The 2nd edition of Wacky White Night focused on "Foods From Your Childhood". The wines were all white (nearly) and had to pass some stringent Joe Perry Wack-Scale screening. Wines were selected from wacky varietals, wacky wine makers, or some combination of both.
2003 Silver Springs Winery (Don Giovanni) Delaware (Seneca Lake) Spritzy, lemon-lime, saccharin Pixie Stick.
1997 Château de Fieuzal Blanc (Pessac-Léognan) Drinking extremely well. Ripe pineapple with waxy lemon. Very rich, very tasty and so much more complex and bright than the ’94 that we had at WWN I.
1998 Pierre Overnoy Arbois Pupillin (Jura) Dirty asphalt, bright flashes of flavor, musty old wood, stinky but keeps me sipping and the rough edges soften with time leaving something that I can’t characterize but sure is interesting.
Pedro Domecq Amontillado 51-1a VORS Sherry (Jerez) Super aromatic and incredibly yummy. Rich nutmeg, sweet roasted nut entry, great acidity, with a dried citrus, nutty, seasalty dry finish. Dee-licious with the oyster/uni chowdah.
1996 Kalin Cellars Sémillon (Livermore Valley) Rich melange of melted butterscotch and roasted pears. Bone dry with decent acidity.
1998 Domaine Guillemot-Michel Mâcon-Clessé Quintaine (Mâcon-Clessé) Chardonnay is pretty wacky for us and this is a chard that I really like. Rich, almost unctuous, aged fruit (oak free?) with plenty of acidity. A little hot on the finish but overall quite good.
2001 Gravner Ribolla Anfora (Venezia Giula) Extremely interesting, complex and yummy wine. First wave is mango, followed by black cherry, a really bright flavor profile, then these fine tannins drift in, and I’m left with a sense of superb overall balance. Love it.
1994 Tyrell’s Hunter Sémillon Vat 1 (Hunter Valley) As much as I enjoyed the Kalin, this semillon is even better. Intoxicating honeyed-lemon nose, medium waxy body that is all nicely balanced with an aged lemon finish.
1990 Kalin Cellars Sauvignon Blanc Reserve Potter Valley (Livermore Valley) Hands down the best sauvignon blanc I’ve ever had. Ripe yellow fruit, very flavorful, excellent balance with a clean lingering finish.
1990 Marco de Bartoli Joséphine [strike]Rouge[/strike] Duré Vino da Tavola Samperi Marsala (Sicily) Wow, my first non cooking-grade marsala. This would have paired even better with the chowder. All the flavor of fino marsala but ramped up 100 fold. Quite an eye-opener and worth looking for. Very complex, very aromatic, great taste. 100% grillo if it’s really the Dure. (Unsure about the exact designation of this wine as there was a gold label stuck over the word “Rouge” and it didnt say Duré on the label.)
1999 Heitz Wine Cellars Grignolino Port (Napa Valley) The lone non-white. Fortified grignolino makes it wacky enough. This was surprisingly good for a California “port”. Ripe cherry and raspberry nose, medium bodied, rich nutty caramel fruit flavors, and well balanced sweet nutty finish. Nothing too compex but very fun.
