We tried last week (11/13/13) Some New Whites:
1. Domaine Delsol Picpoul di Pinet Ad'OC: Coteaux du Languedoc (12.5%; www.FoncalieuVignobles.com;
www.TMarchettiCo.com) Arzens 2012: Med.light gold color; rather ripe/pineapple/appley quite fragrant some stony/
mineral/chalky quite attractive nose; fairly tart/lean rather mineral/stony/steely/metallic/chalky rather
apple/quince bit ripe pineapple flavor; long metallic/steely/mineral/stony ripe pineapple/quince/apple finish;
rich & ripe for a Picpoul w/ a good steely/mineral backbone and a steal at $10.00
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2. Hecht&Bannier AC: Languedoc (13%; 50% PiquepoulBlanc/25% Roussanne/25% GrenacheBlanc) 2012: Light gold color;
some floral/honeyed/spicy rather metallic/steely/bit valve oil attractive nose; soft/ripe floral/honeyed/
honeysuckle slight metallic/steely/earthy flavor; med.long bit tannic/metallic/steely some floral/honeyed/
honeysuckle finish; speaks more of R/GB and only whispers of Picpoul; quite nice Rhone white for the price.
$17.00 (AV)
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3. PazoSenorans Albarino Dd'O: RiasBaixas (12%; EuropeanCllrs) 2011: Med.gold color; quite fragrant/Albarino/
hair-oil/almost GWT-like/candied bit spicy rather perfumed nose; quite tart/tangy/lean some perfumed/hair-oil/
spicy slight stony/mineral flavor; med.long tart/tangy/lean rather perfumed/cheap hair-oil slight stony/metallic
finish; a nice Albarino at a decent price. $16.00 (PrimaIlC)
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4. HillFamilyEstate Albarino NapaVlly (13.0%; www.HillFamilyEstate.com; StewartRanch/Carneros) 2012: Light gold
color; beautiful very perfumed/aromatic very floral/carnations slight smokey bit minerally/grapefruity/lemon/
Bhudda'sHand slight metallic/steely nose; quite tart/tangy/grapefruity very floral/carnations/Bhudda'sHand quite
lush/rich slighht stony/metallic flavor; very long/lingering bit stony/metallic very floral/carnations/Bhudda'sHand/
lemony somewhat tart/tangy finish; wonderful Albarino aromatics w/ an underlying minerality but the richness you'd
expect from Calif; one of the best Calif Albarinos I can recall. $nc (BS)/$24.00
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5. Alberice malvasia DOC: FriuliColliOrientali Malvasia (13.5%; www.NorthBerkeleyImports.com) Aleandri Semplice di
Favero/Corno di Rosazzo/Motta di Livenza L316274/2012: Light yellow color; quite fragrant/perfumed/muscatty
slight funky/kitty litter bit stony/earthy/steely interesting if a bit strange nose; soft/ripe/lush bit tangy/
metallic more subtle muscatty/floral bit funky/earthy flavor; soft/ripe/lush floral/mango/low-key muscatty
some earthy/metallic/stony finish; not so blatently muscatty and a bit funky; would like a bit more acidity
and liveliness in the wine. $21.00 (AV)
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6. ArbeGarbe Malvasie Saralee'sVnyd/RRV (100% MalvasiaBianca; 14%) 2012: Light gold color; beautiful/powerful
Malvasia/muscatty/appley/spicy/hair oil slight mineral/metallic very exotic nose; bit tart rich/lush powerful
Malvasia/subtle muscatty/apple/pear dry almost DollyPartonViognier-like beautiful flavor; very long/lingering
strong/Malvasia/subtle muscatty/apple/pear tart/rich/dry finish; a beautiful rendition of Malvasia w/o being
over the top. $nc (LB)/$30.00
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7. ArbeGarbe WhiteWine Saralee'sVnyd/RRV (45% Pinot Grigio, 40% Malvasia Bianca, 15% Gewurtztraminer; 14%)
2012: Light gold color; lovely floral/pear/apple/spicy slight Malvasia/hair oilvery fragrant/perfumed bit
complex nose; fairly tart very floral/spicy/pear/apple slight Malvasia/muscatty slight stony/chalky fairly
rich/full/textured beautiful flavor; very long/lingering tart/rich/lush very floral/carnations/apple/pear/
peach blossom rather complex finish; lovely aromatics & richness but an underlying structure & acidity that
makes it a bright/zippy white. $nc (LB)/$28.00
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8. CowanCllrs SauvBlanc LakeCnty (12.7%; www.CowanCellars.com) SantaRosa 2012: Pale yellow color; rather ripe/
melony/SB/slight herbal some earthy/Semillon-like/figgy low-key/pleasant nose; light tangy/grapefruity rather
melony/honeydew/SB/ripe light earthy/herbal low-key/mild-mannered flavor; med.long tart/tangy ripe/melony/SB
slight stony/earthy/herbal finish; a rather mild-mannered pleasant SB but just that. $20.00
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9. CowanCllrs Isa LakeCnty (Skin-frmtd SauvBlanc; 12.5%) 2011: Med. burnished bronze/golden color; some earthy/
dusty/earthy/wet pavement/chalky quite perfumed/fragrant some phenolic/cidery/savory/resiny quite complex nose;
tart/tangy dusty/earthy/wet pavement rather savory/phenolic/cidery slight honeyed/perfumed flavor w/ light
tannins; very long savory resiny/phenolic/cidery slight honeyed/floral/perfumed complex finish
w/ light tannins; needs to be served at room temperature; more phenolic than the Ribolla; a really exotic
wine w/ no suggestion of SauvBlanc that I can pick up. $22.00
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10. CowanCllrs RibollaGialla RRV (11.7%) 2012: Med.light burnished bronze/onion-skin slight golden color; very
aromatic/floral/peppery/spicy/RG/orangey/smoked hot dog slight phenolic/savory quite floral/perfumed complex
rather exotic nose; somewhat savory/phenolic/cidery very fragrant/floral some RG/peppery fairly tart bit
tannic/austere/bitey flavor; very long/lingering some floral/peppery/RG bit phenolic/savory/cidery slight
smoked hot dog slight tannic/austere/hard complex finish; less phenolic and more fragrant/perfumed than the
Isa; quite a beautiful exotic rendition of Ribolla. $28.00
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11. Solminer DryRiesling RanchoSisquocVnyd/SantaMariaVlly (98 cs; 13.7%; www.Solminer.com) David&Anna deLaski/
Lompoc 2012: Light gold color; strong green apple/pineapple/R/floral bit valve oil/gout de petrol slight stony
lovely/complex nose; dry somewhat floral/R/pineapple/green apple bit valve oil/gout de petrol slight mineral/
stony lovely flavor; very long bit tangy/grapefruity strong floral/mango/pineapple tart/dry bit metallic/
steely/valve oil finish; a lovely Calif R w/ hints of Germanic minerality. $26.00
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12. Solminer GrunerVeltliner SebastianoVnyd/SantaYnezVlly (58 cs; 13.9%) 2012: Light gold color; beautiful floral/
white pepper/spicy/classic GV very perfumed complex nose; fairly tart rather rich/lush beautiful white pepper/
GV/floral/very spicy slight mineral/stony complex flavor; very long/lingering tart/dry/rich/textured strong
floral/white pepper/GV/spicy finish; a Calif GV that can go toe-to-toe w/ any from Austria. $30.00
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13. Darby "le deuce" ColumbiaVlly (52% Viog/48% Rouss; 14.4%) 2012: Light gold color; very ripe/pineapple/mango/
lemon meringue pie/floral slight tobaccoy/oak quite perfumey nose; soft rich/lush/full-bodied floral/honeyed/
honeysuckle/mango/pineapple light tobaccoy/oak flavor; very long honeysuckle/pineapple/mango/floral/honeyed
soft/ripe finish; loads of aromaatics and speaks mostly of Roussanne; very fairly priced at $26.00
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Stuff from today's BloodyPulpit:
1. Dom.Delsol: I had this wine back in July up in Maine and liked it a lot, but thought it overpriced at
$22. Lo & behold, I got a PM from TimHallett w/ Marchetti Imports up in Cleveland, who imports this wine,
that I'd greatly overpaid and that it normally sells for $10/btl. So he offered to send me another btl
as recomphense for getting ripped off. Way above & beyond the call of duty I thought for an importer.
I still liked this Picpoul and think it's a great value at $10/btl.
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2. HillFamily: This Albarino was gifted to me by a friend. With a name like that, I just knew the wine was
going to be good. Not a wnry I'd ever heard of before. They seem to follow the standard NapaVlly paradigm
w/ the emphasis on Cab, but Chard/Merlot/SauvBlanc along side. But I was really quite impressed w/ this
Albarino, one of the best from Calif I can recall.
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3. Malvasie: There is a whole family of grapes that fall under the Malvasie name. I presume it is related somehow
to Muscat, as the aromatics are quite similar. The Friuli one is most probably Malvasia Istriana, from its
origins on the Istrian peninsula of Croatia. I find these Malvasias are a bit more subdued from the Malavasia
Bianco that is commonly found in Calif.
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4. Solminer: This is a new wnry of David & Anna deLaski. Both have experience working in Austria. I first discovered
them because of their Gruner. But their Riesling & Syrah are also top-notch. Their Gruner, along w/ MikeOfficer's,
are the best Gruners yet from Calif that I've had. Definitely a wnry to watch.
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5. ArbeGarbe: This is the tiny operation of Letizia Pauletto & Enrico Bertoz. Enrico work for FloraSprings. I first
met them at FriuliFest some 3-4 yrs ago. They both hail from Friuli, hence their bent towards Friulian wines.
Enrico worked there for Nonino (grappa producer) and Movia, I believe. WebSite: www.arbegarbewines.com/.
These two '12's were samples sent me by Letizia and were released Oct 1. Another wnry to watch.
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6. CowanCllrs: This is the wnry of Jim & Diane Cowan. I've known FloridaJim out on the InterNet ever since
AlGore & I came up w/ the concept. Jim was right there.
Jim has been playing around w/ skin-contact whites made in a reductive manner, as opposed to those made
in an oxidative style, often in amphorae, like Gravner/Radikon/Corneilssen. I've been pretty impressed by
the Isa over the yrs. It shows a definite phenolic character but not as hard/tannic as some of them can be.
The skin-contact seems to pretty much obliterate the LakeCnty SauvBlanc varietal character...which is a good
thing.
This is Jim's first stab at Ribolla. From a friend's tiny plot who grows it in his back yard. So this is
the first Ribolla to come from Sonoma. I was mightly impressed w/ this Ribolla. Quite perfumed & aromatic
and a bit on the exotic side. It reminded me a bit of those wines from Slovenia by Skerk and EdiKante, two
producers who are not strongly phenolic in character.
Tom