When I am at Fine Wine Source for a tasting, I try to alternate between the Old World and the New World, just so that I have potentially new wines to discuss and so that I am not always talking about the same wines.  I also like the chance to try if possible new varietals and new regions.   Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t.

The first wine that I will mention is Otella “Molceo” Lugano Riserva 2015 from Azienda Agricola Otella.  Lugana is a white wine specific region that straddles Lombardy and Veneto, but is considered part of Lombardy.  There are a couple of different designations for Lugano, but it seems that the wine has to be ninety percent of a locally known varietal known as Turbiana.  I have seen this wine listed as being Verdicchio, and I have seen it listed as Trebbiano di Lugano.  I have also seen where some that study the grapes scientifically have crossed off the possibility of Verdicchio, so I will call it Turbiana.  This particular wine spent sixteen months aging in a combination of Stainless Steel and oak barrels.  I found the wine to be very crisp and refreshing.  There was a mineral (flint) that I noticed and the acidity was so balanced that I wanted more.

The next wine that I had was from the Burgundy region of France.  Domaine Collotte Les Boivin Marsannay 2015 is a Pinot Noir from the most northern sub-region of the Cote de Nuits, just before Dijon.  Domaine Collotte offers several different wines, and I was surprised to find that they do not have a website.   I always like to find out a little bit about the wine, but not this time.  I will tell you that I enjoyed the wine, that it had a great nose and a nice decent finish, two items that I think a good Pinot needs, and it is not the easiest thing to accomplish with such a finicky grape.  Hopefully the next wines won’t be as difficult to research.