Tried these three Nebbiolos w/ NickMartin Mon night:
1. DueVigne Nebbiolo ElDorado (14.7%) 2006: Med.color; some floral/lilacs/violets/spicy classic Nebb light oak bit earthy/dusty slight meaty nose; tart bit lean/tannic light tarry/pungent some floral/Nebb/violets light oak some earthy/ElDorado flavor; med.long bit tannic/hard/tart light floral/violets/Nebb some earthy/ElDorado finish; seems a bit tight right now and needing several yrs of age; the most varietally correct of the Nebbs, some like a Valtelline Chiavennasca.
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2. Novy Nebbiolo StolpmanVnyd/SantaYnezVlly (14.1%) 2006: Med.light color; lovely very floral/violets/Nebb/spicy/lilacs very perfumed/aromatic slight pencilly/oak very fruit-driven nose; somewhat tart light floral/violets/Nebb slight tannic/bitey perfumed light pencilly/oak flavor; med.long quite floral/violets/lilacs/Nebb rather spicy/fruity slight tannic light pencilly/oak finish; developing nicely and still needs a few yrs; the Pinot/Nebb connection is quite obvious; tastes like a Nebb made by a Pinot producer; loads of bright/floral Nebb fruit.
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3. Harrington Nebbiolo PasoRobles (14.3%; www.HarringtonWine.com) 2008: Med.light color; somewhat Paso/jammy/ripe/boysenberry slight floral/Nebb/aromatic very light toasty/oak almost Zin-like nose; softer slight earthy/dusty somewhat ripe/jammy/boysenberry/Zin-like slight floral/lilacs/Nebb slight tannic rather rich/lush/ripe flavor; med.long softer/lush ripe/jammy/boysenberry/Zin-like light toasty/oak slight floral/lilacs/Nebb bit tannic finish; more towards the richer/lusher almost Zin-like Paso-style part of the Nebbiolo spectrum; not the ethereal/floral character that makes Nebbiolo so compelling.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I've followed NickMartin from the very start. His father was a big guy in the outdoor advertising sign biz in the West. Nick & his brother, Tom, started MartinBros Wnry in Paso back in the early '80's. Nick was the winemaker & viticulturist. They brought out Calif's 2'nd Nebbiolo (Montevina was the first about '75), made from CentralVlly grapes, in '82. Actually, pretty decent Nebb from a not-so-great growing area.
Nick made the first planting of NebbioloMichet, one of the two superior clones of Nebbiolo from the Piedmonte, in Calif, there at their vnyd in EastSide Paso. He produced their first Estate Nebbiolo in '86, and a mighty fine wine it was. I first met Nick (several e-mail exchanges before that) about '88 on a visit to Paso. I had my last '86 btl in mid-'90's and it was maturing just fabulously.
Nick had a falling out w/ Tom in the early '90's and departed MartinBros wnry. The quality of the wines made a serious decline and I gave up on them. Tom brought in his brother-in-law and the wnry became Martin & Wyrich, based up on the old YorkMtn property of Max & Steve Goldman (father Max was one of the founders of the ASEV in Calif). They subsequently went under. Don't know what happened to that original Michet planting.
After leaving MartinBros, Nick sorta disappeared from the wine scene. Everytime I was in Paso, I'd make inquiries as to his whereabouts, but nobody seemed the know.
About as month ago, I noticed an article in the NYTimes about a family that had lost their fortune, not an article that would particularly interest me. But the small pic looked like it had grapevines there in the background, so I opened it up. Dateline was Wamego, KS; near my alma mater KSU. Hmmm....that's interesting. So I started reading the article and part way thru it mentioned the name NickMartin. Holy $hit...that's my NickMartin. Turns out, he had taken the position w/ Highlands CommunityCollege/Wamego branch to teach enology & viticulture classes and run their experimental vnyd near Wamego. So I e-mailed Nick and made arrangements for him to join us for dinner last Mon night at my major professor's, Ken & Sue. I offered up the above Nebbs to give Nick an idea of what he'd started out there in Calif.
It was a great evening to reconnect w/ Nick. Lot of water had gone under the bridge since we first/last met back in '88. After some investments back East went South, Nick landed this job in Wamego. Finally, back in the wine biz in some form. They've been growing grapes/making wines in Kansas for some 20 yrs; mostly from hybrids because of the winter-kill issue. Now w/ a pro on the scene w/ experience, I fully expect Nick will be a significant factor in taking the Kansas wine industry to the next level. He admits he has a lot to learn about cold-climate viticulture, but his background should allow him to make some significant contributions in Kansas.
His son moved out here w/ Nick in May from Vermont. His wife, Kate, and younger daughter will join them there in McFarland come summertime. I'm looking forward to meeting them all next June when I go back, and checking out the experimental vnyd there in Wamego. Kansas may not be a hotbed for grape growing/winemaking (yet); but Nick has discovered the one thing that makes Kansas such a great State....the people. You just can't find friendlier folks anywhere.
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2. Harrington: The Harrington web site give no info on who Harrington is. The focus is on PinotNoir sourced from a number of good Pinot vnyds thruout Calif. The btl of Nebb was a gift to me from KenZinns, who helps out in their cellar there in the Bay area. The grapes were NebbioloLampia from the ABJ vnyd, and the Terrizzi's LunaMata vnyd (Giornata wines); both in the TempletonGap area.
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3. DueVigne: These grapes come from KenMusso's ElDorado vnyd, just North of Placerville. I first met Ken some 5-6 yrs ago in Sacramento w/ MikeFuligenzi over some Italian wines, because of his Nebbiolo connection. Ken joined us for the first NAP (Nebbiolo Advocates & Producers) get together at WindGap over a yr ago. The next NAP is planned for July. Wine is made over in the NapaVlly. He also has a small amount of Dolcetto planted in his vnyd.
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4. Novy: This is, I believe, Adam's first vintage of Nebbiolo. From TomStolpman's vnyd near PurisimaMtnVnyd. He pulled most of the Nebb he originally planted and the little remaining still goes to Adam and Sashi for the Stolpman label. Adam was prompted to try his hand at Nebbiolo when certain Monktown attourneys declared Nebbiolo to be a failure in Calif. Once again, he will be shown to be wrong.
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5. Nebbiolo in Calif: Despite the infalible papal proclamations coming from Monktown, I think Nebbiolo has a bright future in Calif. Followed 'em from the very start, and they just keep getting better & better. Much like Syrah, Calif will develop their own rendition of Nebb that will be world-class. They will not be Barolo/Barbaresco (just like Calif Syrah is not Cote-Rotie), but they will be outstanding in their own right.
There seems to be a budding interest in Nebbiolo by Calif winemakers. PaxMahle/WindGap is doing some interesting things. EmilioCastelli, over in GreenVlly, who has just gone commercial, so be making some great Nebb from his tiny vnyd, if'n it survives his Fukuoka farming regime.
At the first NAP a yr ago last August; I was pretty impressed by the Nebbiolos we tried. I expect next July's NAP will show even more the progress they're making w/ Nebbiolo in Calif. Indeed, these are exciting times for Nebbiolo.
Tom
