Three days before my European trip I took the subway up to iTrulli where Nicola Marzovilla had prepared a tasting of the legendary Valentini wines. This was a mini-media tour of the wines, a rare chance to taste a vertical. The house in Abruzzo is famously secretive, and it ain't cheap. They rarely allow any one in the cellars and they won't talk technique. But they have a reputation of being one of those old-fashioned sorts and swear that they never vary in the way they make wine. But, who knows. A few weeks back I had a 2000 Trebbiano which had the lees stirred into a souffle--Meursault-like, and I was like, hey guys, what gives? Trebbiano '08 Trebbiano- A lovely purity with ginger and white pepper. Limpid. Nutty. More ginger! And a long, long finish. '05, Lively a bit of a CO2 spritz. Nutty, peach pit fuzz and lacks the '08 focus 1998- Yes! Long and lingering finish, in fact it doesnt finish. Two months later, I can still taste it, and it's great! It even has a food friendly bitterness. 1990- Who squeezed marzipan into the wine? It is stinging and oxidized, a little sherry-jura thing going on...