The 2006 Chardonnay (green label) is the top selection made from the estate’s best Chardonnay fruit. This deeply spiced, aromatic wine possesses plenty of ripe, tropical fruit and sweet toasted oak, yet it also has more than enough minerality to provide balance. While this is another elegant wine from Borgo del Tiglio, I admit this isn’t my favorite grape here. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2012.
Borgo del Tiglio is located off a small square in Cormons. This rustic county estate captures the essence of rural Italy. Proprietor Nicola Manferrari farms 8 hectares from which he bottles a minuscule 23,000 bottles. These artisan wines are subtle, and perhaps easy to overlook, but make no mistake about it, Manferrari makes some of Friuli’s most inspired wines. Readers who enjoy the mineral-driven wines of Chablis and the Loire will delight in these offerings. Winemaking decisions vary from vintage to vintage but in 2006 most of the whites did not undergo malolactic fermentation. Manferrari favors French oak for aging.
Importer: Petit Pois, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608-9644