WineLovers Discussion Group

We tried last night (4/17/13) Some New Wines:
1. Esterlina Riesling ColeRanch (12.7%; www.EsterlinaVineyards.com) Healdsburg 2011: Pale yellow color; very
citrusy/grapefruity/pineapple/varietal R clean/zippy some piney/rosemary very fragrant nose; very tart clean/
R/pineapple/grapefruity/citrusy/juicy slightly off-dry (.5%?) clean/pure/varietal R flavor; very long pure/
clean pineapple/citrus/pineapple/grapefruity pure/juicy finish w/ good balance; some on a German Kabinett level
of quality; very pure good-drinking R at a very fair price. $16.00 (WoP)
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2. SettembreCllrs DryRiesling (13.2%; 122/463) Boulder/CO 2010: Light gold color; somewhat pungent/stinky/SO2/
matchsticks rather earthy/dusty nose w/ little R fruit; fairly rich/textured rather earthy/coarse quite bitter
almost no fruit flavor; med.short rather earthy/dusty very slight floral/R quite bitter finish; lots of earthy/
coarse character and virtually no R fruit; this is probably what R from the Languedoc is like; hard to find
anything to like about this wine; seems pretty pricey for what it is. $32.00 (BWM)
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3. JimBarry TheLodgeHill DryRiesling ClareVlly (12.5%; www.JimBarry.com) 2011: Light gold color; beautiful
mineral/fusel oil/petrol/classic German some grapefruity/R/floral bit steely/metallic nose; very tart/acid/
zippy light floral/R/pineapply some Mosel valve oil/petrol flavor; very long Mosel valve oil/petrol light
floral/R/pineapple very tart finish; lots of bright zippy acids w/o being screechy; a lovely ClareVlly R
that needs 10-20 yrs; great price at $20.00 (BWM)
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4. Martin & Anna Arndorfer StrasserWeinborge Riesling KamptalReserve (Ingrid&Franz Arndorfer; 13%; LN 4492-11)
2010: Med.gold color; lovely stony/mineral/earthy light Mosel valve oil/fusel oil/petrol light floral/
aromatic/R bit herbal complex nose; tart fairly rich/lush strong mango/pineapple/R/floral bit stony/mineral/
valve oil flavor; very long/lingering stony/mineral some petrol/Mosel valve oil strong ripe/mango/pineapple/
R/floral rich/lush tart/structured complex finish; a beautiful Austrian R that needs more age. $34.00 (BWM)
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5. Ecker RoterVeltliner (trocken; 12.5%) Kirchberg am Wagram/Austria 2010: Light gold color; fairly fragrant
stony/earthy light floral/perfumed/spicy some Austrian R/GV very pretty nose; fairly tart quite spicy/
peppery/GV-like/floral light earthy/stony/mineral quite attractive flavor; quite long some stony/mineral/
metallic rather spicy/peppery/GV-like/floral/perfumed tangy finish; resembles GruneerVeltliner a lot w/
its peppery character but a bit heavier/coarser in character; quite an attractive wine at a fair price.
$24.00 (BWM)
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6. LiuDit CheninBlanc SantaYnezVlly (13%; www.LieuDitWinery.com) TylerWnry/Lompoc 2011: Light gold color;
somewhat reduced/cat pee/kitty litter/diaper pail/Epoisses very light floral/CB rather stinky nose; soft
fairly rich/textured quite pungent/diaper pail/kitty litter box very light floral/CB/earthy some tangy/
grapefruity/metallic flavor; med.long soft rather unclean/kitty litter/stale cat pee light floral/CB
finish; one of the most bizarre renditions of CB I've had; very weird stuff and difficult to find any
redeeming features here; just don't understand this wine; way too pricey at $39.00 (BWM)
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7. Domaine Ciringa FosilniBreg SauvBlanc (13.0%) Stajerska/Vrhunsko/Slovenia 2011: Very pale yellow color;
very strong almost overwhelming cat pee/gooseberry/herbal/SB very NZ-like/agressive bit mineral nose;
tart rather cat litter/herbal/SB/cat pee/gooseberry some spicy/SB/herbal/nutmeg/cinammon bright very
assertive SB flavor; very long some herbal/cat pee/SB light mineral/stony rather tart/lean finish;
a rather pretty SB in a NZ-style but maybe a bit to aggressive for some in the cat pee arena; very
fair price at $21.00 (DiVino)
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8. ScholiumProject ThePrince in his Cave Calif WW (SauvBlanc; 14.02%) Fairfield 2010: Some dark gold/bronze
rather cloudy/murky color; very strong phenolic/apple cider rather floral/aromatic/perfumed slight funky/
mouse nest/hantavirus slight herbal/grassy/SB rather strange/complex nose; tart quite phenolic/cidery
interesting spicy some herbal/grassy/SB rather strange flavor; long rather phenolic/cidery some SB/herbal/
grassy bit tannic/hard rather savory complex finish; a pretty typical skin-contact SB w/ lots of interesting
things in it to like but probably too weird for many folks; I rather liked it but it's not everyone's cup
of tea; bit pricey at $50.00 (BWM)
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9. DaveYates Pinot Noir Mistress SantaMariaVlly (13.3%; 68% Solomon Hills/32% BienNacido vnyds) JaffursWineCllrs
2011: Med.light color; very attractive smokey/toasty/oak/Burgundian strong black cherry/PN/earthy somewhat
Burgundian lovely nose; rather tart some black cherry/PN/earthy balanced/smooth/polished rather toasty/smokey/oak
bit Burgundian flavor w/ light tannins; very long light/smooth/graceful some toasty/smokey/oak strong black
cherry/PN/earthy bit complex/Burgundian finish w/ light tannins; best Mistress yet; quite an attractive Pinot
w/ some nice Burgundian character. $nc (DYvLA)/$42.00
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10. Dom. du Tunnel AC: Cornas (100% Syrah; 13.5%; www.CharlesNealSelections.com) StephaneRobert/St.Peray
2009: Very dark color; very strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/licorice light earthy/Rhonish/roasted/smokey
somewhat complex nose; tart very strong blackberry/Syrah/licorice slight earthy/Rhonish/pungent rather tannic/
hard flavor; very long rather hard/tannic strong blackberry/Syrah/boysenberry/licorice/pungent light Rhonish/
roasted/smokey finish; a rather Calif-style Cornas w/o to rustic character thay can show and not a lot
of smokey/roasted character; loads of Syrah fruit for a Northern Rhone; needs 8-12 yrs yet; attractively
priced at $50.00 (WoP)
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11. SlantedHouse Syrah MorescoVnyd/SonomaVlly (14.6%; 50 cs; www.SlantedHouseWines.com) Healdsburg 2011: Very
dark color; very interesting some minty/eucalyptus strong blackberry/Syrah/blueberry quite spicy light
vanilla/oak bit alcoholic/ripe attractive nose; soft some tannic/extracted strong blackberry/blueberry/Syrah
bit minty/eucalyptus very structured flavor; very long blackberry/blueberry/Syrah some minty/eucalyptus quite
spicy finish w/ some hard tannins; needs 2-6 yrs; quite an attractive and interesting Syrah and very fairly
priced at $32.40 (WoP)
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12. Paix sur Terre the other one PasoRobles (94% Mourv/3% Grenache/3% Syrah; 15.1%; www.PaixSurTerreWines.com)
2010: Very dark color; very strong Mourv/plummy/ripe/huge fruit some toasty/oak bit alcoholic nose; soft
slightly alcoholic intense plummy/Mourv/licorice/spicy light toasty/charred/oak huge fruit/ripe slight earthy/
dusty flavor w/ ample tannins; very long ripe/huge fruit/plummy/Mourv/licorice/chocolaty some toasty/charred/oak
rather spicy/kirsch finish w/ ample tannins; loads of Mourv fruit and needs 3-8 yrs of age. $nc (M&DP)
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13. Paix sur Terre passenger PasoRobles (65% Syrah/30% grenache/5% Mourv; 15.6%) 2010: Very dark color; very
strong TCA/corked/musty nose w/ no fruit; strong blackberry/Syrah/ripe/big fruit slight musty/TCA flavor;
way too corked to get much from this wine. $nc (M&DP)
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14. JL Chave Celeste AC: StJoseph Blanc (Marsanne/Roussanne; 13.5%) 2010: Med.gold color; strong Roussanne/
floral/honeysuckle/waxy light toasty/smokey/oak slight herbal/Rhonish quite attractive nose; somewhat
soft ripe/lush floral/honeysuckle/honeyed/Roussanne/ripe light toasty/oak some almondy/honeyed flavor;
long soft/rich/lush honeysuckle/Roussanne/honeyed some toasty/oak finish; not the earthy/stony/austere
Rhone character I would expect of a great RhoneBlanc and more in a modern style; very fairly priced
at $29.50 (KK)
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And more nonsense from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. RoterVeltliner: This is an indigenous variety to Austria whose parentage is unknown. The Roter comes from
the pinkish color of its skin at full maturity. DNA has shown that it is totally unrelated to the better-
known GrunerVeltliner. Nevertheless, this wine had a distinct peppery character that reminded me of GruVee.
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2. Arndorfer: This producer (www.martin-arndorfer.at/english/) was a new one for me. Brett at the BoulderWineMerchant
suggested that I give them a try. He was right....a beautiful/impressive Riesling. I'm looking forward to
trying other of their wines.
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3. Scholium: This is, of course, AbeSchoener's project. I've had some 5-6 of Abe's wine since he started his
ScholiumProject. They're kind of hit or miss. Kinda like ongoing science fair projects. Some have been very
impressive wines....some so weird as to be undrinkable. This one fell into the middle...rather strange but
enough interesting things therein to develop a grudging like of it. When I first poured it, it was obvious
a skin-contact SauvBlanc. Extended skin-contact whites have a distinctive aroma (that often/can obliterate
the varietal character) that I can only describe as "phenolic/cidery". Much like the smell of a rotted apple
that has lain on the ground over-Winter under a lot of snow. This one had some SauvBlanc character still
buried in there that I kinda liked.
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4. Mistress: This wine is made by DaveYates, winemaker/GM at JaffursWines. This is his third stab at PinotNoir
and by far his best one yet. It reminds me a bit of a lighter ABC/Clendenan Pinot. It has an underlying
earthiness that I find characteristic of SolomonHills Pinot and not quite the bright/black cherry fruit
I usually find in BienNacido Pinots. This wine was just bottled a few weeks ago and will probably get even
better in a month or so. I believe this can be ordered now at a 20% pre-release discount.
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5. SlantedHouse: This was a new wnry that I stumbled upon at Wines On Piedmont. Owned/operated by Thomas and
Alicia ??? in Petaluma. The name comes from their slightly awry home in Petaluma...though I suspect most
homes would appear such after a btl of this wine. A new discovery for me and I really liked this Syrah from
the SonomaVlly, an area not particularly known for outstanding Syrah. They also make one from the DryStack
Vnyd that I should try.
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6. PaixSurTerre: Another new wnry for me. Owned by Ryan & Nicole Pease, making wines from some very good PasoRobles
vnyds. These two btls were given me by some Livermore friends when they spied an empty two slots in my
take-home case. Mike & Debbie recently discovered these wines in a visit down to Paso and wanted me to try
them. Alas the Syrah was pretty horribly corked, but you could taste some pretty good/intense Syrah fruit
still under all the mustiness. I liked the Mourv a lot and thought it pretty classic Paso Mourv in the
style of a Saxum, perhaps.
Tom