Had these two last night at dinner:
1. Morgante Bianco di Morgante Il Bianco du UveNere (Nero d'Avola; 13.5%; www.MorganteVini.It; WinebowImprts) Grotte 2019: Light yellow color; pleasant mostly stony/chalky slight floral/dandelions/carnations bit simple/not very distinctive interesting/pleasant nose; rather soft bit tangy/metallic bit spritz/dissolved CO2 stony/chalky slight floral/carnations bit simple pleasant enough flavor; med. bit soft slight tangy/metallic/steely light floral/carnations bit chalky/stony finish; a pleasant bit simple BdN better than most. $19.50 (KK)
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2. portlandia PinotGris WilammetteVlly/OR (13.5%; www.PortlandiaVintners.com) P by PortlandiaVintners/Dundee/OR; B by PortlandiaVintners/SantaRosa 2020: Pale yellow color; lightly floral/carnations slight herbal/earthy rather quiet/low-key bit simple/fruity nose; lightlt tart/tangy/bit metallic light floral/carnations/PG slight earthy/perfumed talc off-dry rather simple/fruity somewhat bland flavor; med.short lightly tart/tangy light PG/floral/carnations bit perfumed talc/earthy rather simple somewhat dull/quotidian finish; a rather dull/pleasant/innocuous expression of PG & not very distinctive. $14.00 (KK)
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3. Stirm Zin WirzVnyd/CienegaVlly (14.2%; OldVine; www.StirmWine.com) Watsonville 2018: Med.color; somewhat chocolaty/ripe/raspberry/Zin fairly spicy/bright some chalky/mineral classic CienegaVlly/OV Zin some complex nose; lightly tangy/tart ripe/chocolaty/spicy/Zin/raspberry some mineral/chalky bit lean bit complex flavor w/ light bitey tannins; very long strong raspberry/Zin/spicy some mineral/chalky rather lean/hard finish w/ light bitey tannins; speaks strongly of CienegaVlly Zin but rather lean/bit thin in character; just a bit on the lean/hard side for my tastes. $29.00 (KK)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Stirm: This is the wnry of Ryan Stirm. He specializes in Riesling. Since we had last week the Bedrock Riesling from WirzVnyd, thought I'd try this Zin from Wirz. 'Twas not nearly as good as the Bedrock from Enz vnyd.
Back in the late '70's, there were some very good Zins from the CienegaVlly under the LimeKiln and Enz label. They were fairly rich/ripe and quite attractive & distinctive. This Stirm was nowhere near that level.
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2. portlandia: This is the effort of DamianDavis, who specializes in OR wines. Not quite sure why it was bttld down in SantaRosa, though.
Tom