Just off the boat yesterday, I cracked last night w/ Susan:
1. DueVigne Viognier ElDoradoCnty (10% Roussanne, 3% Marsanne; http://www.DueVigne.com; 14.4%) 2007: Med.gold color; lovely perfumed/fragrant peachy/pear/Viog light minerally/earthy nose; tart rich/lush oily/mouthfilling/textured very strong peachy/pear/Viog some earthy/minerally bit Rhonish flavor; long rich/lush/textured/mouthfilling tart peachy/pear/Viog some earthy/minerally finish; very rich & lush but good acidity & balance & some minerality; speaks strongly of ElDoradoCnty; beautiful Viognier at a great price. $20.00
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2. DueVigne Nebbiolo ElDoradoCnty (14.7%) 2006: Med.color; lovely plummy/licorice/slight tarry/classic Nebb some smokey/pungent light floral/violets spicy slight earthy/dusty/ElDorado red slight meaty very interesting/attractive nose; tart rather tannic/hard/astringent rather plummy/licorice/pungent/slight tarry/Nebb bit floral/violets some earthy/dusty/ElDorado flavor; very long rather hard/tannic/astringent strong plummy/licorice/pungent/slight tarry/classic Nebb slight toasty/oak light floral/violets finish; needs 3-8 yrs; speaks of ElDorado red; good acidity w/o ripping your tongue out; loads of Nebb character; great price at $26.00
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And the usual BloodyPulpit:
1. DueVigne di Famiglia: Where the heck did I dig these guys up?? Long story, but since you asked: KenMusso used to post on one of the wine boards some 6-7 yrs ago. He showed a lot of interest in Nebb and I found out he was gowing some up in ElDoradoCnty, which immediately picqued my interest. Love Nebbiolo as a variety and think Calif can make the best Nebb in the world. He also has some Dolcetto & Barbera planted. Clearly a man who marches to the beat of a different drummer.
We exchanged a few e-mails on Italian varieties, he was clearly passionate about what he was doing and clearly Ken was a guy I wanted to "follow from the very start". So, later that year, I had picked up a stash of EmilioBulfon Friuli wines and I suggested Ken & I get together in Sac to try them. We did an Italian restaurant and I invited MikeFulegenzi to join us. We probably spent about 3 hrs there on the patio drinking great wines and visiting. Don't think Mike got any work done that afternoon.
Fast forward to RhoneRangers three weeks ago. In front of SteveEdmunds' table, I ran into RonMansfield (one of Steve's growers of Wylie & Fenaughty and other vnyds in ElDorado), who is probably the primo grapw grower in ElDoradoCnty. We chatted for about 10 minutes on a variety of subjects and ElDorado happenings. I asked him if he knew KenMusso up there and Ron related that he did. I asked if Ken had gone commercial yet and Ron thought that he'd done so, but didn't know his label. Couldn't find anything that fit his wnry on the ElDorado grape growers & wnry Site.
Interest picqued again, I was able to dig out of my in-box an e-mail address some 5-6 yrs ago, and sent an inquiry winging Ken's way. Several days later I get a response. Yup..retired now...and his wines are under the DueVigne label and made over in the NapaVlly at the Selenius operation. Interestingly, afore RhoneRangers, I almost pulled into their tasting roome (saw the Artisan wineries signage), but was a bit rushed and didn't.
Peruse their WebSite, find a bunch of interesting things, so order a hlf case to try. But w/ very low expectations. After all, if they were making good stuff, they'd have already been discovered by RP or WS. Arrived Fri and I just couldn't resist cracking a btl or two (still have the Dolcetto to try).
DueVigne is a joint effort by KenMusso and RonHoule and their wives. Ken & John were firefighters w/ CFD for many a year. Ron had a Cabernet vnyd in Napa and they decided to go together and make wines (to make big $$'s to supplement their retirement...yeah...sure!!). Ron grows the DueVigne Napa Cabernet grapes and Ken grows the Nebbiolo/Dolcetto/Barbera up in ElDorado. They make their wines there at the Selenius facility. Definitely a label to keep your eyes upon.
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2. Viognier: These Viog/Roussane/Marsanne grapes were not grown by Ken, but purchased from one/some of RonMansfield's vnyds. I was mightly impressed by this wine. Although a big/rich/lush Viognier; it is not a classic DollyParton Viog in any sense of the word. It's got a good underlying acidity and an ElDorado earthiness that gives it a bit of a Rhone character. It reminds me a lot of some of SteveEdmunds ElDorado whites, no small praise indeed. One of the best Viogniers I've had this year.
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3. Nebbiolo: What a shame that Nebb has been declared a failure in Calif by some wine authorities. I've encountered over the last yr or two a number of Nebbs that I thought were absolutely first-rate. Not Piedmonte Barolo/Barbaresco...but better than those. Palmina, Stolpman, Novy, EmilioCastelli (not yet commercial). This DueVigne ranks right up there w/ the best of them. It has loads of Nebb character, but the kind of richness & lushness that you'd expect from Calif and seldom/never get in Piedmonte Nebb (I know...Nebbiolo is not supposed to be rich & lush...it's supposed to be astringent and tannic and acid and rip your head off!!). It reminds me of a combination of Valtelline Sfursat and Gattinara/Spanna. Truly an exceptional rendition of Nebb in Calif.
Tom (stirring the pot just a little)
