We tried last night (5/14/14) Some New Whites:
1. Forlorn-Hope Story CheninBlanc StoryVnyd/AmadorCnty (13.17%; 25 cs; Planted in 1985 on own roots) 2013:
Light gold color; rather stony/mineral/chalky/saline light floral/pears/CB/gardenia very attractive
somewhat Loire-like nose; rather tart/tangy mineral/chalky/stony/earthy light floral/pears/perfumed talc/
grapefruity lovely/lithe flavor; med.short chalky/stony/mineral finish w/ an aftertaste of pears/floral/
perfumed talc that wells up & goes on & on; much more Loire than the Weisskopf; lovely rendition of Calif
CB. $30.00
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2. Xavier Weisskopf LeRocher des Violettes Touche-Mitaine AC: Montlouis-sur-Loire (pre-WWII vines; 13%;
MeBaD; www.LeRocherdesViolettes.com) Amboise/Loire 2010: Light gold color; very strong floral/rosewater/
pineapple/mango/FrenchWhoreHouse/overripe nose w/ little mineral/Loire nose; very acid/screechy/metallic
very ripe/overripe floral/mango/pineapple/gardenias somewhat light/vapid/watery flavor; med.long overripe/
mango/pineapple light/thin finish; lots of overripe CB fruit and no Loire minerality and unattractive on the
palate; rather disappointing. $24.00 (KK)
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3. Dom.des Baumard AC: Savennieres (13%; www.Baumard.Fr) Rochefort/Loire 2009: Light gold color; lovely floral/
pear/peach/CB/spicy/smokey light chalky/mineral very perfumed nose; slighhtly tart fairly rich/lush ripe/mango/
peach/CB/floral some mineral/chalky/perfumed talc/Loire flavor; very long perfumed talc/stony/mineral ripe
mango/peach/CB rich tart finish; lots of ripe CB fruit w/ nice touch of minerality; quite attractive CB.
$23.50 (KK)
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4. Forlorn-Hope TrouGrit TrousseauGris KingAndrewsVnyd/SuisunVlly (10.83%; 27 cs; skin frmtd; GreyRiesling)
2013: Med.gold/burnished bronze cloudy color; very attractive orangey/phenolic/resiny/cider complex lovely
nose; tart very strong orangey/dried mango some phenolic/resiny/apple skin/cidery tangy complex flavor w/
slight/bitter tannins; very long intense orangey/floral/mango slight phenolic/resiny/cidery some pickle juice/
tangy finish w/ light/edgy tannins; a quite exotic skin-contact white that is not as phenolic and tannic as
some; would show a lot better w/ food; much more liked than some skin-contact whites because of the intense
orangey/mabgo character. $24.00
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5. Solminer GrunerVeltliner deLandaVnyd/SantaYnezVlly (24 cs; 13.2%; www.Solminer.com) Lompoc 2013: Med.gold color;
very strong GV/white pepper/floral light mineral/earthy/chalky rather Austrian-like beautiful/aromatic nose;
tart bit tangy very spicy/GV/white pepper/spicy quite perfumed rather Austrian GV flavor; very long/lingering
white pepper/spicy/floral/GV slight mineral/stony/chalky quite Austrian finish; a bit leaner/more mineral and
less ripe than the Carlisle; a beautiful Calif GV. $30.00
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6. Carlisle GrunerVeltliner SteinerVnyd/SonomaMtn/SonomaCnty (14.1%; 100 cs) 2012: Med.gold color; very strong
very spicy/flowery/GV light peppery nose w/ powerful aromatics; bit softer/richer/lusher very intense floral/
GV/light peppery/ripe slight Mosel valve oil very perfumed flavor; very long/lingering powerful floral/GV/spicy/
some white pepper/ripe slightly tart bit citrusy/grapefruit rich/lush finish that goes on & on; another
beautiful GV from Carlisle. $33.50
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7. Idlewild Arneis FoxHillVnyd/MendoCnty (13.6%; www.IdleWildWines.com) 2013: Med.gold color; beautiful floral/
fragrant/carnations/perfumed/lavender/hand lotion almost muscatty/Alsatian very aromatic/exotic nose w/ light
stony/mineral/Arneis/Mosel valve oil undertones; very intense floral/carnations/lavender slight hand lotion/
exotic/muscatty light stony/mineral/Arneis fairly tart richly textured flavor; very long/lingering intense
floral/carnations/lavender/hand lotion/exotic tart/rich/lush light stony/mineral finish; rich & lush but
plenty of acid to carry; a very exotic rendition of Arneis w/ a stony/mineral undertone; almost Alsatian
in its perfume; not your usual Roero Arneis. $28.00
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8. Vietti DOCG: Roero Arneis (13.5%; www.Vietti.com; U; L-0412) Alfredo Currado/CastiglioneFalletto 2012: Light
yellow color; less perfumed rather stony/earthy/mineral light floral/pineapple/mango slight yeasty/cheesy/toe
jam rather strange/complex nose; bit CO2/spritzy some floral/pineapple/mango/perfumed some earthy/mineral/stony
bit funky/toe jam/bloomy-rind cheese/yeasty bit tart/lean/tangy flavor; long tangy/metallic/tart rather stony/
mineral slight funky/cheesy somewhat lean/tight finish; not the usual strong aromatics of the Vietti Arneis;
fairly classic stony/mineral w/ a bit funky/qwirky character; a bit disappointing. $21.00 (KK)
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8a. Matteo Correggia DOCG: RoeroArneis (EB; L14AR1; 13%) Canale 2013: Med.gold color; lovely fragrant/pear/mango/
carnations/classic Arneis/figgy light stony/mineral nose; biit dissolved CO2/bitey tart/tangy ripe/pear/mango/
floral/carnations some stony/mineray/chalky fairly spicy flavor; long tart/tangy/citric bit spritzy ripe/
mango/pear/carnations/pineapple somewhat stony/mineral finish; really nice aromatics w/ a nice balance of
stony/mineral character; a lovely Arneis as a great price. $16.49 (SFW&S)
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9. Carlisle Compagni-Portis WW SonomaVlly/SonomaCnty (13.8%; Planted in 1954; GWT/TrosseauGris/Riesling;
Frmtd in SS; no ML; 90 cs) 2012: Med.gold color; quite perfumed/fragrant floral/spicy/GWT/mango/pineapply
very aromatic almost Alsatian-like lovely nose; lightly tart very floral/perfumed/spicy/GWT/R/pineapply/mango
quite balanced delicious flavor; very long/lingering quite perfumed/aromatic/pineapple/mango/GWT/spicy/floral
rather Alsatian-like lightly tart/balanced finish; nothing in here that I could identify as old-vine
character; a powerfully aromatic white rather Alsatian in style. $33.50
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10. Carlisle TheDerivative WW (Vines planted: 1886-1920; 66% Semillon from MonteRosso planted in 1886/
24% Muscadelle from Pagani planted in 1920/10% ChasselasBlanc from 118 old vines interplanted at
SaitoneRanch; 240 cs; 13.7%) 2011: Med.gold color; light smokey/oak/tobacco strong figgy/waxy/Semillon fairly
aromatic complex nose; tart bit earthy/chalky strong waxy/Semillon/ripe figs light toasty/oak/smoke/pencilly
rather old-timey/complex flavor; very long/lingering strong waxy/Semillon/figgy lighht pencilly/oak slight
earthy/stony kinda old-timey complex finish; quite an intereting wine that reminds me a bit of the old
LouisMartini Semillons from MR vnyd, but way more intense & fruited than those; those MartiniSemillons were
pretty unthrilling at release, but often aged into pretty interesting old-bones; I suspect this Carlisle will
make great old-bones as well. $33.50
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11. Forlorn-Hope Semillon Nacre YountMillVnyd/Yountville/NapaVlly (187 cs; 11%) Calistoga 2010: Light yellow color;
very strong herbal/green olive/bell pepper/somewhat underripe slight waxy/figgy/Semillon nose; very tart/lean/
metallic strong green olive/herbal/bell pepper slight waxy/figgy Semillon flavor; med.long very tart/lean
strong green olive/bell pepper/herbal/underripe slight waxy/figgy/Semillon finish; obviously made from rather
underripe grapes; a very strange wine in that it doesn't seem eviscerated or vapid or scrawney and has plenty
of flavor, but just not the character you'd expect from Calif Semillon; I suspect that it will age into
something pretty interesting w/ 10 yrs of age, much like HunterVlly Semillon, but it's a gamble. $29.50
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12. KalinCllrs Semillon LivermoreVlly (13.5%) Novato 1998: Med.gold color; very intense burnt marshmallows/charred
open-fire hot dogs/burnt oven/smokey/charred oak some ripe/figgy/Semillon/waxy rather exotic/bizarre/complex
nose; soft strong/ripe/figgy/waxy/Semillon very burnt marshmallows/burnt hot dogs/smokey very complex flavor;
very long/lingering strong waxy/figgy/Semillon soft rather burnt marshmallows quite exotic/complex finish;
a very strange Kalin Semillon that took me back to my CubScout days and stanfing around an open wood fire
w/ marshmallows stuck on the end of this coathanger and it catches fire; has some of the character of an old
HunterVlly Semillon; actually not an unpleasant wine but rather bizarre and unlike anything else I've had.
$48.00 (vLA)
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A the usual stuff from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. CheninBlanc: This is a variety that's sorta been neglected in Calif. 'Tis a pity, because it can make some
lovely wines. This F-H came from Amador...not a place you much associate w/ that variety. It had a stony
minerality that resembled Loire CB and reminded me a lot of the Chalone CB Old-vine that DarrellCorti sells.
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2. Arneis: These were a really interesting set of Arneis. I've liked the Vietti in the past because of the strong
floral aromatics it has shown. This wine seemed a bit on the funky/strange side. Both Italian versions seemed
to have been refreshed w/ CO2 afore bottling. The Correggia is about as good as it gets from the Roero.
I was mightly impressed by SamBilbro's Arneis. Some of the most amazing/powerful aromatics I've ever seen
in Arneis. OTOH, intensity & power are not everything in a wine, unless you're a Monktown attourney. If you
worship at the altar of terroir and insist that your Arneis display the terroir of the Roero, then the
Correggia is what you want. However, if you like powerful aromatics that Arneis can give that only hints of
the Roero mineral/stony character, than the Idlewild is your bag. I think it's a pretty amazing rendition of
Arneis.
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3. Gruner: Solminer is a vnyd in LosOlivos of David & Anna deLaski. Planted to GV & Syrah. Both have had winemaking
experience in Austria and GV is one of their passions. Their first GV ('12) was from the JohnSebastiano vnyd
down near the SantaRitaHills. This is (I believe) their first GV from their Estate deLanda Vnyd. I thought it
was a notch up in quality from their '12.
MikeOfficer has been making GV from Steiner for about 3 yrs now. Fortunately, the planting of GV at Steiner
is increasing, so there will be more in the future. I have, of course, followed GV in Calif from the very start.
The vonStrasser was a joke and way overpriced at $60. The Zocker/EdnaVlly is a pleasant enough GV, but a bit
on the lightweight/bland side. The best Calif GV I'd had, until the Carlisle came out, was the Chien out of
SantaBarbara. But the first Carlisle GV stood in a class by itself. Until the Solminer came along, there was
nobody even close.
The Reustle GV was the first GV made in the USofA. They had to get approval from the TTB to use the name
of that grape. In 2005, from the UmpquaVlly in OR. It is quite a pretty/well-done GV, but not up to the
level of these two GV's.
Both of these GV's are first rate. The Solminer seemed more Austrian in character, more restrained, and
resembled a good Federspeil=level GV. The Carlisle showed more powerful aromatics, more ripeness, and could go
toe-to-toe w/ any Smaragd I've had from Austria. Some would argue that it's stupid to pay $30 for a Calif GV
when you can get the real thing from EdnaVlly or Austria for $20/btl or less. I would suggest that the Solminer
or Carlisle are a big step above those and the equivalent of any I know of from Austria that can run you
$40-$60/btl. You get what you pay for....some folks think it stupid to buy anything but CharlesShaw Chard.
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4. Carlisle: Mike is very highly regarded for the Zins & Syrahs he makes. Probably because their production
is so limited, he doesn't get the recognition he deserves for his whites. Amazingly good.
Tom
Have patience...takes time to revive a legend.