Brett happens

Will get back to regular posting as soon as work lets up a little. In the meantime, a sop to quell the clamouring masses.

Soave Classico 2012, Calvarino, Pieropan ($26.30, 741058)
Sustainably farmed Garganega (90%) and Trebbiano di Soave (aka Verdicchio, 10%) from 30- to 60-year-old vines grown in the Calvarino vineyard. The grapes were manually harvested, destemmed and crushed. The free-run juice was fermented separately. Fermented at 16-18°C in glass-lined concrete tanks. Matured on the lees for 12 months in glass-lined concrete tanks. 12.5% ABV. Quebec agent: Enotria.
Subdued nose: yellow apple just beginning to brown, lemon oil, rain on limestone, a hint of marzipan. In the mouth, it’s dry, medium-bodied, as much about extract as flavour. The soto vocce fruit is encased in a quartz matrix while the sleek acidity turns a little lemony as the wine traverses the palate. Bitter almond – or at least a touch of bitterness – colours the long, yellow apple-scented finish.  Understated almost to a fault, this reveals more with vigorous chewing and could be passing through a closed phase. Perhaps not the best choice for chicken braised with white wine, rosemary and garlic though probably the best-suited of my neighbourhood SAQ’s newly “improved” (read “category-managed and severely dumbed-down”) offer of Italian whites. Better on its own, at least for now, or maybe with a pristine piece of fine white fish broiled and drizzled with melted butter and a few drops of lemon juice. (Buy again? Maybe. Or look instead for the beginning-to-arrive 2013 vintage.)