We tasted last night (10/2/19) Some New Whites:
-
NewClairvaux Moschofilero St.James Block Vina/TehamaCnty (Trappist made; www.NewClairvauxVineyard.com)
AimeeSunseri/Vina 2016: Med.light yellow color; quite fragrant floral/carnations/Mosch light chalky
quite pretty nose; rather tart/tangy/bit grapefruity pineaplt/floral/carnations/Mosch light chalky very
pretty flavor; very long/lingering tangy/grapefruity rather floral/carnations/Mosch/pineapple light
chalky/stony finish; not the depth or intensity of #2 but a quite pretty rendition of Mosch at a
great price. $20.00 (CB)
-
Tselepos Moschofilero PDoO: Mantinia (12%; www.CavaSpiliadis.com) Rizes/Arcadia/Greece 2016: Med.yellow
color; very fragrant floral/carnations/Mosch/bit hair oil more stony/chalky quite lovely nose; quite
tart/tangy/grapefruity quite floral/Moscho/ carnations rather tangy/metallic/stony quite lovely flavor;
very long tart/tangy/grapefruity/bit metallic finish; reminds a lot of Piemontese Cortese but not as rich;
a bit more depth & intensity than #1; quite a pretty Moscho. $18.00 (CB)
-
Stemberger Zelen Kras/Slovenia (12%; Fruit of the Vines/LongIslandCity; www.BlackLambWine.com) 2017:
Med.dark gold color; fairly strong phenolic/pine sap/resiny/skin contact slight natty/mousey some
appley/fruity rather complex nose; very tart/acidic quite phenolic/pine sap/resiny/skin-contact bit
tannic/bitter slight appley flavor w/ some bitter tannins; very long quite tart/acidic strong phenolic/
resiny bit appley/fruit finish w/ some bitter tannins; loads of phenolic character but some Zelen (?)
fruit peeking out there. $29.00 (BG)
-
CO Istrian Malvasia (13%; BlueDanubeWines) Coronica/Umag/Istria/Croatia 2017: Med.yellow color; fairly
fragrant MdI/floral/slight carnations/slight muscatty bit earthy pleasant nose but just that; lightly
tart/tangy/metallic light floral/MdI bit earthy slightly bitter pleasant enough flavor; med.long rather
tart/tangy/metallic light MdI/floral/muscatty bit earthy finish; a pleasant enough nose but not deliver
much on the palate; a bit of an Oakland wine. $22.00 (CB)
-
Collecapretta Malvasia della Scarparo Umbria (12%; SelectionNaturel/Ipswich/MA; Malvasia Bianco)
Terzo la Pieve di Spoleto 2018: Med.drak gold bit orange color; fairly fragrant/Malvasia/floral light
skin-contact/phenolic/resiny/bit cidery quite interesting nose; lightly tart/tangy/grapefruity light
Malvasia/floral/muscatty/new mown hay light phenolic/resiny/cidery bit orangey slight tannic/bitter very
interesting flavor; very long/lingering light Malvasia/new mown hay some phenolic/cidery/skin-contact
slightly bitter/astringent finish; definitely some skin-contact therein but nice balance of Malvasia
perfume. $43.00 (BG)
-
Nebout Vignerons L’Incompris du Tressallier VdF (100% Tressallier/Sacy; Pinot x Gouais Blanc ;
NorthBerkeleyImports; 12.5%) Nebout Earl/Route de Montlucon/Saint Pourçain sur Sioule 2017: Light gold color;
quite pleasant some melony/appley/apple compote/bit spicy light earthy/dusty nose; some tart/tangy/bit
metallic rather apple/pear/apple compote/slight melony some chalky/earthy flavor; long fairly tart/tangy
apple/apple compote/melony some earthy/stony finish; a bit on the neutral side but a quite pleasant
appley/melony white at a good price. $16.00 (CB)
-
Toreta Posip Special DryWW Korcula/Croatia (12.0%; www.DanchAndGranger.com) WnryToreta/Smokvica/Brna
2018: Light gold color; rather funky/earthy slight Texas feed lot/toe jam some floral/fragrant/hay mow bit
petrol/pungent/saline rather interesting if funky nose; bit tart some funky/toe jam some floral/stony bit
tangy/metallic/saline/savory interesting flavor; med.long rather funky/toe jam light floral/stony finish;
a rather strange but interesting savory white; displays the classic Korcula terroir. $21.00 (CB)
-
Dom.de Chevillard Ad’OP: Roussette de Savoie (100% Altesse; MeBaD; 12.5%; SacredThirstSlctns/Moraga;
www.SacredThirstSelections.com) Famille Goury-Renard/St.Pierre d’Albigny/Savoie 2016: Med.light yellow color;
quite aromatic mango/floral/gardenias/apple blossom/pineapple rather white fruits/Alpine floral slight stony
very attractive/pretty nose; fairly tart/tangy quite attractive Alpine white/floral/gardenies/apple blossom
light stony/chalky really lovely flavor; very long/lingering Alpine flowers/floral/mango/apple blossom lightly
tart finish; a really lovely fragrant Alpine white; if you stick your ear in the glass, you can hear
JulieAndrews lilting voice on the nearby mountaintop singing “The Hills Are Alive…”; a bit on the pricey
side for Savoie. $50.00 (BG)
-
raft Wines Viognier Cavaillon LoveRanch/Madera (11%; www.RaftWines.com; skin frmtd) SantaRosa 2018: Med.gold
color; strong phenolic/resiny/pine sap/skin-contact light floral/Viog/pear/peach fairly aromatic rather
attractive nose; bit soft modest phenolic/skin-contact/resiny light pear/peach/Viog interesting flavor;
med.long bit soft some phenolic/resiny light peach/Viog finish w/ little tannins; nice balance of skin-contact
phenolics & Viog peach fruit; rather interesting white. $27.00 (BG)
-
Kendric Viognier PetalumaGap/MarinCnty (ProprietorGrown; 13.6%; 45 cs; www.KendricVineyards.com)
SanFrancisco 2017: Light gold color; quite attractive floral/pear/peach/Viog bit spicy/herbal slight
toasty/oak somewhat quiet/low-key nose; rather tart/tangy some Viog/pear/peach quiet/low-key slight oak bit
earthy pleasant flavor; med.long light pear/peach/Viog light oak finish; seems a bit on the quiet/mild-mannered
side and not quite physically ripe; a pleasant enough Viog but just that. $28.00 (CB)
-
Ridge GrenacheBlanc AdelaidaVnyd/PasoRobles (75% GB/15% Picpoul/10% Rouss; 14.0%; bttld: May 2019;
Drk: 3/19-3/24-3/25: EB) 2018: Pale yellow color; quite attractive GB/honeysuckle/honeyed slight reductive/
stinky light toasty/oak some perfumed/aromatic nose; bit tart fairly rich/lush slight reductive some GB/
honeysuckle/floral light toasty/oak/vanilla pleasant flavor; med.long GB/floral/honeysuckle some vanilla/
Am.oak finish; not nearly as intense & much lesser than the btl we had a the Ridge dinner; quite a nice
expression of GB. $32.00 (SFW&S)
-
Rosetta DOC: Malvasia di Castelnuovo Don Bosco (5.5%; www.DJKImports.com Soutf SF; Malvasia of Schierano
grape) Cantine Bava/Cocconato 2014: Light garnet/orangey color w/ lots of tiny bubbles; strong Nehi strawberry
soda pop/strawberry/slight muscatty quite fragrant/perfumed some earthy/dusty very pretty if frivolous nose;
quite frizzante strong strawberry/Nehi strawberry/cherry soda pop lightly sweet bit earthy some hair oil/
Vitalis quite pretty flavor w/ no tannins; very long strong Nehi strawberry soda pop/floral bit earthy
finish; more frizzante/soda popey than #13; a very pretty frivolous little red at a great price. $15.00 (CB)
-
Tenuta LaPergola Birbet VinoRosso Cisterna d’Asti (7%; KermitLynchImpts; Brachetto) NV: Med.light garnet color;
strong Brachetto/Alpine strawberries very slight earthy quite perfumed/aromatic/floral nose; somewhat sweet
slight tart/frizzante very strong Alpine strawberries/floral/rose petal light earthy/dusty flavor w/ slight
tannins; very long strong Alpine strawberries/rose petal/floral some sweet bit frizzante finish; more depth &
intensity and a more serious/winey wine than #12; delicious/frivolous stuff. $15.00 (CB)
More pittrcob from TheBloodyPulpit:
- Tressallier: More commonly known as Sacy, but Tressallier in the NorthernRhone & Auvergne region.
A natural cross of Pinot X Gouais Blanc, but DNA can’t tell if it was PinotNoir or PinotGris. Clearly it’s
a variety they should be planting all up&down the Coast of Calif, where they could make world-class Sacy.
Should be easy to market.
- BlueDanube: This is an importer of Austria/Slovenia/Hungary/Croatia wines that I like quite a lot. Run
by Frank Dietrich and Zsuzsanna Molnar. (www.bluedanubewine.com). They have a terrific portfolio of those
wines and because they do DTC sales, I buy a lot of obscure wines from them. The Danch & Granger importers
were a new one to me of the Toreta Posip. It turns out that Eric & Catherine work for BD and have started
their own import company. (www.DanchAndGranger.com) But not really in competition with BD. Apparently
Frank&Zsuzsanna are going to be retiring eventually after they sell thru their inventory. I suspect D&G
will take over a lot of the BD wineries.
- Posip: This is a grape indigeneous to the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. Mostly found on the island of Korcula.
Clearly another grape they should be planting all up&down the Coast of Calif, where they could make
world-class Posip. Marketing be damned. The wine was a bit on the strange side, but in the hands of some
Calif natural winemakers, they could probably drive it into truly bizarre territory.
- Altesse: Also known as Roussette in the Savoie. Supposedly similar to Hungary’s Furmint, though no DNA studies
indicate that. This was easily the best Altesse that I’ve had. Clearly a grape to be planted all up&down the
Coast of the FingerLakes.
- Skin-contact Whites: Two of these skin-contact whites (Collecapretta Malvasia & raft Viog) I really liked because
they were not dominated by the phenolic/resiny character that some skin-contact whites show and also had some
fruity perfume to them. As I taste more skin-contact whites, I coming to the feeling that skin-contact whites
are best made from aromatic varieties, rathe than more neutral varieties like Rebulla or Vitovska.
- Frizzantes: Both of these frizzantes I really loved because of the strawberry aromatics that just billowed
from the glass. With charcuterie, I tend to prefer these to Lambruscos because they are not so heavy & grapey.
These are the kinds of wines they should be making in Calif but, alas, aren’t.
Tom
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}