Tried these three over the weekend:
1. Beringer NapaVlly Viognier (14.1%) 2006: Light gold color; pleasant light pear/Viog simple/boring nose; very tart/lean slight earthy simple/weak pear/Viog flavor; short lean/very tart simple pear/Viog finish; a tart/lean/thin/eviscerated Viog that food is unable to salvage.
$15.00
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2. CedarvilleVnyd {Syrah} ElDorado (EB; 14.9%; www.CedarvilleVineyard.com) 2007: Dark color; quite spicy bit peppery strong blueberry/blackberry/Syrah some ElDorado/earthy very attractive nose; soft quite spicy bit peppery some vanilla/oak/pencilly strong blueberry/blackberry/Syrah bit earthy flavor; med.long light tannic soft attractive blueberry/Syrah light earthy/ElDorado finish; needs a yr or two of age and should go out 6-8 yrs; a very drinkable/attractive Syrah at a very fair price. The next morning, the nose had taken on a strong smokey/pungent character and a bit more tannins showed on the palate.
$22.00
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3. ColliRipani NinfaRipana Offida DOC: Passerina (12%; www.ColliRipani.com) 2005: Med.dark gold/bronze color; rather nutty/hazelnutty bit oxidized/fino sherry some toasted almonds slight stoney/earthy/minerally strange/interesting nose; very dry/tart/austere nutty/toasted almonds bit oxidized/sherry some astringent/tannic very slight mineral/pineapple flavor; med.short tart/dry/austere astringent/tannic toasted almonds/earthy/hazelnutty/mineral slight pineapple/figgy finish; a rather interesting almost fino-sherry-like wine that will appeal to those who can taste outside the box. $14.00
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Beringer: I saw this on the shelf and realized I'd never tried a BeringerViognier. Not a wine I feel a need to ever revisit. Though varietally correct, it was a boring/simple totally eviscerated wine. It actually reminded me a lot of many of the "food wines" that were in vogue back in the early '80's in response to the whiney wine writers of that era complaining about the excessive alcohol levels of the wines in the late '70's. Does that sound like a familar story, perchance??
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2. Passerina: This is a grape I've never (knowingly) tried before. Can't say as I know what Passerina smells or tastes like from this wine. It is an obscure grape variety (maybe rightfully so) grown in the LeMarche region mostly. It is sometines made as a passito wine, sometimes as a VinSanto. This version had a somewhat bitter almond character that suggests it was made w/ considerable skin contact; a so-called orange wine; though none of the on-line references to this wine mentioned that. Interesting wine that won't appeal to everyone.
Tom