"People buy more, but expensive wine doesn't sell." he said. "From producers to importers to distributors, all the way along the supply chain, prices are reduced. Good wine stores and restaurants pass the savings to the consumer but make up in volume."
"What about all those expensive Barolos and Super Tuscans on the shelves of Beltramo's and K&L then?"
"There are always people who buy them, but it's a very small percentage", sighed Enzo. "That's why Italian whites are such a great value, like these ones from Friuli made by Jermann."

Over the past 40 years, the quality of Italian wine has continued to advance due to oenological research, improvements in sustainable viticulture, and better equipment. It doesn’t mean that wines are “engineered”, quite the contrary. The many different wines Jermann makes, express themselves uniquely in the Friulian terroir, from native varietals such as Ribola Gialla, Tocai Friulano, and Picolit to international varietals such as Chardonnay, Riesling, and Sauvignon Blanc. These wines speak of transparency, purity, authenticity, and unmistakably, Italy. Come California’s balmy summer time weekends, I linger over mid-day meals outdoors with friends and family, as hours roll on by, with a bottle (or few) of these Italian beauties.
Last week, I sat down with Enzo D., a regional manager from Empson USA, the exclusive importer of Jermann wines, to taste the latest releases of four of Jermann whites over lunch at Donato Enoteca. Eric, the restaurant’s wine director, joined us for an insightful conversation. We tasted through 2008 Vinnae (majority Ribolla Gialla, with a bit of Riesling and Tocai Friulano), 2008 Pinot Grigio, 2008 Chardonnay, and finally 2007 Vintage Tunina (blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia, and Picolit).
Refreshing, minimally if at all oaked, the wines offered great purity, juicy, tasty citrus flavors, minerality, and zippy acidity. I particularly enjoyed Ribolla Gialla, a grape I’d come to appreciate through the wines of Movia. Vinnae had all the characteristics I just mentioned, plus nice weight and oily texture which made it feel luxurious on the tongue. The unoaked Pinot Grigio was very tight aromatically but blossomed on the palate with its tangy citrus peel and penetrating acidity. The unoaked Chardonnay was clean and simple, and hardly recognizable as Chardonnay. Eric suggested: “without oak, Chardonnay doesn’t taste like Chardonnay.” True. Enzo lovingly called it a "very Italian Chardonnay". Aromatically a fairly restrained grape, Chardonnay achieves its heights in Burgundy. The unoaked examples do best in Chablis and Macon, particularly when paired with oysters and shellfish. But it’s the oaked ones (notice “oaked", not "oaky”) that allow Chardonnay to truly shine in Cote de Beaune (Meursault, Puligny-, and Chassagne-Montrachet communes). Honestly, I’ve had Italian Chardonnay on a few occasions, and I struggle to see the reason for them. They tend to be weak aromatically and simple in flavor. With so many more interesting white wine varietals, why do Italians insist on making Chards? The answer may become apparent as you read on...
Finally, Vintage Tunina – the Super Friulian – was a bigger, fuller, more exotic wine – viscous and ripe (it’s made out of late harvest grapes), slightly more alcoholic than the others (by .5%, but perceptibly so), and seemingly with higher sugar content, though it was a dry wine. Enzo explained that the delicate and finicky native Picolit grape imparts sweetness into the wine. While Vintage Tunina seemed closer to a California palate in terms of volume and richness, it still managed to maintain great acidity and minerality, without butteriness or oakiness. The wine was perhaps akin in stature to Campania's Marisa Cuomo Fiorduva - another white occupying the upper echelon of Italian gastronomy.
Funny, without food, Vinnae was my favorite, but with food it was Jermann’s zingy good old Pinot Grigio that beat out the rest of the pack. Vintage Tunina needed richer dishes, and the other two just seemed more muted. While many poopoo Pinot Grigio as “uncool” (just like Merlot), that is unfortunate – Jermann’s version is simply an excellent wine, especially with food. To those fashionable wine lovers who shun Pinot Grigio, take this – “uncool is the new cool”. Now go get some. Got it?
Note: an abridged version of this article is published on corkd.com.
3 comments:
there's something about the aftertaste of pinot grigio that i can't stand... maybe this one would prove my prejudice against PG wrong!
haven't tasted these wines in years but they are most definitely one of my "guilty pleasure" wines.
I'm not supposed to like them but I do!
I like what you said about a common theme of "purity" in the style of these wines.
Eviva l'Italia! Evviva il Friuli!
Jeremy, why are not "supposed" to like them? Is this some sort of ancestral anti-Friuli thing? :)
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