Tried this last night:
- Vivac Syrah SingleVnyd/NM (20 mo. in Fr.oak barriques; www.VivacWinery.com; 10% Sangiovese) 2011: Med.dark color; strong sagebrush/chamisa/herbal some peppery/blackberry/Syrah/ripe/boysenberry light toasty/oak nose; bit tart/angular/lean strong chamisa/sagebrush/Deming terroir earthy/dusty some blackberry/Syrah/peppery flavor w/ light/bitey tannins; med.long strong sagebrush/chamisa/herbal slight blackberry/Syrah/peppery earthy/dusty finish w/ tangy/bitey tannins; a rather interesting rendition of Syrah that speaks more of Deming terroir than of Syrah. $26.00
A wee BP:
- I tried a btl of this wine last weekend. As soon as I pulled off the capsule, I was overwhelmed by the stench of TCA…horrendously corked. I went ahead & opened the wine. The wine neither smelled nor tasted of TCA…but was pretty funky. Wanted to give the wine another chancy, so got it replaced. I’d never encountered a wine in which the TCA was apparently on only the outer end of the cork, but had not penetrated it into the wine. Strange.
Vivac is one of my favorite wineries in NM. Located just to the North in the town of Dixon. They grow some of their grapes in the EmbudoVlly, but buy a lot from Paolo d’Andrea down in Deming, far to the South. Paolo’s vnyd is located in the high desert amongst a lot of sagebrush & chamisa. These plants exude oils, like eucalyptus, into the airs and it gives many wines from his grapes a sagebrush/herbal character…the Deming terroir. Presumably this SingleVnyd wine came from Paolo’s grapes, though it doesn’t say such on the label. He grows a lot of interesting Italian varieties in his vnyd, including “Refosco”. Alas, I cannot get a response from Paolo as to the sorce of his Refosco plant material, so can’t really know if it’s Refosco or Mondeuse.
Tom