Tried this wine last night:
1. NewClairvauxVnyd PetiteTemptation VinaRanch/TehamaCnty RW (Trappist Made; 13.1%; 50% PoorSoulsBlock PS/St.JamesBlock Tempranillo; www.NewClairvauxVineyard.com) Aimee Sunseri/Winemaker NV: Med.dark color; lovely bright cherry/Temp/spicy slight earthy/PS/peppery light toasty/oak quite fragrant nose; rather tart very bright cherry/strawberry/Temp very spicy light peppery/PS light vanilla/toasty/oak flavor w/ light smooth tannins; very long/lingering bright/cherry/strawberry/Temp light peppery/earthy very spicy/paprika light toasty/oak finish w/ modest gentle/polished tannins; an absolutely lovely balanced very spicy Temp that's great drinking now and should go another 3-5 yrs; very reasonably priced at $17.00 (CB)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. New Clairvaux: This is a Trappist Abbey way up in TehamaCnty north of Sac. I was first exposed to these wines by DarrellCorti when he had a batch of samples to taste thru. I thought the wines were rather nice, very reasonably priced, but never much followed up on them. So, on my last trip to CortiBros, I thought I'd give this one a try. I was mightly impressed by this one. Best NewClairvaux I've yet tried.
The winemaker is AimeeSunseri. She's also the winemaker at the venerable NicheliniWnry in the NapaVlly. The property was once owned by Leland Stanford, in the late 1800's, who greatly expanded the vnyd & winery operations. They have a lot of very interesting stuff planted: Trebbiano, Assyrtiko, Moschofilero, Graciano, Trebbiano. I've not seen these varietals from NewClairvaux but would love to try them.
Tom