We tried last night (12/12/18) Some New Stuff:
1. WineThieves Kisi Kakheti/Georgia (11.4%; BlueDanubeWines; Qvevri; U) AvtoKobakhidze/GiviApakidze/
Kardenakhi 2016: Med.dark gold/bit burnished bronze color; some phenolic/rather resiny somewhat
orangey/honeyed spicy/floral/appley/apple blossom quite fragrant very attractive nose; bit soft
slight metallic/tangy some phenolic/rather resiny very slight oxidative fairly rich/lush honeyed/
floral/apple blossom very attractive flavor w/ very slight tannic bite; very long soft some phenolic/
rather resiny strong floral/orangey/honeyed/apple blossom lovely finish; maybe the best Georgian
Qvevri whites I've yet had w/ nice balance between phenolic & fruit. $30.00 (Ordinaire)
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2. Vigne Marina Coppi Marine Favorita DoC: ColliTortonesi (13.5%; TheSortingTable) Francesco Bellocchio/
Castellania 2012: Med.light gold color; some Mosel valve oil light smokey rather fragrant/Vermen/floral
light spicy rather perfumed talc bit appley quite attractive nose; quite tart bit tangy/stony/mineral
quite floral/Vermen/spicy/carnations slight earthy flavor; very long some tart/tangy somewhat angular/
brisk very spicy/floral/carnations/Vermen slight earthy/stony finish; quite an attractive expression of
Vermentino at a fair price. $27.00
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3. Weingut Mayer am Pfarrplatz DAC: Wiener GemischterSatz/Nussberg (13.5%) Vienna 2015: Light gold color;
beautiful fragrant/aromatic very floral/carnations/apple blossom bit white pepper/GV slight R slight
metallic/stony rather spicy fairly complex beautiful nose; lightly tart/tangy very spicy/floral/
carnations/R some white pepper/GV light earthy/chalky very perfumey some complex flavor; very long/
lingering quite floral/R/carnations/ripe peaches light stony/mineral some GV/pepper finish; a beautiful
GS at a stupid/silly price. $22.00 (BWM)
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4. Martin Muthenthaler GrunerVeltliner Viesslinger SternVnyd/Wachau (12.0%) Muhldorf/Wachau 2015: Med.light
gold color; somewhat quiet/low-key rather white pepper/GV bit pungent some earthy light valve oil rather
complex nose; fairly tart/tangy rather herbal/new mown grass fairly white pepper/GV/bit floral/carnations
some earthy/chalky rather elegant/subtle/quiet fairly complex flavor; very long/lingering bit herbal/green
grass/pungent light Mosel valve oil some GV/white pepper/floral complex finish; a bit on the subtle/quiet
side but a rather complex tasty GV; a bit pricey at $58.00 (BWM)
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5. Jaffurs GrenacheBlanc ThompsonVnyd (13.2%) 2017: Light gold color; some corked/TCA light honeysuckle/GB/
floral some pencilly/oak bit beaten-down nose; lightly tart bit musty/TCA light honeysuckle/GB/floral flavor;
some GB comes thru but badly robbed by the TCA. $27.00
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6. Jaffurs Roussanne StolpmanVnyd (13.5%) 2017: Med.light gold color; lovely honeysuckle/Rouss/floral/honeyed some
toasty/oak/butterscotchy very perfumed beautiful aromatic nose; bit sof very rich/lush/bit fat very strong
Rouss/floral/honeysuckle/honeyed some toasty/butterscotchy/Fr.oak quite attractive flavor; very long/lingering
somewhat soft/fat/lush strong floral/Rouss/honeysuckle/honeyer rather toasty/butterscotchy/Fr.oak finish; lots
of Fr.oak and loads of Rouss/honeysuckle fruit but seem to not have the structure nor depth of previous Rouss;
very attractive price at $23.80
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7. Jaffurs Syrah SBC (14.8%) 2017: Med.dark color; very strong blackberry/Syrah/blueberry classic SB Syrah bit
spicy/black pepper strong toasty/smokey/oak very lush attractive nose; rather soft slight tangy/metallic
strong toasty/Fr.oak strong SBC Syrah/spicy/blackberry/blueberry slight earthy/peppery flavor w/ modest ripe/
soft tannins; very long somewhat soft/fat very strong blackberry/Syrah/blueberry/spicy/bit peppery strong
toasty/Fr.oak big fruit finish w/ modest soft/ripe tannins; loads of very classic SB Syrah fruit w/ strong
Fr.oak but not the depth or structure of previous SBC Syrahs; very good price at $23.00
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8. Jaffurs PetiteSirah ThompsonVnyd (15.4%; ArchibaldCuvee)2017: Very dark/black color; very intense PS/blueberry/
boysenberry/ripe/blackberry strong Am.oak/pencilly/toasty slight peppery nose; soft/rich/lush/fat intense
boysenberry/blackberry/PS bit earthy bit alcoholic/hot strong toasty/Am.oak flavor w/ modest soft/ripe tannins;
very long soft/fat intense boysenberry/blackberry/PS bit earthy/pepper strong toasty/Am.oak/smokey finish w/
modest ripe tannins; loads of ripe PS/boysenberry fruit but a bit lacking in backbone; not sure it will make
great old bones. $30.20
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9. Too's babor Wine Grenache LimerickLaneVnyd/RRV (15.1%; www.LimerickLaneWines.com) Healdsburg 2016: Very dark
color; strong blackberry/strawberry/Grenache/ripe slight licorice light pencilly/toasty/Fr.oak bit earthy/
dusty/OV slight metallic/burning steel wool strong LL-style bit complex nose; soft bit tangy/metallic very
strong Grenache/strawberry/blackberry/ripe slight peppery/licorice light toasty/Fr.oak some dusty/OV flavor w/
modest ripe tannins; very long/lingering very strong strawberry/blackberry/Grenache light toasty/oak some
dusty/OV bit complex finish w/ modest ripe tannins; needs 2-5 yrs; very much in the LL style but a bit more
restrained/subtle and not as much ripeness; a beautiful expression of RRV Grenache; Cruz done good. $100
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More turdsnottle from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Too's babor: This is a Grenache made by Cruz Bilbro. Mostly by himself, with Dad Jake looking over his
shoulder. Dad offered some Syrah to Cruz to boost the Grenache, but Cruz refused it. The name comes from
Cruz's attempt to pronounce his name when he was just learning to talk. He designed the label himself w/ a
drawing of a John Deere tractor on the front and a hand-written story on the back label. Cruz is one of the
neatest kids you'll ever want to meet. He made two brls of this wine. He wanted to make them a charitable
contribution. The first barrel he donated to Emirl Lagasse. He & Jake went to NewOrleans a month ago to
raise money for its sale for Emeril's Foundation, raising over a quarter of a Million$$. This second barrel
he donated to the Northern Calif Down'sSyndrome Foundation. Cruz organized a party at LimerickLane last Sunday
to raise $$'s for it, with the $100 admission going to the Foundation. Cruz's best friend is Brady Mauritson,
son of Clay & Carrie-Anne Mauritson of Mauritson Wnry fame. I got to meet Brady at the party and he, too, is
one incredibly neat kid. The event Sunday was one of the greatest wine events I've ever attended, not so much
because it was a wine event, but because it was a family event. Kids galore all over the place and a real
paucity of wine geeks. Chris Bilbro (founder of MariettaCllrs) made a huge batch of his famous Minestrone.
An amazing way to spend an afternoon.
Though not listed on their WebSite, I suspect you can purchase a btl of Cruz's Grenache by contacting the
wnry directly. Pretty sure it was not all sold out at the event Sunday.
LimerickLane just hired ChrisPittinger (recently of Skinner in ElDoradoCnty) as winemaker. Chris brings
some terrific skills to the winemaking and the LL wines are only going to get notched up some.
LL makes about the only Furmint made in Calif. I took a btl of it to share w/ HeidiSchrock in Rust a few
yrs ago and she was quite impressed with it.
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2. Kisi: One of the many Georgian indigenous grapes. Believed to be Rkatsiteli X Mtsvane. Good source of all
these indigeneous Georgian varieties: www.winesgeorgia.com/site/grape-varieties. Looking at the list makes
me realize how much more work I have to do. Clearly, all these grapes should be being planted all up & down
the coast of Calif.
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3. Coppi: This is a ColliTortonesi producer I've fallen in love with since I first had their Barbera about a yr
ago. I ordered in a case of theit Timorasso & found it outstanding as well. So took a flyer and ordered in a
case of this Favorita. The first btl I tried was underwhelming. This btl was markedly better.
Favorita is the Piemontese name for the Vermentino grape. Also known across the border in Liguria as Pigato.
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4. Jaffurs: These four Jaffurs are from our futures order that arrived a few weeks ago. Other than the corked GB,
I liked these other three quite a lot...very good drinking. That said, though, they didn't seem to have the
depth and the structure of previous releases. They were quite pretty wines, but I'm not sure they will age as well
as previous versions have. We shall see, though.
Of these three, the PetiteSirah was my easy favorite. Huge fruit for a Calif PS. It was, of course, the
very rare Archibald Cuvee PS.
Tom