We had these two in our Pig+Fig tasting last week:
1. Pelletier Viognier PasoRobles 2007: Closed with the spongy NeoCork, Deep gold color; some oxidative/old Viog rather nutty/earthy little Viog fruit bit complex/interesting oldViog nose; soft quite oxidative/nutty/sherry-like rather bitter no fruit flavor; some interesting nutty oldViog character but pretty oxidative & totally shot.
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2. BlackMesa Cosecha Ultima LateHrvst Rkatsiteli LasParrasVnyd/NM (12%; SaH: 22.5 Brix; RS: 5.8%; StanBader/Abiquiu) Jerry&Lynda Byrd/Velarde NV: Dark color/burnished bronze color; very strong grapey/passito rather complex slight oxidative/earthy bit peachy/apricotty/peach pie quite complex/interesting nose; soft slightly sweet rather apricotty/peachy very grapey/passito bit earthy/loamy lightly oxidative complex flavor; very long/lingering fairly sweet slightly oxidative very grapey/passito some peach pie/apricotty bit earthy rather complex quite interesting flavor in much better condition than I expected it to be.
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More likkerspatz from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. The soft/spongy NeoCork was invented by Stu Yaniger, inventor of the Three Stooges wine scoring system and TheStupids wine blog. He has a rather irreverent attitude towards wine, obviously. He was a chemist by trade & invented the NeoCork, which had a soft/spongy interior & a harder/silicone layer on the outer circumference of the cork. It was meant to be an artificial cork that resembled a real bark cork. It was eagerly embraced by a number of forward-thinking wineries. Alas, it trned out to be a colossal failure when it was found not to maintain an airtight seal over the long run. Most every wine that was once sealed w/ a NeoCork is now pretty much dead&gone w/ few exceptions.
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2. BlackMesa: This is a dessert Rkatsiteli grown up in Abiguiu of Northern New Mexico. There was no Rkatsitely character that I could identify. The SaH/alcohol/RS numbers don't quite seem to be in sync/jive. I doubt botrytis played any role in this wine. But it was, I thought, quite an interesting NM dessert wine.
Tom