TN: Weekend Wines...(short/boring)

WINE TALK
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Tried these wines over the weekend w/ Susan:

  1. HortonVnyds Rkatsiteli OrangeCnty/VA (12%) 2017: Light gold color; rather stony/mineral bit herbal/SB-like some earthy low fruit fairly interesting nose; rather tart/lean quite stony/mineral/flinty/steely little fruit flavor; med.long stony/mineral/flinty little fruit finish; very little fruit but very strong mineral/stony character; a fairly classic dry Rkatsiteli. $21.00 (vGK)
  1. Idlewild Erbaluce North Coast (12.1%) 2021: Med.dark gold color; slight resiny/VM/pungent some floral/dandelions/marigolds/herbal quite interesting nose; lightly tart bit pungent/earthy light VM/resiny/phenolic some floral/marigolds/pungent slight metallic flavor; very long light metallic light VM/phenolic/pungent some floral/marigolds/musky/herbal/pungent finish; a rather strange expression of Erbaluce; seems to have some skin-contact/VM character at a fairly low level; rather interesting white that could use another 2-5 yrs of age. $35.00
  1. Anne Pichon Sauvage Viognier IGP: Vin de Pays du Vaucluse (14.1%; T.EdwardsWines/NY; Certified organic; Plntd: 2000; Direct to press; Vinified: SS for 5 months) Anne Pichon Estate/Mormoiron/Vaucluse 2020: Med.gold color; lovely pear/peach/Viog some mineral/perfumed talc slight Condrieu-like very attractive nose; fairly tart/tangy restrained/pear/peach/Viog bit Condrieu/minerally/spicy quite attractive flavor; very long rather Viog/pear/peach/bit spicy floral bit mineral/Condrieu-like quite attractive finish; a rather elegant/restrained expression of Viog w/ some slight Condrieu-like minerality. $26.00 (KK)
  1. Rosarubra Triluna IGT: Colline Pescaresi Bianco (14%; EnotecImports/Glendale/CO; www.Rosarubra.It; 40% Chard/4% SauvBlanc/20% Malvasia) Rosarubra/Pietranico/Abruzzo 2015: Deep god color; strong herbal/slight oxidative slight phenolic/skin-contact some toasty/oak some ripe/melony/Chard/honeyed bit floral some waxy/late hrvsty rather complex nose; bit soft rather rich/lush slight tangy/metallic strong ripe/melony/Chard/honeyed/waxy slight herbal/pungent some late harvsty quite exotic complex flavor; very long/lingering very ripe/honeyed intense melony/Chard bit herbal/pungent slight alcoholic very exotic finish; quite an exotic/interesting very rich/lush white that speaks mostly of LateHrvst Chard more than anything. $46.00 (SFW&S)
  1. Harrington Aglianico GianelliVnyd/TolumneCnty (13.4%) SanFrancisco 2015: Very dark color; very strong plummy/boysenberry/Aglianico/ripe/chocolaty light earthy/dusty some pencilly/Fr.oak/Burgundian/bit smokey quite perfumed lovely nose; fairly tart/tangy bit tannic/bitey strong blackberry/boysenberry/plummy/Aglianico/chocolaty bit rustic/earthy somewhat pencilly/Burgundian/Fr.oak bit complex flavor w/ ample chewey tannins; very long rather tart/tangy strong boysenberry/blackberry/Aglianico/plummy strong pencilly/Burgundian/Fr.oak bit earthy/rustic bit complex finish w/ ample tannins; a pretty big/extracted beast of an Aglianico w/ lots of Burgundian oak; rather tough/rugged red that still needs more age; not as rough/rustic as Italian Aglianico; a sensible Aglianico made by a Pinot producer.
  1. Pax Syrah SonomaCoast (12.5%; 100% w-c in concrete tanks; Aged: neutral Fr.oak & concrete for 10 months; U/U) Sebastapol 2020: Very dark/near black color; intense c-c/black pepper strong w-c/Rhonish/peppery/roasted intense blackberry/Syrah/very spicy/ripe light pencilly/Fr.oak quite complex beautiful Rhonish nose; fairly tart bit herbal/pungent very strong w-c/Rhonish/smoked meats/peppery strong c-c/black pepper very strong blackberry/Syrah/bit boysenberry/pungent rather complex Rhonish flavor w/ ample chewey hard tannins; very long/lingering very strong w-c/Rhonish/peppery/smoked meats intense blackberry/Syrah/very spicy/slight herbal complex finish w/ ample tannins; a beautiful c-c/w-c/Rhonish Syrah that can go out 10 yrs or more. $36.00

A wee BloodyPulpit:

  1. Rosarubra: this white was far different from what I expected from Abruzzo. The color suggested some skin contact, but apparently there was none. I expected another Trebbiano-based bit rustic white. This was was not at all like that.
  1. Harrington: We recently had the Harrington Aglianico '14, which was starting to show some development & maturity. This '15 is a far more rugged expression of Aglianico than that '14.
  1. Pax Syrah: I recently had Pax’s new NorthCoast Syrah '20 and thought it quite good. This SonomaCoast took that Syrah to a whole nuther level. I am impressed w/ the amount of flavor that is packed into this Syrah that is harvested on the early side.
    Tom
2 Likes
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That is what I get from the appellation level and single vineyard Sonoma Coast Syrah from wind gap that I have had. I am usually very happy with them and don’t understand the low marks that some give. They are lower in ripeness, sure, but are generally quite robust on the palate. Do these people buy wind gap thinking it’s going to be Oaked to the moon and syrupy black fruit? Maybe…

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Tom,

Nice to see this fun line-up of wines. I had that Idlewild Erbaluce the other afternoon and enjoyed it quite a bit. Just a quick comment on the Syrah. We don’t pick the grapes early, we source the grapes from vineyards that grow grapes with low sugars, Most of the vineyards used in this wine are picked at the very end of the season, before the weather turns… it isn’t uncommon to harvest these Sites at 22 Brix in November. Now, all that being said, tough decisions were made to pick things a little earlier in 2020 to mitigate exposure to Smoke in some certain instances.

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Be well,

~Pax

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Thanks, Pax, for your comments. By “pick the grapes early” what I really meant was that the sugars (and resulting alcohol) are lower
than most other Syrah producer’s use. I’m sure that long hang time is what can give a Syrah packed w/ so much flavor
but at only 12.5% alcohol.
Tom