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Feudi di San Gregorio, Greco di Tufo (Campania, Italy) Cutizzi Vineyard 2004 (Palm Bay Imports, $33)
By Mary Ewing-Mulligan
Sep 26, 2006
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How very good Italian white wines have become!  Never before have there been so many wines with real flavor and concentration without oakiness.  Whites with character.  Immediate case in point: Feudi di San Gregorio Greco di Tufo from the Cutizzi Vineyard.

This wine owes its flavor and quality mainly to the vineyard and to simple, non-interventionist winemaking.  Skin contact, small barrel fermentation, induced malolactic fermentation, oak aging - none of these techniques have any influence here.  In that sense, it is a normal, traditional Italian white wine.  The big difference between a wine like this and the weak, innocuous whites that Italy was known for in the past is the quality of the raw material, and small tweaks of the winemaking process.

The region of Campania, especially the area of Irpinia, close to Mount Vesuvius, has always been recognized among connoisseurs as one of Italy's special terroirs.  White wines from this area are full and flavorful, many of them reflecting a minerally, volcanic character from the rich soil.  Today, they are fruitier than previously however.  This is especially true of the wines from Feudi di San Gregorio.  This winery, only twenty years old, has changed the complexion of Campania's whites.  Cutizzi is one of the winery's top sites, and the grapes fo this bottling were grown at the highest altitudes of any of Feudi's wines, up to 2200 feet.

Because the Greco grape has an unusually high tannin content for a white variety, it requires careful handling to prevent the wine from being angular or bitter.  For this particular wine, these techniques include pressing the grapes rather than crushing, cold-settling the juice for a few days before fermentation, and fermenting part of the juice in large, 50 hectoliter oak vats (which actually softens the impression of tannin).

Of Campania's elite trio of white grapes, which includes Fiano and Falanghina, Greco is the one that is not an aromatic variety.  Its wines tend to fall into the earthy white style.  But this particular wine is so fruity and flavorful that it is a borderline aromatic white.  It has a deep, rich aroma of ripe pear, peach and apple with hints of honey and an uplifting, delicate herbal note.  It's fully dry, with fairly full body and an unctuous texture caused most likely by the wine's high alcohol and its tannin management.  High acidity cuts through the alcohol, though, and gives the wine a refreshing lift, as well as great length across the palate.  The flavors are not intense but they are vivid and refreshing.

The combination of crisp acidity and high alcohol makes this wine versatile with food.  It has enough acidity to work with tomato dishes, and enough weight to stand up to pasta.  (I wouldn't drink it with pasta dressed with a rich Bolognese sauce, but a lively puttanesca-sauced pasta would be a great fit.)  It would also be a good choice with grilled fish, Niçoise salad, or even pork roast.   I enjoy drinking this wine when it's not very cold, so that it tastes softer and rather silky - but still fresh and refreshing.

90 Points