On this last trip, we tried a few wines w/ Molly & Lars as dinner was cooking:
1. Larkmead TocaiFriulano (12.7%; Century old vines) 2011: Light gold color; rather fragrant/perfumed appley/pineapply rather stoney/mineral/chalky interesting nose; tart metallic/stony/mineral fragrant/appley/pineapple somewhat lean/tight flavor; med.long mineral/stony light apple/pineapple rather attractive finish; an interesting mineral/stony Tocai but not as lean/austere as the Massican version.
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2. Rosa d'Oro LakeCnty WTW (Greco di Tufo) NV (2011): Med.light gold color; rather melony/earthy/grapey bit simple nose; soft lush/grapey/melony slight tangy/earthy pleasant/simple flavor; med.long grapey/melony/apple slight tangy/metallic biit earthy finish; a pleasant enough wine but on the simple side.
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3. CowanCllrs SkinFermented SauvBlanc SilverPinesVnyd/SonomaMtn (13.3%) 2008: Dark gold/orange color; strong orangey/earthy/sweet potato slight herbal complex interesting nose w/ no SauvBlanc character; soft bit tannic/phenolic strong orangey/earthy/rich/lush slight sweet potato complex flavor; very long orangey/tangerine/sweet potato slight earthy/herbal some tannic/phenolic finish; not like any SauvBlanc I've had; quite an interesting wine that engages the intellect but not particularly hedonistic; rather strange wine that won't appeal to all folks.
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4. Myriad Syrah EstherBlock/LasMadresVnyd/Carneros (14.4%) 2010: Dark color; very strong olive tapenade/roasted/smokey/espresso some blackberry/Syrah quite complex classic cold-climate Syrah nose; tart very strong olive/olive tapenade/smokey/roasted/espresso/earthy strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy bit peppery flavor w/ ample tannins; very long savory/olive tapenade/roasted/espresso quite Rhonish/cold-climate strong blackberry/Syrah finish w/ ample tannins; needs 3-8 yrs yet; a beautiful classic cold-climate Syrah.
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5. FortressVnyds Finale Semillon RedHills/LakeCnty (12.5%; SaH: 40 Brix; RS: 17%) SniderFamilyVnyds 2007: Med.gold color; intense grapey/Semillon some toasty/Fr.oak slight earthy complex nose w/ no signs of botrytis; very sweet Semillon/grapey/lush rather tart/acid some toasty/Fr.oak bit caramel/creme brulee very intense flavor; very long/lingering intense grapey/Semillon/figgy/FigNewton quite sweet bit earthy some toasty/Fr.oak rather tart/acid finish; no signs of botrytis and a beautiful example of a grapey Muscat di Pantelleria w/o the Muscat character. Wonderful dessert wine that should go out 10 yrs or more.
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. We were visiting some of Susan's relatives up in Calistoga. Molly is the winemaker at SequoiaGrove. Lars is winemaker at Saddleback. So wine runs in their blood. Lars is winemaker for Fortress, w/ NilsVenge as consultant.
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2. Tocai: This Larkmead Tocai is made by DanPetroski, also of Massican. It come from a very old/tiny vnyd in front of the Larkmead family home. Made in such small quantities that it's available for the Larkmead wine club. This btl was gifted me by Dan. The vnyd was originally SauvVert...so probably actually Muscadelle de Bordelais, rather than Tocai. But the TTB allows either name to be used and SauvVert is no longer permitted.
Dan's Massican wines are pretty lean & tart. This Tocai seems to be made in a more rich/sumptious style...yet still displays that stony/mineral character you get from Tocai.
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2. Rosa d'Oro: These are the LakeCnty (mostly) wines made by PietroButtitta. Because Greco di Tufo is not a variety recognized by the TTB, they could only label it as WTW. It is only sold out of the tasting room. The grapes were grown over in YoloCnty, not a particularly good area for growing grapes by my experience. Which is probably why this is such a simple wine. Pietro has some of this Greco planted in his LakeCnty vnyd. The only other Greco planting I'm aware of in Calif is at AnnKraemer's ShakeRidge vnud up in AmadorCnty.
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3. CowanCllrs: This is a wine made by our own erstwhile JimCowan. A gift from FloridaJim himself. According to Jim, everything that could go wrong with this wine did go wrong....including the single barrel being topped up w/ CabSauv. Made much like his '10 Isa SauvBlanc w/ skin contact thru the fermentation, but in a reductive manner. This wine is somewhat on the weird side, but not at all unpleasant.
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4. Myriad: This comes from the Painter's LasMadres vnyd down in the Carneros a mile or so west of LeeHudson's vnyd. Truly one of the great Syrah vnyds in Calif.
Tom