Last night (4/25/12) we tried some More New Wines:
1. Strasserhof DOC: Kerner ValleIsarco/AltoAdige (14%) Hannes Baumgartner/Strasserhof/Varna 2010: Light gold
color; lovely fragrant/flowery/R-like/pineapple some chalky/minerally/steely very perfumed/aromatic nose;
rather tart floral/R-like/pineapple some mineral/chalky/metallic/steely perfumed flavor; very long rather tart
floral/pineapple/R-like mineral/chalky finish; very nice balance of mineral and aromatic fruit; more like a
Riesling than anything; one of the best Kerners I've had. $32.50 (KK)
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2. Bruna LeRusseghine Pigato DOC: Riviera Ligure di Ponente (13.5%) Liguria 2010: Light gold color; rather dusty/earthy
some cheese/tangerine rind/perfumed talc maybe saline weird/interesting rather ripe nose; very acid/screechy
saline/salado cheesy/metallic/earthy little fruit bit perfumed hard very austere flavor; very long screechy/acid
grapefruity/saline/cheesy weird finish; very terroir-driven (I guess) wine that's hard to like; quite austere
and strident on the palate. $27.00 (PMW)
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3. Calera Viognier MtHarlan (14%) 1991: Med.dark gold color; rather nutty/toasted hazelnuts/butterscotchy/graham
cracker/cinammon slight floral/Viog bit oxidized nose; soft caraamel/butterscotch/graham cracker bit spicy/old
RhoneBlanc bit oxidized slight peach/Viog flavor; long somewhat nutty/toasted hazelnuts/old Rhone/oxidized/
graham cracker slight peach/Viog finish; showing more oxidation than the one a week before; still speaks slightly
of Viognier and still gives some pleasure. $30.00
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4. RoyalTokaji Furmint Dulovalogatas (38% Betsek/62% Uragya; 2036 btls; 14%) 2009: Light gold color; rather earthy/
dusty/metallic slight floral/root cellar/wet pavement weak fruit nose; rather tart earthy/dusty/mineral some
camphor light butterscotch/peppermint ribbon candy very light floral rather austere/lean/chalky flavor; long
tart/lean/austere bit metallic/wet pavement/peppermint light floral finish; rather strange but interesting/austere
wine. $33.50 (CB)
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5. TelianiVlly Tsolikouri Tviishi/Lechkhumi (100% Tsolikouri; 13%; http://www.GeorgianWineHouse.com) 2007: Light gold color;
rather attractive fragrant/spicy/cinammon unusual/spicy slight ripe/volatile/apple cider nose; soft fairly lush
spicy/cinammon/apple/apple cider slight tannic rather unusual/interesting flavor; long some apple/cidery bit floral/
earthy mineral/metallic spicy/cinammon slight tannic finish; rather strange/unusual but interesting white; probably
had skin-contact for some time, but no oxidation. $13.00 (CB)
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6. Pheasant'sTears Mtsvane Manavi/Kakheti Dry Unfiltered Amber Wine (13%; 1450 btls; http://www.PheasantsTears.com)
2010: Med.dark gold color; very weird/bizarre fresh tanned leather/shoe repair shop/horse sweat no fruit slight
oxidized complex nose; very tart bizarre horseside/fresh tanned cowhide/horse sweat/shoe repair shop rather tannic/
bitter earthy/rustic/coarse flavor; long tart/bitter/tannic horsey/shoe shop/tanned leather very weird finish;
speaks of extended skin contact white but little signs of oxidation; a bit too weird for even me to like. $20.00 (CB)
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7. Vigna del Vulcano Bianco DOC: Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio (80% Coda del Volpe/20% Falanghina; 13%;
http://www.OMWines.com) Soc.Agr. Villa Dora/Terzigno 2008: Med.light yellow color; quite attractive spicy/floral/apple/
apple blossom slight leathery/earthy/stoney/mineral quite perfumed nose; soft rather lush/peach/pear/floral/apple
blossom/spicy some waxy/parrafin slight tannic rather perfumed/interesting flavor; med.long somewhat perfumed/floral/
apple blossom slight earthy/mineral/stoney/waxy slight tannic finish; quite a pleasant interesting wine; best
Lacryme I've ever had. $23.00 (PMW)
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8. Graci Quota DOC: EtnaBianco (70% Carricante/30% Catarratto; 12%; http://www.Graci.Eu) 2009: Med.yellow color; bit earthy/
mineral some appley/SauvBlanc-like little fruit slight cinammon/spicy nose; soft/fat rather earthy/rustic/coarse
some 7Up/Sprite/citric/lemon rather earthy flavor; med.short soft/fat earthy/rustic/coarse low fruit slight citric/
7Up finish; a terroir-driven wine (I guess); pleasant/rustic/coarse lacking in fruit and way overpriced. $38.00 (PMW)
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9. Odisea TheWanderer NapaVlly (80 cs; 14.2%; 87% Syrah/10% PS/3% Viognier; http://www.OdiseaWineCo.com)
AdamWebb/MikeKuenz; Danville/Murphys/Calif 2006: Dark color; strong blackberry/Syrah/jammy/simple some spicy/pepper
rather ripe strong toasty/oak almost NapaVlly blackcurranty/Cab/plummy nose; soft/lush very ripe/plummy/blackcurranty/
blackberry strong toasty/charred/oak flavor w/ modest tannins; med. soft/ripe/jammy plummy/blackcurranty/blackberry
stronh toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; seems more like Cab than Syrah; pleasant but just that. $29.00 (Gomers/MT)
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10. Carlisle ThreeBirds RW SonomaCnty (15.5%; 83% Grenache/15% Bedrock Mourv/2% Syrah; 250 cs; U/U) 2010: Med.dark color;
very strong toasty/oak some minty/menthol strawberry/Grenache/blackberry/boysenberry/plummy/licorice quite attractive
nose; soft strong strawberry/Grenache/plummy/Mourv smooth/balanced light menthol/oak/toasty flavor; light tannic
smooth/balanced/polished strong strawberry/plummy/Mourv light menthol/toasty/oak finish w/ modest tannins; quite a
nice GSM blend that should improve over the next 3-5 yrs because of its balance. $27.00
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11. Pheasant'sTears Shavkapito Mukhrani/Kartli (13%; 1300 btls) 2010: Dark color; very earthy/dusty rather funky/unclean/
goat pen coarse/rustic bit pencilly/oak slight boysenberry/bing cherry/licorice interesting nose; rather sour/acid
quite hard/tannic/rough/coarse/rustic some bing cherry/licorice slight pencilly flavor; med.lonng hard/tannic/rough
quite coarse/rustic slight bing cherry/licorice finish; some interesting things therein but pretty rough/coarse/rustic
red wine. $20.00 (CB)
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And the usual BloodyPulpit:
1. Kerner: This is a Riesling X Schiava (Trollinger). Producer I've never had before. Maybe the best Kerner I've
yet had.
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2. Pigato: This variety is DNA-wise identical to a Vermentino, but looks different. Sometimes described as a splotchy
Vermentino. RobTebeau has a very good discussion on the grape in his FringeWine blog:
(http://fringewine.blogspot.com/2012/01/ ... igura.html)
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3. Georgian Wines: They're still a genre of wine I'm struggling to wrap my arms around. I remember trying my first ones
some 10-12 yrs ago. They were generally sweet and rather oxidized...not my cup of tea. When Russia banned the import
of Georgian wines in 2006, it sorta left their wine industry high & dry and in search of an alternate wine market.
"Why, of course, those rich Americans will buy our wine." So you're seeing a lot more Georgian wine on the market.
The Pheasant'sTears of JohnWurdeman is probably the most prevalent. So I've been trying as many as I stumble across,
mostly from DarrellCorti.
I find them sort of a mixed bag. Oftentimes "interesting" is about the only way I can describe them. I've had
a few that I found quite attractive. And many that I'd describe as "weird", especially the whites fermented/aged
for extended periods in qvervi. They seem to be very focused on "traditional" grapes and winemaking. "Eccentric"
may be sort of a niche market that will not support all the wines they have to market I fear.
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4. Carricante/Catarratto: These are two, primarily Sicilian, grapes I've had no experience with. Catattatto is the
2'nd most widely planted grape planted in all Italy, according to RobTebeau. Carricante is more planted in the MtEtna
region of EasternSicily. Asimov's recent article on Sicilian Whites prompted me to start trying more of these wines.
This one was pleasant enough..but just that.
Tom