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by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.


Some New Wines - February 22, 2012

We tried tonight (2/22/12) some NewWines:

  1. Vina Zanate Marmajnelo Ycoden Daute Isora/Tenerife WW (Marmezuelo grape?; 12.5%; www.JosePastorSelections.com) Bodegas Vina La Guancha 2009: Med.light gold color; quite minerally/earthy slight floral/appley rather interesting attractive nose; soft/supple rather minerally/earthy light floral/apple blossom/mango some mushy/porky/lush pleasant flavor; light fairly rich/lush/soft/porky slight appley/mango fairly mineral/earthy med.short finish; a bit light Corsican Vermentino w/o the acidity zing; an interesting & pleasant white but just that. $22.00 (K&L)
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  2. Tiberini Maturato IGT: ToscanaBianco (14.5%; Pulcinello grape/Grechetto) Luca e Fabio Tiberini/Montepulciano 2007: Med.dark gold color; slightly oxidized/sherry lush/ripe/very ripe rather piney/resiny/PineSol quite perfumed nose; bit tannic/bitter slight oxidative lush/ripe/pineapply/ grapey/spicy rather unusual very attractive flavor; very long lush/ ripe/pineapply/mango slightly oxidative finish; on the ripe side but very exotic & interesting. $30.00 (WE)
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  3. RedTailRidge Lemberger MartiniFamilyVnyd/FingerLakes/NewYork (14%; www.RedTailRidgeWinery.com; 425 cs) PennYan/NY 2008: Very light color; rather earthy/dusty quite fragrant/perfmed slight plastic/vinyl spicy/cinammon/rather Pinot-like attractive nose; tart/lean delicate very spicy/cinammon/Pinotish some earthy/dusty flavor; elegant/delicate rather spicy/cinammon/Pinot-like some earthy/dusty slight vinyl/plastic finish w/ very light tannins; much like an
      AltoAdige Pinot but much lighter; quite interesting & attractive Lemberger. $17.00 (K&L)
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  4. GiovanniBlason franconia/blaufrankisch IGT: delle Venezia (13%) Gradisca d'Isonzo 2008: Dark color; rather earthy/dusty some grapey simple nose; soft bit tannic/bitey earthy/dusty/grapey coarse/rustic simple flavor; med.short coarse/rough/ rustic earthy/dusty some grapey/plummy flavor w/ some bitey tannins; somewhat coarse/rustic/simple red. $5.00 (K&L)
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  5. VidSur Dd'O: LaPalma Tinto Negramoll (13%; 50% whole clusters; U) Bodegas Juan Matias Torres Perez 2009: Very light slightly bricked color; some earthy/BeaujGC some spicy/peppery/herbal/ tapenade slight funky complex rather interesting nose; tart rather bright/cherry/spicy/peppery some earthy/BeaujGC quite spicy interesting flavor; long some bright/ cherry earthy/BeaujGC light bit tannic finish; much like a light BeaujGrandCru; interesting red at a fair price. $16.00 (K&L)
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  6. Bodega Tajinaste 4 Meses Barrica Dd'O: Valle de la Orotava/Tenerife/IslesCanarias (13 %; JosePastorSlctn; Listán Negro/Mission) 2008: Med.dark color; strong cracked black pepper/Rhonish/Syrah-like silght earthy/dusty lovely complex nose; tart very spicy/Rhonish/cracked black pepper/olive tapenade light earthy/dusty quite complex flavor; very long earthy/dusty cracked black pepper/Rhonish/olive tapenade tart complex finish w/ some tannins; needs several
      yrs age; very terroir-driven wine; very interesting at a fair price. $30.00 (K&L)
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  7. CortiBros Refosco/Mondeuse AtlasPeak/NapaVlly (TW) HarborWnry/WestSacramento 1993: Med.light color w/ some bricking; some pencilly/oak slight old Zin/spicy slight bretty some plummy/black cherry slight licorice/pungent rather complex nose; bit tart some bretty/barnyardy old Zin/pencilly some plummy/licorice/black cherry slight tannic/dried out complex flavor; med.long rather bretty/barnyardy some plummy/black cherry/licorice old Zin/pencilly complex; some old Zin character but still speaks of Mondeuse; starting to dry out a bit and creeping over the hill but still very much alive and a real pleasure to drink. $12.00 (CB)
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  8. CortiBros Mondeuse AtlasPeak/NapaVlly (TW) 2009: Dark color; very strong herbal/rosemary/ pungent/spicy beautiful aromatic/ licirico/linseed oil/latex paint/perfumed strong plummy/black cherry/licorice really beautiful perfumed nose; soft/lush/ smooth some tannic/structured very spicy/ herbal/rosemary/pungent/latex paint fairly strong licorice/plummy/black cherry perfumed flavor; very long some tannic/rough strong herbal/rosemary/spicy rather plummy/black cherry/floral/licorice/ pungent/ earthy finish; some like a Savoie Mondeuse but strong herbal/rosemary/pungent character; still can use a yr or three; very interesting wine at a great price; will be interesting to see how this ages. $10.00 (CB)
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  9. AuBonClimat Mondeuse Selection BienNacidoVnyd/SantaMariaVlly (13.5%) 2000: Med.color; strong floral/classic BienNacido/ black cherry very perfumed/fragrant rather toasty/pencilly/oak lovely/aromatic classic BN nose w/ only a little Mondeuse character; fairly tart strong toasty/smoky/pencilly/oak slight earthy/dusty classic BN/black cherry slight tired/dried-out flavor; fairly long bit tired/dried out/tannic strong pencilly/toasty/oak light black cherry/classic BN finish; tastes mostly of BN/black cherry; starting to dry out & a bit tired and some like an old Clendenan Pinot than Mondeuse; still some life left and rather interesting. $18.00
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  10. Carlisle Mondeuse RRV (14.3%; from vines planted in 1910; 25 cs) 1999: Med.color w/ slight bricking; slight funky/earthy (that clears) strong licorice/black cherry/spicy/pungent quite perfumed/fragrant some smokey/toasty/charred/oak very aromatic/very complex nose; tart bit tannic some earthy/dusty rather Savoie-like/black cherry/licorice/earthy some tannic/ hard some toasty/smokey/oak/pungent bit tannic/dried out complex flavor; very long some licorice/pungent/black cherry bit tannic/rough/rustic/Savoie-like bit toasty/smokey/oak/pungent slight tannic/dried out finish w/ good complexity; seems a bit on the downside but still plenty of life and strong Savoie-like/black cherry/licorice character; very aromatic & complex; a wonderful expression of Mondeuse in Calif. $30.00
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  11. Lagier-Meredith Mondeuse MtVeeder/NapaVlly (45 cs; 14.5%) 2009: Very dark/black color; some toasty/oak very strong licorice/black cherry/boysenberry bit herbal/rosemary/chocolaty very Savoie-like/some earthy/dusty beautiful/ fragrant nose; soft/lush/rich rather tannic/hard very strong black cherry/boysenberry/licorice/pungent quite Savoie-like/ light earthy very light toasty/oak perfumed flavor; very long/lingering strong black cherry/boysenberry/licorice/pungent slight herbal/rosemary light toasty/oak bit earthy/Savoie-like/dusty some tannic/hard perfumed/aromatic finish; starting to show the wild/rustic/sauvage side of Mondeuse now; amazing wine, maybe world's best Mondeuse. $42.00
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  12. Rinali ReDream Brachetto Filterato Dolce Sweet RW (7%) Ricaldone NV: Light red color; very strong fragrant/perfumed/ floral/lilacs/roses Brachetto nose; fairly sweet frizzante very floral/lilacs/roses/cherry/ Nehi cherry soda pop/black cherry flavor; med.short frizzante very floral/lilacs/Brachetto Nehi cherry soda pop finish; quite a pretty frivolous Lambrusco-like high-toned/cherry wine; very tasty. $28.00 (CR/KC)
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  13. Fratterosa Visciola Terracruda Visciolata Bevanda Aromatizzata a Base di Vino Visciola (12%) Fratterosa 2010: Med.dark color; strong grapey/plummy/LaCrima-like strong bing cherry/canned bing cherry syrup slight earthy/dusty bit alcoholic quite exotic nose; big/ripe/lush intense bing cherry syrup/canned bing cherries rather grapey/plummy some earthy/dusty quite sweet exotic flavor; very long rather sweet intense canned bing cherries/cherry syrup some grapey/plummy fairly sweet light earthy/dusty finish w/ some tannins but covered by the sugar; speaks strongly both of cherries and grapey/plummy wine; a terrific exotic wine that I liked quite a lot; not sure how it will age or where at table you'd use it, maybe w/ salamis. Great wine for the price. $18.00/500 ml (K&L)
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  14. Visciola Luigi Giusti (12.5%; red wine/wild cherries/sugar) Az.Agr.Giusti Piergiovanni Montignano/Ancona/Marche NV: Very dark color; some earthy/dusty exotic black cherry/chherry ripe almost Port-like very intense very exotic nose; rich/lush/Port-like slightly sweet (4%-5%?)/off-dry intense black cherry/bing cherry pie/boysenberry almost LateHrvst Pinot beautiful very intense complex flavor; very long/lingering slightly sweet very rich/lush/LateHrvst Pinot-like some Port-like bing cherry pie/black cherry very exotic complex finish w/ some tannins; much like a Jr Port w/o the fierce alcohols; terrific wine at a very fair price.
    $30.00/500 ml (K&L)


And the usual BloodyPulpit:

1. Marmezuelo: I gather from the K&L literature, this is the variety used in this wine. Cannot find anything out there about this grape. ListanBlanco & Malvasia are the traditional white grapes on Tenerife.
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2. Blaufrankish: Also known in WashState as Lemberger (whatta marketable name that is). This variety is a cross between GouaisBlanc X unknown Frankish variety. GouaisBlanc was not highly regarded and, therefore, a grape for the peasants. But Gouais Blanc must have been quite a philanderer and spread his wild oats far & wide, as he's the ancestor of a great many modern grapes. Hardly any, if any, exists today.
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3. Mondeuse: SteveLagier likes to refer to Mondeuse (Noire) as Syrah's bastard uncle. Syrah is Mondeuse Blanche X Dureza. The "uncle" may be a stretch because Wikipedia (source of all knowledge) claims that Mondeuse Noire and Mondeuse Blanche are not related, except by name.

The '93 Corti, one of several vintages Darrell made at Charlie's HarborWnry from grapes grown in the Antinori's AtlasPeak vnyd was labeled Refosco/Mondeuse; with the Mondeuse upside down on the label right under the Refosco. Back in those days, it was thought that Refosco and Mondeuse were the identical grape. DNA testing since then as shown that the Refosco being planted in Calif was, in fact, Mondeuse. The only true Refosco (dal PeduncolaRosso) planting in Calif is by the Matthiasson's. Those AtlasPeak Mondeuse plantings have since been pulled (so sad) and the '09
was the last crop from those vines. The wine was made at Trinchero. Bottled under screw cap. When I first tasted it on release; I described it as "fiercely tannic". Darrell took umbrage at that characterization. Over the yr's time, it has seemed to shed a lot of those tannins. Or my original taste was dead-wrong...it happens.

The Carlisle Mondeuse comes from the TwoAcres vnyd. Mike only makes this Mondeuse in infrequent yrs. In its youth, it tends to be a pretty rough/tannic wine; much like Savoie Mondeuse. Mostly the Mondeuse will go into the TwoAcres wine he makes; one of the great old-vine vnyds of Calif.

I first had the L-M Mondeuse as an under-the-table pour at RR or FamilyWinemakers last year. Tiny planting, about 1/3'rd acre as I recall just below the L-M manse up on MtVeeder. When I first tasted their Mondeuse, it reminded me a lot of the L-M Syrah. This btl, a year later, now speaks much more than that, more like a Savoie Mondeuse w/ a bit of rustic/earthy character. Amazing wine I thought. Wisht I'd bought more.

This was probably the biggest tasting of Calif Mondeuse ever held in the USofA. When I fiirst had Mike's Mondeuse fram barrel back around '96, I was most impressed by it and thought Mondeuse had a real potential in Calif. There was nothing in this tasting to make me change my mind. Hope they start planting more of it. Maybe even Poulsard. Maybe we can even start a SAP group (Savoie Advocates & Producers).
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4. Maturato: This is the second time I've tried this wine. The previous one seemed somewhat more oxidized than this btl. Not sure how this wine is made, but it seems to be made as an orange wine w/ skin contact and in a slightly oxidative style. A bit on the ripe side, but quite interesting and rather exotic.
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5. ListanNegro: This wine is genetically identical to the Mission grape of Calif. But this wine is totally different from any Calif Mission red wine I've had, which tend to be light in color and dull as dishwater. Despite the genetic identity, ListanNegro and Mission are classified as two distinct grape varieties. The Calif Mission is so far removed in time from ListanNegro that they bear very little similarity. The Calif Mission was brought from Spain by the Spanish padres and may have been propagated from seeds, which could explain the great differences.
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6. Brachetto: Like most of this genre, this is such a frivolous/wonderful/good-drinking/non-serious wine to have around. It's amazing the anti-alcohol forces have not jumped all over wines such as this. This is a "gateway" drug that leads teen-agers raised on Nehi soda pop to go onto more serious drugs...like ScreamingEagle and SQN. Maybe wines this delicious should be banned before things get really bad.
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7. Visciola: This is a sour cherry that is indigenous to the Marche in Italy. Pronounced vis-cho-la. It has long been used in TheMarches in winemaking under a variety of recipes. The cherries are harvested in late-June/early-July, then macerated in a sugar watter solution for a few days, the stuff filtered and preserved until Fall. Then they make a red wine from local grapes (often LaCrima de Morra d'Alba). When the red wine has completed fermentation, the preserved macerated cherry juice is then added to the wine and the fermentation takes off again, until completion. Sometimes, after the cherries are harvested and crushed, a standard cherry wine is made, w/ the addition of sugar to get a requisite level of alcohol. Sometimes the cherry wine is simply blended with the red wine. Sometimes, the cherry pomace is preserved, sometimes w/ sugar added, and then added to the fermenting, or just fermented, red wine and fermentation resumes, a la ripasso. I gather every family has their own secret recipe.

I'd never heard of this wine before. I was tracking down some CanaryIsland wines and LaCrima di Morra d'Alba at K&L a month ago and stumbled across this stuff and knew I had to try it.
I was mightly impressed with these two wines. They definitely spoke of bing cherries, but also of very good rich red wine. In fact, because of their intensity, some RS, and alcohol level, they are dead ringers for many a StaRitaHills Pinot!!! :-) They both spoke a lot of canned bing cherry syrup but the acidity & tannins made them seem much more balanced than drinking canned syrup.
The stated 12% alcohol levels seem very suspect. Two very exotic wines that I'm eager to try other versions. Surprised I never found this wine at Roberto's.

TomHill

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