2005

Great, Wild, Pure, Lively
"It was our ad hoc Phoenix Garden tasting group, which takes advantage of first-rate Cantonese food and a bring-your-own policy. The wines we had were outrageously good and very obscure, most of them, anyway, especially the whites. I’ve written about Radikon before. This was the 2002 ribolla gialla, and it was brilliant, with a hazy, rosy color, an entrancing minerally texture and fruit flavors that seemed almost like a red wine. Very similar in style though much younger was a Zidarich Prulke 2005, made from a blend of white grapes in the Carso region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and it was another great wine, wild, pure and lively. Can’t wait to try this again in a few years."

- Eric Asimov, The Blog, NY Times, January, 2008

91 | 2005 Prulke
Varietal Sauvignon aromatics dominate the profile of Zidarich’s 2005 Prulke (Sauvignon, Vitovska, Malvasia) which opens to reveal a sexy core of fruit and a long, caressing finish. It is another terrific effort made all the more notable considering the challenging nature of the vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2010. There is an expressive purity to Beniamino Zidarich’s wines that I adore. Zidarich works out of a small cellar carved out of the dramatic rock formations that are the dominant terrain in the Carso mountain range. The vineyards were planted beginning in 1988 with densities ranging from 8,000-10,000 plants per hectare. The wines are fermented with natural yeasts in open-top wood vats where they see contact with the skins for eight to ten days. Aging takes place in mid-size Slavonian oak casks and the wines are bottled without fining or filtration. Zidarich’s wines are cloudy in color, but that is simply the result of wines that have been made with a bare minimum of intervention. Like all whites macerated on the skins, these wines should be served at cellar temperature in large glasses. Even in the weaker 2005 vintage Zidarich has crafted wines that are well worth seeking out.

- Robert Parker, Online Review, October 2007

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