Tried these two Ribolli w/ friends last night:
1. Simcic Ribolla (13%) MarjanSimcic/GoriskaBrda/Slovenia 2011: Med.dark gold color; bit peppery/fragrant/fruity/RG slight phenolic/cidery/appley light earthy bit aromatic fairly complex nose; bit tart/tannic/phemolic/cider/appley/slight resiny some spicy/peppery/RG quite attractive flavor; long rather spicy/peppery/RG/fruity/earthy bit tart/lean/bitter some light phenolic/cider/appley/resiny finish; quite a nice balance between RG fruit and skin-contact/phenolic character. $20.00 (AV)
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2. CowanCllrs RibollaGialla RRV (11.7%; www.CowanCellars.com) SantaRosa 2012: Med.dark orangey/onion skin/golden/burnished bronze color; much more fruity/peppery/pure RG/spicy quite perfumed/aromatic very light phenolic/cider rather complex nose w/ no oxidation; very dry/austere lovely fruity/RG/peppery/spicy/apple/pear slight tannic/bitey bit phenolic/cidery rather savory/austere flavor; very long/lingering some appley/peppery/RG/spicy/earthy/apple/pear fairly tart slight cider/phenolic bit tannic/austere/astringent/savory quite complex finish; more austere/savory on the palate than the Simcic but more perfumed/fragrant than the Simcic; a lovely/complex/interesting skin-contact white. $28.00
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And a wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I have, of course, followed the Cowan Ribolla from the start...this being the first one Jim's made. I was really quite struck by how similar these two wines were in style. The (Marjan...not Edi) Simcic clearly had some skin-contact, maybe not as much as Jim's though (according to the Giuliana WebSite, only 24 hrs of maceration, but 8 months of lees contact in SS tanks). He also makes an Opoka Ribolla that's made in an oxidative style.
I preferred Jim's Ribola annd being more fresh fruity in character and just more complex/interesting on the palate. Both are really good Ribollas.
This is the first Ribolla from RRV that I've had. Hopefully, Jim will give us more details on the vnyd. All the other Calif Ribollas have been from GeorgeVare's vnyd in the NapaVlly. StephyTerrizzi has just put in some Ribolla on their property down in Paso.
Tom