We tasted last night (10/26/16) Some New Wines:
1. Romain Chamiot Apremont AC: Vin de Savoie WW (11.5%; NealRosenthal; Jacquere grape) Apremont 2015: Light
yellow color; rather fragrant appley/chalky slight earthy/perfumed talc/mineral quite attractive nose; very
tart/chalky/mineral light bodied chalky/mineral perfumed talc/appley/peach quite perfumey flavor; very long
perfumed talc/appley/peach rather chalky/mineral/granatic finish; unusually perfumed/fragrant for an Apremont;
lovely drinking wine at a great price. $21.00 (SFW&S)
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2. Matthiasson NapaVlly WW (12.5%; www.Matthiasson.com; 50% SauvBlanc/25% RibollaGialla/20% Semillon/
5% TocaiFriulano) 2014: Med.light yellow color; some outhouse/reduced/funky/SO2 nose that clears on warming to
a herbal/cat pee/SauvBlanc light earthy/peppery slight oak bit floral rather interesting nose; light bodied
rather lemony/citric quite tart some herbal/SB/earthy/cat pee light oak/pungent flavor; very long SB/herbal/
lemony/citric quite tart bit earthy finish; very much like a Friuli SB in character. $40.00
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3. Cuilleron Viognier LesVignes d aCote IGP : CollineRhodaniennes (14%; L.P.Vio15) 2015: Light gold color; somewhat
fragrant pear/peach/Viog slight earthy/mineral very attractive nose; fairly tart mineral/peach/pear/Viog slight
earthy lovely flavor; very long/lingering ripe/pear/peach/Viog some mineral/earthy finish; nose is a bit subdued
for Viog but very much like a junior Condrieu on the palate; not in the same league as his Condrieu & clearly
a lesser wine, but far cheaper in price. $28.00 (SFW&S)
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4. OjaiVnyd Viognier RollRanchVnyd/VenturaCnty (13.5%; 321 cs) 2014: Light gold color; slight oxidative/nutty bit
earthy light pear/Viog/spicy bit metallic/appley some oak/Calvados-like nose; rather tart/lean/stony bit earthy
light pear/Viog/appley some oak/Calvados-like flavor; very tart/lean appley/Calvados slight pear/Viog finish;
the oak give this wine a kind of Calvados-like character; a lean/tight/brittle wine that whispers of Viog. $24.00
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5. OjaiVnyd Roussanne BienNacidoVnyds/SantaMariaVlly (13.5%; www.OjaiVineyard.com) 2013: Med.light gold color;
lovely fragrant honeycomb/honeysuckle/Rouss/floral light pencilly/oak/charred slight reductive rather attractive
nose; lightly tart/tangy light Rouss/honeyed/honeysuckle light pencilly/oak/nutmeg bit earthy flavor; very long
rather honeysuckle/honeyed/floral/Rouss some pencilly/oak finish; noticable oak component but very nicely
done Rouss. $30.00
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6. OjaiVnyd Roussanne BienNacidoVnyds/SantaMariaVlly (13.0%) 2014: Med.gold color; quite fragrant/perfumed
honeysuckle/Rouss/honeyed light spicy/nutmeg/oak slight Mosel valve oil almost R-like lovely nose; lightly
tart/tangy very honeyed/honeysuckle/Rouss/honeycomb/perfumed light valve oil/earthy slight spicy/nutmeg
classic GB flavor; very long/lingering perfumed/honeyed/honeysuckle/Rouss slightMosel valve oil/R-like bit
tart finish; a very pure/lovely expression of Rouss. $30.00
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7. Matthiasson GrenacheBlanc WindmillVnyd/DunniganHills/SolanoCnty (12.3%) Napa 2015: Med.light gold bit cloudy color;
quite attractive floral/GB/honeysuckle perfumed/bit valve oil slight herbal interesting nose; lightly tart
fairly rich floral/GB/honeysuckle slight tangy/metallic pear/apple interesting flavor; long light floral/
honeysuckle/GB slight earthy bit valve oil/perfumed finish; a pleasant/quiet/unusual/restrained expression of
GB; not the usual Matthiasson spikey/brisk acidity. $30.00
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8. Cuilleron Roussanne LesVignes d a Cote IGP: Collines Rhodaniennes (14%; L.P. Rou15; NealRosenthal)
Chavanay 2015: Clear med.gold color; beautiful very perfumed honeysuckle/honeycomb/Rouss slight smokey/smoked
hot dog/oak light earthy/mineral almost Condrieu-like nose; lightly tartquite rich/lush very strong floral/
honeysuckle/Rouss/peachy/honeycomb bit earthy/mineral very Condrieu-like lovely flavor; very long/lingering
lightly tart/tangy rich/lush very strong honeyed/honeysuckle/honeycomb/Rouss bit earthy/mineral ripe/balanced
finish; resembles a Cuilleron Condrieu more than the Viog; a beautiful wine at a great price. $23.00 (SFW&S)
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9. Romain Chamiot Mondeuse AC: Vin de Savoie (12%) Apremont 2014: Med.dark color; very strong cracked black pepper/
pungent/burning metal some black cherry cola/root beer bit herbal/rosemary&thyme quite earthy/granatic very
savory quite exotic/bizarre nose; lightly tart very pungent/burning metal/cracked black pepper/savory some
black cherry cola/root beer/RCCola rather mineral/granitic fairly earthy/rosemary&thyme flavor w/ light tangy/
bitey tannins; very long black pepper/burning metal/pungent/thyme/rosemary some black cherry cola/root beer
rather earthy/granatic slight bretty finish w/ light bitey tannins; a very savory rendition of Mondeuse and
quite an exotic/interesting red. $28.00 (SFW&S)
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10. Yves DuPort Mondeuse Ad'OC: Bugey ("Terre Brune"; 12%; DJK Imports) Groslee 2013: Med.dark color; very strong
floral/lilacs/black cherry/black cherry cola/plummy quite spicy some Mourv-like very fragrant nose; bit soft
slight tangy/metallic strong black cherry/black cherry cola some plummy/Mourv-like slight earthy flavor w/
light bitey tannins; long soft black cherry cola/plummy/Mondeuse slight earthy/loamy finish w/ light bitey
tannins; a pretty classic Savoie Mondeuse at a great price. $18.00 (K&L)
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11. RosiSchuster SanktLaurent St.Margarethen/Burgenland (11.5%) 2015: Very dark color; very strong black cherry/
boysenberry/StL/plummy bit Pinotish very perfumed/high-toned/bright nose; lightly tart/tangy strong black
cherry/Pinotish slight earthy/loamy bit boysenberry very perfumed/bright flavor w/ light gentle tannins; very
long lightly tart Pinotish/StL/cherry/black cherry slight earthy/loamy bright/high-toned almost RedBurg finish
w/ light smooth tannins; a very bright/elegant/graceful/high-toned red not too unlike a fine RedBurg;
maybe one of the best StLaurents I've tried. $nc (HS)
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12. RosiSchuster SanktLaurent (12%; www.WineMonger.com; SanAnselmo) Burgenland 2012: Very dark color; quite
earthy/dusty/loamy slight funky/herbal strong ripe boysenberry/plummy/StL slight Mourv-like/root cellar nose;
bit tart rather earthy/loamy/Kansas root cellar some ripe/plummy/boysenberry/StL flavor w/ light smooth tannins;
very long earthy/loamy/root cellar/dusty some boysenberry/plummy finish w/ light smooth thannins; much more
typical with my Austrian StL experience. $19.50 (BB)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. RomainChamiot: This is a relatively new addition to the NealRosenthal portfolio. Never had these wines
before. I was mightly impressed. Generally, Apremont is a simple/pleasant quaffing white, generally w/ a
lot of chalky/mineral character & not much else. This Chamiot is easily the best I've had and as good as
Jacquere is gonna get.
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2. Mondeuse: One of my most favorite of grapes. It reminds me a lot of Refosco dPR w/ the blackberry/black
cherry cola character but a bit harder and more earthy. Of course, the World's greatest Mondeuse is not
made in Savoie but high atop Mt.Veeder. The Chamiot Mondeuse was rather atypical for Mondeuse I thought.
It reminded me a lot of a Negrette from Fronton (how's that for an obscure reference point?) w/ a pungent/
burning metal character. When I was a kid (which was not so long ago I should mention!!), I used to take
a pad of fine steel wool, light up my Dad's propane torch, and set it afire in this puff of flames...same
smell. Try it some time. My Dad did get a bit peeved one time when I caught the garage afire doing that.
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3. Schuster: This is another Burgenland producer in the WineMonger portfolio. EmilySchindler regards Hannes
Schuster as one of the best producers of StLaurent in the area. So he was one of Emily's producers I want
to visit, but hadn't made arrangements ahead of time. I took along in my stash of wine a Forlorn-Hope
Carneros StLaurent for Hannes to try. Alas, the front of the wnry was closed and nobody responded to our
rings. I thought about leaving it at the bank right next door for them to pass on, but decided not to.
I we headed out of St.Margarethen, I noticed down an alleyway what looked might be a wnry, so I hit
the brakes and explored it. Fortunately, very busy in the middle of crush, Hannes happened to be there. So I
gifted him the F-H Stlaurent. He, of course, didn't know they grew StL in Calif. How exciting is that...
Carneros StL being drunk in the Burgenland. He gifted me this '15 StL and a btl of his StL Reserve '13,
which is going to MattRorick at F-H. Because it was middle of crush, we didn't open the F-H, but Hannes
promised to try it once crush was completed.
StLaurent is apparently indigenous to the Burgenland and its parentage by DNA is uncertain. It is
often compared to PinotNoir but DNA doesn't confirm Pinot as a parent. StLaurent X Blaufrankisch was
crossed to make Zweigelt, another widespread grape in the Burgenland. I've not often found much resemblance
to PinotNoir in the StL's I've tried until this '15. It showed a high-toned fragrance that reminded
me a lot of RedBurg. The '12 was, to me, more typical of the StL's I've had.
StMargarethen is a neat little Burgenland village, not too far from Rust. Nearby are some ancient Roman
quarrys where they hold an annual PassionPlay production.
Tom