Calafè Greco di Tufo Ariavecchia

I was a little concerned about this bottle, tasted around 10 am then taken to lunch at 1pm at Basilico in Millburn, NJ. It blossomed beautifully with mixed citrus notes (initially grapefruit but changed with air) nice mineral notes, medium acidity and plenty of floral and stone fruit notes. A little tropical on the finish. No oxidation to speak of and while not tasting youthful it was close. Terrific with a pesto pasta with string beans and potato as well …

Luis is MIA Again (Broder's Pasta Bar, Minneapolis) : Light gold color. Drank a glass over 45 minutes. Meyer lemon, acacia flowers, hints of tarragon, green apple and a touch of tangerine and, lots of minerality with some saline and good depth, surprisingly fresh overall. Very enjoyable.

Just a little more interesting than it is delicious, but still there's plenty of merit. Delicate and pretty, with muted nose of Peachy O's, jasmine, copper penny. Assertive in your mouth. Tannic grip and intense concentrated flavors of bitter citrus fruit and almonds in honey drizzle.

At this point, Not near the complexity and power of the '07, which was one of my WOTY last year. This may just need time as it felt kind of closed. Showed more like a clean, well-made, but not very interesting Sauv Blanc. Perhaps the sichuan food threw it off a bit. Will hold the rest for a while.

Better than my last bottle…clean, nice acid and mineral undertone. Lots of floral and tropical fruit notes on the nose and the palate. Pineapple is most notable and dominant. Young tasting but also with some secondary development especially in the mid-palate and finish with an herbal note (tarragon?), beeswax and good depth and length. Very enjoyable but not quite what I would call “profound”…solid 90-92 range.

Light lemon yellow color, with a bright, minerally nose and palate. Light texture and floral as well. Medium length finish. Nice alone or with the chicken and vegetable pasta dish I made, but overall not that exciting or memorable.

Light white flowers and furniture polish on the nose. On the palate, white stone fruit (lychee, maybe some peach or nectarine), with notes of something nutty/waxy (beeswax?) with strong mineral acidity on the medium finish. Unlike other Greco di Tufos I have tried, I didn't detect any lemon or honeysuckle. This shows hardly any fruit; it's all minerals and light yeasty flavors. It made a good match with scallops, and I would expect it to work well with any seafood …