Had these wines over the last two nights:
1. Forlorn-Hope Sihaya RibollaGialla VareVnyd/NapaVlly (14.7%; 34 cs) SuisunVlly 2010: Deep golden/burnished bronze color; fairly strong orangey/honeyed/honey grahams light cedary/pencilly slight resiny/phenolic light earthy quite complex nose; lightly tart fairly rich/lush strong honeyed/honey grahams/graham cracker light phenolic/VM bit cedary/pencilly slight orangey slight nutty/oxidative rather complex flavor w/ slight tannic bite; very long rather honeyed/honeye comb/honey grahams/orangey light cedary/pencilly light phenolic/resiny very complex slight oxidative finish; quite an interesting/lovely/complex expression of RG and very Friuli-like.
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2. Ferraris Sensazioni Viognier DOC: Piemonte (13%; GiulianaImprts/Boulder; www.FerrarisAgricola.com) Luca Farraris/Castagnole Monferrato 2020: Light gold color; pleasant pear/Viog/slight floral light earthy/chalky bit simple nose; lightly tart some rich/lush lightly floral/Viog/pear light chalky/earthy pleasant/simple flavor; med. light Viog/pear/floral slight chalky/earthy finish; a pleasant rather simple almost bland expression of Viog; not very distinctive doesn't have a whole lot to say. $17.00 (KK)
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3. Bedrock Syrah NorthCoast (14.5%; 33%-50% whole-cluster; 11 mo. in barrel of minimal new Fr.oak; 14 brls) 2012: Med.dark color w/ some bricking bit funky/reductive/earthy/metallic that soon fades some w-c/Rhonish/peppery light blackberry/Syrah somewhat strange but interesting nose; lightly tart some Rhonish/w-c/peppery/roasted/smokec meats light blackberry/Syrah/spicy/peppery light earthy flavor w/ light tangy tannins; med.long tart/tangy some Rhonish/w-c/peppery/pungent light blackberry/Syrah bit complex finish w/ light bit bitey tannins; a somewhat Rhonish-like Syrah that's starting to turn the corner; drink up now.
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4. Forlorn-Hope MilAmores DeWittVnyd/AmadorCnty RW (14.1%; 325 cs; Field blend: traditional Portugese varieties) Calistoga 2006: Dark color w/ some bricking; strong grapey/bit Port-like slight cedary/pencilly/oldRed slight licorice/pungent some toasty/oak bit complex slight briary/Amador nose; soft slight tangy/metallic bit cedary/oldRed/pencilly bit grapey/licorice/pungent sligt blackberry/Amador/briary bit alcoholic/fumey rather toasty/oak slight drying/tired some complex flavor w/ light drying tannins; long some cedary/pencilly/oldRed some briary/Amador/licorice/grapey finish w/ light drying tannins; still has a bit of life yet but a bit on the tired/dried-out side; not any resemblance to a Douro red.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I was pretty impressed by the F-H Ribolla. It was a pretty tannic/austere wine in its youth but has matured into a terrific example of a skin-contact RG.
Tom