Phenolically mature

Hi all...sorry it has been a while.

Did you find the title intriguing? Alanna and I think "phenolically mature" would be great on a T-shirt...but that's just the wine geek in us coming out.

We had the pleasure, on Tuesday afternoon, of sitting and tasting (with fellow wine geeks) in the company of Michael Palij (pronounced Paw-lee) Master of Wine. Michael's specialty is Italy, and he is an importer of Italian wines. Canadian-born, he now lives in the UK.

Hearing someone speak with the knowledge and experience he has is extremely educational. I felt like I could see the hills of Piemonte, Tuscany and Veneto as he spoke of these places. He knows all of his producers well-he has eaten at their kitchen tables, met their families, and seen the work they do in the vineyard first-hand. We tasted 12 wines. A wonderful Prosecco from Valdobbiadene (Veneto), a Verdicchio from the Marche. I'm not sure there is much of a market for a $30 Verdicchio here, but it was great to try a higher end version of this wine unique to the Marche, which displayed amazing power and length. We tried a Timorraso http://terroir.winelibrary.com/2007/09/07/timorasso-one-of-italys-biggest-whites/ for the first time. Michael referred to it as a 'Jurassic' Italian varietal. It used to grow abundantly in Liguria and Piemonte, but now only about 20 hectares are devoted to this rarity. This is where Michael used the term "phenolically mature". This grape achieves perfect phenolic maturity in the South Eastern hills of Piemonte..and makes highly structured full-bodied white wine, with up to 20 years of ageability. Among other wines tasted, a Bardolino, Dolcetto, Montepulciano D'Abuzzo, a Chianti and a Chianti Classico, 2 Trebbiano, and a Valpolicello Ripasso. It was a great day!
Michael is definitely a devote old-world wine afficionado, mentioning with dismay the "Tons" of tartaric acid used in Southern hemisphere white wine production (needed when grapes don't naturally ripen on their own)..among other things.
"Italy's wines", he says "are the best with food, and the worst on their own". Largely due to their intensity, complexity, structure and tannin. These were all food wines we tasted.
We talked a bit about food and wine matching, wine production in the new world...it could have gone long-over the scheduled two hours, but like all good things..it came to an end.
If you'd like more detailed info on Italian wine..let us know!
Erin