We tried tonight (7/27/16) Some More New White Wines:
1. Laimberg RhineRiesling Dd'OC: AltoAdige/Sudtirol (Vnyds: Montefranco/Merano + Seebutg/Bressanune; 13.0%;
www.Laimburg.biz.It) Vadena/Ora 2013: Med.gold color; beautiful fragrant pineapple/floral/mango/white fruits
almost muscatty/hair-oil very German-like/Nahe nose; quite tart/tangy/metallic totally dry very Germanic-R/
floral/pineapple/dried mango quite juicy/almost uscatty slight earthy flavor; very tart/teely/metallic
very long/lingering strong pineapply/floral/R/dried mango finish that goes on & on; very much like a
great Nahe R; one of the best Sudtirol R's I've had. $34.00 (WE)
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2. Harrington Riesling GrivaVnyd/ArroyoSeco (14.1%) 2014: Med.light gold color; strong pineapple/R/tutti-fruity/
floral/ripe slight earthy/valve oil lovely nose; lightly tart/metallic strong pineapple/tutti-fruity/floral/R
slight valve oil bit simple attractive flavor; long fairlly tart/tangy/metallic strong floral/R/pineapple/
tutti-fruity finish; a bit on the simple side (now) butquite a pleasant expression of Calif R. $25.00
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3. JeanPerrier Abymes Cuvee Gastronomie Dd'OC: Savoie Abymes (100% Jacquere; 11.5%) JeanPerrier et Fils/
LesMarches 2014: Light gold color; fairly strong appley/stony/mineral/alpine flowers light floral/
apple blossom rather attractive nose; light bodied rather mineral/stony/appley tangy/chalky/mineral light
apple/apple blossom slightly weak/insipid flavor; med.short tart/tangy/crisp/stony/chalky/mineral light
appley finish; a pleasant alpine wine but just that; a bit weak & insipid but decent for the price. $9.95 (Vino)
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4. Weingut Frank GrunerVeltliner DAC: Weinviertal (12.5%; SmallVnyds) Hennubaumgarten/Austria 2014: Light yellow
color; prett classic GV/light peppery/floral lightly perfumed attractive nose; rather tart/metallic/lean/thin
light GV/floral/peppery bit weak/watery simple flavor; med.short tangy/metallic light floral/GV/peppery
finish; classic GV character but a bit simple/insipid/dilute. $16.00 (CB)
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5. Foradori Fuoripista PinotGrigio IGT: Vigneti delle Dolomiti (11.55: L.19/15; www.ElisabettaForadori.com)
Mezzolombardo/Trentino 2014: Deep gold/burnished bronze color; very strong phenolic/resiny slight appley/apple
cider honeyed/spicy quite complex nose; quite tart quite phenolic/resiny/cidery rather apple/apple cider fairly
honeyed/spicy complex flavor w/ light gentle tanninsl; med.long quite phenolic/resiny some honeyed/spicy finish
w/ light gentle tannins; lots of phenolic character but lots of other things going on in this wine; a bit
like an old whiteRhone w/ its honeyed character; quite an unusual/exotic white w/o the austere/tannic
character you'd expect from this phenolic load. $45.00 (BayGrape)
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6. Sant'Elena Klodic PinotGrigio IGT: VeneziaGiulia (14%; ViniferaImports) Gradisca d'Isonzo 2010: Deep golden/
burnished bronze color; rather resiny/wet wool/funky/bit earthy slight cinammon/spicy lightly phenolic/resiny
somewhat strange/interesting nose; soft tangy/metallic some resiny/wet wool/pungent/bit funky lightly phenolic
flavor w/ light gentle tannins; long graham cracker/resiny slight phenolic/cidery soft tangy/metallic bit
funky/wet-wool finish w/ light tannins; clearly has a light skin-contact but not strongly phenolic; a bit
on the funky side but rather interesting at a good price. $16.00 (DiVino)
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7. Ciropicariello DOCG: Fiano di Avellino (12.5%; www.CiroPicariello.It; www.OMWines.com; Lotto 0002)
Ciro Picariello/Capriglia/Irpinia/Campania 2013: Med.gold color; very fragrant mango/floral some stony/mineral
earthy quite perfumed Fiano nose; fairly tart/tangy rather rich fairly stony/mineral/metallic strong floral/mango/
spicy quite lovely flavor; very long tart/tangy/metallic strong floral/mango light stony/earthy rich finish; very
high-toned expression of Fiano; one of the best Fianos I can recall. $24.00 (Vino)
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8. Forlorn-Hope Albarino RorickVnyd/CalaverasCnty (11.90%; 107 cs; InaugralRelease) Murphys 2015: Light gold color;
very strong mineral/chalky quite floral/apple blossom/apple pie/spicy/nutmeg very aromatic/perfumed nose; fairly
tart/lean some chalky/mineral/earthy some apple/apple blossom/apple pie/spicy Albarino/floral flavor; very long
floral/Albarrino/apple blossom/spicy fairly tart/lean finish; a bit on the tart/lean side on the palate but
lovely aromatics w/ a nice touch of minerality. $28.00
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9. Ronco del Gelso Malvasia Vigna Della Permuta Dd'OC: Isonzo del Friuli (14.5%; www.RoncoDelGelso) Cormons 2011:
Deep gold color; fragrant floral/muscatty/aromatic bit appley/phenolic/apple cider light phenolic/resiny slight petrol
quite lovely nose; quite tart rather lean/austere strong Malvasia/bit muscatty/floral light earthy/mineral some
phenolic/resiny flavor w/ light astringent tannins; very long Malvasia/muscatty slight mineral/petril/R-like
bit phenolic/resiny finish w/ light bitey tannins; speaks of Malvasia w/ light skin contact; quite an interesting &
pretty wine. $35.00 (WE)
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10. Forlorn-Hope King-Andrews King-AndrewsVnyd/SuisunVlly WW (11.87%; CheninBlanc/Vermentino/
TrousseauGris/GreenHungarian; 47 cs) 2014: Light yellow color; quite perfumed apple blossom/floral/some CB slight
old oak lovely fragrant nose; lightly tart very perfumed/floral/CB/vanilla wafers quite spicy/CB slight petrol flavor;
very long/lingering floral/CB fairly tart finish; a very pretty wine but not at all green or eviscerated; drink a
glass of this and you can just see JulieAndrews pirouting across a flower-laden Alpine meadow..."The hills are alive...".
$26.00
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11. ColettiConti Frusinate IGT: Passerina (Henricvs; 14%) Angani/Lazio 2012: Light gold color; rather earthy/coarse/
sweaty sox slight herbal/ammonia/waxy slight SO2 rather weird nose; soft bit watery earthy/herbal/coarse bit bannanas/
candied flavor; med.short earthy/coarse/sweat sox some herbal bit weak/watery finish; a rather strange/interesting wine
that doesn't draw me to try more wines from the Passerina grape. $25.00 (WE)
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12. Donkey&Goat PinotGris Ramato FiligreenFarm/AndersonVlly (BioDynamic; U; 13%; www.DonkeyAndGoat.com) Berkeley 2014:
Light orange/onion skin quite cloudy color; slight fumey some cranberry/watermelon slight pungent/outhouse bit
spicy/floral slight phenolic rather strange nose; very tart/screechy rather cranberry/watermelon slight floral flavor
w/ light tannins; med.short apple/cranberry/watermellon slight phenolic/resiny finish w/ light tannins; a pretty
strange/odd wine that would do better w/ food. $28.00
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13. Forlorn-Hope Kirschenmann PinotGris KirschenmannVnyd/Lodi (11.29%; Frmtd on skins; 52 cs) 2014: Light orange/onion
skin color; rather cranberry/watermelon/fruity some earthy/dustyligh smokey interesting nose; soft spicy/cranberry/
watermelon bit earthy/dusty/OV interesting flavor w/ light tannins; very long/lingering spicy/cranberry/waternelon
some dusty/earthy/OV finish w/ light bitey tannins; a bit earthy/dusty probably from its Lodi origins. $30.00
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14. Forlorn-Hope Dragone Ramato PinotGris RorickVnyd/CalaverasCnty (12.58%; Frmtd on skins; 177 cs) 2014: Darker
orange/onion skin/garnet strange color; very perfumed cinammon/graham cracker/CinammonCrisp strong cranberry/watermelon
quite aromatic rather exotic nose; very tart/tangy CinammonCrisp/graham cracker strong cranberry/watermelon/fruity
juicy quite exotic flavor w/ light bitey tannins; very long/lingering juicy/fruity/cranberry/watermelon CinammonCrisp/
spicy/graham cracker quite juicy finish w/ light bitey tannins; a rather exotic/interesting Ramato. $30.00
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The usual stuff from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Foradori: I hadn't recalled seeing a Foradori PinotGrigio before. Presumably made in her JosePadilla tinijas
from Spain w/ extended skin-contact. Stumbled upon this wine at BayGrape, one of my new/favorite shops in Berkeley.
Given the color and the phenolic character, I was expecting it to be one of the very dry/austere/tannic wines like
many from Slovenia/Friuli. It was not. Quite lovely & graceful and rather exotic. I've long been a fan of Elisabetta's
Nosiola.
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2. Ronco del Gelso: When I was in Friuli last Fall, I fell in love w/ the Malvasia d'Istrianas (Malvazija Istarska
in Slovene). They are invariably dry and very perfumed. A skin-contact rendition is not as common, but more
common in Slovenia. This Ronco had a great balance between perfumey Malvasia and phenolic skin-contact.
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3. Forlorn-Hope: Ramato is, of course, the Friulian version of rose, typically made as a skin-contact white from
PinotGrigio. That D&G is a "natural wine" that would appeal to SweetAlice..but few others. The two F-H
Ramatos were polarizing. Some folks didn't care for them, others really liked them. All three would probably show
a lot better w/ food.
The King-Andrews was very well liked. A pretty/great drinking white. It's currently his dumping ground for his
GreenHungarian. He took cuttings from a single/remaining vine in the LibraryVnyd/StHelena and got the folks at
King-Andrews to plant several rows of it for him. His hope is to take the classic Weibell GH to a whole nuther level.
Thus far, the grapes have yielded a rather hard wine and so he has to blend it away. But someday... Talk about
a Forlorn-Hope.
Tom