Tried these two last night for dinner:
1. MarthaStoumen honeymoon Calif WW (11.5%; 65% Colombard from RicettiVnyd/MendoCnty/OV + 35% Roussanne/CCCnty) 2017: Med.light gold color; fairly fragrant apple/pear/spiced apples slight floral/apple blossom slight earthy rather pleasant nose; lightly tart/tangy/lemony/grapefruity light floral/apple/apple blossom/slight honeysuckly/Rouss light herbal/new mown grass bit earthy flavor; very long rather tart/tangy/lemony bit earthy some appley/FC/apple blossom/grapefruty finish; an altogether pleasant white w/ rather interesting character; nothing profound but absolutely pleasant drinking; reminds a bit of a good Friulano. $33.00
____________________
2. Donkey&Goat Syrah TheRecluse BrokenLegVnydVnyd/AndersonVlly (13.1%; U) Berkeley 2011: Med.color w/ slight bricking; rather dusty bit loamy/earthy rather blackberry/Syrah slight appley some black pepper/c-c slight roasted/Rhonish light toasty/smokey/pencilly/Fr.oak quite complex nose; fairly tart/tangy strong blackberry/Syrah/blueberry bit smokey/Fr.oak some roasted/Rhonish/w-c some c-c/black pepper somewhat complex flavor w/ light prickly tannins; very long/lingering strong blackberry/blueberry/Syrah light smokey/Fr.oak some c-c/black pepper bit Rhonish finish w/ light tannins; probably at or a bit beyond its peak; speaks strongly of AndersonVlly Syrah w/ some c-c/Rhonish character; a bit lean for Calif Syrah but plenty of flavor; probably a fair amount of w-c ferment; a bit like a rustic Cornas.
____________________________________
A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. MarthaStoumen is a maker of "natural" wines...by whatever definition you choose to use. I was rather impressed by this wine. Not because it was such a profound wine, but becaused it was made from FrenchColombard..a grape that gets absolutely no respect and is pretty much dismissed as trash.
Back a good many yrs ago, Chalone (back when Chalone was making great wines..they did at one time) made, under their GavilanCllrs label, an OV FrenchColombard from the CyrilSaviezVnyd in the NapaVlly. It had an obvious oak component (though not heavy oak like the Chalone wines), but the OV FC character came thru loud & clear. Kinda crinkly...like taking a sheet of cellophane and wadding it up. That OV FC character came thru loud & clear in Martha's wine. Sometimes a good winemaker can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. This was one such wine.
I became interested in Martha's wines about a yr ago when I found out she was making a Nero d'Avola from John Chiarito's Nd'A grapes up in the UkiahVlly. In the few wines of hers I've tried, I've found none of the "natty" character that you can find in some "natural" wines.
_________________
2. D&G: Another wnry that has sorta fallen off my radar. When I'm in the EastBay area, I always stop in to taste and still like Tracey & Jared's wines quite a lot. Another "natural" wnry whose wines don't show any of those flaws those wines can have.
Tom