Making do with mini reviews: Corvo Duca di Salaparuta 2005 (bianco)

Note: Yesterday I trumpeted the upcoming release of Michel Phaneuf's Le Guide du Vin 2007 hoping that today would be the day that wine lovers would find it on sale in bookstores. Not so. Librarie Renaud Bray, which probably has more copies on order than anyone, is still awaiting shipment and none of its stores have it. Since Tuesday is usually the day of book releases, the guide likely will be delayed for at least a week (online catalogs seem to have replaced a date of October 24 with November 14). I've also now heard that Phaneuf's publishers will savour the timing offered by the Salon des Livres happening November 16 to 20 in Montreal.

Weingolb will now present some tiny reviews I've done in the Phaneuf style. Over the next week -- except for tomorrow which is Wine Blogging Wednesday -- I will use star ratings and cellaring rankings to evaluate wines, and the wines will be ones that Phaneuf has assessed but in previous years. No, it won't replace the need for a new Guide du Vin but it may satisfy the intense desire for a wine buying guide that always hits around this time of year.

Corvo Duca di Salaparuta (bianco) Sicilia 2005 $13.55

The regional grape varieties in this intriguing blend are Inzolia (sometimes written Insolia) and Grecanico. The resulting wine is appley, but very nicely structured. This is a bargain. Inzolia typically makes quite a meaty wine for a white, offering body and richness. With some spritz provided by the Grecanico grape, Corvo supplies superior refreshment value with some dimension to it.

Drink young for its full flavour profile: 1

***½ (Three and a half stars, or three stars plus extra mark for being a bargain)