TN - 2006 Palmina Dolcetto Honea Vineyard

ToddFrench · February 11, 2009, 4:17am

2006 Palmina Dolcetto Honea Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley (2/10/2009)
A beautiful, sweet and spicy floral nose on this wine - quite a dose of fresh fruit and baking spices, and not a hint of heat. Light bodied, like a Central Coast Pinot Noir, but very good acidity with some grip. No noticeable tannic structure, but the wine is held together by the acidity. Some new oak pushes through, but is not overpowering, and while this wine is very nice by itself, it was beautifully paired with food (lightly glazed salmon), where the acidity balanced out the richness of the food and presented only the best qualities of the wine. Once in a while, I get a pairing just right - this was one of them. My rating is based as much on the overall pairing experience as the individual wine itself. (91 pts.)

Paul_L_i_n · February 11, 2009, 6:47am

while i am generally a sceptic of cal-italian wines, i think palmina does occasionally get it right.

Justin_W_ells · February 11, 2009, 7:12am

Todd F r e n c h:

2006 Palmina Dolcetto Honea Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley (2/10/2009)
A beautiful, sweet and spicy floral nose on this wine - quite a dose of fresh fruit and baking spices, and not a hint of heat. Light bodied, like a Central Coast Pinot Noir, but very good acidity with some grip. No noticeable tannic structure, but the wine is held together by the acidity. Some new oak pushes through, but is not overpowering, and while this wine is very nice by itself, it was beautifully paired with food (lightly glazed salmon), where the acidity balanced out the richness of the food and presented only the best qualities of the wine. Once in a while, I get a pairing just right - this was one of them. My rating is based as much on the overall pairing experience as the individual wine itself. (91 pts.)

This is aged in Neutral oak for roughly 5 months.

Jorge_Henriquez · February 11, 2009, 1:55pm

Uh-oh, do I detect the slightest hint of TN fail? [nea.gif]

John_Tomasso · February 11, 2009, 2:03pm

I’ve always found Palmina’s wines pair exceptionally well with food. They are doing fine things with Italian varieties over there, and none of the usual anti Cal Ital biases apply to these wines, IMO.

ToddFrench · February 11, 2009, 3:43pm

Justin W ells:

Todd F r e n c h:

2006 Palmina Dolcetto Honea Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley (2/10/2009)
A beautiful, sweet and spicy floral nose on this wine - quite a dose of fresh fruit and baking spices, and not a hint of heat. Light bodied, like a Central Coast Pinot Noir, but very good acidity with some grip. No noticeable tannic structure, but the wine is held together by the acidity. Some new oak pushes through, but is not overpowering, and while this wine is very nice by itself, it was beautifully paired with food (lightly glazed salmon), where the acidity balanced out the richness of the food and presented only the best qualities of the wine. Once in a while, I get a pairing just right - this was one of them. My rating is based as much on the overall pairing experience as the individual wine itself. (91 pts.)

This is aged in Neutral oak for roughly 5 months.

What valuable insight you grace us with, Justin - thank you for taking the time to check out their (now semi-archived) winemaker’s notes so that you could post this.

Joe_Hauck · February 11, 2009, 3:51pm

These are pretty damn tasty midweek wines.

ToddFrench · February 11, 2009, 3:56pm

It was a pleasant surprise for me. The last Palmina I had was a Tocai Fruliano and it was more than 6 months ago. Their wines are made for rather immediate consumption, I’m guessing, and they are one of very few making wines with these Italian varietals in CA. I think it is somewhat of a plaything for Steve Clifton, but nonetheless, they have some really fun wines that prove to be enjoyable on their own, and sometimes pair better with food than the typical CA wines - Syrah, Cab, PN, Zin and Chard.