We tried these ystrday at Pig+Fig:
1. OjaiVnyd 60% AmbuloBlanc/40% CaminanteBlanc (13%; 5 brls) 2021: Very pale/near colorless color; fairly fragrant some stony/chalky lightly herbal/SB-like bit Loire/CB-like slight earthy quite interesting nose; lightly tart bit earthy somewhat herbal/SB-like light stony/chalky bit savory rather interesting flavor; very long rather herbal/SB-like bit Godello-like slight stony/chalky finish; not a profound wine but rather interesting & reminds mostly of a ripe Calif SB than anything. $35.00
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2. OjaiVnyd PaseanteNoir VenturaCnty (13.5%; 9 brls) 2020: Very dark color; strong earthy/slight loamy light toasty/oak light blackberry/Syrah-like/spicy bit plummy/licorice quite attractive nose; lightly tart bit earthy some blackberry/Syrah-like/spicy slight tangy/metallic flavor w/ modest chewey tannins; very long rather spicy/Syrah-like/blackberry light toasty/oak slight earthy bit tangy/hard finish w/ modest tannins; reminds quite a lot of a slightly different Ojai Syrah; nothing strange about this wine at all. $35.00
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3. OjaiVnyd PaseanteNoir VenturaCnty (13.5%; 9 brls) 2019: Very dark color; slightly smokey some blackberry/Syrah-like rather spicy bit c-c/peppery some complex lovely nose; lightly tart some blackberry/Syrah-like light toasty/smokey/oak rather spicy slightly herbal/earthy slight tangy/metallic some complex flavor w/ modest tangy tannins; very long some blackberry/spicy/Syrah-like bit c-c/peppery slight earthy/herbal some complex finish; seems a bit like a slightly leaner Syrah but carries more of an Ojai Syrah signature; quite an interesting red. $35.00
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More miskifrattle from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. These varieties probably don't ring a bell w/ most wine lovers. They are varieties that were developed by AndyWalker at UC/Davis over 20 yrs effort to be highly resistant (but not totally immune) to Pierce's Disease:
UCDavisNewVarieties .
Vitis Arizonica carries a single dominant gene for resistance to Pierce's. One of the grapevine species was crossed w/ several VitisVinifera varieties and then crossed back over 4-5 generations to VitisVinifera. Note that this is not splicing the gene into Vinifera, so these are not GMO-modified or Franken Vines, something Adam would not use on principal.
AmbuloBlanc is 62.5% CabSauv/12.5% Carignana, and 12.5% Chard. CaminanteBlanc carries those same percentages. PaseanteNoir is 50% Zin/25% PetiteSirah/12.5% CabSauv.
AdamTolmach's original vnyd was planted on his property to mostly Syrah back about 1980. His first, and one of Calif's first, great Syrah came from that vnyd in 1983. But his vnyd was planted in the center of a river bed environment where the glassy-winged sharpshooter thrives & his vnyd eventually was killed of from Pierce's Disease by 1995. So he took a great interest in these varieties when Andy released them for that reason. To my knowledge, Adam is the first commercial wnry to use these varieties.
These varieties are something like 85%-97% Vinifera. I was not able to pick up anything that struck me as non-Vinifera in these wines.
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2. So....do I get the prize for posting a TN on the most obscure varieties today??
Tom