At in-store wine tastings I explain to people that Falanghina is one of the "holy trinity" of southern Italian white wines. (The other two? Fiano and Greco di Tufo.) When they taste the Angelarosa L'Ambriana (100% Falanghina) they go for the fruit and the pleasing acidity. L'Ambriana is dry, and its fruit is experienced as a hint of pineapple with citrus notes. It's a refreshing wine on its own or with a light meal like seafood or salads.
So imagine my astonishment when someone in the wine business says things like, "Oh, Falanghina." Makes a face. "Bananas."
My response: "What kind of Falanghina have you been drinking?"
And look at this description of a Falanghina, which I found on an importer's site:
Falanghina is a pale straw colored wine with aromas of ripe bananas, syrupy pears, and pineapple and undertones of spices, with a delicate and persistent taste.
Let's go over this phrase by phrase.
It is a pale, straw-colored wine. Check.
These are the aromas? "Ripe bananas"? Like the smell of certain latex paints? Like the artificial ingredients in so many cheap processed sweets? "Syrupy pears"? Syrupy! Not only is that unappetizing, it's not true.
Pineapple and "undertones of spices." Yes, that's true.
"With a delicate and persistent taste"? How does that square with ripe bananas and syrupy pears? Somehow those big clunky smells get transformed into delicacy? (The persistence I can believe. Like the bitter, chemical persistence of a McDonald's hamburger long after you've swallowed it.)
Falanghina can be made in a dry, lighter style that retains the full florality of the grape, as Angelrosa does. And it can be made in a richer, malolactic style like Mustilli's Vigna Segreta. But unless it's been doctored with aromatic yeasts, it's never going to remind you of "ripe bananas" and "syrupy pears."
they must have been drinking feudi.
Posted by: tracie b | 08/07/2009 at 08:32 AM
Possibly. But the description I quote is of a far smaller and allegedly biologico producer. Balle!
Posted by: Strappo | 08/07/2009 at 09:15 AM