MIPTC #1 - Gulfi Nerojbleo 2019

Hey! Welcome to the May It Please The Cork newsletter. It's time to kick those shoes off, get that corkscrew, and spend some quality time hanging around a fine glass of wine.

This is a thing I've been meaning to do for ages, and I'm really glad to be here.

For those who don't know me that well, I have had my WSET level 3 in wines certification for ages, and once ran a punny wine blog in Quebec called JoeRaisin (now extinct - sorry!) I am also very passionate about wine and everything it entails. I therefore thought I'd let the good folks of LinkedIn join me for a drink or two and share some tasting notes of whatever Ievery week weekly basis, most likely always on Fridays. This is an iterative thing for me, so please do not hesitate to tell me what you'd like more of in the comments!

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All right, now on to the substantive stuff.

Today, we're drinking a beautiful organic Nero D'Avola from Gulfi: their 2019 Nerojbleo

Ever since he took over the family estate in 1996, Vito Catania changed it forever - and for the better! When it comes to Sicilian Nero d'Avolas, Gulfi is really where the fun's at, and it's hard to go wrong with whatever's in their lineup. I'm also a big fan of Sicilian wines in general (and of Etna Rossi, especially - we'll come to those)

The Skinny

• From: Sicily, Italy

• Varietals: Nero d'Avola 100%

• Price: $27,40 CAD

• Feature: Organic wine

Tasting Notes

On the nose, this has overripe cherry and stewed strawberry at first, but with a pretty strong and slightly unpleasant alcoholic note (despite clocking in at only 13% - strange). There's also a cured meat thing going on in the background which is interesting, as well as some soft spices like anise and licorice.

On the palate, this is dense, fleshy and weighty stuff, but with a potent backbone of acidity to keep it fresh and in balance. While not the most long-lasting wine, it has a lovely mouth-watering finish to build anticipation for another sip. Maybe a little bit hot on the alcohol again, however.

Cutting To The Chase: Does It Please The Cork?

I'll be clear: I dislike strong alcohol in wines. It's just not my thing and I tend to bark at anything over 14%. This is a bias of mine and your mileage may vary.

This was a good (read: good) weekly pour that would do well around the grill. It is very clean for an organic/natural (?) wine and shows no defects, but didn't particularly rock my socks either. I'll be glad to drink the second bottle I bought, but I may not buy so many more. Sorry!

Cork Score: 3/5*

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*Here's the lowdown on the scores, by the way. Essentially, I don't believe in 100-point scales for things as subjective as wine. Simply put, I just don't think one can credibly justify a 1% or even a 10% increment between two wines. I therefore choose to go a bit more basic. Here's how I break it down:

• 1/5: Seriously faulty, terrible, undrinkable;

• 2/5: Flawed and/or of bad quality. This is the type of stuff you should probably cook with and not drink;

• 3/5: Decent. This is where most entries will end up. These wines are clean and well-balanced, but not particularly memorable and/or exceptional. They are recommendable, but not an experience per se;

• 4/5: Exceptional. I sadly drink few wines that get this rating, but my purpose is to drink more. This denotes a memorable bottle that brought up some kind of emotion in me. This left a mark, and odds are I am now busy recommending it to everybody I know;

• 5/5: Perfect. I think I have probably tasted less than 5 bottles that would have qualified for a 5/5 in my entire life. This denotes an absolutely incredible wine that will imprint a definite memory for years to come - a true experience in itself.