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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 - August 29, 2012

We tried last night (8/29/12) Some New Wines:

  1. Frecciarossa Sillery DOC: OltropoPavese PinotNeroBianco (13%) 2010: Light gold color; rather earthy/floral/spicy quite pleasant bit Champagne-like nose w/ no obvious PN character; fairly rich tangy/grapefruity/earthy quite spicy very attractive flavor; rich/textured tangy/grapefruity/earthy very spicy/floral/carnations bit earthy quite interesting finish; no obvious Pinot character but quite a lovely/spicy flavor; hard to compare to any other wine except maybe a Friuli Friulano. $21.30 (CB)
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  2. BedrockWineCo SauvBlanc KickRanch/SonomaCnty (13.4%; www.BedrockWineCo.com; 450 cs) 2011: Med.light gold color; lovely smokey/meaty/pungent some melony/tropical fruit/mango very interesting aromatic nose; rather tart strong smokey/pungent/smoked keilbasa very rich/lush strong mango/tropical fruit/pineapple complex beautiful flavor; very long/lingering tart smoked gouda/smoked meats/pungent/smokey strong tropical fruit/mango/pineapple/melony rich/lush complex finish; hard to think this is SauvBlanc, almost like a Chard/Riesling blend; really lovely perfumey wine at a great price. $22.00
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  3. BedrockWineCo CasaSantinamariaVnyd/SonomaVlly WW (Planted in 1905; Muscadelle/Chasselas/Zinfandel/ Semillon/Chard; 8 brls; 13.8%) 2011: Light gold color; somewhat smokey/smoked gouda/applewood smoked bacon somewhat floral/aromatic/melony/figgy/spicy quite perfumed lovely nose; soft rich/lush/textured smokey/smoked gouda/pungent bit tangy/ripe/ melony/figgy flavor; very long ripe/figgy/melony light smokey/smoked gouda finish; a bit softer & less smoked and more diffuse than the SauvBlanc but a very interesting white at a silly price. $17.50
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  4. La Crotta di Vegneron Chambave Muscat DOC: Vallee d'Aoste (13%) Chambave 2008: Med.light color; very strong/ intense Muscatty/floral/hair oil very fragrant/perfumed slight mineral/chalky nose; rather tart chalky/mineral very intense Muscatty/floral/cheap hair oil slightly bitter totally dry flavor; very long slight bitter very intense Muscatty/floral/hair oil some chalky/mineral finish; much like an Alsatian Muscat but not as rich and much more mineral character; really attractive Muscat at a great price. $18.00 (CB)
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  5. BedrockWineCo CuveeKaratas SonomaCnty WW (60% 120 yr old Semillon/MonteRosso, 40% SauvMusque/KickRanch; 14.4%; 10 brls; www.BedrockWineCo.com) 2010: Med.light gold color; very strong ripe/figgy/Semillon/melony/ mango quite perfumed/spicy light pencilly/toasty/oak slight herbal/SB complex lovely nose; softer rich/lush ripe/figgy/Semillon/melony/mango light pencilly/oak complex slight herbal/SB flavor; very long/lingering ripe/Semillon/waxy/figgy rich/textured light pencilly/ oak complex finish; quite a lovely Semillon w/ lots of figgy/mango character; great price at $21.00
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  6. Farrier Andiron AlexVlly WW (82% Semillon/18% SauvBlanc; 13.5%; www.FarrierWines.com) 2009: Med.light gold color; low-key figgy/Semillon/waxy rather toasty/charred/oak bit simple nose w/ slight cat pee/herbal character; rather soft/lush ripe/figgy/waxy/Semillon/green olive light herbal/cat pee rather toasty/charred/oak flavor; med.short soft ripe/figgy/Semillon some herbal/cat pee strong toasty/ charred/oak finish; a pleasant enough Semillon but bit over-oaked and on the simple side. $19.00 (AV)
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  7. KalinCllrs Semillon LivermoreVlly (13.5%) Novato 1998: Med.dark gold color; intense smokey/charred/tobaccoy very nutty/toasted hazelnuts/old Rhone some figgy/waxy/Semillon bit oxidized complex nose some like old Oz Semillon; soft very lush/ripe intense figgy/fig newtons/waxy/Semillon rather nutty/toasted hazelnuts bit oxidized charred/tobaccoy/oak old OzSemillon complex flavor; very long/lingering charred/tobaccoy toasted hazelnuts/nutty/ old Semillon bit oxidized/old Rhone complex finish; much like an old HunterVlly Semillon of Seppelt; much more further along than the first two btls I tried. $31.50 (GomersMT)
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  8. Frecciarossa UvaRara IGT: Provincia do Pavia (13%) 2008: Med.light color; somewhat earthy/herbal/dusty light cherry/PN-like/plummy rather fragrant/perfumed/spicy quite attractive if light nose; somewhat earthy/dusty plummy/ cherry/light licorice slight herbal/coarse somewhat like Loire Pinot flavor w/ some hard tannins; long rather earthy/dusty slight floral/Nebb-like rather cherry/plummy finish w/ some hard tannins in the aftertaste; a bit like a Loire Pinot, a bit like a floral Nebb; rather attractive earthy kind of wine. $21.30 (CB)
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  9. LaCrotta di Vegneron Gamay DOC: Vallee d'Aoste (13%) Chambave 2009: Fairly light color; quite perfumed/aromatic spicy/earthy/granatic lightly fruity very high-toned/bright/Gamay/violets nose unlike any from Loire or Bojo; very tart very perfumed/fragrant/spicy quite high-toned/bright/zippy/ floral/ grapey/Gamay/violets slight earthy/ granatic bit tannic flavor; very long high-toned/Gamay/ bright/floral/ violets/cherry some mineral/granite slight tannic/herbal finish; a beautiful high-toned Gamay unlike any from France and some like Swiss versions; if like anything it's like the Bone-Jolly; a wonderfully unique Gamay at a great price. $19.40 (CB)
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  10. Tenuta Ferraia DOC: Gutturnio Classico Superiore (Barbera & Croatina/Bonarda; 13%;
    VinoTerraImporters/Boulder; www.VinoTerra.net) 2010    : Med.dark color; strong spicy/Italian sausage/Barbera/plummy rather aromatic/perfumed some earthy/dusty very spicy/fennel lovely nose; quite tart bright/cherry/ spicy/Italian sausage/plummy/classic Barbera/licorice slight earthy/dusty somewhat lush/rich bit tannic/hard flavor; fairly long Barbera/spicy sausage/fennel/plummy bit earthy/dusty bit tannic/hard rather tart finish; needs several yrs yet; speaks strongly of Piedmonte Barbera buut not as hard/angular as most; more like Barbera d'Alba than anything; quite spicy lovely Barbera at a very good price. $15.00 (CB)
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  11. LaFraya frizzante DOC: Gutturnio (55% Barbera/45% Bonarda/Croatina; 12.5%) 2010: Rather dark color; very strong grapey/Lambrusco-like/plummy/licorice nose; bit hard/tannic/raspy very ripe/plummy/grapey very dry rather austere flavor; med.long strong grapey/plummy/licorice/Lambrusco-like rather tannic/hard dry/austere finish; quite grapey & ripe but somewhat tannic/austere on the palate; good charcuterie wine. $12.40 (CB)


And the usual BloodyPulpit:

1. Kalin: This is, of course, Terry Leighton (UC/Beserkly Professor), who makes his wine up in Novato. He always ages his wine for some time afore release. This '98 is his current release. His Semillon is probably the best Semillon made in Calif. As they age (further), they take on that wonderful aged character of old HunterVlly Semillon.

This was the 3'rd btl of the '98 I've tried. The first two seemed much fresher and younger. This btl had a cork that slipped out all too easily. It also came from a KansasCity source; the other three came from Boston. Which may be why it had some much more aged character.
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2. Gamay: This Gamay was incredibly aromatic and perfumey. One of the best Gamays I can recall. Lots of high-toned character. Unlike most of the French Beaujolais, which has a distinct earthy (if non-Noveau), even rustic, character. Grown under pretty rugged conditions up in the Italian Alps. I wonder if they could grow comparable Gamay (Noir a jus blanc) out on the far SonomaCoast or around Cambria and get such an aromatic wine?
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3. Gutturnio: Not a DOC I've ever had before. Way over on the western side of Emilia-Romagna, hard by the border with Lombardy. Typically a blend of Barbera and Bonarda, which is the local name for Croatina. There seems to be a lot of interesting wines these days coming out of the band across the NorthernPiedmonte, NovareseHills, thru the center of Lombardy/OltroPavese, and into Emilia-Romagna. Many of them are Croatina & Vespolina blends, with Nebbiolo or Barbera as well. Wish someone in Calif would give Croatina (very Mourvedre-like I undestand) or Vespolina a shot. Pietro?? Croatina is not, but Vespolina is, available from FPS.
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4. Bedrock: These whites were from last Spring's release, mostly. I'd had the first two fresh of the boat last Spring. They've really evolved nicely w/ an additional 6 months of btl age. Morgan is very well-known for his old-vine Zins and blends, but he's obviously no slouch when it comes to whites, either. The SauvBlanc was one of the least SauvBlanc in character that I've had; beautiful. But I was most impressed by the CuveeKaratas. One of the best Semillons I've had from outside the HunterVlly.
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5. Frecciarossa: This was my first experience with any of their wines, purchased at the urging of DarrellCorti. I was fairly impressed with them. They make quite a range (www.frecciarossa.com) of wines and I'd love to try more of them. They've one a number of 3Biccherri from GamberoRosso.

TomHill

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