Shared these two w/ Susan on Friday:
1. Birichino MalvasiaBianca Monterey (13.0%; www.Birichino.com) Salinas 2018: Med.light gold color; very strong perfumey/jasmine/floral/gardenias/bit muscatty/cheap hair oil/Vitalis intensely aromatic nose; very dry intensely aromatic MB/floral/gardenias/jasmine/cheap hair oil fairly tart/tangy beautiful exotic flavor w/ no trace of bitterness; very long/lingering fairly tart/tangy intensely floral/gardenias/bit muscatty/cheap hair oil very dry finish w/ no bitterness; a beautiful expression of MB; probably a slight bit of r.s but not at all obvious; one of the best dry MB's I can recall; the structure of a good Malvasia d'Istriani but more intensely aromatic; very well priced at $20.00 (AV)
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2. Vietti feisa vivace Dd'OC: Langhe (12%; DallaTerraImports; EB; www.Vietti.com) Alfredo Currado/Castiglione Falletto 2017: Very dark quite fizzy color; bit earthy/some tarry/pungent/Nebb-like quite perfumed/lilacs/floral slight Lambrusco-like/grapey bit rustic very aromatic nose; quite spritzy/fizzy some earthy/tarry/pungent/Nebb-like off-dry (1% r.s.?) pretty tart/tangy quite aromatic/grapey some bretty/unclean flavor w/ some bitey/astringent tannins; very long rather hard/gritty/tannic strong Nebb-like/floral/lilacs/violets bit tarry/pungent some bretty/rustic finish w/ ample hard/gritty tannins; quite an attractive Nebb-like nose but very hard/astringent on the palate; the CO2 seems to ratchet up the astringent tannins. $25.00 (KK)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Freisa vivace is not often seen. It is made by taking a small amount of the pressed juice and freezing it. When the wine has aged & ready to btl, the frozen must is defrosted and the juice added to the wine just afore bttling. The wine then undergoes a 2'nd fermentation in the btl, with the resulting CO2 trapped therein.
Freisa is an offspring of Nebbiolo and tends to show much the same aromatics and fierce tannins you find in Nebbiolo.
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2. MalvasiaBianca: Most MB's are finished off-dry to cover up the bitterness dry Muscats tend to show. This MB seemed to be totally dry, yet showed no signs of bitterness.
Tom