Fresh off the boat, cracked last night:
1. Novy Chard Rosella'sVnyd/SantaLuciaHighlands (14.6%) 2010: Med.gold color; some pencilly/oak rather spicy/celery seed/melony/Chard/ripe slight appley/earthy fairly perfumed attractive nose; soft rather appley/melony/spicy/celery seed/SLH Chard light pencilly/oak attractive flavor; med.short light/melony/Chard/celery seed light pencilly/oak finish w/ a very long/lingering diacetyl/movie theatre popcorn aftertaste; quite an attractive nose and speaks strongly of SLH Chard. $19.50
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2. Novy Zin RRV (15.1%) 2010: Med.dark color; very strong ripe/blackberry/RRV Zin/spicy light toasty/oak bright/exhuberent/zippy/raspberry big fruit nose; soft lightly tannic big fruit/blackberry/Zin/ripe light toasty/oak very spicy/exhuberent flavor; very long big fruit/blackberry/RRV Zin very spicy light toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; no signs of alcohol or heat whatsoever; a very fun/easy drinking classic RRV Zin; not profound but great drinking for a great price. $16.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Overall, I rather liked the Chard; especially for the price. Generally, I find that diacetyl/buttered popcorn character in Chard that have been fairly heavily oaked. So it was rather a surprise to find it in this Chard...way in the backtaste. I could just see the concessionaire pumping that artificial stuff onto my popcorn there in the movie theatre. Shades of OrvilleRedenbacker.
The Zin is a really fun Zin that's going to offer lots of good drinking over the next few yrs. There should be more Zins like this made in Calif.
Tom