We tasted last night (6/25/14) Some More New Wines:
1. Marjan Simcic Ribolla (13%) GoriskaBrda/Slovenia 2011: Med.dark gold color; bit herbal very spicy some
peppery/pungent/phenolic (skin-contact?) light stony/chalky rather mineral lovely nose; rather tart/hard some
peppery/pungent/RG light stony/chalky/mineral somewhat austere flavor w/ slight tannic bite; med.short fairly
tart/hard some peppery/pungent mineral/stony rather austere finish; speaks of RG but would like a bit more
fruit; very fairly priced at $20.00 (AV)
_______________
2. Matthiasson RibollaGialla MathiassonVnyd/NapaVlly (12.8%; www.Matthiasson.com) Napa 2012: Med.gold bit cloudy
color; much more ripe fruit/melon/mango light peppery/RG/metallic slight honeyed very perfumed/fragrant beautiful
nose; bit tart/tangy/metallic ripe/melony/honeyed/mango light peppery/RG slight mineral/chalky/metallic flavor;
med.long tart/tangy/metallic ripe/melony/mango/honeyed light pungent/peppery/RG finish; lots of perfume/aromatics/
lovely nose; speaks quietly of RG w/ a Calif accent; quite attractive RG. $50.00 (BWM)
_______________
3. Tercic RibollaGialla DOC: Collio (13%; www.GranFondoWine.com) Matijaz Tercic/SanFloriano/Collio 2011: Med.gold
color; rather mineral/stony some spicy/herbal/peppery/RG quite spicy rather perfumed/fragrant nose; rather
tart/tangy strong mineral/stony/chalky rather spicy/herbal/peppery/RG slight metallic/steely flavor; very long
tart/tangy/grapefruity/citric spicy/herbal/peppery/pungent/RG some stony/mineral finish; probably the most
varietally correct RG of the Friuli ones; quite an attractive/interesting RG. $40.00 (BWM)
_______________
4. Miani Pettarin DOC: Friuli Colli Orientali RibollaGialla (13.5%) EnzoPontoni/Buttrio 2012: Med.light gold color;
very perfumed/fragrant light peppery/pungent/RG light mineral/waxy/honeyed/figgy/melony almost Riesling/floral
rather restrained/elegant beautiful nose; slightly tart/tangy/grapefruity elegant/seamless/polished/balanced
light peppery/pungent/RG/bit herbal some mango/pineapple lovely flavor; very long/lingering melony/mango/pineapple
somewhat spicy/peppery/pungent very light stony/mineral finish; a beautifully crafted/seamless/understated/
perfumed RG; not about power but more of balance & restraint; beautiful RG if a bit pricey. $100.00 (AV)
_______________
5. Poderi Cellario Favorita DOC: Langhe (12.5%; www.PoderiCellario.It; Vermentino) Carru 2012: Med.light yellow
color; slight stinky/reduced/skunky/dishwater light floral/fragrant/Vermentino/low-key slight chalky nose;
bit tart/lean slight chalky/stony light floral/pineapple/fragrant flavor; med.short tart/tangy/lean some chalky/
stony light floral/pineapple/tropical fruit finish; a light-weight/pretty enough wine but just that. $20.00 (BWM)
_______________
6. Ryme Vermentino LasBrisasVnyd/Carneros ("Hers"; 12.8%) 2013: Med.yellow color; beautiful perfumed/fragrant/
floral/carnations/spicy almost muscatty very aromatic nose; rather tart/tangy very perfumed/floral/carnations/
spicy light mineral/stony lovely flavor; very long quite perfumed/aromatic Vermintino/floral/carnations light
stony/mineral fairly tart finish; powerful aromatics almost like a GWT or muscat; beautiful Vermentino. $27.33
_______________
7. EdmundsStJohn Heart of Gold ElDoradoCnty WTW (52% Vermentino/48% GrenacheBlanc; 13.5%)
ThumbnailMoonlight/Fairplay 2012: Med.gold color; very perfumed/fragrant/ripe floral/Vermentino light stony/
earthy/ElDorado lovely/aromatic nose; lightly tart rather ripe/melony/floral/pineapple slight stony/earthy
lush/balanced flavor; fairly long tart/tangy rich/lush ripe/melony/floral/GB light stong/earthy/
mineral finish; a ripe/lush quite aromatic white that speaks mostly of GrenacheBlanc; great value at $21.50
_______________
8. EdmundsStJohn Heart of Gold ElDoradoCnty WTW (61% Vermentino/39% GrenacheBlanc; 11.9%) ThumbnailMoonlight/
Fairplay 2013: Light gold color; much more mineral/stony/earthy light floral/Vermentino/carnations slight
SO2/pungent that blows off very attractive nose; fairly tart/tangy/metallic fairly stony/mineral/earthy light
Vermentino/floral/carnations/spicy flavor; long rather stony/earthy/mineral/chalky light floral/Vermintino/
apple blossom/carnations rather tart/tangy finish; displays more terroir than the '12 but not at all lean &
eviscerated; some like a Ligurian Vermention; more interesting than the '12; quite a pretty wine at a very
good price. $23.00
_______________
9. Henry Marionnet Les Cepages OubliesVdP: Val de Loire Gamay de Bouze (MeBaD; 12.5%; carbonic maceration) 2012:
Dark color; rather earthy/dusty very CryBeauj-like somewhat grapey/Gamay nose; soft quite earthy/dusty/loamy
some grapey/Gamay/lush/rustic bit simple flavor flavor w/ little tannins; med.short soft/lush very earthy/
dusty/loamy grapey/Gamay finish w/ no tannins; some of the character of CruBeauj but not the structure;
on the rustic/simple side. $22.50 (CB)
_______________
10. BuenaVista TheCount'sSelection Valdigue Calistoga/NapaCnty (50 cs; #0415; 14.5%) BoissetFamilyEstates/
Since 1857 2012: Med.color; very strange geraniums/framboise/raspberry extract/overripe intense floral/
late harvesty/Zin/boysenberry confected bit pungent/ozone very weird nose; soft/fat intense late harvesty/
boysenberry/jammy/confected/framboise/strawberry extract loads of new oak very weird flavor w/ light tannins;
long soft/fat overripe/late harvesty/boysenberry/jammy/confected rathe toasty/vanilla/oak finish w/ light
tannins; a very weird over-the-top/jammy/confected red; rather overpriced at $50.00 (Enoteca)
_______________
11. EdmundsStJohn Bone-Jolly GamayNoir ElDoradoCnty (13.5%) 2013: Med.light color; attractive juicy/fragrant/
strawberry/Gamay light earthy/ElD quite perfumed/fragrant nose; fairly tart very juicy/grapey/strawberry/
raspberry light earthy/ElD flavor w/ light tannic bite; med. juicy/strawberry/alpine strawberry/fragrant/Gamay
light earthy/ElD finish w/ very light tannins; just a good-drinking frivolous/pretty Gamay w/ loads of
strawberry fruit; not as confected as many DuBoeuf Beajs. $23.00
_______________
12. EdmundsStJohn GamayNoir Porphyry BarsottiRanch/ElDorado (13.0%) ThumbnailMoonlight/FairPlay 2008: Med.dark
slightly cloudy color w/ slight bricking; rather earthy/dusty/ElD slight herbal big strawberry/juicy/Gamay
bit earthy/stony/loamy very spicy beautiful nose; bit tart strong earthy/dusty/mushroomy/ElD big strawberry/
Gamay/juicy flavor w/ light/gentle tannins; very long earthy/dusty/mushroomy/ElD/bit loamy strong juicy/Gamay/
strawberry/spicy/perfumed finish w/ light/smooth tannins; this is serious BeaujGrandCru stuff w/ more
jucy/strawberry fruit and not the loamy/rustic character some BGC's show. $25.00
__________________________________________________________________________________________
More nonsense from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Gamay de Bouze: This is a teinturier version of Gamay. It was discovered near the town of Bouze, near Beaune
many yrs ago.
_______________
2. EdStJohn: Another very strong lineup from SteveEdmunds. The HoG is, yr in & yr out, one of my favorite bargain
whites, along w/ the Ojai white. The '12 was noticeably richer/riper than the '13 but I preferred the latter
because I found it a bit more interesting. Most in my group preferred the '12 because of its greater ripeness.
Steve has one of the few true Gamay (Noir a jus blanc) plantings in Calif. Most of what is often labeled as
Gamay is actually the Loire variety Valdigue, The TTB permits either naming I believe.
_______________
3. Ribolla: Another one of those God-forsaken grapes, according to word out of Monktown. When Darrell first
turned me on to Friulian wines yrs ago, I fell in love w/ RG and TocaiFriuliano. RG has a subtle white pepper
character w/ an underlying stony minerality. According to DarrellCorti, it is the 2'nd most tannic white
grape variety after Furmint. Many of the Friulian versions of RG are made w/ skin-contact and they can often
have a strong/tannic/savory character.
GeorgeVare fell in love w/ RG in a visit to Friuli and brought back cuttings to plant in his vnyd NW of Napa.
He has been sharing his Ribolla grapes w/ a number of winemakers to see what they can do w/ the variety. They
get together at RibollaFest once a yr to taste what they have wrought and discuss Ribolla. With George's death
over a yr ago, it's not clear what will happen to the RG vnyd.
Of these four RG's, my preference was the Miani. Of the three Miani '12's I've tried (the Friulano and the
sauvignon being the others), this RG was the least impressive. They have all been amazingly good wines and
all seamlessly crafted. This RG was much more understated & restrained than the other two; less about power
and more about balance. Amazing wines, the Miani's.
This Matthiasson is, I believe, Steve's first off their own Estate planting of RG. He has made RG from
George's grapes for a number of yrs now. It, too, was an impressive RG, w/ a Calif expression of the grape.
I hope there will be more interest in RG in Calif; despite it being labeled as a god-forsaken grape. The
Terrizzi's/Giornata have a new planting down in the TempletonGap and FloridaJimCowan is making RG from a RRV
planting. So word is getting out, I think.
Tom