TN: Harrington Amarela '15...(short/boring)

[TomHill]

Was making a Gigante beans & artisinal baloney in Romasco/roasted red pepper sauce vaguely Portuguese dish and had the ideal wine to try:

1. Harrington Amarela St.JorgeVnyd/MokelumneRiver/Lodi RW (13.2%; 5 brls Trincadeira/1 brl TintaRoriz/1 brl AlicanteBouschet; 187 cs) 2015: Med.dark color; some earthy/mushroomy/Lodi some plummy/blackberry/boysenberry/ripe somewhat earthy/loamy bit rustic (but clean) rather interesting nose; quite tart/tangy slight metallic some Lodi/earthy/mushroomy light brisk/plummy/blackberry/lightly spicy altogether pleasant if bit rustic flavor w/ light bitey tannins; med.long rather tart/tangy/citric light plummy/blackberry/licorice fairly earthy/dusty/loamy/Lodi finsih w/ light tangy tannins; speaks strongly of Lodi but unusually tart/tangy for Lodi and avoids that soft/soupy/grapey character of many Lodi reds; resembles an Aletejo red but not as coarse/rustic as many and not the oak they sometimes have; certainly not a profound wine but very tasty & good drinking w/ the beans at a great price. $19.00
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   A wee BloodyPulpit:
2. The Alentejo is a large wine region East of Lisbon in the southern part of Portugal that produces a vast amount of fairly gulpable reds to accompany Portuguese fare. Not too unlike the SanJoaquinVlly in Calif. I was not looking for a serious wine w/ this dish to pontificate about (not that I’ve ever been known to pontificate), but just something simple/rustic. This wine exactly filled the bill. I was quite struck how much it resembled many of the Alentejo reds I’ve had. Amazingly well done.
   Tom

[TomHill]

Bryan had this to say on this Amerela:

@Bryan

That wine is definitely the most obstreperous of the latest wines I just sent you. Picked those grapes based on advice for some winemakers from the Alentejo. They said to not let the pH get too high so when I pulled the trigger to pick, the grower just shook his head and said he didn’t pick the Trincadeira for his wines until about a month later. Sure enough, when the wine started fermenting, the aromatics were green and raw and not very appealing. I emailed my Portuguese friends about my concerns and they said, ‘‘Relax, the green will turn into cherries.’’ All the way up to bottling, I was still getting a mash-up very green flavors and aromas and had enormous doubts about the wine. I remember thinking the only way I was going to sell this wine was if it had a very pretty label. I didn’t let anyone taste it for about six months after it was bottled. Then about six months ago the wine started to turn fruity and I started to get the promised cherry and boysenberry. The wine continues to get better and better as the months go by and now, believe it or not, I am almost sold out.

Tom

[Ken_Zinns]

Tom, thanks for posting the note and the follow-up from Bryan. Everyone who helped out on that fruit during the 2015 crush had serious doubts about how the wine would turn out, and it’s true that it wasn’t very appealing for awhile after it was bottled. But I opened one about 6-8 weeks ago and also found that it has turned the corner and is starting to show really well. So far that 2015 vintage has been the only time Bryan has gotten this particular fruit and made this wine, and we’ll have to see if he decides to give it another shot next year.

[Drew_Goin]

Thanks for the added bonus of Brian’s words on this unusual wine!