Tasted last night:
1. Tenuta Anfosso Antea Origini Riviera Liqure Vino Bianco (13.00%; L.1/19; RosesseBianco from 170 yr old vines) Perrotti Marisa/Soldano 2017: Med.dark gold color/burnished bronze color; rather strong VinoMacerati/very resiny/pine sap/phenolic/skin-contact some earthy/herbal/pungent/dusty slight loamy little fruit nose; quite tart/tangy/metallic/steely very strong VM/very resiny/phenolic quite austere bit herbal/earthy/dusty flavor w/ some tannic bite; very long quite phenolic/VM/very resiny very tart/austere rather hard/tannic no fruit finish; totally dominated by the phenolic/VM character & not much pleasure to taste; badly needs age; very interested to see where this wine will go; pricey at $58.00 (K-L)
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2. Aeris Carricante EtnaBianco Superiore (12.2%; Imprtd by RhysVnyds/LosGatos) I Vigneri/Ragusa/Sicily 2016: Very pale/near colorless; quite fragrant rather floral/carnations/dandelions/spicy light chalky/perfumed talc almost Vermentino-like bit complex beautiful nose; quite tart/tangy some rich rather stony/chalky/mineral/perfumed quite savory bit metallic/steely lightly floral/carnations rather complex flavor; very long/lingering rather savory/mineral/chalky/perfumed talc some metallic light floral/carnations some complex finish that goes on&on; a very savory/minerally white that's quite beautiful and badly needs food with it; best Carricante I can recall having; pricey at$59.00
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3. CruseWineCo. MonkeyJacket RedBlend NorthCoast (51% Valdiguie + 13%Carignan/10% Syrah/8% PinotNoir; 12.5%;
www.CruseWineCo.com; 20% whole-cluster; 3000 cs) Petaluma 2018: Med.light color; somewhat grapey/Gamay/cherry/Carignane some tomatoey/MendoCnty earthy/dusty bit GC Bojo-like rather old-timey Calif red fairly rustic nose; lightly tart/tangy fairly earthy/tomatoey/MendoCnty/Gamay rustic/old-timey flavor w/ light tangy tannins; long rather earthy/rustic/old-time Red/Gamay rather MendoCnty/tomatoey finish w/ light tannins; a rather unthrilling old-timey Calif red. $28.00 (BG)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. RosseseBianco: This is a separate variety, not related to the red Rossese grape of Liguria, and not known to be related to any other Italian grape.
The K-L site refers to a "brief" degree of skin-contact during fermentation. But the VM/phenolic character dominated this wine & I'd like see what a non-skin-contact version would be like. I suspect that w/ 10 yrs of age, this will be something pretty special. Or it may always be an ugly/severe wine.
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2. Aeris: This is the effort w/ Carricante of KevinHarvey/Rhys. He cooperates in the making one in Sicily and has since made one from his CentennialMtn vnyd in MendoCnty, which is also outstanding. It's a variety worth pursuing.
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3. Cruse: These are the kinda off-beat wines of Michael Cruse, founded in 2013. First wine of his I've tried. This is a pretty classic glou/glou Calif red. Most people will find it kinda unthrilling. Nothing to write home about. But I kinda liked it as a throw-back wine. It reminded me of some of the old-timey reds, aged to senility in redwood vats, of GusSebastiani/JohnParducci/JohnPedroncelli. Sometimes you don't need a profound wine & it's nice to take a trip down memory lane.
Tom