Tasting PM Wines w/ Paul & Martha Oct 5, 2018
We have a new wine distributor, PM Wines, located up in Taos, who focuses on "natural" wines, by whatever
definition you choose to define "natural wines". (www.PMWineDistribution.com). Run by PaulGreenhaw and Martha
Aguilar. They get their imported wines from BonVivantImports (www.bonvivantimports.com) up in Boise, ID,
an importer that specializes in natural wines. In their Calif portfolio, they have HarringtonWines and
LaClarine. I've known Paul for over a yr, since he works at Cid's TheCellar in Taos, the first really good
wine shop Taos has ever had.
I hooked Paul&Martha w/ Laura of Pig+Fig, who should have her Beer&Wine license any day now, subject to the
glacial pace at which the ABC moves here in NM. So last Fri, Paul & Martha stopped in at P+F to show some wines
from their import portfolio. Their pallet of Calif producers has not yet arrived. I didn't take detailed notes
on the wines, just jotted down a few things. The wines they showed were:
1. DeStafani Col Fondo DOC: Prosecco (100% Glera; no disgorgement; 11%) NV: Not your usual somewhat bland expression
of Prosecco; lots of sediment in the bottom of the btl that is usually shaken up into the wine afore pouring;
very dry, very austere w/ lts of minerality. $19
_________________
2. Senorio de Astobiza DOC: Txakoli de Alava (90% HondarrabiZuri/10% PetiteCourbu; 12.64%) 2017: Quite fragrant
rather pineapply/almost R-like/floral nose; rather rich/textured floral/R-like/pineapple flavor; doesn't show
the lean/bit austere/stony character and lots of fruit for a Txakoli. $20
_________________
3. Az.Loghi IGT: Toscana (70% Trebbiano/30% Malvasia; 12%) 2016: Rather light/floral slightly stony bit neutral;
the Malvasia does not come thru as strong as expected; pleasant enough at a fair price. $14
_________________
4. Ailala-Ailalelo DO: Ribeiro/Galicia (100% Treixadura; 13.6%) 2017: Quite fragrant/floral almost Albarino-like;
light stony/mineral quite floral on the palate; a quite pretty Galician white. $19
_________________
5. Redentore PinotGrigio DOC: Dellie Venezie (12.5%) 2017: Attractive floral/PinotGris slight chalky nose; rather
rich/lush/vulputous attractive floral/PG slight chalky flavor; not your usual thin/lean PG and has some interesting
character. $16
_________________
6. Stekar Rebula ZGP: GoriskaBrda/Slovenia (12%) 2017: Quite fragrant slight phenolic/savory bit earthy light
peppery/RG nose; somewhat phenolic/resiny/tannic light peppery/RG on the palate; clearly a bit of skin contact
but not greatly phenolic; nice balance of RG fruit and phenolic character. $21
_________________
7. Stekar SiviPinot ZGP: GoriskaBrda (13.13%; PinotGris; 25 days skin contact) 2016: Deep burnished bronze/pale garnet
color; light phenolic/resiny/skin-contact some floral/PG/appley/fruity light earthy rather fragrant/attractive
nose; some tart/tangy/metallic some phenolic/resiny/cider some floral/PG bit orangey/honeyed somewhat savory/
saline flavor w/ light tangy tannins; very long rather tart/tangy/metallic rather phenolic/resiny some floral/
apple blossom/PG/orangey/honeyed bit complex finish w/ light tangy tannins; a rather savory/saline expression
of PG w/ a nice balance between phenolic and fruit character; pretty classic skin-contact Ramato;very well priced
at $19
_________________
8. Gurrieri Frappato DOC: Vittoria/Sicily (12.5%) 2016: Very fragrant/perfumed some floral/violets almost Pinot nose;
light floral/Pinot-like aromatic slight dusty/earthy/rustic flavor w/ light tannins; quite drinkable light red
charastic of Frappato. $24
_________________
9. Dosset Dolcetto Piemonte (11%; 40 yr old vines) 2017: Very strong classic Dolcetto/grapey nose; fairly big/
structured strong juicy/grapey/Dolcetto bit earthy somewhat tannic on the palate; shouts loudly of classic
Dolcetto but structured and could use some age. $17
_________________
10. Ailala-Ailalelo DO: Ribeiro/Galicia (12.9%; 100% Souson) 2016: Very strong very grapey almost Port-like bit
chocolaty nose; soft fairly structured intense grapey/Port-like flavor w/ ample soft/ripe tannins; tastes riper
than the alcohol suggests; like many of the dry Douro reds but a fraction of the price. $19
_________________
11. Stekar Merlot ZGP: GoriskaBrda/Slovenia (14.5%) 2013: Fairly strong grapey/Merlot bit earthy/dusty nose; bit
soft fairly grapey/Merlot bit earthy/rustic flavor w/ light tannins; more interesting than most Merlots. $23
_________________
12. Stekar: CabSauv ZGP: GoriskaBrda (13%) 2015: Very strong blackcurranty/Cab/bit herbal/dusty nose; bit soft
strong blackcurranty/Cab/rapey somewhat earthy/dusty/bit rustic flavor w/ light rough tannins; a bit on the
earthy/rustic side of Cab but pretty interesting. $22
_________________
13. Harrington Teroldego FratelliVnyd/SantaClaraVlly (14.1%; www.HarringtonWine.com) BryanHarrington/SanFrancisco
2013
: Very dark/near black color; beautiful Teroldego/black cherry cola/licorice/black cherry bit boysenberry/
ripe bit RCCola/DrPepper/spicy slight earthy/graphite light toasty/oak rather complex nose; bit soft quite
rich/lush very strong Teroldego/black cherry cola/RCCola/licorice slight pungent/earthy very light toasty/oak
rather structured flavor w/ modest brisk/bitey tannins; very long slight tart fairly rich/lush/structured
strong Teroldego/black cherry cola/RCCola/licorice slight plummy light toasty/oak finish w/ modest tangy
tannins; not an ElisabettaForadori but speaks strongly of Teroldego and one of the best from Calif; can use a
few more yrs yet to moderate the tannins. $25.00
_____________________________________________________________________________________
More litzsnackle from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Stekar: I was excited when Paul told me he was bringing the Stekar wines. When I spent time in GoriskaBBrda,
I stayed at the Stekar Agriturissmo and tasted thru Janko Stekar's wines. Alas, false alarm. Turns out there
are two Stekars on the tiny road between Hum and Snezatno. We stayed at Kmetija (farmstead) Stekar
(www.KmetijaStekar.Si), which is just 100' up a tiny road behind Hisa (house) Stekar (www.Stekar.Si). This
property is owned by Roman (father) and Jure (son) Stekar. From their WebSite, Hisa looks to focus their
restaurant and Agriturissmo, with maybe the wines more of an after-thought; though the wines certainly didn't
reflect that idea. I presume the two Stekars are related but I couldn't verify that. Both share a large bowl
that looks down on the small Snezatno village, with Smartno perched up on a hilltop off in the distance. On
a clear day, you can see the Adriatic and the city of Monfalcone from Kmetija. The GoriskaBrda area of
Slovenia, a pointy bit of land the abuts Friuli/Collio, is an absolutely beautiful area covered in vnyds,
sharp hills, spectacular. And the people are extremely friendly. Highly recommended.
Both the Stekars are biodynamic/organic growers and what you would term natural winemakers. I recall the
Kmetija being a bit more interesting and varied than these Hisa Stekar wines. But both are very good examples
of GoriskaBrda wines.
________________
2. Prices shown are approximate retail. I thought all the wines showed rather good values. They also had a Stekar
CabFranc, but it was so well-liked that it's been sold out. "Natural" wines oftentimes have a reputation for
being on the funky/unclean side. I saw no signs of that side of "natural" wines in this group. All in all,
this was an interesting portfolio of wines that are rather different from many of the commodity wines that we
get here in NM.
________________
3. Souson: Thought this was a new grape for me. But Souson in the Ribeiro is none other than the Souzao common in
the DouroVlly for Port and also in Calif in the CentralVlly.
________________
4. The SiviPinot & Harrington I retasted at home in detail later on.
________________
5. Harrington: Alas, the Fratelli vnyd has been plowed under for housing, so Bryan doesn't get this Teroldego any
more. But it and the Bevela are excellent expressions of Teroldego and would put many from Trentino to shame.
This is the wine I took to share w/ ElisabettaForadori, the master of Teroldego in Mezzocorona, in a visit there
a few yrs ago. After we tasted thru here entire lineup, including her single-vnyd Teroldegos, we opened this
Harrington up. She sniffed & tasted, cocked her eyebrow and remarked that "this is pretty good Teroldego",
then added w/ a twinkle in her eye..."but not as good as mine" !!
Tom


Edited by TomHill (10-09-2018 06:58:50)