Tasted these two new wines from Sam over the last few days:
1. Idlewild Grignolino FoxHillVnyd/MendoCnty (12.2%) Geyserville 2020: Light ruby near rose color; very pretty Grigno/rose petal/bit floral/strawberry/orangey almost moscato-perfumed some earthy/dusty slight cinammon/cloves/spicy lovely fragrant nose; fairly tart rather earthy/dusty strong Grigno/strawberry/floral/orangey bit spicy/cinammon/cloves flavor w/ light raspy tannins; very long light floral/strawberry/rose petal/Grigno some earthy/dusty bit spicy/cloves finish w/ light bitey tannins; a lightweight sorta glou/glou red w/ lots of very pretty spicy Grigno aromatics; a very good first stab at Grigno by Sam. $35.00
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2. Idlewild Freisa FoxHillVnyd/MendoCnty (12.4%) 2020: Med.dark color; strong floral/lilacs/blackberries/very Nebb-like some pungent/tarry/road tar light pencilly/oak/smokey fairly spicy/cinammon slight plummy/licorice some complex very attractive nose; lightly tart strong blackberry/floral/lilacs/very Nebb-like some tarry/pungent/licorice light toasty/smokey/oak light earthy/dusty flavor w/ light chewey tannins; very long/lingering strong blackberry/floral/lilacs/violets/very Nebb-like light pungent/road tar bit toasty/smokey/oak some complex finish w/ light grippy tannins; definitely a lot Nebb-like floral/tarry character but more richness & not the hard/take-your-head-off tannins of Nebb; has a bit of Mourvedre/plummy character; reminds a lot of Val d'Aosta Prunent but more floral character; as good, or better, than any Freisa from Piemonte that I can recall because not as hard/tannic; a world-class Freisa. $35.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. These are two new varietals from Sam. The Heitz Grignolino (RIP) has always been pretty much my benchmark for Calif Grigno. This is better than any Heitz that I recall.
Freisa is one of the parents of Nebbiolo. The resemblance between Freisa wines and Nebb is quite evident. The Piemontese Freisas tend to be pretty hard & tannic. This one from Sam is not nearly as hard as most of them. This is world-class Freisa.
Tom