WTN: 2004 Montevino Barbera, Amador County

[Jenise]

Ordered last night for $17.50 from a pizza joint wine list. What a delight: both the wine, which was medium bodied and bursting with berry and sweet herbs in a way that was honest and unabashed and tasted like barbera without giving up it's Amador-ness, and the fact that this great little pizza place sells bottles of wine for about 1.5 times retail. Pure unadulturated joy in a bottle. Wish every bottle I ordered in a restaurant was as delicious and rewarding as this.

These guys seem to maybe be on the way back up. We went to a wedding at the winery a couple of months ago and were pleasantly surprised by the wines served at the reception. Glad to hear the barbera was good as well.


Mike

Darn you Jenise, now I have to go out and get a bottle or three of this for $7 each. Thanks!

Barbera's are turning our to be the allstar of the appellation. One might argue that sangiovese and syrahs are second and zins a third.

Don't forget those from Mendocino too.

[Jenise]

Rod, that's interesting. I haven't had many American barberas, in fact when I ordered this my brain remembered the last Renwood I had and said, "Are you sure you want to do this?" I'm not a fan of the Renwood style, and that's about the only Amador Barbera I recall having. Who else is doing it, and whose efforts stand out in your opinion?

Rod, that's interesting. I haven't had many American barberas, in fact when I ordered this my brain remembered the last Renwood I had and said, "Are you sure you want to do this?" I'm not a fan of the Renwood style, and that's about the only Amador Barbera I recall having. Who else is doing it, and whose efforts stand out in your opinion?

Jenise, you might want to check out this recent thread where we were discussing this very topic: http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?t=5412

Thanks Mark. Renwood has suffered from winemaker of the month syndrome...I think you can taste tartaric acid they add (trying to get acid where there isn't much)...but this is topic drift.

There couple of other things I might have added before. Like you, I've never been a huge fan of the Renwood style but when I tasted there, my favorite wine in the lineup was often their Linsteadt Vineyard Barbera (they used to make two, Amador County and Linsteadt). I don't believe they get Linsteadt fruit anymore. In fact, I see online that Vino Noceto is now making a Linsteadt Barbera. Noceto often does a decent job with Sangiovese, so although I've never tried their version, it might be worth looking for. Noceto's website shows their 2003 sold out, though. I think the 2003 may have been their first Barbera. FYI, Noceto is also making a Grandpére Zin, calling it "OGP", presumably to avoid legal problems with Renwood.

As I mentioned in the other thread, another Sierra Foothills Barbera I've liked over the years is from Boeger, although I haven't tried recent vintages. It's not quite as inexpensive as the Montevina but still reasonable at around $15 retail. As I also mentioned there, the Cooper vineyard has for years been the source of Easton/Terre Rouge's Barberas and, like some other growers in the area, now selling wine as well as fruit. And just FYI, as I understand it, Montevina has made a fairly sizeable commitment to Barbera, having planted 100+ acres (I think).

So those are some possibilities if you're interested in further exploring Sierra Foothills Barberas.

All this California Barbera talk has me thinking an Open Mike!!! Up here, not too many around and no hope of the Seghesio either cos I called the agent!!

Anyone want to set it up for later this week?? All we have to do is mention it and away we go!!

[Jenise]

Mark, thanks for bringing that other thread (which obviously, I missed in its entirety) to my attention. Funny I have the same memory of Renwood, of tasting there and liking the barbera best because even though all their wines tasted alike the barbera came closest to having something distinctive about it. I'll be on the lookout for some of the other names you mentioned.

Jenise, I don't know if it means anything but Thor was also a fan of the Lindsteadt Barberas and he's also generally not one to gravitate to Renwood, for more reasons than just their style of wine. In fact, a couple of years ago, when the Linsteadt fruit left Renwood, he asked me if I could find out where the it was going. At the time, I was unsuccessful. Also, just FYI, looking around the Renwood site, I notice that despite all the information about past vintages at Renwood, they have expunged the site of all reference to Linsteadt. All, that is, except a note decribing their 1999 Amador Barbera, where it's mentioned that their estate vineyard Barbera was cloned from the Lindsteadt vines. I suppose that tells us the high regard in which that fruit was held, that they cloned Linsteadt Barbera in the same way they cloned "Grandpére" vines on their side of Steiner Road. I imagine the only reason they didn't trademark "Lindsteadt" like they did Grandpére is that the former is somebody's name!

Finally, just a note on spelling of the original thread topic: it's Montevina, with an a at the end.

Several other Sierra Region Barbera's include Jeff Runquist "R" Barbera, Obscurity Cellars, and Deaver.

Excuse my ignorance but is what I did the purpose of an open mike?

Several other Sierra Region Barbera's include Jeff Runquist "R" Barbera, Obscurity Cellars, and Deaver.

Excuse my ignorance but is what I did the purpose of an open mike?

Hi Rod, Open Mike is when someone picks a wine, say for instance, Renwood Barbera. If there is interest you post your impressions and see who else chips in. Its that simple...this past weekend a few of us tasted Montepulciano here on this forum. Link easy to find!!

Sounds like fun. Go for it.

Rod, is there a specific California Barbera you have in mind/can get access to? Bear in mind it should be a wine readily accessible to those forumites interested in taking part.

Would probably have to be this one, ie. 04 Montevina Barbera or 03. J Runquist, Obscuritycellars, Deaver, Dillian, Boeger, Cooper, and 03 Karmere. Are all better but likely not available.

Renwood might be available, but hate to give them the pub. It would be fun to have some calibration.

To generalize do you think it is fair to say a Barbera tastes like petite Syrah without the intense tannin or acid?

I was able to get the 03 Montevina Barbera in the grocery store for $7.99.

Excuse me for jumping the gun. The 03 has the varietial flavor (a berry fruitiness) and is pretty balanced for a $8 wine. It has soft acid with a tartaric type sour. The difference between this and other Barbera's is that many really are much more fruit forward. I love this type of fruit. They typically are not sweet and have stable structure of mixed acid taste. This wine as an inexpensive wine and has a composite cork. They have a closed effect on the wine (they seal tighter almost like a synthetic cork) IMHO.

The Gold Hill Barbera of El Dorado County had a buttery soft finish.

[Jenise]

Rod, is there a specific California Barbera you have in mind/can get access to? Bear in mind it should be a wine readily accessible to those forumites interested in taking part.

Bob, you see "El Dorado" under Rod's name? Well, he lives pretty much at ground zero (Amador County), so he'll have access to many of the wines mentioned. No worries there. But I have to disagree with you about the need for a wine to be readily accessible--I can understand why you would personally want it that way for greater participation, but I'm compelled to point out that same isn't a rule for Open Mike.

If I suggest we taste Chateau Zinh Zong on Open Mike, surely it has to be available/accessible in local areas
Jenise, why do you continually downplay my Open Mike thought/suggestions??? My enthusiasm knows no bounds.

[Jenise]

Not downplaying your suggestions at all, Bob. I'm just trying to prevent you from rewriting the rules, a trap you step into when you use a word like "should". Open Mike can be a topic as big as California Barbera, or as specific as a single vintage of a single producer. By reminding you of that, I'm not remonstrating you so much as making sure all who read along, including persons new among us, understand the concept.

Ok understood, one wrong choice of the word "should". To my mind, if someone posts an idea of a pssible OM I want to take part. Not all here will however and I can see that. I try to suggest a wine/wines that are readily available, look at the response to Malbec and Valpollicella!! Featuring a wine no-one has heard of/cannot find does not make much sense to me, altho` the Brachetto OM was quite educational eh.
There are some Washington wines I would like to consider as an OM subject but availability is poor up here naturally. Its tough.

[Jenise]

Glad you understand.

Featuring a wine no-one has heard of/cannot find does not make much sense to me, altho` the Brachetto OM was quite educational eh.

Exactly right if your objective is to explore a category of recent released wine. But sometimes the purpose can be to look into the progress of a vintage (like, "How are the 98 Bordeauxs doing?") or into a specific bottling that you realize you and a few other forum members happen to be holding or a new release you and somebody else are specifically curious about.