Tried this one-off Fri afternoon & again last night:
1. BlackMesaWnry Rkatsiteli StanBaderVnyd/Abiquiu/NM (??%) Alcalde 2015: Med.dark gold color; rather fragrant orange/mango slight herbal almost SauvBlanc/Viog-like/spicy light stony/chalky/perfumed talc quite attractive nose; quite tart/tangy/lean rather stony/flinty/steely/Rkats slight chalky/perfumed talc light orange/mango slight Viog-like flavor; very long tart/tangy/steely rather stony/chalky/earthy quite orange/mango slight NM Viog-like finish; has the classic stony/steely/earthy character of Rkats but much more perfumed aromatics than most Rkats; one of the best Rkats I've had.
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A wee BloodtPulpit:
1. When BlackMesa was started some yrs ago, the wines were pretty marginal. Partly due to the lack of quality grapes. When Jerry & Lynda Burd bought the property, the wines took a jump in quality. Some 4-5 yrs ago, Jerry hired KarlJohnsen and CraigDunn as their winemaking team and they have racheted up the quality of the BlackMesa wines further. They've been working closely w/ a number of Northern NM growers in expanding the availability and quality of the grapes.
Rkatsiteli does not, to me, make a particularly interesting wine. It is a variety indigenous to Georgia and most widely planted there. Many are made w/ skin-contact in amphorae, as orange wines. The varietal character tends to get obscured in those wines. The ones I've tried that are lean & mean wines w/ not a lot of fruit, lots of stony/mineral character, a bit like a thin Chablis.
This BM Rkats is a one-off. Karl was aware of my interest in Rkats and drew off a half-btl sample for me to try afore blending it into there white blend. So not commercially available. Too bad...it's one of the best examples of Rkats I've tried.
Supposedly they produce a number up in FingerLakes, but I've never had one. At one time, Concannon produced Rkats in Livermore, but that was long ago.
Tom