Tried these two last night:
1. LaClarineFarm WhiteBlend SierraFoothills WW (37% Semillon/32% Viognier/31% Marsanne; U&U; 13.3%; www.LaClarineFarm.com) Somerset 2011: Med.gold bit cloudy w/ lots of chunky tartrates in the btl; rather ripe/rotted apples/apple cider/phenolic some ripe figs/Semillon bit overripe/peach/Viog perfumey nose; soft/lush some phenolic/cidery/rotted apples ripe/figs/Semillon/pineapple/peach/Viog slight tangy/metallic/ginger ale dry flavor; med.long soft/ripe/lush rather cidery/phenolic ripe/fig/Semillon some tangy/grapefruity/metallic light earthy savory finish; the cidery/phenolic character is a bit off-putting but some very interesting things are in there. $20.00
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2. LaClarine Farm Syrah "sumu kaw" SierraFoothills RW (12.4%) 2011: Med.dark bit muurky color w/ suspended sediment; very strong earthy/loamy/mushroomy/truffly astrong blackberry/Syrah some roasted/Rhonish/smokey/pungent/Cornas-like/sauvage complex beautiful nose; fairly tart/sour smokey/pungent/roasted/Rhonish/rustic/espresso bit blackberry/Syrah/peppery bit tangy/metallic flavor w/ soft/smooth/light tannins; very long rich/ripe bit tart quite Rhonish/rustic/roasted/smokey/pungent/bacon fat some earthy/mushroomy/loamy bit blackberry/Syrah complex finish w/ light/smooth tannins; reminds me mostly of a wild/sauvage/rustic Cornas; a very interesting Syrah loaded w/ Rhone character. $24.00
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A wee BP:
1. LaClarine is the wnry of HankBeckmeyer. A strong believer in "natural" winemaking, with no sulfer additions. Farms BioDynamic. The whole nine yards.
We had the WhiteBlend almost a yr ago and I found it a bit funky, but plenty of fruit and liked it quite a lot. This time, it seemed to be heading south and had a strong apple cider character and seemed somewhat phenolic in character, though I don't believe it was made w/ any skin contact. It wasn't a bad wine and w/ dinner was actually pretty tasty, but I doubt for its future.
OTOH, the Syrah had really developed wonderfully over the yrs time. I'd orginally found it underripe/green/herbal/walnutty in character and not at all pleasant. Now, it has developed a beautiful roasted/espresso/Rhonish character and reminds me some of Cornas reds, some of EricTexier's Northern Rhones. A dramatic/beautiful/atypical Calif Syrah. Nary a clue how it's going to continue to evolve.
As with many "natural" wines, I like Hank's wines quite a bit and trying them is always an adventure. As ForestGump says: "Life is like a box of chocolates...."
Tom