Tried these two over the last few days:
1. Failla Viognier AlbanVnyd/EdnaVlly (14.1%) 2012: Med.gold color; fairly strong pear/ripe peach/Viog/bit white pepper/lightly spicy light pencilly/oak bit complex nose; quite tart/tangy some pear/Viog/ripe peach light pencilly/oak bit spicy rather structured bit tight flavor; very long low-key/quiet ripe pear/Viog/peach bit spicy light pencilly/oak finish; a bit on the quiet side but very structured & needs 3-6 yrs; way far away from Alban territory; no signs of oxidation nor evolution of that nutty/oxidized character.
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2. Bedrock Riesling WirzVnyd/CienegaVlly (Dry farmed; Plntd: 1963; Aged: neutral Fr.oak; 13.5%) 2018: Light gold color; quite fragrant R/mango/pineapple/floral fairly stony/chalky/mineral/saline/perfumed talc quite attractive/fragrant nose; quite tart/tangy some metallic/steely fairly strong floral/R/mango/pineapple rather savory/saline/chalky/perfumed talc/mineral flavor; very long savory/saline/chalky bit earthy rather tart/metallic some floral/mango/R finish; quite an attractive Calif R w/ lots of savory character; definitely not Alsace or German R but resembles more a good R from the Sudtirol. $22.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Failla: This was, I believe, the last year Ehren was able to get Viog from JohnAlban. Upon release, I was quite struck by the structure it showed (unlike the Albans) and was convinced it had a long life ahead because of its bracing acidity. It was a quite perfumed example of Viog.
Though I was not disappointed by this wine, I was struck by the loss of aromatics and the lack of any nutty/evolution character. It just seemed to be on the quiet side.
Maybe it is just in a "dumb". I have no idea.
Tom