Acme to Nadir in Three Short Days

Years ago I developed an aversion to Italian white wines because every one I tried was poor or tasteless. I dearly love Italian reds, but whites were a different thing.

I decided it was time to revisit Italian whites and the Fontaleoni Vernaccia Di San Gimignano from the 2007 vintage was the starting point. I love the red wines from Tuscany, so why not start with a white Tuscan.

Saturday we opened and drank an outstanding white wine in the 2004 Willi Schaefer Riesling from Germany. That was the 'acme" or the "apex." The San Gimignano was certainly the "nadir" or to put it differently, the pits.

For a 2007 it tasted old, tired, and flat. There was decent color but the wine tasted oxidized and smelled more like a rotten melon or an over ripe banana, There was little or no acid. There was a long finish, but it was not a pleasant one.

There is plenty left in the bottle and it will get another taste tonight, but I suspect that it will most likely find the drain in the kitchen sink.