We tried last night (8/28/13) Some New Whites:
1. PewseyVale DryRiesling EdenVlly IndividualVnydSlctn (12.5%) 2012: Light gold color; beautiful Mosel valve
oil/fusel oil R/floral bit lime/pineapple some complex nose; very tart/dry/mineral some valve oil/gout de
petrol strong R/floral/pineapple/mango/lime/lemon flavor; med.short tart/dry/austere fusel oil/gout de petrol
floral/R/pineapple/mango/lime finish; finishes a bit short and lacks some impact on the palate but a lovely/
classic OZ Riesling at a great price; should go out 10-15 yrs. $16.00 (AV)
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2. Caspari-Kappel Riesling 100 TrabenerGaispfad/Mosel (100 yr old Riesling vines; Feinherb; Q;
A.P.Nr. 2 581 077 16 08; 13%; www.MagellanWineImports.com) 2007: Med.gold color; ripe caramel/butterscotch
strong pineapple/mango/R/floral slight pickle juice/pickle relish some Mosel/slatey/steely/mineral slight
Mosel valve oil complex nose; fairly tart somewhat ripe/pineapple/mango/R/butterscotch some sttely/slatey/
metallic bit Mosel valve oil slightly off-dry fairly rich lovely flavor w/ great depth & complexity; very long/
lingering ripe/pineapple/mango/R/floral light Mosel valve oil/steely/metallic off-dry complex finish; a quite
exotic/unusual rendition of Mosel Riesling but lots of interesting things therein; nose hints of a bit of
high VA but not on the palate; pretty pricey for a Qualitatswein but just may be worth it. $50.00 (CllrRat)
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3. Tatomer Riesling Vandenberg/SBC (14%; 400 cs) Lompoc 2009: Med.gold color; quite attractive Calif R/
pineapple/floral/tropical fruit slight valve oil slight chalky nose; soft biit off-dry fairly lush Calif R/
floral/pineapple/mango/fruit cocltail slight valve oil/metallic/mineral flavor; med.long strong tropical
fruit/mango/pineapple/floral/Calif R off-dry slight valve oil/metallic finish; quite an interesting &
attractive Calif R. $26.00 (WH)
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4. KellereiCantina Terlan Classico DOC: AltoAdige Terlaner (13.5%; www.Cantina-Terlano.com; 60% PinotBianco/
30% Chard/10% SauvBlanc)) Terlano 2011: Light gold color; some floral/carnations biit earthy/steely/mineral/
granitic/earthy somewhat light/benign nose; rather tart somewhat earthy/mineral/metallic light floral/
carnations flavor; med.short light floral/carnations some metallic/earthy/mineral finish; a pleasant enough
white that speaks of the AA but on the light side and not much interesting; lacks impact. $21.00 (WH)
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5. Tatomer GrunerVeltliner ParagonVnyd/EdnaVlly (200 cs; 13.5%) 2012: Light gold color; quite pleasant slight
earthy/pungent/peppery/spicy lower-key GV/floral fairly aromatic nose; slightly tart pineapple/floral/GV
some peppery/pungent/spicy rather aromatic flavor; med.short slightly tart pineapple/floral/GV/peppery
fairly aromatic slight mineral/chalky finish; quite a pretty quiet expression of GV w/ attractive
aromatics; much better than the Tangent/Zocker from this same vnyd; fairly priced at $21.00 (WH)
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5b. Longoria GrunerVeltliner SantaYnezVlly (12.0%; www.LongoriaWine.com) 2012: Med.light yellow color; light
earthy/peppery/stony slight floral/carnations/GV/spicy some lemony/grapefruity pleasant nose; rather tart/
lean/stony some lemony/grapefruity light floral/carnations bit simple/mineral/austere flavor; med.long
tart/lean/stony/austere some lemony/grapefruity light GV/peppery/floral finish; a rather lean/stony/austere
wine that speaks quietly of GV; more like an Italian Soave or AltoAdige white than anything. $32.00
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5a. Solminer GrunerVeltliner JohnSebastianoVnyd/SantaYnezVlly (58 cs; 13.9%; www.Solminer.com) 2012: Light
gold color; rather fragrant floral/GV bit earthy/mineral light smokey quite lovely nose; tart fairly
rich/lush spicy/GV/floral/peppery slight mineral/metallic bright/zippy flavor; very long floral/pungent/
GV/spicy/light peppery slight mineral/metallic/earthy finish; can go toe-to-toe w/ any good Austrian GV;
quite an nice expression of GV. $30.00
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6. Carlisle GrunerVeltliner SteinerVnyd/SonomaMtn (14.1%; 2/3'rd acre planted in 2007; 100 cs) 2011: Med.light
gold color; very strong floral/GV/carnations slight peppery/mineral very perfumed/aromatic beautiful nose;
fairly tart rich/powerful/lush/ripe totally dry floral/GV/carnations/peppery huge fruit flavor; very long/
lingering rich/ripe/lush/intense floral/GV/carnations very balanced slight peppery dry slightly tart finish;
almost like Alsatian GWT in intensity; probably the best Calif GV I've yet had and one that would stand
up to any from Austria I can recall; powerfully aromatic but not over-the-top; great stuff. $34.00
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7. Amigne de Vetroz AOC: Vetroz/Valais/Switzerland (81.5/106 acres planted; 13.5%; www.SwissCellars.com)
Jean-Rene Germanier/Balavaud/Vetroz/Valais/Suisse 2003: Med.dark gold color; quite ripe/fragrant bit floral/
pineapple/R-like some spicy/GWT-like bit muscatty/Malvasia-like/hair-oil rather honeyed perfumey complex
nose; rather tart/chalky bit earthy slightly sweet rich/lush/ripe/honeyed/pineapple/floral spicy/Muscatty-
like quite lovely/interesting flavor; very long honeyed/pineapple/floral/Muscat/GWT-like very aromatic slight
earthy/chalky complex finish; quite honeyed/fresh and showing no signs of its age; a beautiful Auslese-
level of white wine. $35.00 (vRT)
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8. Pavese Ermes Blanc de Morgex et de laSalle DdOP: Vallee d'Aoste (12.00%; Prié Blanc; NeilRosenthal;
L05 2011) 2010: Light gold color; slightly reductive/skunky some earthy/dusty light floral/fragrant rather
perfumed/rosemary/spicy nose; quite tart slightly earthy/dusty/mineral/chalky light floral/perfumed tangy/
grapefruit slight honeyed flavor; med.long earthy/mineral/chalky/dusty very perfumed/fragrant bit rosemary/spicy/
pungent finish; quite an attractive/interesting mountain wine that speaks of Val d'Aosta. $29.00 (Gomers)
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9. GiacomoVico Favorita DOC: Langhe/Roero (12%; www.GiacomoVito.com; www.IAWines.com) Canale 2011: Very pale
near colorless; some earthy/funky/dusty/mineral light floral/spicy/Vermentino very attractive if a bit
subdued nose; fairly tart rather rich/lush light earthy/chalky/dusty some spicy/floral/Vermentino pleasant
flavor; med.short rich/lush/tart some floral/spicy/Vermentino light earthy/dusty/chalky finish; a quite
pleasant/interesting rendition of Vermentino but just that. $21.50 (Gomers)
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10. Piedrasassi CentralCoast WW (100% SauvBlanc; Left on skins & lees for 1 yr; 14.5%) Lompoc 2009: Med.dark
gold/burnished bronze color; quite strong phenolic/cider some orangey/orange blossom characteristic skin-
contact white rather fragrant nose w/ no recognizible SB character; lightly tannic very strong phenolic/
skin-contact white/cider/mead quite perfumed bit floral/earthy flavor; very long phenolic/cider/aldehydic
some earthy/rotted apples/orangey finish w/ modest tannins; no SB varietal character evident but rather
aromatic & complex and no evident oxidation; quite an interesting wine. $46.00 (WH)
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11. Cercius VdF WW (13.5%; www.EuropeanCellars.com; 70% GrenacheBlanc/30% SauvBlanc) MichelGassier/
PhilippeCambie/EricSolomon 2011: Light yellow color; very strong herbal/SB/earthy light perfumed rather
Loire-like w/ little GB aromatics that I can pick up; soft/fat/porky strong SB/herbal bit vegetal/weedy
light earthy flavor; med.short soft/fat rather herbal/weedy/SB bit earthy finish; speaks mostly of SB
and no GB that I can find; woefully short of acid/interest/structure and has that definite Cambie
signature; no bargin at any price. $14.00 (WH)
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12. LouCoucardie AC: Costieres De Nimes (80% Roussanne/10% Viognier/10% Grenache; www.EuropeanCellars.com)
MichelGassier 2011: Light gold color; lovely honeyed/honeysuckle/floral/Rouss rather toasty/charred/burnt
oak fairly aromatic/Rouss nose; rather soft/rich/lush strong honeyed/honeysuckle/Rouss/floral/perfumed
some toasty/charred/oak flavor; long rich/ripe/lush floral/honeysuckle/Rouss rather charred/toasty/oak
finish; lots of ripe Rouss fruit w/ nice aromatics but a biit lacking in structure & acid; reminds me
some of CraigJaffurs early Roussannes afore he hit his game. $28.00 (WH)
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And more stuff from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Tatomer: The winery of Graham Tatomer. Didn't follow him from the very start..but pretty close. He spent
three yrs in the Wachau making wine, after starting at SantaBarbara Wnry. Hence his passion for Riesling
and GruVee. He takes Riesling from KickOn Ranch, Lafond Vnyd, and several others. The Vandenberg comes
from several vnyds, mostly KickOn, and sometimes shows a trace of botrytis. These were my first wines of
his and I was favorably impressed. I'll be trying more of them in the future...he's on the right track.
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2. Solminer: A vnyd & wnry in the SantaYnezVlly owned by David & Anna deLaski. Wines are made by SteveClifton.
This was a new label for me that I stumbled across at the LosOlivosCafe (thanks Cameron). Their first vintage
was 2012..so I guess you can say I followed them from the very start. They have planted a 3-acre vnyd near
LosOlivos (deLanda Vnyd) with Gruner, Blaufrankisch, and Syrah. Anna is from the Wachau originally, so hence
their interest in Austrian varieties. I should get them a btl of MattRorick's StLaurent to try. I opened the
Gruner at the Fri night dinner at NEB4 in Paso and it seemed to be well-received. This is a wnry to keep
your eyes on in the future, I think.
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3. Gruners: This was a very interesting collection of Calif GV's. They all four spoke of GV, though is
somewhat different voices. My favorite was the Carlisle because it was so intense GV in character
(chalk that up to my ParkerPalate, I guess) and thought it could stand toe-to-toe to most/many Austrian
Smaragd GV's. Not too surprising for a MikeOfficer wine, I guess. I also liked the Solminer almost as well,
feeling that it was less about aromatic fruit and a bit more interesting and showing an earthiness that
makes it seem more authentic Austrian in character. Up until now, the Chien has been my favorite Calif
GV, but I've not had it for several yrs now. The vonStrasser is pleasant enough, just that, but way
overpriced.
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4. Amigne: This is a variety indigenous to the Valais in Switzerland. You can read all the gory details in
RobTabeau's blog: http://fringewine.blogspot.com/2011/10/ ... rland.html
The range in style from totally dry to extremely sweet, and everything in between. This one was fairly
sweet, about the level of a German Auslese. It showed wonderful aromatics. It's clearly a grape that they
should be planting all up & down the coast of Calif.
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5. Favorita: 'Tis none other than the name used in the Roero for Vermentino....or Rolle in France or Pigato
in Liguria. This was the first rendition I've had from the Roero. Not as lean/svelte as those I've
had from Liguria, not as rich/powerful as those I've had from Calif; but an altogether pleasant drinkable
rendition of Vermentino.
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6. Piedrasassi: With a yr's skin/lees-contact; I was expecting this to be pretty fiercely tannic. It was not.
I'm sorta puzzled by where the tannins went on this wine unless SB has particularly low phenolic content.
It was a pretty classical skin-contact white made in a reductive manner. Piedrasassi is the effort of
SashiMoorman and PeterHunken. Followed them both from the very start.
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7. Caspari-Kappel: This is a new wnry for me. Stumbled upon it CellarRat/KC in June. WTF?? A $50
German Qualitatswein?? I was skeptical but thought I'd give it a shot if it's 100 yr old vines. It was
one of the most unusual & exotic Mosel Rieslings. Imported by MagellanImports out of Denver. Not familar
w/ them, but have probably had some from my Denver/Boulder forays in the past.
Tom