The Whites:
2005 BROGLIA GAVI DOCG GAVI LA MEIRANA (Avg Score 15.5) $16.99
2006 ARGIOLAS COSTAMOLINO VERMENTINO di SARDEGNA DOC (Avg Score 14.2) $15.99
2005 ARGIOLAS IS ARGIOLAS VERMENTINO di SARDEGNA DOC (Avg Score 16.2) $19.99
2005 LUNA VINEYARDS PINOT GRIGIO NAPA COUNTY (Avg Score 15.2) $15.99
(Ya, I know, there’s quite a few Italians there!) The majority of the tasters (me included) thought the wines to be medium-bodied in texture and mouth-feel, but from an aromatic point of view the wines were subtle, elegant, and complex or interesting. Some of those tasting thought the wines to be more full-bodied whites and intense in fruit aroma. After reviewing the analytical data sheets for the wines I could understand why. Dry extract concentration is a measure of a wine’s sugar and all non-volatile components such as acids, tannins, esters, minerals, and other structural components. Usually when one gives you a dry extract number and RS number the dry extract number represents non-sugar extracts (the RS number usually given as a percentage or weight per volume represents the amount of sugar). The concentration of the non-sugar extract in still table wines is between 10 to 30 g/L. The addition of water and sugar to the must, or dilution of a wine, can be determined by the non-sugar dry extract concentration. For this reason in California the minimum level for non-sugar dry extract is 17 g/L for whites, and 18 g/L for reds. (Too low of a dry extract figure in wine indicates a possibility of water dilution). It only makes sense that light-bodied wines will have a non-sugar dry extract concentrations at the low end of the scale and full-bodied wines will have a non-sugar dry extract at the higher end of the scale. All these white wines had “fairly high” dry extract concentration. The “numbers of a wine” can give one clues about the wine but one’s nose and palate is the “true test”. Depending upon what types and styles of white wines one is accustomed to could one consider these wines full-bodied or medium-bodied? Certainly!
The 2005 Luna Vineyard’s Pinot Grigio surprised me the most. From reading the wine’s fact sheet I thought this wine was going to be a typical California fruit bomb with lot’s of oak influence. From a structural point of view this wine IMO was also a medium-bodied wine, a little more bully-ish in character than the other three (this is why it was the last white served). One-third of this wine was barrel fermented and the rest was stainless steel fermented using native wild yeast to conduct fermentation, which took one month to complete. Twenty percent of the wine underwent a malo-lactic fermentation. The wines were than blended and bulk aged in neutral French oak barrels for 7 months prior to bottling. I definitely thought this wine was going to scream fruit and oak, but instead I found the nose was slightly subdued and more in line with “Old World” character. Nice hint of fruit and spice. Great balance, nice acidity, all in all it was a well made wine Lingering and pleasant aftertaste. (My Sore for this wine 15.5).
The Rose:
DOMAINE LAFOND CUVEE KR TAVEL 2005 (Appellation Tavel Controlee) (Average Score 14.7) $13.99
The Reds:
TERRAZZE della LUNA 2005 Pinot Noir Trentino, Italy DOC (Average Score14.2) $9.99
GRILFALCO 2004 AGLIANCO del VULTURE (Average Score 14.
$16.99
2005 JOEL GOTT CABERNET SAUVIGNON Blend No 815, California (Average Score 15.
$15.99
2005 MOULIN-a-VENT Cordon Pere et Fils (Average Score 14.7) $16.99
Salute