Tried these two the other night:
1. EmbudoVllyVnyds Viognier NM (13.5%) Embudo 2012: Light gold color; somewhat earthy light pear/Viog/floral bit coarse/soapy dishwater pleasant enough nose; very soft/flat slight metallic light pear/Viog rather earthy/coarse/dull bit dishwaterrather unattractive flavor; short soft/flat some earthy/coarse bit bitter slight Viog/pear rather watery bit bitter dull finish; speaks of Viog w/ a whisper; an Oakland Viog and not at all attractive. $25.50 (KK)
_________________
2. TraderJoes Syrah Reserve Wahluke Slope Lot # 237 (13.9%) DNA Vnyds/Ukiah/CA 2021: Very dark color; strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/spicy/plummy bit peppery some toasty/Fr.oak pretty classic WashState Syrah nose; lightly tart/tangy strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/spicy some toasty/oak rather rich/lush bit soupy classis WashState Syrah flavor w/ light smooth tannins; very long sligtly tart strong toasty/Fr.oak strong blackberry/boysenberry/Syrah/spicy/plummy finish w/ light smooth tannins; not a profound Syrah & a bit on the soupy side but a pretty classic WashState Syrah at a great price. $10.00 (TJ)
_____________________________
More rippelswart from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. EmbudoVllyVnyds is a relatively new winery of JoshJohnson. It is, I gather, the brother of the Johnsons who run the nearby LaChiripada Wnry in the EmbudoVlly near Dixon NM.
This Viog is unbelievable dull. Clearly the grapes must come from Paola d'Andrea's vnyd down in Deming.
________________
2. DNA Vnyds: This is a wnry, located in Ukiah, that focuses on value wines for clients like TraderJoes, lots of private label stuff. Actually, DNA does not stand for DNA, but DnA, the principals of DNA, DennisPatton & Andrea Silverstein. Dennis has long been a fixture on the Mendocino wine scene. He ran for many yrs, HiddenCllrs, the Mendo wnry that was farmed organically and had the prominant picture of a cute lady bug on the label. He was also the mind-behind the Coro Mendocino effort, designed to raise awareness of MendoCnty wines.
I occasionally go bottom feeding at TJs, which I was doing Sat & spotted this new wine that I though had the potential to be something good. It's a good/solid WashState Syrah, a bit on the soupy side, but quite a good value I thought.
Tom