TN: Three ArbeGarbe Whites....(short/boring)

WINE TALK
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Dipped into my ArbeGarbe stash this weekend:

  1. ArbeGarbe SonomaCnty WW (14%; 45% old-vine TocaiFriuliano/PaganiRanch/SonomaVlly, 35% Catie’sCorner MalvasiaBianca, 20% Tanya’sVnyd RibollaGialla/RRV; short skin contact) 2014: Med.light gold color; quite fragrant apple/pear/floral/Tocai light mango/figgy some eartht/mineral slight piney/spicy lovely Friulian-like complex nose; rather tart/tangy fairly stony/mineral/bit piney light floral/mango/pear quite savory totally dry rathe nevery flavor; very long/lingering slight honeyed rather stony/mineral/piney some floral/mango/figgy/pear/TF dry savory finish; very much like a Friulian RG/TF blend w/ a bit of age; quite a lovely white. $24.00
  1. ArbeGarbe SonomaCnty WW (14%; 45% Catie’sCorner MalvasiaBianca, 30% PaganiRanch old-vine TocaiFriuliano, 25% Tanya’sVnyd RibollaGialla; 304 cs; short skin contact) 2015: Light gold color; quiet/fragrant light floral/pear blossom/poached spiced pears/slight muscatty slight mango/grassy/herbal quite attractive nose; quite tart/leaner light pear/floral/pear/apple/bit muscatty slight tangy/metallic/mineral flavpr; very long rather floral/light muscatty/spicy light pear/pear blossom slight stony/mineral finish; very much resembles a quiet Malvasia d’Istriana; a lovely quiet white that hints of Malvasia. $30.00
  1. Benandants MalvasiaBianca Catie’sCornerVnyd/RRV/SonomaCnty (14%) 2015: Med.light yellow color; very strong Malvasia/muscatty/cheap hair oil/floral slight stony nose; bit soft/rich totally dry slight metallic/tangy strong floral/Malvasia/muscatty/hair oil flavor; long floral/muscatty/Malvasia/hair oil bit dried pineapple slightly bitter finish; plenty of Malvasia fruit bit a bit simple. $40.00

A wee BloodyPulpit:

  1. ArbeGarbe: This is the wnry of LetiziaPalletto & EnricoBertoz in StHelena. Enrico is the asst winemaker at
    FloraSprings. They both hail from Friuli, via Valentinos restaurant in LosAngles. Enrico was the winemaker at
    Nonino in Friuli, producer of world-class grappas. They make a tiny amount of Friuli-style wines under their
    ArbeGarbe (“bad weeds” in Friuli dialect) and also the Benedants label. Benandanti means “good walker” in Friuli
    dialect. You can read the interesting story here: Benandanti - Wikipedia. Their wines should be
    much better known. I first met them at the RibollaFest get-together 5 yrs ago.
    WebSite: (http://www.arbegarbewines.com)

I was very much impressed by how the '14 has evolved into a wine that resembles strongly a mature Friuli TF/RG. The '15, w/ stronger Malvasia character, resembles well some from Friuli/Slovenia.
In Friuli, the Malvasia is Malvasia d’Istriana. In Calif, all Malvasia is Malvasia Bianca, which has a much stronger muscatty character. I love the Md’I from Friuli and would love to see what Enrico can do with that. Alas, Md’I is not (yet) in Calif. The Friuli versions have a lower key muscat character and more of a stony minerality.
Tom

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Fascinating tasting notes, Tom!!

I know you have a comprehensive understanding of the myriad of Italian white wines out there (unlike me), so it is always an educational experience to read your TN’s on those, and similarly styled wines.

Not to detract from the Arbe Garbe wines, just today I read an email from STiRM winery announcing the release of a 2016 Enz Vineyard (Lime Kiln Valley) white called “Los Cuchaquis Gabilan Blanc” (70% Orange Muscat and 30% Palomino, a.k.a. Listan Blanco).
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I imagine that you are already familiar with their other whites (SBC Rieslings and Grüner Vetliner, as well as a Wirz Vineyard Riesling). Personally, the new Enz Vineyard field blend Rosé, “Los Chuchaquis Mezcla de Campo” (50% Mission, 25% Mataro, 20% Carignan, ~5% Orange Muscat, Alicante Bouschet, Zinfandel, and Cabernet Pfeffer!) sounds like it would be up my alley. :slight_smile:

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Hmmm…not familiar with the STiRM wines, Drew. Thanks for the head’s up. They look interesting.
Tom

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I really liked the Arbe Garbe wines that I’ve had (all three of them), but they are not available locally, unfortunately. I called them to get in their mailing list, but nothing yet