We tried last night (7/10/13) Some Interesting Reds:
1. Forlorn-Hope Suspiro del Moro Alvarelhao SolvaspoonsVnyd/AltaMesa (347 cs; 12.05%) 2012: Med.dark color;
rather herbal/leafy/forest floor/almost vegetal bit perfumed/plummy light chocolaty bit earthy/loamy
quite interesting/unusual bit rustic nose; slightly tart some herbal/rosemary/thyme/spicy bit earthy/plummy
almost ContraCosta Mourv bit rustic/interesting flavor w/ light tannic bite; light rather herbal/roemary/
thyme somewhat earthy/loamy/plummy finish w/ light tannic bite; quite an interesting fairly lightweight
peasant/rustic style of red at a fair price. $22.00
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2. FreiJoao "FriarJohn" DOC: Bairrada VinoTinto (30% Baga/30% Syrah/40% TourigaNacional; 13%;
www.CavesSaojoao.com; www.HGCImports.com) Portugal 2008: Dark color; quite dusty/root cellar/earthy/loamy
bit funky/burning brake shoe/pungent some herbal bit old oak/unclean quite rustic/coarse nose; soft rather
earthy/loamy/dusty/root cellar old oak/funky/burning brake shoe some rustic/unclean flavor w/ almost no
fruit and light/bitey tannins; short earthy/loamy/dusty/root cellar some funky/unclean rather coarse/rustic
finish w/ slight tannic bite; virtually no fruit evident; a very coarse/rustic peasant red; no bargin at
any price. $9.00 (WoP)
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3. Terredavino DOC: Freisa d'Asti Frizzante (12.0%) 2008: Med.light color w/ some bricking; rather old/tired/
musty (not TCA..plastic cork)/wet wool/wet army blanket somewhat earthy/dusty nose w/ little fruit; very
slight frizzante rather old/tired earthy/wet army blanket/funky very slight strawberry slight tannic/
bitey flavor; med.short weak cherry/Freisa rather earthy/old/tired/wet army blanket finish w/ slight bitey
tannins; seems pretty old & tired and no Freisa fruit; no redeeming features. $15.00 (WE)
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4. Vigna Monfiorenza Freisa AC: Monferrato (12%; www.LaCasaccia.biz; www.OMWines.com) LaCasaccia/
CellaMonte 2005: Med.color w/ slight bricking; some fragrant/strawberry/cherry/Freisa slight licorice/tarry/
earthy interesting bit tired nose; soft/lush bit floral/strawberry/cherry/Freisa/plummy light earthy flavor
w/ little tannins; med.long soft/lush/ripe some floral/cherry/strawberry/plummy/Freisa finish w/ little
tannins; unusually soft/lush and low-tannin for a Freisa; speaks of Freisa but seems a bit on the tired
side. $12.00 (WoP)
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5. Bava DOC: Grignolino d'Asti (Vigna Vecchia di Crena; 12.5%; www.Bava.com) Cocconato 2009: Med.light color w/
slight browning; quite attractive fragrant/dried rose petal/floral/spicy/licorice interesting nose; bit
tannic/hard/bitey attractive floral/rose petal/spicy slight licorice/pungent flavor; long rose petal/floral/
dried herbs bit cherry/perfumed classic Grignolino finish w/ some hard/bitey/astringent tannins; quite a pretty
nose bit a bit lean/hard on the palate. $22.50 (CB)
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6. Az.Agr. Sottobosco IGT: Emilia (LambruscoMontericco/Lambrusco grasparossa/Sgavetta/Malbo gentile; BioDynamic;
3240 btls; 11.5%) QuattroCastella 2008: Very dark near black color; some perfumed talc/rubber inner tube
rather fragrant/black cherry/licorice/grapey/boysenberry rathe characteristic Lambrusco nose; quite frizzante
fairly grapey/licorice/black cherry/boysenberry totally dry quite tannic/bitey/astringent flavor; long
cherry/black cherry/grapey/boysenberry very frizzante dry finish w/ very astringent/bitey/bitter tannins;
quite an attractive Lambrusco nose but punishing tannins on the palate; needs food. $35.00 (CB)
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7. Forlorn-Hope Mil Amores DeWittVnyd/AmadorCnty (97 cs; 50% Touriga/25% Tempranillo/25% TintaCao; 13.6%)
2010: Med.dark color; strong fragrant plummy/licorice/briary/boysenberry/blackberry light toasty/oak
rather spicy/Amador briary very attractive nose; tart rather smooth/lush plummy/licorice/boysenberry
slight earthy/dusty fairly spicy/Amador briary flavor w/ modest tannins; long light toasty/oak/buttery
smooth/lush plummy/boysenberry some Amador briary/spicy finish w/ light tannins; not at all like a
dry Duoro red is scale; a very attractive/likable/drinkable red that speaks of Amador briary red.
$25.00
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8. Forlorn-Hope MilAmores DewittVnyd/AmadorCnty (50% Touriga/30% Tempranillo/15% TintaCao/5% TintaAmarella;
14.5%; 47 cs) 2009: Med.dark color; more restrained/elegant strong plummy/boysenberry/blackberry bit
chocolaty lighter briary bit more toasty/oak rather spicy nose; bit tarter/harder/more tannic rather
restrained/elegant strong plummy/licorice/chocolaty/boysenberry slight spicy/Amador briary flavor; med.
long light Amador briary/spicy some boysenberry/licorice/plummy/tarry/pungent some toasty/oak finish w/
some hard tannins; much like the '10 but a bit beat-down in intensity, more toasty oak, bit more harder/
angular/tannic and not as spicy/briary; quite a delicious Amador red but prefer the '10 as brighter
and more drinkable. $30.00
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9. LeRoc Noire d'Ambat AC: Fronton (13%; 100% Negrette; www.CharlesNealSelections.com; 13.5%) Jean-Luc &
Fredric Ribes/Fronton 2010: Med.dark color; rather earthy/loamy/rustic some herbal/thyme/burning brake
shoe quite pungent/Rhonish/roasted slight plastic/plummy/licorice near vegetal rather strange/interesting
nose; soft rather pungent/roasted/Rhonish/graphite some plastic/plummy/licorice some mineral/graphite/
tangy/metallic some herbal/thyme flavor w/ light tannins; med.long bit herbal/thyme/vegetal rather Rhonish/
roasted/pungent/graphite slight plastic/plummy rustic finish w/ modest tannins; quite a strange/weird red
but some interesting things therein; very fair price at $18.00 (DaV)
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10. DomaineSigalas Mavrotragano Regional RW (20 acres in existence; 14%) 2007: Dark color; rather earthy/loamy
some licorice/plummy/boysenberry very ripe/Lodi Zin-like slight aged/toasty/oak nose; soft bit tannic/hard
very ripe/plummy/boysenberry/licorice/chocolaty light toasty/charred/oak flavor; long very ripe/boysenberry/
licorice/chocolaty bit alcoholic soft light toasty/oak slight earthy finish w/ modest tannins; seems like
a dead-ringer for a very ripe Lodi Zin; grossly overpriced but you have to pay for its rarity. $69.00 (BWM)
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11. Forlorn-Hope LesDeuxMathieux PetiteSirah 10BrinkVnyd/SuisunVlly/SolanoCnty (52 cs; 14.5%;
whole cluster fermentation) 2008: Very dark/near black color; slight herbal/earthy very intense licorice/
chocolaty/boysenberry/huge fruit some pungent/toasty/charred/oak very spicy very intense nose; soft
lush/rich bit tannic/structured ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/PS.peppery/spicy some toasty/charred/oak
flavor w/ a bit of hard tannins; slight alvoholic very intense blackberry/boysenberry/peppery/PS some
toasty/charred/oak slight licorice/pungent finish w/ some hard tannins; some like Biale PS's but not
as soft; well-structured w/ firm tannins; needs 4-8 yrs; as good a PS as you can find in Calif at a
good price. $30.00
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12. DryCreekVnyd PetiteSirah Spencer'sHillVnyd/Estate/DryCreekVlly/SonomaCnty (13.9%) 2010: Black color;
strong Am.oak huge fruit/blackberry/boysenberry/PS/spicy very fragrant/aromatic nose; soft intense
blackberry/boysenberry/peppery/PS/very spicy strong Am.oak/vanilla rather bright/zippy/racy balanced
flavor w/ some tannins; very long/lingering bright/very spicy/blackberry/boysenberry/framboise quite
aromatic strong vanilla/Am.oak finish w/ some tannins; quite structured but the balance that should
take it out 3-8 yrs; a brightness to this PS that pirouettes across the palate like a lithe
ballerina rather than galumping across in combat boots. $nc (BS)
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And nonsense from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Baga: A variety indigenous to the Dao of Portugal and now found mostly in Bairrada. The thick-skinned
grape gives wines that are dark & firmly tannic. The Syrah/Touriga was presumably blended in to tone
down the Baga tannins. Not sure Baga is something I want to seek out.
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2. Freisa: This variety is a cross between Nebbiolo and an unknown parent. It turn out to be a sibling of
Viognier. It's a variety I like quite a lot because of its pretty cherry/strawberry perfume. These two
were not particularly good representatives of Freisa.
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3. Negrette: This is a variety that is grown and used to be known as Pinot StGeorge. Some of those Charles
LeFranc (Almaden) Pinots were actually quite nice in a Pinotish sort of way. Most of the remaining PStG
is grown up in the CienegaVlly area. KennyVolk, when he was at WildHorse, stumbled upon this old vnyd
and started making the wine, which was the first labeled varietal Negrette some 15-20 yrs ago. It is
actually quite good and a worth grape variety.
You seldom see French Negrette from the Toulouse area. The ones I've tried have been pretty rough/rustic/
coarse in character. This is probably the best one I've tried. It was one weird wine but it had enough
of that NorthernRhone/roasted character poking thru that I rather liked it. Sort of a loveable
Frankenstein sort of wine.
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4. Mavrotragano: This is a Greek variety indigenous to Santorini. Because of the sandy soils that phylloxera
cannot tolerate, it has never been grafted to rootstock. The grape was nearly extinct, but now a few vintners
are showing some interest. See RobTebeau's discussion:
http://fringewine.blogspot.com/2011/12/ ... reece.html
The wine reminded me a lot of a ripe Lodi Zin. Perhaps Lodi should be looking at Greek varieties as well
as their focus on Iberian varieties.
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5. DryCreekVnyd PS: This is a very small production of PS at DCV. The release sold out very fast. BillSmart
sent me a btl to try at my request 3-4 months ago. Alas, that btl was badly corked when we tried it.
Fortunately, Bill was able to dredge up another btl from the DCV library. Probably, when he heard me
break out into tears when he said they were out, was the tipping point.
DCV only makes a very rare PS. These are the first grapes from the Estate Spencer'sHillVnyd, I believe.
Least, I don't recall a vnyd-designate PS from DCV before. The ones I've tried in the past were yoeman-like
efforts, but reminded me more of their Zins than anything. This PS was easily the best DCV PS I've ever tried...
as good as any I've had. It reminded me a bit of the Carlisle PS's, but a bit more Am.oak and a bit more
brightness of the DryCreekVlly fruit and not so tannic. Also reminded me some of the Biale and the JCCllrs
PS's, buut not nearly as soft & porky. This is definitely a primo PS and I look forward to more from DCV.
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6. F-H PS: This is the most recent release of MattRorick's PS from the TennbrinkVnyd there in the SuisunVlly.
AbeSchoener also makes PS from Tennbrink, but I've never tried it. His first PS was the '06, a wine that
blew me away by its resemblance to the Ridge YorkCreek PS '71 in its youth. This '08 is more along the
lines of the fine '07, but not quite as monumental as the '06. As fine a red as you can find from the
SuisunVlly...a region not known for great wines...but probably could be.
Tom