Tried these two this weekend:
1. BenevolentNeglect RibollaGialla BengierFamilyVnyd/NapaVlly (12.5%; www.BNWines.com) BNWines/SantaRosa 2018: Med.dark gold color; some RG/white pepper/slight floral some resiny/skin-contact/ViniMacerati bit spicy/herbal/appley/earthy some complex quite interesting nose; rather tart/tangy appley/RG/white pepper light resiny/skin-contact/VM/tangy light herbal/earthy bit orangey/gtaham cracker fairly complex flavor w/ slight tannic bite; very long/lingering slight metallic light VM/resiny/phenolic/skin-contact some appley/earthy/herbal bit floral/RG/white pepper/pungent slight orangey/graham cracker some complex finish w/ slight tannic bite; a very nice balance between phenolic/VM character and brisk/bright RG fruit; reminds some of the Kabaj RG but not as aggressively phenolic in character; a quite nice Friulian expression of RG; a VM-Lite. $36.00
__________________
2. Matthiasson RibollaGialla MatthiassonVnyd/NapaVlly (12.0%) Napa 2018: Very dark gold some cloudy color; somewhat stronger VM/phenolic/resiny stronger appley/RG/white pepper light herbal/earthy/graham cracker/honeyed more fragrant some complex nose; quite tart/tangy/some metallic much stronger VM/resiny/phenolic/skin-contact some RG/white pepper/appley herbal/earthy/spicy bit rustic some complex flavor w/ light tannic bite; very long/lingering some VM/phenolic/resiny fairly RG/white pepper/appley slightly tannic finish; shows a bit more skin-contact/phenolic character & a bit stronger RG varietal character. $28.00
_________________________________
A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. BenevolentNeglect: This is a tiny operation over in SantaRosa run by winemakers Matt Nagy and Ben Brenner. I heard about them from someplace, took a look at their WebSite, saw they made a large range of interesting wines, and ordered 1.5 cs to try. This is the first one I've tried. From reading their WebSite, they describe their winemaking as "minimal intervention". Though they don't wear it on their sleeve, they would probably fit into the "natural" winemaking camp. Whether they have been discovered by AliceFiering and been vetted by SweetAlice as "natural" winemakers, I have no idea.
Even more important, I put this winery in the "natural" camp and expected this to show a bit funky/natty in character. It was not.
These RG grapes come from the GaryBengier vnyd on the NW edge of the town of Napa. This was formerly known as the GeorgeVare vnyd and the source of most all the early Calif RG's. This was made w/ 15 days of skin-contact thru fermentation, so has a definite but not dominating VM character.
__________________
2. Matthissaon: This is the wnry of Steve & Jill Matthiasson just on the NE edge of Napa. The grapes came from his Estate vnyd which was propagated from GeorgeVare's vnyd a mile or so away. Steve was the first, I believe, to make Calif RG from George's graepes. His vnyd was originally planted to RG cuttings from JoskoGravner's vnyd in Friuli and suitcased in as bamboo fishing poles.
Both of these wines are excellent examples of Friuli-style skin-contact RG. More in the style of Radikon than Gravner, which tend to be a bit more oxidative in character.
Tom