Tried these two at dinner last night:
1. farmhouse natural WW Calif (12.5%; 41% Palomino/25% MuscatCanelli/22% Roussanne/6% Marsanne/5% Viognier/1% Riesling) V&B by ClineCllrs/Sonoma NV: Med.light yellow color; fairly fragrant light floral/carnations/gardenias bit spicy attractive nose; lightly tart/tangy/bit citric/lemony bright floral/carnations/spicy sbit rich quite pleasant flavor; very long lightly tart/citric/lemony some bright/floral/honeysuckle/carnations finish; almost like a Chard/Rouss blend more than anything; not a profound wine but just very good drinking at a great price. $10.00 (SFW&S)
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2. Scarpa LaSelva di Moirano (14%; Btl#1171; 100% Brachetto/Dry) 2016: Med.light color; lovely very strong Brachetto/strawberry/Nehi cherry soda pop very floral almost MoscatoRosa slight earthy almost Nebb/floral-like nose; slightly tart/tangy strong strawberry/floral/cherry/bright light earthy bit Langhe Nebb-like very pretty flavor w/ light gentle tannins; very long/lingering lightly tart bright/strawberry/cherry/floral/Brachetto finish w/ light tannins; a great rendition of a dry Brachetto and a great (if expensive) Vin de Soif. $27.00 (CB)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. farmhouse: This is a new brand coming out of ClineCllrs (www.FarmhouseNaturalWine.com). I saw this wine & the red in at Susan'sFW&S this weekend. It attracted my attention because the label blatently advertised "natural wine". So....how bad could this be? Perhaps pretty bad. But the packaging didn't match what I'd expect from a "natural wine" producer..nor did the $10 price tag. When I looked at the back label, it identified the producer as ClineCllrs. No way would this be a "natural wine" in the context of what most of us know as "natural wine". So I was a bit puzzled but decided to try it anyway.
Turns out this is a new product from Cline. Their WebSite touts the grapes being grown by "Green String farming principals", which is "natural process agriculture". Whatsdat?
Is it organic, bio, sustainable, or what? Turns out that FredCline & BobCannard (the ClineVnyds soil management expert) started in 2003 a farm over near Petaluma that grows produce (some of which goes to ChezPannise) according to the GreenString farming principals. (www.greenstringfarm.com). It is touted as being beyond sustainable farming and different from Certified Organic farming. In what ways, though, is not obvious.
They, however, do not grow grapes. So the grapes for this wine were not grown at GreenString. Since they don't (to my knowledge) grow Palomino at Cline, I'm not sure where the grapes were grown. And, wherever, by GreenString principals? Since the wine is labeled "Vinted&Bttld by", probably some, or all, was made from purchased wine, not made at Cline.
But I thought it was sorta ballsy to label this "natural" wine, as that could be a real marketing impediment to those of us familiar with "natural wine". However, given the $10 price tag, people buying this wine would likely not have a clue as to what a "natural" wine is or how bad they can be.
So my inclination is to dismiss this farmhouse brand as just a marketing gimmick from ClineCllrs. That said, though, I have to acknowledge that this is a darned good white for it's $10 price tag...certainly better than any you'd find in TotalWines.
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2. Brachetto: A grape I absolutely love because of its floral/strawberry aromatics. It has strong aromatics that remind of Nebbiolo. Scarpa is one of the best producers of dry Brachetto. In fact, it was a Scarpa that Darrell sold me back in the '70's that made me fall in love w/ this grape. In view of the current interest in making Vin de Soif in Calif by some of the hot/new producers, this is a grape they should be planting all up&down the coast of Calif. Doesn't appear to be available from FPS, though.
Tom