We had Some Aromatic Whites last night at our BBB get-together:
1. Solminer GrunerVeltliner SebastianoVnyd/SantaYnezVlly (58 cs; www.Solminer.com; 13.9%) Lompoc 2012: Med.light gold color; light peppery/GV/spicy quite fragrant/perfumed slight stony/mineral lovely nose; fairly rich/lush bright/tart/tangy strong GV/floral/peppery/spicy light stony/mineral flavor; very long/lingering tart/tangy rich/lush/textured bright/peppery/GV/floral/spicy light stony/mineral finish; an absolutely lovely GV that can go toe-to-toe w/ any from Austria.
_______________
2. RotieCllrs SouthernWhite WashState (70% Viognier/15% Roussanne/15% Marsanne; 15.5%) Papineau/WallaWalla 2012: Light gold color; rather mineral/stony/earthy some waxy/smokey strong peach/pear/Viog bit toasty/oak lovely aromatic complex nose; soft/lush/ripe bit tangy/grapefruity ripe/peach/pear/Viog light stony/earthy some waxy/pungent/smokey light toasty/oak flavor; very long bit waxy/pungent/smokey ripe/lush/tangy strong peach/pear/Viog structured/mineral/stony finish; alcohol not at all obvious; one of the best WashState Viogniers that I've had; lots of ripeness but an underlying structure; definitely not a DollyParton Viognier.
_______________
3. Jaffurs Viognier SantaBarbaraCnty (14.1%) 2012: Med.gold color; very strong peach/pear/Viog light pineapple/floral very perfumed/aromatic rather DP Viog nose; soft/rich/lush very aromatic/perfumed/ripe/Viog/peach/pear slight tangy classic DP Viog flavor; very long/lingering ripe/Viog/peach/pear slight tangy/mineral rich/textured finish; falls into the DPViog camp but has an underlying structure that suggests its not silicone-laden and jiggly; a lovely classic Jaffurs Viognier.
_______________
4. Granbazan Albarino EtiquetaAmbar DdO: RiasBaixas (12.5%) 2011: Light gold color; very strong aromatic/perfumed classic floral/Albarino/perfumed/spicy/carnations slightly metallic/stony beautiful nose; tart/metallic/steely very floral/Albarino/perfumed somewhat rich almost Calif-style flavor; very long slight metallic/steely/mineral very strong floral/Albarino/carnations slight earthy finish; rather Calif in style and not as lean/eviscerated as many Spanish Albarinos; shows lots of character and one of the best Albarinos from Spain I've had. $28.00
_______________
5. FranzPratzner VendemmiaTardiva Falkenstein GWT DOC: Sudtirol/VinschgauVal Venosta (15%; MatthewFioretti) 2002:
Dark gold color w/ some browning; strong botrytis/peachy very ripe/passito/orangey rather alcoholic/fumey complex lovely nose w/ no GWT character; slightly sweet intensely overripe/passito/orangey some botrytis/peachy rather alcoholic/hot complex flavor w/ bit of oxidation; very long slightly sweet intense overripe/grapey/passito slight botrytis/peachy bit oxidized finish; a rather strange wine that speaks more of passito than botrytis; interesting wine but not giving a lot of pleasure.
_______________________________________
A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Solminer: This is a new wnry of Anna & David deLaski. They have a vnyd near LosOlivos. Winemaker is SteveClifton, hence the Lompoc address. The SebastianoVnyd, source of this GV, straddles the eastern border of the SteRitaHills. They also make a Riesling and a very unusual Syrah. Both have winemaking backgrounds from working in Austria. I've been pretty impressed w/ all three wines thus far.
__________________
2. Granbazan: This was one of the best Spanish Albarinos I've yet had. It had a richness & texture to it that suggested a good Calif Albarino, like the Verdad S-L Albarino or the Drew. The label had a vaguely Basque deign to it that at first made me think it was a txakoli. Good wine.
Tom