Had these two last night:
1. TablasCreekVnyds Vermentino Estate/AdelaidaDist/PasoRobles (12.9%; Rolle grape) 2016: Light gold color; very strong floral/carnations/Vermen/gardenias very aromatic some Mosel valve oil/petrol slight mineral beautiful perfumed nose; fairly tart/tangy some rich/lush very strong floral/gardenias/Verm/carnations slight mineral/chalky some petrol/Mosel valve oil slight steely/metallic rather complex flavor; very long/lingering fairly tart/tangy very strong Verm/floral/gardenias slight petrol bit chalky/mineral finish; a lovely expression of Calif Verm that is showing some evolution & should go another 4-8 yrs I would guess.
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2. Robert Biale Vnyd PetiteSirah RoyalPunishers/NapaVlly (14.8%; www.Biale.com) Dave Pramuk/RobertBiale/Napa 2019: Rather black color; fairly intense blackberry/boysenberry/ripe PS bit licorice/plummy some Am.oak nose; rather soft/fat intense blackberry/boysenberry/very ripe/licorice some vanilla/Am.oak some earthy/dusty/OV flavor w/ ample coarse/chewey tannins; very long soft/fat/bit porky very strong PS/blackberry/boysenberry/ripe some earthy/dusty/OV bit tangy/tannic/metallic finish w/ modest chewey tannins; a pretty classic juicy Bialy PS that is a bit lacking in structure & will probably not mature into anything particularly interesting. $45.00 (KK)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I have, of course, followed BialeVnyds from the very start, when they showed their first Aldo'sVnyd Zin at an early ZAP event at Ft.Mason. The next Spring, I made a visit with BobBiale. We met at his father's vnyd, Aldo's, on the North edge of the town of Napa. It was a rather cold/drizzly day, but we met Aldo & Clementina out on their back deck overlooking the vnyd. Clementina made us a cheese fritatta that we enjoyed out their. This was early on & Biale wasn't yet used to hosting visitors. Now, from the number of "wine educators" they have in their employee, they must have upped their game in that department.
Biale sorta dropped off my radar as their wines got more&more expensive. I should revisit them more often. Their Zins got to be (in addition to expensive) pretty big/alcoholic; a style that I don't drink much of anymore.
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2. Tablas Vermentino: An absolutely lovely expression of Vermintino that is starting to show some evolution. I don't often get that petrol character in mature Vermentino.
Tom