Tried these three last night at DinDin:
- DryCreekVnyd SauvBlanc DCV3Vnyd/DryCreekVlly/SonomaCnty (12.8%; Clones: 1 & 21; Vine age: 11 yrs; Hrvstd: Aug 25; 100% SS/no oak aging; SaH: 21.1 Brix; TA: 0.69%, pH: 3.41; 875 cs) 2022: Pale yellow/near colorless w/ tiny bubbles; fairly strong herrbal/SB/slight weedy very slight floral rather simple SB nose w/ little minerality; fairly tart/tangy slight metallic rather simple/pleasant light herbal/SB bit flinty almost bland flavor w/ slight prickle; med. slight floral/herbal/weedy/SB bit metallic/flinty finish w/ slight prickle; a rather simple/pleasant expression of SB veering in the direction of bland. $32.00/$25.60 (VSP)
- SheehanWnry Fiona NM (18.5%; 2 brls; 100% Vidal Blanc fortified w/ brandy) SheehanFamilyWines/Albuquerque/NM 2021: Med.gold color; fairly floral/fragrant/almost muscatty slight hybridy/Vidal/grapey lightly alcoholic rather interesting passito-like nose; soft quite grapey/floral/Vidal/peachy/pineapple rather sweet light alcoholic/brandy rather passito-like quite interesting flavor; very long/lingering rather sweet bit alcoholic rather grapey/floral/Vidal very primary quite interesting finish; not a lot of hybridy/Vidal character but loads of grapey, almost muscatty, character; a really great example of a white Angelica that should age forever, though I’ve found these wines, like the Quady Essensia, don’t develop a lot of complexity, but just go on forever. $22.00/hlf (KK)
- FKA FieldBlend Mendocino Red (12.1%; 55% Merlot/25% Chard/20% Pinotage; www.SubjectToChangeWine.com) Subject To Change Wine Co/Richmond 2022: Dark color; strong plummy/Merlot/grapey rather Mendo/earthy/tomatoey light pencilly/oak pleasant enouth nose; fairly tart rather earthy/rustic/Mendo/tomatoey slight pencilly/oak/redwood tanky rather dull flavor w/ light tannins; med. redwood tanky/pencilly classic MendoCnty red earthy/rustic finish w/ light gentle tannins; loads of Mendo/tomatoey character w/ little fruit; a rustic/dull/redwood tanky rad that resembles an old Parducci or Pedroncelli red; rather overpriced at $24.00 (KK)
More rickersplat from TheBloodyPulpit:
- The Sheehan Fiona just showed up on the shelves of Kokomans the other day. I was really excited that maybe someone was growing Fiona di Avellino, one of my favorite Campania grapes, here in NM. Alas, that was not the case. They use Fiano ("White Wine” in Gaelic) not as a grape variety, but as a proprietary name. When I found out it was from VidalBlanc, my interest waned. It shouldn’t have. This reminded me a lot of Quady Essensia, but w/o the Orange Muscat character. This is an outstanding dessert wine that should be making more of in NM.
- FKA: This winery was founded in 2017 by Alex Pomerantz. He is a natural winemaker, though the wine showed no unclean/funky/natty character whatsoever. It was just an old-timey Mendo red the likes of which I recall drinking back in the early '70’s and pretty much led me to blow-off MendoCnty as a source of fine Calif wine.
Tom