WTNs: A Very Mixed Bag

2005 Planeta Chardonnay Sicilia IGT 14.0%
A fellow forumite recently described Planeta as purveyors of industrial swill, so I decided to check this one out to get a sense of how my taste has evolved (never liked Planeta reds, but used to like their whites). Color is a lovely deep bronze gold. Powerful aromas of almonds and oak vanilla. Oak is excessive but alcohol is well integrated, body is substantial without being heavy, and it's not flabby, the moderate acid deficiency mitigated by a pleasant bitter note. Industrial, perhaps, but far from swill.

2004 Quinta do Crasto Douro Reserva 14.5%
New world aromas of plums, kirsch, ripe cherry and oak, giving a sense of almost port-like over-extraction. Good weight in the mouth, somewhat acid deficient but, again, this is mitigated by a pleasant bitterness. Additional notes of coffee and chocolate emerge with air. Enjoyed earlier vintages more.

2003 La Pievuccia Valdichiana Vin Santo DOC 17.0%
From Castiglion Fiorentino, near Arezzo. Organic. Rich aromas of almonds and roasted hazelnuts. Perfect acid/sweet balance, with just the right note of bitterness. Excellent weight, makes me shun the biscotti, that would only get in the way. Delicious.

2004 Calvet Reserve du Ciron Sauternes 13.5%
From half bottle. Nose is white flowers doused with a solution of gunpowder and petrol, with a discordant note of lemon peel. Lacks body, not to mention soul. Sweet plus Bitter minus Acid equals Failure.

Thanks for notes. I used to really have a thing for vin santo, but so many seemed hot and empty as my palate changed, I stopped buying. This sounds worth trying though.

Oswaldo
Thanks for the note on the Planeta - I picked up a bottle of this a while ago in an internet sale. Part of the reason was I felt I had an irrational view that Planeta weren't great, IIRC from tasting a single wine a few years ago (hardly a fair way to judge a producer ).

I've no doubt we'll try it over the next few months, so will try to remember to post on it.

regards

Ian

I used to really have a thing for vin santo, but so many seemed hot and empty as my palate changed, I stopped buying. This sounds worth trying though.

Not sure about availability - it was brought by one of the guests, a sommelier who worked at the winery when he was recently in Italy. Apparently it only costs E15 there... I certainly have never enjoyed a vin santo as much as this one, though I haven't tried many.

Part of the reason was I felt I had an irrational view that Planeta weren't great, IIRC from tasting a single wine a few years ago (hardly a fair way to judge a producer

Look forward to your note. It's been on my mind lately that I don't want to look back and find that I simply swung from one dogma to another, pre-judging anything remotely international as unworthy.

I do tend to hyperbole, Oswaldo, as when I called Planeta "industrial swill" - in that way I guess I veer dangerously towards my arch-nemesis R.Parker. What I meant by swill was not that it doesn't taste good, they can make it taste good. But since they produce hundreds of thousands of bottles of the stuff, what kind of chemical readjustments do they have to make to make it all taste the same and make it all tasty and consistent year after year. Of course I may be wrong, maybe its the most natural wine in the world, but I'm skeptical. That's what I meant earlier about the globalization of wine and losing tipicity. I can see the Planeta guys doing market research and then telling their oenologist "make us a California style Chardonnay." I guess the antithesis of this wine would be Emidio Pepe's Trebbiano D'Abruzzo, a totally natural wine, which I drank last night - I'll post my note shortly.

Best regards,
Agostino

Thanks for the tasting update on the `04 Crasto. I have been thinking time to open my stash, might have waited too long?

Thanks for the tasting update on the `04 Crasto. I have been thinking time to open my stash, might have waited too long?

No, Bob, I think it still has quite some time ahead of it. I decanted for two hours, but the aroma was more beguiling off the bottleneck, so probably best to pour and drink.