Tried these two over the weekend:
1. MatteoCorreggia DOCG: Roero Arneis (EB; 13%) Canale 2011: Light gold color; quite fragrant/perfumed floral/carnations/grapefruity light stony/mineral/chalky lovely nose; rather tart/tangy/grapefruity light floral/carnations/perfumed slight stony/mineral/metallic bit pepperminty/candied very attractive flavor; long rather perfumed/floral/carnations light stony/metallic finish; a very attractive pretty/spritely/fresh/vibrant/bright Arneis. $20.00 (SFW&S)
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2. RioSecoVnyd Zin CherryVnyd/PasoRobles (16.7%; InauguralRelease; 200 cs) LarryRoberts/Winemaker 1996: Med. rather brown color; strong jammy/pruney/raisened some pencilly/oak/old Zin bit complex rather tired nose; somewhat hot/alcoholic very ripe/raisened/pruney some pencilly/cedary/old Zin rather tired/dried out flavor; med.long hot/alcoholic pencilly/old Zin quite overripe/pruney/raisened finish w/ little tannins; an overripe old Zin that time has not been kind to. $20.00
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Arneis: After the Roero Nebbiolo of Correggio that I tried last week and did not like, I thought I'd give his Arneis a shot. Glad I did...it's a really lovely rendition or Arneis. This & the Vietti '11 are the two best Arneis I've had this year.
Piedmonte Arneis used to be not very inspiring. Lots of stony/earthy character and not a lot of fruit. Over the last few yrs, I've been impressed w/ their improvement in quality...almost like some German Rieslings.
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2. RioSeco: This was, I believe, LarryRoberts first venture as a commercial winemaker....being a home winemaker up until then.
I have, of course, followed Larry from the very start. After a few yrs as RioSeco winemaker, he then went on to become winemaker at HiddenMtnRanch (forlerly HoffmanMtnRanch) and then eventually started his own label of RedLine for a few yrs. He has since packed it in as a winemaker, but still lives in Atascadero.
Because of the alcohol level, I was not expecting much of this wine. It was like some/many high-alcohol Zins...cannot stand the test of time. As the fruit starts to drop, it leaves behind that stewed/overripe mess of alcohol.
Tom