California’s Cal-Ital movement has been quite a mixed bag. We get that folks like Italian wine (we do to) and ‘hands on’ vintners couldn’t wait to try and emulate those wines here in California. After all, they reasoned, the same sun shines over Italy that does over California, right? Yeah, but that’s about where the comparison ends. The term ‘terroir’ describes those things that make one place different than another and, frankly, a lot of Italian varietals planted here simply don’t perform well. For sure they don’t come out anything like the ‘original’ versions. There have been successes, sure. But for the most part they are curiosities rather than something that threatens to find a consistent place on people’s tables.
One of the more intriguing new players in this arena has been Massican, named for a mountain range in Campania where some mythological occurrence involving Bacchus supposedly took place. The winery has developed quite a cult following centering on wines made with such grapes as Ribolla Gialla, Greco, Friulano, and, of course, Pinot Grigio. No small task to do this kind of thing in California, so props for that. The wines are unique in this landscape, which will certainly get them an audience among the geek set, and they were well crafted. But Italian purists will make the point that you can’t take certain grapes out of their native environments where they excel and expect to achieve the same level of performance somewhere else.
While some will praise the Napa versions of these distinct Italian blends as uniquely intriguing, the counterpoint is that grapes can’t ripen the same way California that tey do in Italy. The acidities are never quite the same, and, while the wines might be richer here, they won’t have the same ‘hum’ as Italian versions. While we will surely find fans for the small amounts of this winery’s home grown Italian blends that we get, some among us felt for this kind of fare, there had to be better, more compelling examples actually from Italy.
While winemaker/owner Dan Petroski, who also makes Larkmead wines (certainly a completely different discipline), has definitely become what one article called “icon of hipster wine”, classicists might argue that the Cal-Italian blends don’t have quite the lift and pop of the ‘real thing’. For whatever reason, Petrowski decided to give it a spin with Italian grapes, as in from Italy.
The result is Massican Bianco Friuli Colli Orientali Gaspare 2015. Now that’s Italian. While the winery was named for mountains in the south, these grapes came from the white wine bastion in the northeast, Colli Orientalli. The mix here, surprisingly, is more Chardonnay heavy than the California examples (40% in the Gaspare as opposed to 9% in the Annia Napa white), but different environments might well dictate different blends. In any case the Chardonnay, along with 35% Ribolla Gialla and 25% Friulano, pops in a way that only a proper Italian white can.
Made at Ronco Del Gnemiz, there’s some floral and faintly honeyed notes accenting bright, yellow stone fruits with an underpinning of minerality, but the freshness and lift that comes from these hills make a noticeable difference. Sure, Italian varietals from Napa is probably more ‘cool’. But this is a more compelling wine with an extra dimension over the very good Cali versions we have had. This not only succeeds for itself, but opens the door for people to explore other great Italian white blends like Terlano’s ‘Terlaner’ and Vie di Romans. Well done.