We tasted tonight (5/23/18) Some New Wines:
1. AndisWines Orange Wine of Viognier ApetahiVnyd/AmadorCnty (13%; 2 brls) 2016: Deep golden/burnished
bronze color; fairly strong phenolic/resiny/bit cider rather orangey/bit honeyed rather fragrant/
floral/bit Viog perfumed complex lovely nose; some phenolic/resiny/cidery light orangey/honeyed
rather floral/perfumed/Viog quite rich flavor; very long/lingering rather orangey/honeyed some
phenolic/resiny rather perfumed/floral/Viog finish; noticible phenolic character but not austere/
tannic on the palate like many; a very good balance between phenolic & honeyed/Viog fruit;
quite a lovely skin-contact white. $30.00/500 ml
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2. Forlorn-Hope Moresque Albarino RorickVnyd/CalaverasCnty (skin frmtd for 8 mo; 13.81%; 52 cs) 2015:
Med.dark golden bit bronze coler; light phenolic/resiny/appley/apple cider some honeyed/floral/Albarino
very attractive perfumed nose; fairly tart/tangy/appley slightly bitter some phenolic/resiny/apple cider/
skin-contact some floral/Albarino/honeyed slight watery flavor w/ slight bitterness; very long some
tangy/tart/bitter some phenolic/resiny/cidery/skin-contact bit floral/Albarino/appley/honeyed finish w/
light tannic bitterness; not as phenolic as expected from the color; quite an attractive nose w/ a nice
balance of phenolic and floral fruit but not quite delivers on the palate and a bit watery. $32.00
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3. Forlorn-Hope Dragone Ramato PinotGris RorickVnyd/CalaverasCnty (Skin-frmtd;187 cs; 11%) 2016: Rather rose/
garnet color; quite fragrant/perfumed/floral/PG very light phenolic/resiny slight pomengranate/cranberry
rose-like quite attractive nose; rather tart/tangy/acidic bit bitter strong cranberry/pomengranate/floral/PG
light resiny/phenolic flavor w/ little tannins; very long rather floral/PG/pomengranate/cranberry quite
acidic very light phenolic/resiny finish; speaks more of a rose than a skin-contact white because of little
phenolic character; a bit on the acidic side but a pleasant ramato, but just that; probably would benefit
from more age. $30.00
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4. Harrington Vernalis PinotGris Ramato SanBenitoCnty (13.2%) 2017: Light pinkish/copper color; slight funky/
toe-jam/pungent/sweaty jock-strap that clears to strong cranberry/watermelon/pomengranate somewhat spicy/
cinammon quite attractive nose; fairly tart rather spicy/cinammon strong watermelon/cranberry/pomengranate/
floral flavor w/ slight tannic bite; very long/lingering strong pomengranate/cranberry/watermelon/bit floral
some spicy/cinammon slight earthy/stony finish w/ light bitey tannins; quite an attractive brisk/bright rose
w/ lots of cranberry character; no phenolic/skin-contact white character that I can pick up. $25.00
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5. Dom.Dugois AC: Arbois Trousseau "EnGrevilliere (13%; www.DJKImports.com) Daniel Dugois/LesArsures/
Jura 2013
: Med.light red/garnet color; some earthy/loamy/Alpine some spicy/floral/cherry/cherry blossom
lightweight quite attractive nose; rather tart/tangy/acidic light floral/cherry/Trousseau some Alpine/earthy/
loamy rather light/bright flavor w/ light tangy tannins; very long bright cherry/cherry blossom/floral/
Trousseau rather earthy/loamy/dusty lightweight finish w/ light brisk tannins; a fairly classic Alpine
Trousseau; a pretty/lightweight red but just that. $20.00 (K&L)
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6. Forlorn-Hope TrousseauNoir RorickVnyd/CalaverasCnty (12.29%; 52 cs) 2016: Very light bit copper/cranberry color;
some earthy light spicy/cinammon/floral/cherry fairly aromatic nose; lightly tart/tangy slight bitter bit watery/
weak light cherry/spicy/floral bit earthy flavor w/ light bitter tannins; med.long light/cherry/Trousseau/
floral bit earthy lightly tart finish w/ light bit bitter tannins; aa lightweight slightly watery/dilute
Trousseau w/ not a lot of flavor; a pleasant-enough glou/glou red but just that. $30.00
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7. Bock Kekfrankos/Blaufrankisch Villanyi (12.5%; www.OldWorldVines.com) Bock Jozsef/Villany/Hungary
2013
: Med.dark color; quite fragrant BF/plummy/spicy/black cherry some earthy/loamy classic Lemberger fairly
attractive nose; very acidic/sour somewhat earthy/loamy rather BF/black cherry compote/plummy bit austere/bitter
flavor w/ some hard/bitter tannins; long bit unclean/bretty/rustic fairly loamy/earthy plummy/black cherry/
Lemberger quite sour/acidic finish w/ some bitter/astringent tannins; fairly classic Lemberger nose but rather
painful on the palate; no bargain at $12.00 (BDW)
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8. Heiman Kadarka Szekszand (12%; www.Heiman.Hu) Heiman Csaladi Birtok/Szekszand 2015: Med.light color; rather
earthy/dusty/plastic trash bin/funky some raspberry/strawberry pleasant interesting nose; lightly tart/tangy
some bright raspberry/strawberry/bright bit lightish rather pleasant flavor w/ light bitey/astringent tannins;
long lightish/bright/strawberry/raspberry bit earthy/dusty finish w/ light astringent tannins; a bit funky on
the nose but a pleasant/light-weight red but just that. $23.00 (BDW)
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9. AndisWines Schioppettino Estate/AmadorCnty (15%; www.AndisWines.com; 2 brls) Plymouth 2015: Very dark color;
rather overripe/raisened/pruney some alcoholic/fumey slight black pepper/Schio rather Amador/briary/boysenberry
nose; soft rather overripe/pruney/raisened some alcoholic/fumey slight Schio/pepper some Amador/briary flavor
w/ light ripe tannins; long very ripe/overripe/pruney/late hrvsty slight peppery/Schio flinish w/ light ripe
tannins; an overripe/late-hrvsty/fumey character that belies the 15% alc level; more like an Amador LateHrvst
Zin than anything; it does have some Schio/pepper character beneath the overripe fruit. $30.00/500 ml
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10. Ronchi di Pietro Schioppettino DOC: Friuli Colli Orientali (13%; L18; EnotecImports/Denver) Zorzettig
Francesco & Fulvio/Cividale del Friuli 2015
: Dark color; very strong cracked black pepper rather spicy/peppery/
Schio slight earthy/dusty rather complex beautiful nose; lightly tart very strong cracked black pepper quite
spicy/peppery/Schio bit earthy/dusty complex quite lovely flavor w/ light smooth tannins; very long/lingering
very strong cracked black pepper beautifil peppery/Schio/very spicy finish w/ modest ripe/smooth tannins;
a lovely expression of Schio at a great price. $20.50 (KK)
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11. Iuli Rossore Vino Rosso Barbera (13.5%; www.Iuli.It; IndieWineries.com) Fabrizio Iuli/Montaldo di Cerrina/
Monferrato NV(2013?)
: Very dark color; very strong Barbera/spicy/Italian sausage/fennel bit licorice quite
classic spicy Barbera beautiful complex nose; very tart very spicy/peppery classic Barbera/Italian sausage/
fennel bit earthy some complex flavor w/ modest bit rough tannins; very long/lingering classic Barbera/very
spicy/Italian sausage/fennel slightly earthy/rustic bit complex finish; not as rugged/austere/bitey as many
Piemonte Barberas; one of the better Italian Barberas I can recall; lovely classic Barbera. $30.00 (BWM)
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12. Vigneti Massa Monleale Barbera DOC: Colli Tortonesi (14.5%; DJK Imports) 2010: Very dark color; rather
peppery/very spicy some earthy/dusty/OV classic Barbera/fennel seed/Italian sausage slight oak bit tired
some complex nose; lightly tart bit overripe slightly tired/dried out fairly extracted strong Barbera/spicy/
Italian sausage bit complex flavor w/ light drying tannins; long strong Barbera/Italian sausage/spicy some
tired/dried out fairly extracted light oak somewhat earthy/dusty finish w/ light bitey tannins; lots of
Barbera character & fairly extracted but somewhat tired/drying out; would like to try a younger version.
$29.00 (K&L)
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More fartwerkle from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Skin-contact whites: The color of both of these led me to expect them to be quite phenolic in character.
They both had noticible phenolic character but it was balanced out w/ lovely perfume on the nose and not
nearly as phenolic/austere on the palate as I was expecting. Maybe the secret of making good skin-contact
whites is using varieties that have a lot of natural aromatics?
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2. Andis: When I was last up to Amador, I stopped into the Andis tasting room. The wnry/tasting room is a dramatic
architecture statement that sorta sticks from the usual low-key/rustic/industrial facilities that dominate the
ShenandoahVlly. They have the classic ShenandoahVlly lineup of wines; Zin/Barbera/Syrah/Grenache/SauvBlancetc.
Overall, I thought the wines were quite sound/well-made/4-square ShenandoahVlly wines. I was particularly
impressed by the Semillon from DillianRanch; a variety that I think deserves a lot more respect up there.
A month ago, MikeDunne had an article on four Amador wineries that he thought are worth visiting. What caught
my eye were the two wines that he recommended: a skin-contact Viognier and a Schioppettino. This is only the
fourth Schio in Calif of which I am aware. And I was unaware that anybody in Amador was playing around with
skin-contact whites. So, of course, I had to try these two wines and ordered some. GM JenaePlasse was a
great help in getting these wines to me.
I was particularly impressed with the skin-contact/orange Viognier. The phenolics were definitely present
but there were a lot of other things going on in this wine. Worth seeking out. The Schio was less impressive.
It, indeed, speak of Schio, but w/ a whisper. It was swamped by the overripe/late-hrvsty character that
reminded me some of the Montevina or Santino/Renwood late-hrvst Zins of yesteryear. I suspect that Schio has
a real potential, like Nebbiolo, in the ShenandoahVlly and very much look forward to trying their future
efforts if they can reign the ripeness level.
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3. Ronchi di Pietro: This is a new Friuli wnry that appeared here in NM a few months ago. Imported by EnotecImports
up in Denver, which has an outstanding portfolio. Though not at the level of the Ronchi di Cialla Schio of
Evan Rapuzzi, it is a terrific expression of Friulian Schio. And their Picolit is maybe the best Friuli example
of that variety I've tried.
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4. Kadarka: A grape thought to originate in Hungary but some evidence it originated in Albania/Montenegro area.
It used to be the primary grape in EgriBikaver (Bull'sBlood), but that now goes to Kekfrankos/BlauFrankisch.
Szekszand and Villany are regarded as the best areas for Kadarka. Clearly a grape they should be planting
all up&down the coast of Calif.
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5. Barbera: The Iuli was a new producer for me. I was pretty impressed by this expression of Barbera. Not as hard/
acidic/tannic as many can be. They make several different Barberas, several Nebbs, a PinotNoir, and a wine from
the very rare Slarina grape. I would love to try more wines from this producer.
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6. F-H: I usually like MatRorick's wines across the board. These three from his latest release seemed a bit
underwhelming. Still have his Mondeuse to try.
Tom