Corks, Lasagna, and Dorks

Wow. Cork Dorks United might have finally outgrown itself. The Washington Cabernet tasting of two weeks ago had five people. Well, the Italian tasting last night had 500% more than that. Because we knew ahead of time that the event was going to be overwhelmingly popular we split the wine into two groups. Seven wines were blind tasted at the beginning and the rest were simply opened and consumed with dinner.

Ranking about 20 wines would have been a difficult task anyways, and with the chaos that occurred about 16 hours ago I already am having a hard time remembering the seven wines which are ranked. Here’s our best attempt at the feat.

1st Place – 2006 Reverdito Langhe Nebbiolo

This was the third wine tasted, and while tannic it has a nice fruit forward attack of the killer plums. It’s also a great value at about $18.

2nd Place – 2003 Del Fari Colli Orientali Schioppettino

I can’t guarantee that I copied down that name correctly. This is a very obscure variety from Northern Italy (Friuli) and was a very interesting drinking experience. Mike wrote “fig wrapped in prosciutto”, which is curious considering he doesn’t eat pork.

3rd Place – 2005 Cantina del Pino Barberesco

The tasting’s other Nebbiolo also scored high. The difference is this one costs at least twice as much as the winning wine. Barberesco is a great but small region, and therefore can demand some high prices. Mushrooms

4th Place – 2007 Villa de Greggiano Bandinello Toscana IGT

This supertuscan was actually not supposed to be allowed in the tasting. Thankfully it didn’t win, otherwise some heads were gonna roll. Tisk.

5th Place – 2008 La Quercia Montepulciano d’Abruzzo

My favorite value region in Italy had a decent showing with this simple but pleasing wine. Nice Cherry Garcia flavors supported by a Chunky Monkey structure.

6th Place – 2007 Aquila d’Oro Chianti

This wine is somewhat stinky both literally and figuratively.

7th Place – 2007 Campagnia di Ermes Cesanese di Olevani Romano

The most disappointing wine of the night by far. Massive amounts of volatile acidity pretty much ruined it. Bummer.

Apologies for the short notes this time around. The next Cork Dorks is on February 21 and will feature a host of wines with dissolved carbon dioxide. We’re saving the planet from global warming.