NV Emilio Bulfon, IGT Venezia Giulia Sciaglin Vino Frizzante

Pampered, buttressed, gaudy, and gilded, like Carnivale in liquid carnate, Bulfon's scaiglin bubbly is one of those wines so true to the spirit of where it's from that I would love to love it. But, much like the perfumed, masked men and women during Venezia's yearly Bacchanalia, this is a bottle I could only wake up next to if I'd already had a few dozen drinks in me. It spacewalks the line between beer and wine, a stumbling, flabby conceit for the plummy, grainy, honeyed tastes of powerful old ales and barleywines. With some medicinal, lime-like tendencies akin to prosecco, I'm almost willing to let this just be. It is, afterall, a profoundly original effort that should be accepted on its own terms. But I can't help to have expectations. And those expectations prevent me from buying more of this wine. One that would be nice next to a little bit of pork fat, maybe a layer on the outer rim of a chop, sublimated lardo on the crust of a scallop, or the starburst of cholesterol between two rolls of belly meat. On its own, though, it's more a picture of Venice than a map to it. A lesson rather than a journey.