Tried these five over the last week:
- Qupe Viognier Ibarra-YoungVnyd/SantaYnezVlly (13.8%; www.Qupe.com) SantaMaria 2013: Light gold color; quite attractive/fragrant bit lean pear/apple/Viog/mango light earthy/waxy nose; rather tart/lean apple/pear/Viog bit simple flavor; med.long rather apple/pear/Viog light earthy/chalky bit tart/tight/lean finish; way far away from DP territory; not very exciting now but may develop into something interesting (or may not); on the tight/lean side but not eviscerated or vapid; a steal at $15.75
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Vigneti Massa Derthona VinoBianco (13.5%; www.PortoVinoItaliano.com; Timarasso) Massa Fratelli/Monleale/
ColliTortonese/Piemonte 2012: Med.gold color; quite fragrant mango/floral/very spicy some Viog-like, bit R-like light stony/mineral lovely perfumed nose; fairly tart/tangy bit citric/metallic bit lean/tight spicy/floral/carnations/mango bit R-like some chalky/stony flavor; long rather tart/tangy/citric bit lean/austere some floral/mango/spicy bit chalky/stony finish; really lovely nose but lean & tangy on the palate; not as rich as previous ones I’ve had & a bit disappointing. $30.00 (BWM)
- Idlewild Cortese FoxHillVnyd/MendoCnty (13.8%) 2014: Med.dark gold/burnished bronze color; some skin-contact/phenolic orangey/honeyed light stony/mineral/floral very interesting complex lovely nose; rather tart/tangy/metallic strong skin-contact/phenolic/resiny rather stony/mineral light orangey/honeyed/floral bit spicy/coriander flavor w/ light tannic bite; very long rather tart/hard rather phenolic/skin-contact/resiny bit austere light orangey/honeyed/floral finish w/ light astringent tannins; a very interesting white that should be served at room temps and definitely needs food; very much an intellectual wine rather than hedonistic and in a very good place right now; should go another 4-8 yrs. $32.00
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Idlewild TheBee Flora&Fauna White NorthCoast (30% MuscatCanelli/30% Friulano/30% Arneis/10% Cortese)
2015: Light gold color; very fragrant/perfumed floral/carnations/magnolias/bit muscatty bright light stony nose; lightly tart/rather tangy/bit metallic very dry lightly floral/gardenias/magnolias light muscatty slight mineral/earthy flavor; long fairly tart/tangy/metallic light stony/mineral/chalky some floral/gardenias/light muscatty finish; a dead ringer for a good Malvasia d’Istriana; a bit leaner than the ArbeGarbe version of this wine; quite an attractive bright/zippy light muscatty white at a great price. $24.00
- EdmundsStJohn Heart of Gold ElDoradoCnty WW (53% Vermentino/47% GrenacheBlanc; 11.5%) 2015: Light gold color; very fragrant/perfumed honeyed/honeysuckle/GB/spicy/gardenia/floral light mineral/granitic lovely aromatic nose; quite tart bit lean/angular/citric/lemony rather stony/granitic light floral/gardenia/honeysuckle/lemony tangy/metallic flavor; med.long very tart/citric/lean/mineral/stony light floral/honeysuckle/GB/lemony/citric finish; really lovely aromatics that doesn’t translate onto the palate; a lean/minerally/lemony white that should get better w/ a couple of yrs. $26.00
A wee BloodyPulpit:
- Qupe: This wine was offered on a BlackFriday deal at a stupid/silly price. Far be it from me not to take advantage.
- Timarasso: This is an indigenous variety that WalterMassa rescued from extinction and propagated. Now several others are growing it in the Piemonte. It’s a variety they should be planting all up&down the coast of Calif. In fact, it is now being cleaned up at FPS/UCDavis and GregBewer & SamBilbro will have the first plantings and are working on a joint project w/ the variety. Very exciting.
- HoG: This is always one of my favorite EdStJ wines. It generally has a powerful aromatics character and a lot of richness & lushness. This '15 is much leaner & tarter on the palate than previous versions, yet is not green or eviscerated in character. It will be interesting to see how it ages.
Tom