Fattori Roncha 2011 (Veneto)

Continuing my run of northern Italian whites.

Fattori is a family-owned and run producer, operating since the 1970s out of the Veneto. Their white wines come from a mixture of varieties grown on the basalt slopes of the Alpone valley, including the hills of Roncà.

This 'Roncha' white blend starts with 50% Garganega, including 5% of partially-dried grapes. Pinot grigio (picked a little early) and Trebbiano di Soave are 20% each in the blend. The final 10% component comes from the late-ripening, high-acid Durella variety.

The fruit sees a mix of stainless steel and barrels, but the complexity, the sense of 'work' in the wine is quite subtle. The most distinctive feature here is a clean and clear hit of mandarin flavour and mandarin acid. Perhaps this is the Durella influence, but regardless, this is the most mandarin-y wine I can recall having. Tasty, bright and fresh, yet not lacking fruit weight, this was a good fit with a Cantonese meal and I think even better with dishes containing fresh or dried citrus.

$28-$35, cork, purchase, 13% alcohol, website here, imported by Deja Vu Wine Company.

Quintarelli Bianco Secco 2010 (Veneto)

Continuing my recent run of wines from the Veneto.

The 2010 dry white from Quintarelli ended up on the same French bistro table (Pulp Kitchen in Ainslie) as the Tommasi Ripasso. With a plate of chicken terrine, chervil and a lemon relish, this was an outstanding bit of drinking and eating. Fresh bread and mushroom butter suited it well too.

Texture is the key here. 'Serious' Italian dry whites can be a minefield of overworked and underfruited, with the occasional cork claymore added in. This strikes that mesmerising balance of bright acid and waxy texture that the best garganega and trebbiano based wines can achieve, even before they age. Length and more length.

Quintarelli's blend of garganega, trebbiano, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and soarin is not a wine where you think fruit, as in 'lemon, pear, apple'. While there is some fresh lemon and a touch of lemon butter to smell and taste, what gets you is an insistence of even flavour, a sense of thoughtful purpose behind the winemaking, and a quiet voice saying 'now this is wine'.

Cork, $60, purchase, 12.5% alcohol.

Vigna Cantina 2011 Trebbiano (Barossa Valley)

A sample bottle, courtesy of Mr Torzi, the man behind Torzi Matthews Vintners and the Vigna Cantina label.

Bottled under screwcap this has a brisk, fresh profile of lively acid over trebbiano fruit. The cool and wet year shows in the acid-first, fruit-second swing of the wine through your mouth. Whereas warmer years or sites, plus deft hands in the vineyard, can deliver a characteristic waxy texture in trebbiano (as was the case in the 2010 version of this wine), the 2011 has a different feel, almost like lemon sherbert. Deft hands show here too, as it feels like a swap of textures across the vintages, rather than two unrelated wines.

From 106 year old vines at Altona and Koonunga Dunes in the Barossa. Try with grilled fish or salt and pepper squid. $22 rrp. 12.5% alcohol.

I reviewed the 2010 vintage here.

Italian food, two slices, Penne Salsiccia

Two versions of penne with sausage:

1. Machine cut raw capsicum thin & unpeeled. Make basic sugo. Boil, fry, or boil then fry, simple 'Italian' pork sausages to stabilise, then cool and slice into rounds. Frypan, heat, olive oil, saute the raw capsicum until it softens a little, add a handful of sausage slices, fry a little more. Add a ladle of sugo, a few black olives and cooked penne. Toss, heat and serve.

2. Boil an uncooked cotechino sausage gently for about an hour, lift and cool. While that is happening, make tomato sugo. While the sugo is reducing, take a mix of capsicum colours and either roast in the oven, barbecue or grill over the gas hob until the skin blackens and the pepper softens. Rest, covered, to loosen the skins with steam, then peel, remove seeds and tear or slice into strips. Slice the cotechino, push the skin away and crumble into medium sized pieces. Sweat a little onion in olive oil until softened and just starting to colour, adding a little fresh garlic (crushed with a knife) at the end. Turn up the heat, add the sausage, fry a little, then add strips of roasted capsicum, a splash of white wine, some sugo and a little fresh thyme. Start to cook the penne as the sauce gently simmers. When the penne is just cooked, lift, drain a little and add to the sauce with a few black olives. Cook gently for a further minute to have the pasta 'take' some of the sauce, without overcooking, then serve.

The back story here is dinner out last evening at Bellucci's in Woden. Penne Salsiccia was explained as penne with cotechino sausage, roast capsicum and sugo. As with #1 above, penne and sugo did feature, but the cotechino and 'roast' capsicum were no shows. While the second version does involve a few more steps and take a bit more time, it is a more honest accounting.

The sausage penne dish was accompanied by a bottle of 2003 Fox Gordon cabernet sauvignon from the Barossa. The sweetness in the wine, and the capsicum flavour, went well with the capsicum (undercooked and skin on as it was) and the sausage pieces.

Earlier in the evening, another bottle of the Taminick Cellars 1919 vines Trebbiano was well-liked by the table. A touch more development has helped bring forward the waxy texture and integrate the crisp, lemony acid.

Vigna Cantina 2010 Trebbiano (Barossa Valley)

This Torzi Matthews trebbiano comes from vineyards dating back to 1905 at bookends of the Barossa (Altona in the south and Koonunga in the north). I like it a lot, and much more than the Vigna Cantina sangiovese recently tasted. Only 200 cases made, the wine has partial wild yeast ferment in seasoned French oak for three weeks, plus lees aging for three months. The intention is to build texture without oak character and they have succeeded.

It has some things in common with the 1919 vines dry trebbiano from Booths Taminick cellars, but is a more intriguing and accomplished wine. Where the Booths wine had a single pulse of waxy texture through the mid-palate, the structure of this wine has several curves along its line. The nose shows bright, citrus elements, with a hint of something floral. The palate is full of surprises: starting out fine and drying, then a curve of waxy texture with lemon rind, then more more acid, back to wax, then the drying acid length again. As you taste, there is almost a sleight of hand game going on between drying acid and what you realise are phenolic, lightly grippy characters. The integration of acid and phenolics is excellent, and in alternation with fruit characters makes for a whole wine of genuine interest.

Tasted with a souffle of globe artichoke, parmesan and ricotta, which was a very good pairing.

Source: sample. Alcohol: 12.5%. Price: $22 rrp. Closure: Screwcap.

Winery website here.

Taminick Cellars 1919 Series Trebbiano 2010 (Glenrowan)

Trebbiano is a name common to a group of different, if related, vines, usually sharing a common feature of acid blandness. Often dismissed as a wine-lake grape for jug wines and vermouth makers (ugni blanc is a trebbiano), it can make for honest, even surprising wines.

Booth's at Glenrowan have trebbiano plantings dating from 1919 and currently make three trebbiano-based wines. This wine, retailing for $14 a bottle, is the dry, racy, table wine, sold in a riesling bottle (an accurate signal). There is also a sweet trebbiano and a fortified 'gold' trebbiano made in the mode of a white port.

The 2010 1919 series trebbiano from Taminick Cellars is tight, dry, has racy lemon acid and a bit of length about it. But the best feature is the slightest curve of waxy texture and flavour through the mid-palate. I'm no expert with trebbiano, but the good ones I have had show that waxy hint at richness as the acid races along. While some trebbiano can age with interest (especially when made into vin santo), the vast majority are for quick drinking. This is one of those: grab and enjoy it young, fresh and sharp, perhaps with salt and pepper squid, chicken in a tarragon and cream sauce, or octopus marinated in olive oil. 12.5% alcohol.

The image is of quince blossom.

Beechworth, King Valley, Glenrowan: 3 parts Italian

Got back last night from a weekend in Northern Victoria. The major drawcard was the first open day at Castagna in Beechworth. I consider the Castagna La Chiave straight sangiovese and the Un Segreto 'super-Beechworth' syrah-sangiovese blend some of the top Italian wines in Australia and have been purchasing Castagna wines for several years.

But the trip also meant I could look at the Italian wines of Chrismont at their new cellar door in the King Valley, and then cross the Hume Highway to look at the 1919 vines trebbiano from Booths Taminick Cellars at Glenrowan.

Highlights for me:
- the 2004 La Chiave sangiovese from Castagna has developed beautifully with years of growth still to come, though the Genesis syrah and Sparkling Genesis were the standout Castagna wines
- the Chrismont prosecco had all the dangerous drinkability of good cava, but their Barbera was the most impressive Italian in the range
- at $14 a bottle, sourced from trebbiano vines planted in 1919, with some attractive fruit and flesh on the midpalate, the 1919 Taminick Cellars trebbiano seriously over-delivers.

Each visit deserves a separate write-up, but the two days as a whole confirmed the prospects of three northern Victorian regions to make distinctive and interesting wines from Italian grape varieties.

The image, taken by Tammy, is of the 2008 Genesis syrah, looking out to the Castagna vineyard.