We tasted last night (10/18/17) Old Calif Italians:
1. Santino Barbera AmadorCnty (14.4%) ScottHarvey/MikeMontaldo 1992: Ullaged below to shoulder; Med.dark
rather browning color; rather tired/oxidized pencilly/oldRed/charred/burnt/oak slight spicy/Barbera nose;
rather old/tired/oxidized very sour dreadful wet dog fur flavor; not so bad on the nose but pretty shot
on the palate.
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2. Renwood Barbera AmadorCnty (14.5%; #1145 of 1905 cs) ScottHarvey 1992: Ullaged to bottom of the neck; Med.
rather browning color; very strong toasty/oak/charred bit tired some Barbera/spicy/pruney still alive
complex oldRed nose; some tart rather charred/toasty/oak rather tired/oldRed slight Barbera/spicy complex
flavor w/ light drying/astringent tannins; on the tired side & lots of oak but drinkable, barely; totally
shot when tried an hour later.
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3. Montevina Montanaro AmadorCnty (12.5%; 80% Barbera/20% Zin) 1992: Med.dark color w/ some bricking; some
earthy/dusty slight spicy/Zin/Barbera light vanilla/smokey/oak still alive barely nose; soft some
tired/oldRed light vanilla/smokey/oak light spicy/Barbera some tired flavor w/ light gently bit drying
tannins; a bit on the tired side and not much ShenandoahVlly character but still drinkable.
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4. Montevina Barbara AmadorCnty (13%) 1992: Med.color w/ some bricking; rather dusty/OV some Barbera/spicy light vanilla/toasty/oak still alive nose; some tart rather overripe/pruney light vanilla/toasty/oak light spicy/Barbera flavor w/ light gentle tannins; med.long tart/tangy bit overripe some spicy/Barbera finish w/ light gentle tannins; still very much alive and speaks of Barbera but showing its age.
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5. Montevina Sangiovese AmadorCnty (13%) 1992: Med.light color w/ some bricking; rather toasty/charred/oak
slight cherry/Sangio/oldChianti dusty complex rather interesting nose; tart bit sour some cherry/Sangio/
old Chianti/dusty/earthy rather toasty/charred/oak/smokey bit dried-out flavor w/ light gentle tannins;
starting to dry out but still holding on; resembles a bit an oldChianti but w/ more oak.
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6. Montevina Matrimonio AmadorCnty (13%; 28% Nebbiolo/23% Barbera/18% Refosco/17% Sangiovese) 1992: Med.dark
color w/ light bricking; some licorice/dried rose petal/pungent/Nebb/slight tarry light toasty/oak fairly
complex nose; rather tart/tangy light floral/dried rose petal/licorice/pungent/slight tarry bit toasty/oak
some old Nebb flavors w/ light tangy/drying tannins; a bit on the tired side but shows some old Nebb/
Gattinara-like character; the best of the Montevinas.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Montevina was founded in 1972 by CaryGott and financed by his Father-in-Law, WalterField. The wines thru
the early '80's were exceptional, some of the greatest ShenandoahVlly wines ever made. In 1988, Montevina
was purched by Trinchero Family and eventually renamed Terra d'Oro. Jeff Meyer (self-proclaimed "Baron
of Barbera") started at Montevina in 1981, after Cary left in a falling out w/ Walter. By 1992, the
Montevina wines were already pretty commercial stuff in the style of SutterHome. I pretty much blew them
off after I bought these '92's. I recently had their Teroldego which I thought was a pretty first-rate
expression of Teroldego.
Actually, these Montevinas were much better than I expected them to be. The Nebb-based one was probably
the best of a sorry lot.
Tom