1. Grosgrain Albarino PhilipsVnyd/WallaWallaVlly (14%; Frmtd & aged: Concrete egg/neutral brl/SS;
www.GrosGrainVineyards.com) WallaWalla 2018: Med.gold color; attractive fragrant Albarino/floral/carnations some earthy/chalky rather Spanish-like interesting nose; bit soft lightly floral/Albarino/carnations rather earthy/chalky/dusty slight stony flavor; med.long earthy/stony/dusty light Albarino/floral/carnations slight tangy/metallic finish; speaks gently of Albarino but a bit earthy/rustic some like Spanish Albarino; not nearly as bright/fruit-driven as most Calif Albarinos but a bit more interesting. $nc(MA)/$24.00
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2. Grosgrain Pet-Nat OldVine Lemberger KionaVnyds/RedMtn (Plntd: 1976; 12.2%) 2019: Foams up quite a bit when poured w/ loads of tiny bubbles on side of glass; loads of tiny/persistent bubbles; med.dark gold color; quite yeasty/soda popy/7Up slight herbal nose; quite fizzy/petillant that foams up in the mouth; rather yeasty/soda popy/fresh bread flavor; med.long yeasty/soda popy/fresh bread little grape finish; just a pretty/frivolous Pet-Nat that's easy/fun drinking; seems strange to make a PetNat out of what should be some pretty serious grapes. $nc(MA)/$26.00
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3. PetitGrosgrain WallaWallaVlly (13.6%; 43% Mourv/36% Syrah/23% Grenache) 2018: Med.dark color; strong plummy/Mourv bit blackberry/boysenberry strong earthy/dusty/bit loamy/mushroomy slight herbal bit Rhonish/CdP light toasty/oak some complex nose; lightly tart strong plummy/Mourv bit blackberry/Syrah fairly earthy/loamy/dusty/OV bit Rhonish bit toasty/oak flavor w/ light soft tannins; very long strong earthy/dusty/loamy/mushroomy slightl tart some plummy/Mourv light toasty/oak finish w/ light soft tannins; a very interesting/attractive bit rustic Mourv that's a dead-ringer for a ContraCosta Evangelho Mourv. $nc(MA)/$24.00
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4. Grosgrain Grenache LosRocososVnyd/WWVlly (12.8%; 15% whole-cluster; Elevage: neutral Fr.oak) 2018: Med.light color; light quite fragrant cherry/strawberry/Grenache slight earthy quite pretty/fragrant nose; bit soft light cherry/strawberry/Grenache lightly spicy bit simple flavor w/ light gentle tannins; med.long light bright/pretty Grenache/strawberry/cherry/Alpine strawberries slight earthy finish w/ light gentle tannins; a bright/fruit-driven altogether pretty expression of Grenache; quite attractive & easy drinking. $nc(MA)/$34.00
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5. Grosgrain Rosso OldMiltonVnyd/WWVlly (13.1%; Co-frmtd field blend: 55% Nebbiolo/43% Aglianico/2% Moscato) 2018: Med.color; rather floral/Nebb/licorice/lilacs some plummy/licorice/Aglianico bit earthy/dusty light toasty/oak slight pungent/tarrysome complex very unusual nose; quite tart/tangy lightly floral/Nebb/licorice/slight tarry rather earthy/dusty bit plummy/licorice/Aglianico rather rough/rustic bit toasty/oak complex flavor w/ ample rough tannins; long rather rough/rustic/Italianate slight floral/lilacs/Nebb some plummy/Aglianico bit toasty/oak finish w/ some rough tannins; speaks mostly of the pungent/tarry side of Nebb w/ some plummy Aglianico; shows the acid & tannins from the Nebb; some of the rustic/rough character of Basilicato Aglianico, maybe the best of both Northern & Southern Italy; reminds some of AltoPiemonte Nebb but more intense & not as floral and a bit of Valtelline Nebb but not as pure Nebb; really quite an interesting very Italianate blend. $nc(MA)/$32.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. This is the WW wnry of Matt & Kelly Austin. Matt expressed an interest in some publications on some old Calif wineries I was disposing of. So I sent him the articles & in exchange, he sent me some of his wines to try. Then COVID hit. So I'm just now getting to try Matt's wines a year later.
I was aware that he was working with Nebbiolo from my NEB work, so was particularly interested in trying the Nebb.
This is some of the background Matt provided me:
The property where our winery is located used to be another winery called Sole Rosso that focused on Italian varieties. Apparently a charismatic Italian guy named Giovanni came through the Walla Walla Valley around 2005 and persuaded a few people to plant some Italian varieties before mysteriously disappearing. Bob Branscum was a local banker who spent some time with Giovanni and thus, Sole Rosso was born. Bob didn't have much experience in the wine business and had some financial and medical setbacks that prevented him from ever properly fulfilling his vision and eventually he sought to sell the property. It sat on the market for about 2 years before eventually going to auction, which I learned of in the local newspaper on the very day of the auction (which was right in the middle of harvest while I was working as cellar master at Dunham Cellars). A few impulsive moments later my wife and I were winery/vineyard owners.
The vineyard was in pretty bad shape when we took over and we were only able to retain about a half acre of vines which was pretty evenly divided between Nebbiolo and Aglianico. As it turns out there were a few vines of Moscato Giallo mixed in with the Nebbiolo (which we weren't aware of until they ripened) and with low yields in our first vintage (2018) we decided to harvest and ferment all 3 varieties together as a field blend. The Moscato is just 2% of the blend, but it is quite apparent on the nose which is quite floral and seems to change almost daily. The wine spent one year in a single neutral puncheon. In 2018 we planted about an additional quarter-acre each of Nebbiolo and Aglianico, so we will likely harvest the varieties separately this year for the first time, which I am quite excited about. We are also planting Vermentino and Ribolla Gialla on our other property this year, which will be new to the region. We work with a pretty wide range of varieties, so I'll send you a few things that you might be interested in.
Overall, I liked Matt's wines quite a lot. They are pretty atypical of WashState wines with which I'm familiar. Not nearly as intense, not nearly as oaked, rather Italianate in character. My easy favorite was the Nebb/Aglianico blend. Not quite anything else I could relate to.
But these are wines worth checking out if you're interested in something off the beaten WashState path.
Tom