Tried this last night w/ my pork:
1. AmbullneoVnyds Syrah Howling SantaMariaVlly (65% BienNacidoVnyd Z-Block/35% RimrockVnyd SE of Laetitia; 14.5%; http://www.ambullneovineyards.com)
ScottAmes 2005: Black color; slight volatile/alcoholic very intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice/plummy quite spicy some toasty/charred/oak bit
peppery/cold-climate/green olive very intense some complex nose; fairly tart quite peppery/green olive/cold-climate chocolaty/boysenberry/blackberry/Syrah
some toasty/charred/Fr.oak rather tannic/hard complex flavor; very long intense blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/licorice rather peppery/cold climate/green
olive some charred/Fr.oak tart rich/mouthfilling fairly tannic/hard finish; a pretty big/intense Syrah but not at all over the top; needs more age and should go out
10 yrs or more; much like an Ojai Thompson; very impressive wine; well-priced at $35.
_______________________________
A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. This be my first experience w/ an Ambullneo wine. And a doozy it was. I was impressed. I was filling out a case from K&L and decided to take a flyer
on this wine. It was originally priced at $70 (not all that out of line for what it is), but marked down to $35, a very/very good value. The wine had a lot of
cold-climate character and very/very interesting. Pretty big & intense but not over-the-top. In balance?? Nawh...not at this point in time. But w/ time
I think it will. A wine that should play well in Monktown. Yoikes...and I'm a charter member of the AFWE. Shame on me for liking this wine.
________________________
2. Howling?? Fang Blanc? Big paw? So what's dat mean?? I'm a bit perplexed & puzzled by the proliferation of wines w/ these cutsey names that I have no idea what means.
I gather from their Site that they're real dog lovers. I suppose if these names do well for SQN, other wineries feel iit will help them, too, become the next SQN. Perhaps.
Perhaps not.
Tom