Tried this last night w/ the boys at ArroyoVino:
1. Idlewild Arneis FoxHillVnyd/MendoCnty (13.6%; www.IdlewildWines.com) Healdsburg 2013: Med.gold color; strong very floral/spicy/mango/tropical fruit light stony/mineral/chalky lovely quite perfumed nose; fairly tart light tangy/stony/mineral/chalky strong tropical fruit/mango/floral ripe/lush/textured flavor; very long strong mango/pineapple/tropical fruit some stony/mineral/earthy ripe/lush finish; a stunning rendition of Arneis. $28.00
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2. Monchiero Carbone Recit DOCG: Roero Arneis (13%) 2012: Med.light yellow color; fairly strong stony/earthy/dusty slight mango/floral nose; rather tart/lean stony/mineral/earthy very light floral/mango/carnations bit simple/eviscerated flavor; med. stony/earthy/dusty very light floral/carnations/mango somewhat tart/austere finish; a pleasant enough Arneis and fairly classic Roero Arneis. $24.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. This is the wnry of Sam & Jessica Bilbro. He's the son of MariettaCllrs' ChrisBilbro, brother to Jake & Scot Bilbro of LimerickLane.
I had tried Sam's wines last Fall and was mightly impressed by them. This was from his recent release and is nearly sold out I understand. I had tried a pre-release sample w/ Sam at BergamotAlley in Healdsburg a month earlier and was mightly impressed then with it. Shared a btl w/ DarrellCorti as well & he liked it quite a lot.
The btl we sampled at BergamotAlley had more powerful aromatics and only hinted of the minerality you find in Arneis. This btl seemed to show more stony/mineral character than I noted before. This shipment had arrived on my doorstop only last Thurs. It is a well-known fact that travel shock tends to knock down the fruit of a wine and accenuates the earthiness, so I expect that is the reason.
This was an interesting comparison of Arneis. If you worship at the altar of terroir and demand that Arneis display a strong stony/mineral quality, then the Idlewild is not for you. But if you like Arneis that is just darned good drinking, than this Idlewild is just the ticket.
Tom