Tasted these two wines last night for DinDin:
1. Forlorn-Hope Sihaya RibollaGialla NapaVlly (12.94%; 67 cs; GeorgeVareVnyd) Murphys 2014: Deep golden/amber/orange color; some fragrant/RG/white pepper/earthy rather honeyed/honeycomb light VM/phenolic/skin-contact slight pencilly fairly complex lovely nose; lightly tart/tangy/bti metallic fairly honeyed/honey grahams/graham cracker light RG/peppery bit floral/hollyhocks rather complex flavor w/ slight tannic bite; very long/lingering light VM/phenolic/skin-contact some honeycomb/honeyed honey grahams slight RG/white pepper/floral/pungent/zinnias some rich/lush fairly smooth quite complex finish w/ very slight tannins; maturing into quite a lovely VM & will go another 2-6 yrs probably.
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2. Black Lamb Eazy Refosk Izola/Pivol Slovenska Istra Dry RW (11%-14%; www.BlackLambWine.com; Oakland; Aged: 1 yr in steel; Natural wine) Matej Zaro/Slovenia 2020: Very dark color; strong earthy/Refosk/boysenberry/licorice rather rustic/earthy/coarse/bit funky slight natty nose; rather sweet (0.5%-0.8% r.s.) ripe/grapey/Refosk/licorice/boysenberry rather earthy/loamy slight prickly/frizzante almost Lambrusco-like/grapey quite rustic/coarse bit funky/natty unattractive flavor w/ light tannins; med.short soft off-dry to slightly sweet rather grapey/coarse/rustic some blackberry/Refosk finish; a somewhat natty/rustic/coarse grapey/Lambrusco-like red wine; too sweet for a good table wine; speaks of Refosk but that's its only redeeming feature. $25.00 (K/Solano)
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More giffersnot from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. This is, I believe, Matt's first RG from GeorgeVare's vnyd. When we first tasted it at RibollaFest, it was very hard/tannic/resiny & dominated by the VM/phenolic character. Nine yrs has done wonders for this wine & it's evolved into a lovely example of what a VM can mature into.
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2. Refosk: Another natural wine wrecked upon the shoals of unclean/natty winemaking. This wine was much too sweet even to go w/ charcuterie.
Tom