We tasted last night (11/2/16)some More New Wines:
1. Solminer Dry Riesling SBC (120 cs; 13.3%; www.Solminer.com) Lompoc 2015: Light gold color; very attractive
pineapple/R perfumed light slatey/chalky/mineral perfumed talc nose; rather tart/stony/chalky some mineral/
perfumed talc/slatey some pineapple/R/flowery flavor; very long light pineapple/floral/R some slatey/chalky/
mineral finish; quite a nice balance between floral R fruit and mineral character; not too far from a good
Wachau R. $28.00
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2. Radio-Coteau Riesling PlattVnyd/SonomaCoast (U; 12.8%; www.RadioCoteau.com) EricSussman/Sebastapol
2015: Light yellow color; very strong mango/pineapple/R slight Mosel valve oil/steely quite aromatic nose;
very tart/tangy/metallic strong pineapple/R/mango slight mineral/Mosel valve oil rather lean/tangy/bit austere
flavor; very long quite tart/tangy/metallic somewhat mango/R/pineapple quite dry/austere finish; a bit on
the tutti-fruity side of Calif R but quite dry & austere; should age very well; bit pricey at $38.00
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3. FamigliaPasqua PassioneSentimento IGT: Veneta (Garganega grape; part slightly dried before femtn;
www/Pasqua.It; L15-211) Verona 2014: Med.light gold color; rather floral/aromatic/mango/guava light perfumed
talc rather pleasant nose; bit soft light tangy/metallic light-bodied pineapple/mango/guava rather pleasant/
simple flavor; med.short bit soft fruity/floral/mango finish; a rather pleasant if simple white at a good
price. $17.00 (SFW&S)
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4. Michael Juros GrauerBurgunder "Juros pur" (trocken; L 4/16; 15.5%; PinotGris) Rust/Weinland 2014[/b]: Med.gold rather
cloudy color; very perfumed/aromatic orangey/ripe/floral/apple slight sauerkraut/peachy/ripe bit volatile/EA
complex quite exotic/weird nose; very ripe/soft bit botrytis/peachy very strong orangey/floral/peach off-dry
slight tangy/metallic/bitter very exotic flavor; very long bit botrytis/peachy/orangey strong floral/apple blossom
off-dry bit soft finish; a very exotic/interesting/strange rendition of PinotGris. $E 8.00
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5. Laurenz V. Charming GrunerVeltliner DAC: Kamptal Reserve (13.0%; L-N6345/13; L1/13; www.LaurenzFive.com)
Vienna 2012: Light gold color w/ slight bubbles; pleasant/simple floral/guava/GV/slight white pepper nose; lightly
tart clearly CO2-refreshed light floral/guava/GV rather simple flavor; med. lightly tart simple/fruity/floral/GV/
guava finish; a quite simple/dull expression of GV. $22.00 (SFW&S)
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6. FritzSalomon GutOberstockstall Oran ge (Demeter; Biologisch-dynamische; trocken; www.gut-oberstockstall.At;
L 03/15) Kirchberg/Wagram 2013: Med.gold light burnished bronze color; very strong very resiny some skin-contact/
phenolic quite honeyed/very spicy/black pepper very perfumed very exotic nose; very tart/austere/savory quite
resiny/violin bow rosin some skin-contact/phenolic very exotic orangey/orange peel/honeyed some floral/mango/R
quite savory/exotic flavor w/ light tannic bite; very long/lingering quite resing/peppery some phenolic/
skin-contact strong floral/guava/R black pepper/honeyed very perfumed/fragrant quite tart/tangy finish w/ light
tannic bite; a powerfully perfumed/fragrant very savory very exotic skin-contact white and one of the best I've had.
$E 18.00
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7. Batic Zaria v.o.VipavskaDolina (13%; www.Batic.Si; www.BlueDanubeWine.com; Pinela/Rebula/Zelen) 2013: Deep golden/
burnished bronze color; very strong phenolic.resiny/some cidery/skin-contact orange/honeyed/honeycomb quite
interesting/complex nose; rather tart/tangy quite phenolic some resiny/cidery honeyed/honeycomb/orangey slight
earthy/dusty complex flavor w/ light tannic bite; very long/lingering quite dry/tart/austere rather phenolic/earthy
some resiny/cidery light honeycomb/honeyed/orangey/orange peel complex finish w/ light grippy/bitey tannins;
clearly a skin-contact white w/ loads of phenolic character and not the exotic character or perfume of the Salomon;
pretty dry & austere and needs food; one of the best expressions of Zelen/Pinela that I've had. $35.00 (BergAlley)
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8. YvesCuilleron Marsanne LesVignes d' aCote IGP: CollinesRhodaniennes (14%; 3800 btls) Chavanay 2015: Light gold
color; rather appley/Marsanne slight floral bit simple light earthy nose; rather tart simple/appley/pear lightly
floral slight stony/earthy simple flavor; long rather appley/Marsanne/pear light earthy/stony finish; a pleasant
enough Marsanne but nothing profound; may get more interesting w/ age. $22.00 (SFW&S)
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9. Radio-Coteau Syrah LasColinas SonomaCoast (U/U; 13.4%; www.RadioCoteau.com) Sebastapol 2014: Dark color; very
strong blackberry/blueberry/Syrah quite cold-climate/black pepper light toasty/oak very spicy lovely nose;
quite tart very strong blackberry/blueberry/Syrah quite black pepper/c-c some toasty/oak/R-C oak some complex
flavor w/ light tangy tannins; very long fairly tart very strong blackberry/spicy/blueberry/Syrah rather c-c/
black pepper fairly toasty/oak fairly complex finish w/ light/tangy tannins; a pretty classic c-c Syrah that
should age for 5-10 yrs; a lovely Syrah made by a Pinot producer. $44.00
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10. Radio-Coteau Zin LemorelVnyd/SonomaCoast/SonomaCnty (15.0%; U/U; EG); vonWeidlichVnyd) 2013: Very dark color;
very strong blackberry/peppery/boysenberry/very spicy classic c-c/peppery quite dusty/OV beautiful nose; quite
tart very peppery/c-c very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Zin quite dusty/OV very spicy/peppery beautiful/complex
flavor w/ modest firm/structured tannins; very long/lingering quite dusty/OV rather tart intense blackberry/
Zin/boysenberry very dusty/OV very spicy some toasty/oak finish w/ modest bracing tannins; clearly ripe but
very structured and the acidity should carry it out at least 10 yrs; a neautiful/classic c-c Zin. $52.00
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11. Denier-Handal Zin HandelFamilyVnyd/Asti/DCV/SonomaCnty (14.7%; www.Denier-HandalWines.com)
PeterWellington/GlenEllen 2012: Dark color; strong ripe/blackberry/Zin rather spicy vanilla/Am.oak attractive
nose; soft bit tangy/metallic pleasant/raspberry/Zin/earthy rather Am.oak/vanilla flavor w/ light gentle tannins;
med.long raspberry/Zin Am.oak/vanilla finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant/simple Zin but somewhat unthrilling.
$21.00 (SFW&S)
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12. H.Mynors Zin OldVineCuvee Sonoma/Amador/Lodi (15%; www.SeanMinorWines.com; WillBucklin)
AmericanCanyon 2013: Med.color; strong Lodi/earthy/mushroomy some boysenberry/Zin/very ripe bit alcoholic
slight meaty/smokey nose; very soft ripe/blackberry/Zin/boysenberry strong Lodi/earthy/mushroomy some vanilla/
Am.oak flavor w/ light soft tannins; med.short soft some blackberry/boysenberry/Zin/ripe earthy/mushroomy/Lodi
finish w/ light tannins; a pleasant simple expression of Lodi Zin but lacks structure & brightness. $19.00 (SFW&S)
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13. Michael Juros GrauerBurgunder BA (13.5%; EA; Pradiskatwein aus Osterreich; Suss) Rust/Burgenland 2013:
Med.light gold color; rather earthy/dusty slight volatile/EA some botrytis/peachy/apricotty pineapple/mango/
PinotGris bit rustic/coarse nose; soft fairly sweet some botrytis/peachy/apricotty bit earthy/dusty flavor;
soft fairly sweet some botrytis/peachy/apricitto bit volatile/fumey/VA earthy/rustic finish; a pleasant
enough BA but just that.
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The usual stuff from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Mynors: This is a wine from SeanMinor and a tribute to his Grandfather who immigrated to this country and
changed his last name to Minor. Sean was born in Manhattan/KS whilst I was going to K-State there.
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2. MichaelJuros: During our stay in the Burgenland, we stayed at Gästehaus Elfriede in Morbisch. Highly recommended
w/ great breakfasts. In the cellar of the Gastehaus, Michael made his wines from vnyds in Morbisch and nearby
Rust. Michael is originally from Berlin. Site: (http://www.weingut-juros.at/). All in German. One evening at
Gästehaus Elfriede, Michael tasted us thru many of his wines & I liked them quite a lot. He farms them
bio-dynamically. The PinotGris was quite controversial. Many disliked it because of the elevated VA, I thought
it pretty exotic and rather different.
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3. Laurenz V: The screw-cap popped upon opening and released a few bubbles. Clearly had been "refreshed" with CO2
on bottling. This is often used to liven up a wine and give it an ersatz acidity. But it's not te tangy acidity
that you get from natural acidity in a wine. This wine, after it lost its CO2 the next day was dull as dishwater.
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4. LemorelVnyd: This is the old Robert vonWeidlich (the "von" is an honorary title that Robert awarded himself) vnyd
up on HarrisonGradeRd just NE of Occidental. EricSussman took over the farming of that very old vnyd a few yrs
ago from BradAlper/Ottomino. It is one of the coldest Zin vnyds in Calif and has trouble ripening the grapes.
Those Zins tend to be high in acidity...hence their ageability. This used to be the source of the great Ridge
Occidental Zins back in the '70's. PaulDraper recounts how one yr he drove up to collect the picked grapes and
found Robert vW dumping sacks of Holly sugar on the grapes in the lug boxes.
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5. Salomon: When we were in Vienna, a friend arranged a visit w/ FritzSalomon in the Wagram. He grows his grapes
by bio-dynamic and is very passionate about his growing. This is his rendition of an "orange" wine (what I term
a skin-contact white made in a reductive fashion). But I'm not certain exactly how this was made. According
to his note he wrote on the btl, it is 50% Gruner/5% Traminer and 1/2 Riesling+PinotBlanc. Numbers don't add
up. I think it was made half as a skin contact and half as a conventional ferment. Whatever it is, it's one of
the best skin-contact whites I've tried. Lots of resiny character but also lots of very fragrant fruit to it.
A very savory & exotic white.
I also tried his GV, which was mind-blowing good. Also had his Riesling that was very good. Best I can tell,
his wines are not imported into the USA. Such a shame. Worth a visit if you're near Wien. They also have a
restaurany/heurigen at the winery, located in this beautiful old bldg in Kirchberg.
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6. Zelen/Pinela: These are two varieties that apparently are indigenous to the VipavaVlly. I've not found that
any DNA has been done on their parentage. On this trip, I tasted about a dozen Pinela & Zelen wines, and
their blends. They mostly seem to produce light/fruity/refreshing/zippy/mineraly/pleasant whites along the
lines of many of the TokajFriulanos of Friuli.
Tom