We tasted last night (5/6/16) A Hodge-Podge of New Wines:
1. Amandoleyre Fendant VetrozGrandCru WW (12%; Chasselas) Vigneron-Eleveur: Romain Papilloud/Vetroz/Suisse
Cave du Vieux-Moulin 2011: Med.yellow color; rather chalky/mineral/stony/perfumed talc bit celery/spicy
some Marsanne-like/appley/grapefruity pleasant nose; soft/flat stony/chalky light appley/Marsanne slight
mango/floral somewhat dull flavor; short soft/flat light apple/mango some stony/chalky finish; a pleasant
enough nose but rather dull on the palate; way overpriced at $40.50 (CB)
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2. Ryme RibollaGialla VareVnyd/NapaVlly/SonomaCnty (13.6%) 2012: Med.gold bit bronze color; some cidery/phenolic/
resiny slight melony/appley/orangey/peppery light earthy complex nose; slightly tart some phenolic/cidery/
resiny light melony/apples/orange flavor w/ some hard/bitey tannins; very long resiny/phenolic/cidery some
earthy dusty light orangey/apples/peppery finish w/ some hard/rough tannins; needs both food & age badly;
plenty of phenolic character but lots of other things in there as well; quite an interesting wine. $42.00
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3. Arnot-Roberts RibollaGialla VareVnyd/NapaVlly (12.5%; 14 yr old vines from Gravner/Friuli) 2013: Light yellow
color; very minerally/chalky/perfumed talc quite spicy/peppery/appley very varietal/RG attractive nose w/
some VA/EA; quite tart/lean/tangy/metallic/austere rather peppery/appley/waxy quite sonty/mineral slight
volatile flavor; very long stony/perfumed talc/chalky rather peppery/black pepper/appley slight fumey
finish; a very strong black pepper character I sometimes find in Friuli RG; a noticible VA/EA gives it a
slight fumey character; interesting RG if pricey. $40.00
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4. Matthiasson RibollaGialla MatthiassonVnyd/NapaVlly (12.8%; www.Matthiasson.com) Napa 2012: Med.yellow slightly
cloudy color; slight SO2/reductive/cabbagey nose that clears to some floral/mango/peppery/appley slight
phenolic/resiny rather interesting nose; somewhat tart/tangy light phenolic/resiny rather appley/mango/peppery/
floral/waxy flavor w/ slight bitey tannins; very long light phenolic/resiny/cidery mango/appley/baked apples/
apple pie/spicy rather tart/tangy complex finish; quite an interesting RG and a good balance between phenolic
and fruit character. $35.00
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5. Matthiasson Refosco MatthiassonVnyd/NapaVlly (13.2%) 2012: Med.color; beautiful very spicy/peppery/black cherry
cola/boysenberry slight herbal/earthy bit cedary/pencilly quite exotic/complex nose; fairly tart/bit lean rather
peppery/black cherry cola/boysenberry slight earthy/herbal flavor w/ modest hard/bitey tannins; very long/
lingering very spicy/peppery/black cherry cola/boysenbery slight herbal/thyme finish w/ some hard tannins; good
structure and needs some age; a terrific/unusual/exotic expression of Refosco. $45.00
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6. Rosa d'Oro Refosco Calif (60% NovaVnyd/YoloCnty + 34% KelseyBench/LakeCnty; 13.8%) PietroButtita/Kelseyville
2012: Dark color; very strong herbal/rosemary/thyme/Mondeuse-like/RCCola bit earthy/plummy quite perfumed
lovely nose; soft ripe/plummy/herbal/rosemary/thyme/spicy bit licorice/pungent light oak flavor w/ light ripe/
soft tannins; very long herbal/rosemary/thyme/pungent some plummy/spicy/earthy finish w/ light/ripe tannins;
the herbal character suggests Mondeuse rather than Refosco but it's one of the best reds from Pietro I've
had; lovely interesting red. $nc (PB)
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7. DavidCoffaro Aglianico DryCreekVlly/SonomaCnty (EB; 15.4%; U/U; 100 cs; www.Coffaro.com) Geyserville
2013: Black color; very intense plummy/chocolaty/boysenberry bit alcoholic slight herbal some toasty/vanilla/oak
huge fruit nose; soft bit alcoholic intense plummy/chocolaty/boysenberry some toasty/oak flavor w/ modest
soft/ripe tannins; very long soft ripe/plummy/chocolaty/boysenberry some vanilla/oak finish w/ soft/ripe tannins;
a bit lacking in structure but huge/ripe fruit and one of the better Caffaros I've had. $35.00
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8. HeringerEstates Aglianico Clarksburg (14%; 24 mo. in Fr.&Am. oak; 240 cs; EB) 2012: Med.light color; pleasant
berry/earthy/loamy some cherry/strawberry/Pinotish bit vanilla/oak attractive nose; soft lightish cherry/berry/
Pinotish bit earthy/loamy/mushroomy light vanilla/oak flavor w/ light tannins; med.short berry/cherry/Pinotish
some earthy/loamy light oak finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant Delta red that doesn't have much impact or
Aglianico character. $26.00
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9. Ryme Aglianico LunaMattaVnyd/PasoRobles (14.1%) 2009: Very dark/black color; beautiful fragrant boysenberry/
black cherry cola/blackberry some herbal/thyme/sage nose; lightly tart structured intense black cherry cola/
boysenberry/blackberry light herbal/thyme slight earthy/graphite very structured huge flavor w/ ample ripe/hard
tannins; very long/lingering intense black cherry cola/boysenberry/blackberry light herbal/earthy/graphite
finish w/ huge/ripe/mouth-filling tannins; very structured w/ huge tannins and huge fruit; needs 5-15 yrs
of age; a monumental expression of Aglianico. $45.33
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10. Ryme Aglianico LunaMataVnyd/PasoRobles/SonomaCnty (14.1%) 2011: Black color; very intense boysenberry/black
cherry cola/chocolaty bit alcoholic/jammy slight earthy nose; slightly tart ripe/lush/mouthfilling boysenberry/
black cherry cola/huge fruit slight earthy flavor w/ ample ripe/soft/round tannins; very long/lingering intense
boysenberry/black cherry/cola/plummy/chocolaty slight alcoholic/jammy bit earhy finish w/ ample ripe/lush
tannins; a bit more ripeness and a bit simpler than the '09, but another terrific Aglianico. $42.00
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11. Combe Trousseau StolpmanVnyds/BallardCanyon (13%) 2014: Med.light rather cloudy color; strong cranberry/
strawberry/ruhbarb/cherry some earthy/stony quite Savoie-like very pretty nose; rather tart cranberry/ruhbarb/
strawberry light earthy/dusty flavor w/ very light tannins; med.long tart/bright cherry/cranberry/ruhbard light
earthy/dusty finish w/ light/brisk tannins; a very pretty/bright light red some like a Savoie Trousseau. $26.00 (AV)
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And more stuff from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. RymeRibolla: This wine was destemmed & fermented on the skins for a full 6 months before pressing & being put to
barrel. The amount of fruit in this wine belied the lengthy skin contact; I was expecting it to be much more
tannic. It was not a fun wine to taste on its own, but w/ a chunk of blue cheese, really started to sing.
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2. MatthiassonRibolla: This wine was fermented whole cluster for 3 weeks, before being pressed off to neutral oak.
The phenolic/skin-contact character seemed rather more muted than I expected and the tannins not evident.
Easily my favorite of the three Ribollas.
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3. Refosco: Refosco dal PeduncolaRosso is the grape variety that makes the great Refoscos in Friuli. It is a cross
between Marzemino and some unknown parent. Apparently indigenous to the Friuli/Slovene border area. There is a
lot of Refosk planted in Slovenia, but apparently most of that is Terran or Terrano, a Refosco sub-variety that
evolved in the Istrian Peninsula or Croatia.
In Calif, there was some Refosco planted about. There used to be a UC/Berkeley experimental vnyd up in Jackson
in the late 1800's. It was abandoned around the turn of the century. In the '40's, Olmo discovered in the UC/
Berkley library an old map of this vnyd identifing the varieties planted there. He harvested cuttings from the
Jackson vnyd and propagated them at UC/Davis for distribution. It turns out that old map was not accurate and
what they distributed was not Refosco. DNA indicated it was MondeuseNoir. Which is not a bad mistake, actually.
So what is known in Calif as Refosco is Mondeuse.
SteveMatthiasson has 3 rows planted in his Napa vnyd Refosco dal PeduncolaRosso that was brought in (legally)
from Friuli. That may be the only true Refosco planting in Calif. All the "Refoscos" I had from AtlasPeak seemed
very much like Mondeuse to me. I suspect the Rosa d'Oro is also Mondeuse. It certainly tastes as such to me.
But it is, on its own, a very/very good Mondeuse. The Matthiasson Refosco is an excellent expression of
Refosco as I know it, but also has some of the peppery character I get in Friulian Schiopettino. Steve also
has true Schiopettino planted as well and just released his first one. John Holdredge also makes RRV Schiopettino.
Mondeuse/Refosco dPR/Schiopettino...these should be being planted the length & breadth of Calif, as should be
Rabosa del Piave.
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4. Trousseau: This is a wine made by RajPaar at StolpmanVnyds. At his behest, Stolpman grafted over their rows
of Nebbiolo (boo..hiss) to Trousseau (yea). A bit pricey for what it is, it's a pretty little red that should
be the darling of the IPoB crowd. Resembles some a Savoie Trousseau.
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5. Aglianico: A variety apparently indigenous to Campania/Basillicata area of Southern Italy. I've never been
particulary impressed by them. They oftentimes have a rustic/earthy character, sometimes a hot-climate/goat
pen character, rather rough & coarse. The Feudo di SanGregorio has been one of the better ones.
The folks who grow Aglianico in Calif are very excited by its prospects for making great wine there. Based
on some of the ones I've seen over the last few yrs, I'd tend to agree. These two Rymes are the greatest
Aglianicos I've yet had.
Tom