WTN: Swan, St. Innocent and my first Rasa

[Jenise]

2002 Joseph Swan Vineyards Pinot Noir Saralee's Vineyard Russian River Valley
Cherry-cranberry fruit with tomato-leaf and oregano. Lighter weight, almost delicate. An aging delight that's probably at or just past peak, though this is a Rod Berglund wine so it could end up having more lives than a cat. Tannins seemed very resolved, though.

2010 PB Wines (Rasa Vineyards) Cabernet Franc Columbia Valley
Big in a modern way, this cab franc offers rich scents of vanilla bean, dust and mint on a core of concentrated cassis fruit spiked with spicy green bell pepper for a harmonious mouthful that's ridiculously seductive even to a Loire-loving traditionalist like me. More a sipper than a food wine, at least right now, due to a (I'm guessing) generous endowment of new oak, it's almost over the top but manages to pull back right where it has to in order to end up elegant instead of gregarious. Quite an experience--no wonder Rasa's getting a lot of buzz.

2004 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard Yamhill-Carlton
A grand statement about what a ten year old Oregon pinot can be. Didn't decant but would future bottles as this showed best in its second hour when the fruit was finally and completely out in the open with aromas of Asian spice and damp forest. Has years of life left but it's hard to imagine this being any finer than it is right now.

2012 Maison Arnoux & Fils Vieux ClocherCôtes du Rhône Blanc
Rather pretty nose of yellow-skinned apples and slightly underripe banana, with white peach on the palate. Carries the low acid signature of white grenache without being flabby or sweet. Interesting.

2012 Tasari Cattaratto, Sicily
Didn't stop to look this up and I'm in too much of a hurry to do that now, but this wine is either a dry muscat or some grape I'm not familiar with. Presuming it's a dry muscat, it's one of the best versions of that I've ever had. Pretty pale yellow in color, it's racy-bright and spicy and a screaming deal at around $10 locally. Will buy again.

Cattaratto is the second most planted white grape on Sicily and most of it is used to produce Marsala. (I assume Vermentino is number one.)
Many folks think it drinks a little like Semillon when produced as a table wine.
As for good dry muscat, Jenise, have you tried Navarro's bottling? Pretty wine.
Best, Jim

[Jenise]

Jim, thanks for that. I also just now found this:

Italy's national register of wine grape varieties, Il Registro Nazionale delle Varieta di Vite, lists Catarratto Bianco Comune and Catarratto Bianco Lucido as distinct varieties, however DNA profiling in 2008 provided strong evidence that the two are genetically identical (i.e. a single variety going under two names). This revelation calls into question the traditionally held belief that Lucido was the higher quality of the two, suggesting that geographic differences and winemaking styles are responsible for any perceived difference in flavor. The same research suggested that Catarratto is probably a descendent of Garganega, a key white wine grape of northeastern Italy.

A descendant of the same grape that makes Soave??? Didn't see THAT one coming.

Jim, thanks for that. I also just now found this:

Italy's national register of wine grape varieties, Il Registro Nazionale delle Varieta di Vite, lists Catarratto Bianco Comune and Catarratto Bianco Lucido as distinct varieties, however DNA profiling in 2008 provided strong evidence that the two are genetically identical (i.e. a single variety going under two names). This revelation calls into question the traditionally held belief that Lucido was the higher quality of the two, suggesting that geographic differences and winemaking styles are responsible for any perceived difference in flavor. The same research suggested that Catarratto is probably a descendent of Garganega, a key white wine grape of northeastern Italy.

A descendant of the same grape that makes Soave??? Didn't see THAT one coming.

Curiously, that draws me in . . .
Best, Jim

[Jenise]

Jim, thanks for that. I also just now found this:

Italy's national register of wine grape varieties, Il Registro Nazionale delle Varieta di Vite, lists Catarratto Bianco Comune and Catarratto Bianco Lucido as distinct varieties, however DNA profiling in 2008 provided strong evidence that the two are genetically identical (i.e. a single variety going under two names). This revelation calls into question the traditionally held belief that Lucido was the higher quality of the two, suggesting that geographic differences and winemaking styles are responsible for any perceived difference in flavor. The same research suggested that Catarratto is probably a descendent of Garganega, a key white wine grape of northeastern Italy.

A descendant of the same grape that makes Soave??? Didn't see THAT one coming.

Curiously, that draws me in . . .
Best, Jim

Having had some top Pieropan single vineyards, I tend to agree. I know the grape can do amazing things. But I never found any Soave to taste like a dry muscat....

IIRC, the Swan Saralee's of that time were from a new planting. Rod's Saralee's PNs have generally been light and had some strawberry tang.
Sadly, the Kundes have sold the vineyard and Rod doesn't thing he'll be getting any more fruit from there.