Portalupi 2007 Bianco Wine

*Bottle #37: Portalupi 2007 Bianco California Table Wine

*Price: $16

*Running Tab: $478

The best kind of narcissistic satisfaction is when you win an argument and all you want to do is scream "I told you so!" and gloat and smirk. Unfortunately, that is no longer acceptable adult behavior past the age of six so now you just have to say "Oh, did I?" when presented with a win over a mature debate. 

When I was tasting the Portalupi 2007 Bianco at local wine shop, I was told this 2006 blend was mostly Gewurtztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and probably Semillon, but the wine steward wasn't quite sure. He was positive of the fact that there was no Chardonnay used in the blend, which I was just fine with considering it was a California blend and I'm not a huge fan of big, over-oaked, buttery, diacytel-saturated Cali Chards. No bias. 

Upon tasting, I found some nice apricot and tangerine notes, backed by some minerality and a slight hint of honey. It took me a wiff or two but I was smelling pear on the nose as well, something uncharacteristic of the varietals that were to be in this blend but something very common for Chardonnay...

The taste of the wine was exactly what I was looking for that night and I give the steward props for picking this out according to what I said I wanted. Dry and crisp but full of those orange fruits and minerality. Medium-full bodied with a little touch of something vegetal in the finish as it dimished. Nice, brisk acidity through and through, which I love in my whities. A little flabby once it sat in the glass/palm of my hand for too long, the Portalupi '07 White Wine still fit the profile for the night. 

After a couple swigs, I was tasting more and more of that pear tied in with Granny Smith apples (Chardonnay!!! - but I wasn't doubting Buddy Boy  just yet). 

And here's the punch-line. 

Post-taste/posthaste, I Googled the stats on it via my Blackberry Curve (product placement - please pay me?!), I found out that this 2007 blend (there isn't an '06 from this label) was actually 46% Sauvignon Blanc, 47% Chardonnay and 7% Muscat Alexandra. More Chardonnay than anything else in the blend! 

Ba-bow! I completely and utterly smirked and gloated by myself (yup...) and ran a little mental victory lap. Looks like I'm starting to know my ish better than I give credit for. I thank you.

Score: 7.