Tried last night w/ my HamSamwich (a la DavidTanis):
1. Sandi Chard SantaBaarbaraCnty (13.5%; www.SandhiWines.com) 2010: Med.gold color; light pencilly/oak quite perfumed/melony/Chard almost saline/briney bit mineral/stony/spicy quite attractive nose; quite tart/lean some tangy/grapefruity/metallic some lemony/Chard/lean/stony bit eviscerated flavor; quite long citric/tangy/lemony/grapefruity slight stony/metallic finish; definitely Calif Chard but w/ a Savoie-like minerality and a bit pinched/eviscerated on the palate. $29.00 (AV)
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2. Domaine Maestracci Clos Reginu Corse Calvi (30% Niellucciu/30% Grenache/15% Sciaccarellu/15% Syrah/5% Mourv/5% Carignan; 12.5%) Camille-Anais et Michel Raoust/Feliceto/Muro/Corse 2010: Dark color; rather earthy/dusty somewhat plummy/strawberry/Grenache fairly aromatic bit ripe/coarse fairly attractive nose; quite earthy/dusty/hot-climate rather coarse/rustic some strawberry/Grenache/plummy soft bit tannic/rough flavor; med. rough/coarse/tannic/rustic bit strawberry/Grenache/plummy finish; some pleasant aromatics but a rough/rustic/coarse/hot-climate character that would go with a goat right off the fire; seems more of a modern style and cleaner than many Corsican wines. $15.00 (AV)
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Sandhi: This was my first experience w/ these wines. A collaboration betweem RajParr/CharlesBanks/SashiMoorman. I thought it quite a likeable/attractive Chard; more interesting than most. RajParr is, of course, known for his embracing of wines with lower alcohol and greater "balance". Did this wine exemplify that concept? Perhaps. But I can think of a number of Calif Chards at 14.5% that I would say are in better "balance" than this one. So I don't think that lower alcohol = better balance in all cases.
Tom