and bore the hell out of all the denizens. We tried Fri night:
1. Drew Albarino AndersonVlly (12.4%) 2011: Pale yellow color; quite strong mineral/metallic/flinty light floral/apple nose; very tart/lean/acid/tangy/austere grapefruity/metallic/mineral slight floral/apple flavor; med.long very tangy/grapefruity/metallic lean/austere/mineral finish; a lean/austere/tight/tangy Albarino; lacks the perfume & fragrance of previous vintages; probably will improve some w/ age..maybe a lot. $24.00
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2. FamiliaTorres Tormenta Viognier Reserve (14%) MiguelTorres/Chile 2010: Pale gold color; light pear/Viog somewhat stoney/earthy nose w/ a paucity of fruit; soft/fat/porky light pear/Viog slight metallic/stoney almost watery flavor; short metallic/stoney very slight Viog/pear finish; speaks oof Viog w/ a whisper; pretty dull/innocuous wine. $12.00 (KK)
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And a wee BP:
1. The Drew Albarino has consistently been one of my favorite Albarinos from Calif. It's always had a bracing acidity, but a rich/lush character and very strong floral aromatics. I think this '11 version probably reflects the difficulty of that vintage, rather than a change in direction by Jason on his Albarino. Not a bad wine...but just not what the previous 3 vintages were.
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2. Torres: You don't see very many Viogniers from Chile, so I was interested in trying this one. Shouldn't have wasted my time. The back label went on & on about the "green" credentials of their wine. Shouldn't have bothered.
Tom