We tasted last week (1/11/17) some New Calif White Wines:
1. Carlisle TheDerivative SonomaCnty WW (Plntd: 1886-1920; 45% Semillon/33% Muscadelle/22% Palomino; f'(x);
410 cs; 13.8%) 2014: Light yellow color; strong stony/mineral rather fragrant/figgy/floral lovely very perfumed nose;
lightly tart/tangy rather stony/mineral strong figgy/Semillon/olive bit Friulano-like very attractive flavor; very
long/lingering very perfumed/figgy/floral rather stony/mineral finish; speaks lightly of Semillon and very perfumed
Friulano-like beautifully perfumed white; the MonteRosso gives it a structure that most Friulanos don't have;
beautiful white. $27.20
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2. Bedrock CuveeKaratas SonomaCnty WW (MonteRossoVnyd; Semillon; Plntd: 1886; 14.1%) 2015: Light gold color; rather
herbal/stony/mineral/quite Bdx-like strong aromatic figgy/olive bit pungent nose; quite tart/tangy very stony/mineral/
quite herbal almost metallic some figgy/olive/Semillon flavor; very long/lingering quite pungent/stony/mineral/herbal
light figgy/olive/Semillon bit dusty/OV/complex finish; some like a Bdx white but more richness & texture and more
structured; much like a HunterVlly Semillon w/o the strong oak; should go out at least 10 yrs; a world-class Semillon.
$38.00
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3. Bedrock Compagni-PortisVnyd/SonomaVlly/SonomaCnty WW (14.2%; Plntd: 1954; Pharmed by PhilCoturri;
GWT/Riesling/TrousseauGris/RoterVeltliner) 2015: Light gold color; very intense hair oil/GWT/floral very fragrant/
perfumed light mineral/chalky very Alsatian-like beautiful nose; bit soft very lush/ripe very strong hair oil/GWT/
lychee slight earthy/mineral flavor; very long/lingering very strong hair-oil/GWT/lychee light mineral/earthy finish;
bit on the ripe/lush/soft side; some like an Alsatian VT GWT, more like a great AltoAdige GWT; rich powerful that
should go out10 yrs. $26.00
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4. Idlewild TheBee Flora&Fauna White NorthCoast (30% MuscatCanelli/30% Friulano/30% Arneis/10% Cortese) 2015: Med.light
gold color; very strong/fragrant/muscatty/floral very aromatic light stony/earthy lovely perfumed nose; fairly tart/
tangy/metallic/zingy strong floral/muscatty light stony/mineral flavor; quite tart/tangy/metallic strong muscatty/
floral slight stony/mineral very long/lingering finish; definitly muscat in character but the other 3 varieties
tone it down and add much more interet; a beautiful white much like a Slovene/Croatian Malvasia d'Istriana;
beautiful white at a great price. $24.00
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5. Idlewild Cortese FoxHillVnyd/MendoCnty (13.8%) 2014: Med.dark gold color; medest phenolic/skin-contact/resiny
some orangey/honeyed/honeycomb very perfumed/floral complex beautiful nose; fairly tart some phenolic/resiny/
skin-contact strong orangey/honeyed/honeycomb bit pencilly light floral/figgy/appley quite complex flavor w/
light tannic bite; very long/lingering modest phenolic/skin-contact/resiny some figgy/floral/appley rather
orangey/honeycomb finish w/ light tannic bite; a beautiful skin-contact white w/ a great balance of fruit/
complexity and phenolic character. $32.00
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6. Idlewild Cortese FoxHillVnyd/MendoCnty (12.4%; www.IdlewildWines.com) Geyserville 2015: Med.gold color; strongly
phenolic/resiny/skin-contact light floral/fruit/Cortese/appley nose; quite tart/bit austere strong phenolic/skin-
contact/resiny very light floral/Cortese/apple blossom flavor w/ a rather tannic bite; med.long strong skin-
contact/resiny/phenolic light apple-blossom/floral/appley somewhat tart/austere finish w/ bit of a tannic bite;
needs 2-5 yrs of age; dominated by the phenolic character and not much Cortese fruit. $32.00
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7. Idlewild Arneis FoxHillVnyd/MendoCnty (13.1%; www.IdlewildWines.com) Geyserville 2015: Med.light gold color; very
perfumed/aromatic floral/apple blossom/mango/spicy lovely perfumed nose; fairly tart very floral/apple blossom/
mango/spicy/nutmeg/gardenia slight stony flavor; very long/lingering quite floral/Arneis/gardenia/apple blossom
somewhat tart bit stony finish; very strong aromatics like Albarino or Torrentes but not the lean/brittle character
those often show; not the strong stony/mineral of Piemontese Arneis; make no mistake..this is World-Class Arneis..
yet again. $28.00
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8. ArbeGarbe SonomaCnty WW (45% MalvasiaBianca from Catie's Corner/35% TocaiFriulano from PaganiRanch/
25% RibollaGialla from Tanya'sVnyd; 14%) LetiziaPalletto & EnricoBertoz/StHelena 2015: Med.light yellow color;
very fragrant/perfumed very floral/Malvasia/peach blossom rather spicy bit mineral/stony beautiful nose; fairly
tart/tangy/metallic dry very floral/MalvasiaBianco/peach blossom slightly bitter spicy/mineral flavor; very
long/lingering aromatic/Malvasia/floral/peach blossom light stony/mineral finish; a lovely perfumey white that
resembles much a Friuli Malvasia d'Istriani. $30.00
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9. Benandants MalvasiaBianca Catie's Corner Vnyd/RRV/SonomaCnty (14%) ArbeGarbe 2015: Med.light color; very strong
floral/Malvasia very aromatic somewhat simple nose; softer some bitter very strong floral/Malvasia/ripe peach
quite dry flavor; very long/lingering very strong Malvasia/floral/peachy somewhat bitter finish; much stronger
Malvasia character but seems a bit simpler and a johnny one-note of a wine. $40.00
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10. WindGap Chard 'Yuen' JamesBerry&BrosseauVnyds/CentralCoast (#1563; 12.8%; 437 cs) 2009: Med.gold color; strong
melony/Chard/appley/lemony/celery seed light smokey/toasty/oak bit earthy/musky/chalky bit complex attractive/
interesting nose; lightly tart strong lemony/Chard/celery seed light chalky/earthy quite interesting flavor; very
long lightly tart bit chalky/earthy rather appley/melony/Chard/celery seed slight pencilly finish; a quite
interesting atypical Chard w/ very little oak; reminds me of Donkey&Goat Brosseau Chards. $36.00
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11. Failla Chard SonomaCoast (13.9%; www.FaillaWines.com) Napa 2014: Med.light gold color; very perfumed/fragrant [/b]
strong melony/melony/Chard light caramel/smokey/pencilly/oak lovely nose; quite tart/bit lean strong lemony/Chard/
melony crisp/bright/vibrant light pencilly/oak/caraamel flavor; very long tart/crisp/bright strong melony/lemony/
Chard light pencilly/caramel/oak finish; a very attractive crisp/bright Chard at a good price. $34.00
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More blatherings from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. This was a pretty incredible tasting of wines that I figured would have powerful aromatics. The two after-thought
Chards, though quite good, seemed oafish in comparison.
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2. ArbeGarbe: This is the wnry of LetiziaPalletto & EnricoBertoz in StHelena. Enrico is the asst winemaker at
FloraSprings. They both hail from Friuli, via Valentinos restaurant in LosAngles. Enrico was the winemaker at
Nonino in Friuli, producer of world-class grappas. They make a tiny amount of Friuli-style wines under their
ArbeGarbe ("bad weeds" in Friuli dialect) and also the Benedants label. Benandanti means "good walker" in Friuli
dialect. You can read the interesting story here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benandanti. Their wines should be
much better known. I first met them at the RibollaFest get-together 4 yrs ago.
WebSite: (http://www.arbegarbewines.com)
Of these two wines, I much preffered the blend to the Malvasia. Much more interesting white.
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3. Malvasia: Nearly all or all the Malvasia planted in Calif is the standard Malvasia Bianco. It, as a rule, makes
rather pleasant whites...but just that. The standard Malvasia of Friuli/Slovenia/Croatia is the Malvasia d'Istriania.
It shares a lot of the same perfumey character of MalvasiaBianco, but is much more interesting, I find.
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4. TocaiFriulano: There was much plantings of SauvignonVert on NorCal at one time, including, I'm sure, at PaganiRanch.
The DNA on Calif SauvVert showed that some of it was TokajiFriulano, some Muscadelle. According to MikeOfficer,
most of those Calif plantings are Muscadelle, only a small amount Tocai. The TTB apparently allows the use of
either name, interchangeably, w/o any DNA supporting evidence.
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5. Cortese: This is one of the unique wines of SamBilbro. The south-facing side of his Cortese rows receive more
sunlight and develop a bit of golden pigmentation. The north-facing side with less sunlight developes scant
pigmentation. He makes the south-facing Cortese w/ skin contact to capture the increased flavors (he feels) in
those lightly pigmented grapes and uses no skin-contact on the north-facing grapes, then blends the two together.
So sort of a skin-contact "Lite" white. It is, nonetheless, world-class Cortese.
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6. Failla: Though I find some of Ehren's SV Chards & Pinots a bit on the pricey side; his basic SonomaCoast Pinot &
Chard represent a very good value. But it's his Syrahs that keep drawing me back in.
Tom
