We tasted last night (5/27/15) Some New White Wines:
1. Royal Tokaji Furmint Dudovalogatas (14.0%; 38% BetsekVnyd/62% UragyaVnyd; 2036 btls) Mad/Tokaj 2009: Deep gold
color; very fragrant/perfumed floral/mango/gardenia/carnations/ripe/peachy slight herbal/earthy beautifully
aromatic nose; bit tart rich/lush strong floral/gardenias/mango/peachy light stony/earthy bit metallic/tangy
flavor; very long/lingering floral/gardenias/mango/ripe peach slight stony/mineral finish; a beautiful
effusively perfumed rendition of Furmint at a great price; one of the best Hungarian dry Furmints I've had.
$28.75 (CB)
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2. LimerickLane 70% Furmint/30% Harslevelu EG/RRV/SonomaCnty (11.8%; www.LimerickLaneWines.com; 50 cs;
Healdsburg 2014: Light gold color; lightly fragrant/perfumed quite peppery/cracked pepper/spicy/herbal/stony
slight earthy/chalky very attractive nose; quite tart/lean very peppery/spicy bit herbal/stony/earthy/chalky/
perfumed talc lightly floral/mango somewhat austere flavor; very long quite peppery/cracked pepper some stony/
mineral/perfumed talc/chalky finish; has more of the lean/austere character I associate w/ Harslevelu; quite
an interesting rendition of Furmint that will appeal to the IPoB cabal..not something commonly found in a
LimerickLane wine; reminds me a lot of the HeidiSchrock Austrian Furmint. $36.00
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3. Habit GrunerVeltliner SantaYnezVlly (13.5%; 241 cs; www.HabitWine.com) LosOlivos 2013: Med.light gold color;
very strong ripe/GV/light peppery/spicy/peachy/apricotty/floral rich/lush nose;softer slight tangy/grapefruity
ripe/GV/peachy/floral/light peppery flavor; very long bit soft/ripe/rich/lush strong floral/peachy/GV/light
peppery slightly bitter finish; a bit simpler but more along the lines of a Smaargd/Carlisle GV; quite a good
Calif rendition of GV. $36.00 (BWM)
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4. Solminer GrunerVeltliner SantaYnezVlly (11.7%; 174 cs; www.Solminer.com) Lompoc 2014: Light yellow color;
quite perfumed floral/spicy/very peppery some stony/mineral/perfumed talc more delicate/restrained lovely
nose; quite tart/mineral/chalky/perfumed talc very peppery/GV/spicy light floral/mango bit grapefruity/tangy/
metallic flavor; bit tarter/leaner mineral/chalky quite peppery/GV bit floral/mango some tangy/metallic finish;
a more delicate/restrained version of GV but w/ lots of peppery character; rather Austrian in style. $30.00
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5. Groiss GemischterSatz (13%; www.Ingrid-Groiss.At; LN 57/14) IngridGroiss/Niederosterreich 2013: Med.light gold
color; very spicy/perfumed some peppery/GV/floral bit valve oil/petrol rather complex beautiful nose; fairly
tart/tangy/metallic/crisp some peppery/GV/floral quite spicy slight mineral/earthy rather complex flavor; very
long/lingering tangy/metallic/mineral rather peppery/GV/floral/mango some tangy/grapefruity complex finish;
as a strong Austrian GV character but quite complex; a beautiful GS wine at a great price. $25.50 (Cured)
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6. Wienger Weiner GemischterSatz D'AC: Nussberg (14%; Trocken/Qualitatswein; www.WineBow.com; L'N 1070614) 2013:
Light gold color; much riper/pineapple/R-like/spicy/floral low-key/restrained/quiet bit complex quite
attractive/quiet nose; fairly tart/tangy simpler floral/R-like/pineapple richer/lusher slight earthy/mineral
bit off-dry flavor; med.long bit tangy/mineral quiet/floral/ripe/pineapple/R-like fairly rich/lush ripe/bit
off-dry/Smaargd-like finish; much simpler & riper than #5 and not nearly as interesting; stupid price at
$61.00 (BWM)
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7. Forlorn-Hope GemischterSatz MokelumneGlenVnyd/Lodi WW (13.85%; 34 cs; Albalonga/Arnsberger/Bacchus/
Ehrenfelser/Faber/Forta/Freuhburgunder/GWT/Gruner Veltliner/Gudetal/Huxelrebe/Kanzler/Mario Muscat/
Muller-Thurgau/Noblessa/Optima/Oraniensteiner/Perle/Riesling A49/Riesling GM 110/Riesling GM 198/
Riesling GM 239/Roter Veltliner/Scheurebe/Siegerrebe/Sirius/Silvaner/Traminer/Weissburgunder/and Wurzer)
2013: Med.gold color; very perfumed/ripe floral/spicy/complex some earthy/dusty slight herbal/oregano lovely
nose; bit soft/rich/lush quite floral/spicy/slight mango-pineapple bit earthy/dusty complex flavor; very long/
lingering ripe/floral/mango/pineapple bit earthy/dusty some complex finish; an unusually good Lodi white at a
more than fair price. $26.00
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8. Bruna LeRusseghine DOC: Riviera Ligure di Ponente (13.5%; www.BrunaPigato.It) RanzoBorgo/Liguria 2012: Pale
yellow near colorless color; some light floral/Vermentino/spicy rather stony/mineral/saline/savory quite
delicate/restrained nose; quite tart mineral/chalky/perfumed talc slight floral/Vermentino rather savory/saline
very delicate/elegant flavor; med.long delicate/brittle slight floral/Vermentino rather mineral/saline/savory
finish; very unusual rendition of Vermentino and an elegant/delicate way. $34.00 (BWM)
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9. Solminer DryRiesling Kick-On Ranch/SantaBarbaraCnty (12.2%; 92 cs) 2014: Med.light gold color; rather low-key/
quiet light pineapple/spicy/floral/R light perfumed talc/stony/mineral quite attractive nose; bit soft light
pineapple/floral/R light mineral/perfumed talc pleasant flavor; med.long attractive floral/pineapple/R/mango
light perfumed talc/stony finish; would like a bit more acid & impact but quite a nice quiet rendition of
SBC Riesling. $28.00
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10. Forlorn-Hope Amerikanischen Kobold Riesling Kick-OnRanch/LosAlamos/SBC (10.21%; 167 cs; 152 cs) 2013: Pale
yellow color; lovely petrol/Germanic/valve oil light floral/R/bit pineapple quite interesting nose; very tart/
lean/acidic/grapefruity/metallic/tangy light petrol/valve oil light floral/R/spicy flavor; med.long very acidic/
tart/grapefruity/metallic light petrol/valve oil light/floral/R finish; a very lovely bit Germanic/Oz R nose but
a strident/screechy acidity on the palate that makes it a bit painful to drink; I expect this will be
spectacular w/ age and will go out 10-15 yrs or more; not as flavorful as the Ojai Kick-On Riesling but much
in the same steely style. $24.00
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11. Rojac Malvazija Istarska WW (13%; www.Rojac.EU; www.IndieWineries.com) Istra/Slovenija 2013: Med.gold color;
quite fragrant/perfumed/Malvasia quite spicy/nutmeg/insecticide/flowery quite lovely/aromatic nose; soft bit
flat perfumed/Malvasia/spicy/nutmeg bit off-dry slight flowery/insecticide/GrandmaNina's cheap perfume/blowsey
flavor; med.long blowsey/cheap perfume/insecticide quite perfumed/Malvasia slight earthy bit off-dry somewhat
soft/flat finish; a lovely nose but doesn't quite deliver the excitement on the palate; good for the price.
$15.00 (LM)
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12. Idlewild TheBee Flora&Fauna White NorthCoast WW (60% MuscatCanelli/30% Friulano/10% Cortese) 2014: Light gold
color; quite fragrant/perfumed/aromatic light muscatty/very spicy light earthy/stony/mineral beautifully aromatic
very interesting nose; lightly tart very perfumed/aromatic spicy/graham cracker/perfumed talc low-key/muscatty
light stony/mineral flavor more like Muscat d'Istria than MuscatCanelli; very long/lingering lightly tart
low-key/muscatty very perfumed/perfumed talc light mineral/stony; a beautiful low-key Muscat w/ lots of
interesting things therein at a great price. $22.00
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13. Cesconi Prabi Dolomiti IGT: Vigneti delle Dolomiti Bianco (13%; Manzoni bianco/Riesling/Pinot bianco; L19/13;
Eurobiz/LosAngeles) Pressano 2011: Med.light gold color; very perfumed/fragrant very strong floral/mango/ripe/
pineapple almost Muscat-like almost Calif Vermentino-like beautiful nose; rather tart fragrant/floral/spicy/
mango/pineapple delicate slight stony/mineral beautiiful flavor; very long/lingering delicate/perfumed/floral/
pineapple/mango/ripe light stony/mineral somewhat tart finish; a bright/zippy/delicate/ethereal some like a
Calif Vermentino w/o the heft or body; a beautiful/delicate/elegant white at a great price. $18.00 (WoP)
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The ole BloodyPulpit:
1. Gemischter Satz: This is a wine I first heard about when MattRorick brought out his first version last Winter.
Translated as "mixed set", it's a wine that's made from at least 3 varieties that are planted in the same vnyd
and the vnyd is registered as a GS vnyd. The maximum the wine can have is 50% of one variety and the third highest
must be at least 10%. The grapes are all harvested at the same time and co-frmtd. There is no requirement that
the 20 possible varieties be interplanted...they can exist as separate blocks in the same vnyd. Apparently the
wine can come from more than a single vnyd. It was a genre that had pretty much fallen into disuse, but has
been revived and given a DAC status only a few yrs ago.
Since GS is a protected name in Austria, Matt's usage is clearly not going to pass muster. It was approved
for use on his label because the TTB bureaucrats obviously had no clue as to what it meant. But it's only a
matter of time afore that Austrian authorities in Vienna come calling on him in SuisunCity w/ their cease &
desist orders. But the solution is obvious. Matt just changes the name to Gemischter Ersatz. And all
will be right w/ TheWorld.
I liked this F-H GS quite a lot. Nothing you'd mistake from Austria. With all those different grapes, I
expected it to turn out a muddled mess...sort of a gray wine. It was not. It actually had some complexity.
It resembled Riesling more than anything. Quite an interesting and tasty Lodi white....though not the
perfume you get from Lodi Albarino or Vermentino.
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2. MokelumneGlenVnyd: This is a vnyd in Lodi that specializes in German & Austrian varieties. BobKoth fell in love
w/ German varieties & wines when he visited his daughter in Germany. He decided to devote his Lodi vnyd to
those varieties. The Koth's have something like 40 such varieties planted. Lodi is certainly not an obvious
Calif location to be planting these varieties. Located in the MokelumneRiver sub-AVA, it is one of the cooler
areas in Lodi. They used to make wines under the MokelumneGlenVnyd label, but I think they have ceased production
of wine. The few of them that I tried, I thought were really quite good. I presume they now only sell their
grapes to other winemakers. Leave it to Matt to come up w/ another "forlorn hope" and make a GS from these
grapes.
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3. Furmint: Quite a contrast in style w/ these two Furmints. Stylisticly, they seemed reversed in style from what
I'd expect. Most liked the RoyalTokaji for it's rich/lush character. I slightly preferred the LL as somewhat
more interesting to my palate. I think the LL will age quite wll. It should not be served at too cold a temperature.
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4. Gruner: Again, quite a contrast in styles of thee two GV's. Again, most liked the Habit because of its greater
richness & more Smaargd-like character. I really liked the Solminer because I found a stronger peppery
character I love in GV. Neither one would you throw outta bed.
I stumbled upon the Habit GV at BoulderWineMerchant. A label that was new to me. Run by JeffFischer. The grapes
for this GV come from RanchoArroyoPerdito in the SantaYnezVlly AVA. I was sufficiently impressed that I should try
Jeff's other wines.
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5. Pigato: Pigato (in Liguria)=Favorita (in Piemonte)= Vermentino (elsewhere). I don't often see much Pigato from
Liguria. It was like looking at a DaleChihuly glass work...you just not it's going to shatter into a million
pieces if you even touch it. But I rather liked this rendition of Vermentino.
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6. Cesconi: A producer I'd never tried before from Tentino. I ws mightly impressed. I would like to try all the
rest of their wines sometime. Imported by Langdon-Shiverick into the US.
ManzoniBianco is a Riesling X PinotBlanc cross.
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7. Kick-On Riesling: This is a Ranch that's developing quite a good reputation for its Riesling. Located on
Hwy 135 to the NW of (the lesser) LosAlamos, way out towards where PC Hwy 1 comes out of Vandenberg AFB.
Tatomer/Solminer/Ojai/F-H all make Riesling from these sandy soils. And very good ones at that. The Ojais seem to
be the best. Like this F-H, the acidity can be on the screechy side. But, w/ age, they take on a very nice petrol
character.
I remember driving back w/ BobSenn late at night from the Casmalia HitchingPost after a wine-fueled
dinner there on one of my trips. The wine was having its effect on Bob & he was kinda quiet (unusual for Bob).
All of a sudden, the sky lit up w/ this brilliant/searing white light. "They just had a night launch at Vandenberg"
Bob reassured me to know I was not halluciating.
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8. Malvazija: This is a grape variety that apparently evolved on the Istrian Peninsula of Croatia. A different
grape variety than other Malvasia's of Italy, though it appears to be related to the Malvasia di Lipari.
It has a much lower-key Muscat character than most Muscats. Don't think there are any plantings in Calif.
When I first had the IldleWild Bee, I was struck by how much closer it resembled Malvasia d'Istria than the
usual in-your-face Muscat. A beautiful/great-drinking white.
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9. SauvignonVert: There used to be quite a lot of SauvVert planted in Calif, where it made rather boring/dull
white wines. Since then, Calif SauvVert has been identived as France's Sauvignasse or, more commonly used,
Muscadelle or TocaiFriulano. MikeOfficer says that most of it is Muscadelle. But I gather that some are
using the Friulano label. Not sure which one is in Sam's Bee.
Tom