front and woody.

I still have a few bottles of reds, mainly from 2001, I think. Your notes encourage me to have another look to see how they are faring after a few years in bottle.

Here is a link to the estate's website http://www.feudi.it/eng/intro.aspx .

Dave:

Long been a fan of this producer.

Guess I like the Falanghina more than you do. Of course, it might not have been showing well that evening.

The Fiano is curious. I agree that perhaps you had a faulty bottle. On the other hand, I would agree that a definite almond or toasted almond characteristic is fairly standard for this variety. Shouldn't be going over to sherry though.

And yes, don't they do a lovely Greco!

Their reds are a bit more erratic to me, although I generally like both the Rubrato and the Taurasi---and I almost always suspect when I'm drinking them I haven't come close to waiting as long as I should.