Notes from the Los Angeles chapter

Never the ones to miss out on a good thing, we quickly created the Los Angeles Chapter of the our Wine Club Wednesday on Tuesday and held our first official wine tasting…on Friday.  There were four of us in total (I admit, we have room to expand) and we focused on wines from the Collio Orientali wine region. Luckily, in L.A., there is a good selection of international wines, and we went to BevMo to pick out ours. We found about five bottles from Collio Orientali, but all of them were Pinot Grigios. We ended up picking three, one for ten dollars and the other two cost thirteen bucks. Frank and family brought a Barolo from Piedmont, a little further west, but at least we had a red wine on the list.

Campanile Pinot Grigio, 2008, Friuli-Grave
Intense aromas, even in the empty glass. Undeniably oaky with sweet, exotic fruit, especially banana. There’s also a grassy meadow touch to it. Easy, light in taste but has a pleasantly full, long-lasting finish. Solid acidity, great balance, true to its varietal character. It had an interesting cork I’d never seen before. At first, it appears to be a Twin-Top cork, but upon closer inspection, both ends are covered in some kind of plastic. Interesting! 87 points-$10

Ruffino-Lumina Pinot Grigio, 2008
More reserved in both aromas on the mouth. There’s something unpleasant in the nose, but luckily it airs out quickly. Very weak in the mouth with likewise exotic flavors like coconut and banana. A light, simple wine with a quick finish that leaves just a little bitterness after itself. 81 points-$13

Conte Brandolini D’adda Pinot Grigio, 2007
Darker in color and intensely oaky in both the nose and mouth. Light bodied and high in acidity, the wine is not in balance. Nor does it resemble a Pinot Grigio much-it doesn’t have that smoother finish and scratches the throat. The more sips we take, the more we’re reminded of the scent of tobacco leaves. 84 points-$13

Barolo La Loggia, 2005
Ruby red, slightly transparent in color. Bold, intense aromas of raspberry, blackberry, cherry, tobacco leaf, and coolness in the nose. Very fruity, but not too full-bodied. Light, easy, but the tannins are there. Pleasantly spicy, cinnamony. Medium-long finish. Quite pleasant. Great with tomato based Italian food. 90 points-$15

Since we already opened this can of worms, we’re not stopping here and decided to stay with our theme of Italian wines and continue with wines from Sicily. There a lot to choose from, about 30-40 bottles at BevMo. Next comes Tuscany, but that may take 3-4 months to taste them all…