We tasted tonight (3/7/18) Some New Wines:
1. Peter Bernreiter DAC: Wiener Gemischter Satz (13.5%; www.Bernreiter.At) Jedlersdorf/Wien 2015: Light
gold color; quite fragrant ripe pear/floral/carnations/spicy slight white pepper/spicy very attractive
nose; rather tart/lean/acid/grapefruity/tangy ripe pear/floral/carnations bit simple flavor; very long
tangy/grapefruity/acid some ripe pear/floral/spicy/white pepper finish; a really lovely nose but doesn't
deliver on the palate; a pretty GS suitable for the Heurigen in Wien but doesn't hold a candle to an
IngridGroiss at the same price point. $18.95 (BDW)
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2. Solminer GrunerVeltliner deLandaVnyd/LosOlivosDist (42 cs; 11.1%; www.Solminer.com) Lompoc 2016: Med.light
gold color; some volatile/EA bit skin contact/phenolic/cidery very light GV/white pepper rather graham
cracker/funky quite aromatic nose; fairly rich/lush very light cidery/phenolic/skin-contact rather
graham cracker/strange bit soft flavor; very long rich/lush slight phenolic/resiny strange graham
cracker/ginger snaps some cidery/rotted apples finish; a very strange rendition of GV for a Solminer;
seems unusually rich/ripe for 11.1% alcohol. $28.00
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2a. Solminer GrunerVeltliner deLandaVnyd/LosOlivosDist (42 cs; 11.1%; www.Solminer.com) Lompoc 2016: Tasted
the next day: absolutely no trace of volatility/VA/EA. No sign of skin-contact/phenolic character; light
gold color; very strong fairly rich/ripe strong GV/white pepper/floral/carnations slight earthy lovely
aromatic classic GC nose; slightly soft strong GV/white pepper/floral/carnations fairly rich/ripe/lush lovely
flavor; very long classic Smaargd-level GV/white pepper/very floral finish; has a rich/lush character that
belies the 11.1% but an absolutely delicious example of GV. $28.00
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3. Malabaila Pradvaj DOCG: Roero Arneis (14%; www.Malabaila.com; Marc de Grazia Slctn) Canale 2016: Med.light
yellow color; very strong ripe peach/Arneis/quite spicy light stony/chalky/mineral very fragrant almost
Malvasia-like lovely nose; lightly tart/:metallic/chalky/mineral slight spritzy very floral/Arneis/ripe peach/
spicy lovely flavor; very long/lingering light stony/mineral somewhat tart rather rich/lush/floral/Arneis/
ripe peach finish; a fairly rich Arneis w/ a nice quiet minerality; one of the best Piemonte Arneis I've
had of late at a great price. $23.00 (BWM)
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4. Idlewild Arneis FoxHillVnyd/MendoCnty (11.5%) 2016: Med.gold color; intense fragrant/perfumed very floral/
carnations/Arneis/ripe peach/peach pie/spicy rich/lush maybe light oak slight gout de petrol somewhat complex
nose; lightly tart/tangy fairly rich/lush very strong Arneis/floral/carnations/very ripe peach/spicy/peach pie
very light earthy beautiful flavor; very long/lingering strong floral/carnations/Arneis/ripe peach slight
earthy/stony finish w/ a graham cracker/buttery aftertaste that goes on & on; a stunning/world-class
expression of Arneis. $30.00
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5. Solminer DryRiesling SBC (12.6%; 148 cs; www.Solminer.com; Frmtd 7 mo. in neutral oak) Lompoc 2016: Med.light
gold color; strong R/floral/spicy/mango/pineapple quite fragrant bit restrained nose; totally dry rather tart/
tangy slight chalky rather floral/R/spicy/mango slight chalky quite attractive R flavor; very long bit lean/tart/
tangy strong floral/R/mango/tropical fruits light earthy/chalky/gout de petrol finish; a quite attractive straight
forward bit restrained R much like the Ojais that will benefit from additional age; not the usual tutti-fruiti
Calif expression of R. $28.00
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6. Batic Angel Grande Cuvee Rezerva V.O. Vipavska Dolina (13.5%; Biodynamic; 40% Pinela/20% Chard/
20% Malvazija/10% Rebula/7% LaskiRizling/2% Zelen/1% Vitovska; www.batic-wines.com) 2009: Deep golden/burnished
bronze color; fairly light phenolic/resiny/cidery rather rich/lush some earthy/dusty slight nutty/non-oxidative
strong graham cracker/ginger snap cookie/apple pie spicy quite complex nose; lightly tart light phenolic/resiny/
apple cider/skin-contact very rich/lush very strong spicy/graham cracker/ginger snap some earthy/dusty/OV some
ripe/mango very exotic/complex flavor w/ no tannic/bitter/astringent character; very long/lingering slightly tart
rich/lush/mango strong graham cracker/spicy/ginger snap very light phenolic/resiny/cidery bit earthy/dusty very
exotic complex finish w/ no tannins obvious; a beautiful very exotic skin-contact white and one of the best
skin-contact whites I've had because of the low phenolic loading; stunning wine at a great price. $30.00 (BDW)
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7. Solminer Blaufrankisch deLandaVnyd/LosOlivosDist (11.2%; 67 cs; U/U; 34 ppm Total SO2) 2016: Med.dark color;
very strong blueberry/BF/almost BacoNoir/hybridy light toasty/oak rather herbal/pungent/rosemary rather exotic very
interesting nose; very acidic/tart rather aerthy/dusty strong blueberry/BF quite herbal/thyme very light oak rather
exotic flavor w/ light bit tangy tannins; very long/lingering strong blueberry/BF/herbal/thyme/pungent very light
oak bit earthy finish; quite an exotic expression of BF and the best Solminer BF yet; very Austrian in character
and reminds some of a RosiSchuster. $42.00
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8. red tail ridge Blaufrankisch SenecaLake/FingerLakes/NY (13.5%; www.RedTailRidgeWinery.com) PenYan/NY 2014: Med.dark
color; very intense boysenberry/classic BF/Lemberger some chocolaty rather earthy/dusty/mineral/savory light
toasty/oak some Burgenland-like lovely/exotic nose; lightly tart rather herbal/pungent/thyme strong boysenberry/
chocolaty/classic Lemberger/BF fairly toasty/oak some earthy complex flavor w/ light bit tangy tannins; very long
strong boysenberry/BF/chocolaty some earthy/dusty fairly toasty/oak complex finish w/ light tannins; resembles mostly
a WashState Lemberger than Burgenland BF because of the oak but w/ a more savory character; one of the best FLX reds
I can recall; very good value at $20.00 (WineBazaar)
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9. Evolucio Blaufrankisch Weinland/Austria (Lemberger; 12.5%; www.BoutiqueWines.info) 2015: Med.light color; very strong
herbal/thyme grapey/BF/boysenberry quite earthy/dusty somewhat rustic very fragrant nose; soft/fat some barnyardy/
bretty/unclean strong grapey/BF/boysenberry/earthy flavor w/ light soft tannins; long rather grapey/BF/boysenberry
soft/fat rather earthy/dusty some bretty/unclean/rustic finish w/ light ripe tannins; a bit too unclean on on the
soft/soupy side but loads of BF fruit and well-priced. $11.00 (KK)
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10. Juris St.Laurent reserve (14.0%; www.Juris.At) A.u.H. Stieg/Gols/Burgenland 2009: Very dark/near black color;
some charred/toasty/tobaccoy/oak/wet wool very strong earthy/dusty rather herbal/rosemary/thyme quite spicy/
BF-grapey-like rather complex somewhat Burgundian nose; lightly tart very strong toasty/charred/oak/slight wet wool
bit herbal/thyme quite grapey/boysenberry/BF-like fairly earthy/dusty complex flavor w/ light smooth tannins;
very long/lingering strong grapey/BF-like/boysenberry some earthy/dusty/savory strong charred/toasty/Fr.oak
slight herbal/thyme complex finish w/ light gentle/silky tannins; this is how they would make RedBurg in the
Burgenland if they could; a pretty heavy dose of Fr.oak but underneath a very interesting/complex St.Laurent.
$40.00 (BDW)
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11. Malabaila Castelletto DOCG: Roero Riserva (Nebbiolo; www.Malabaila.com; 14.5%; deGraziaImports) Canale
2011: Ned.dark color; strong Nebb/floral/lilacs/violets quite aromatic some earthy/dusty light road tar/
pungent fairly complex nose; fairly tart/acidic rather floral/Nebb/lilacs/violets bit hard/tannic/metallic
some earthy/dusty rather classic/oafish/Nebb flavor w/ ample hard/bitey tannins; very long rather tart/
acidic/lean some floral/lilacs/Nebb earthy/dusty rather hard/rough flavor w/ ample hard/astringent/crunchy
tannins; not the soaring floral aromatics of B/B and much more earthy; needs 5-10 yrs of age yet.
$37.00 (BWM)
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More alt-facts from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Solminer GV: Solminer is the effort of Anna & David deLaski in LosOlivos. Both have a background in
winemaking in Austria. Overall, I've been pretty impressed w/ their efforts.
When we opened the GV in the tasting, the VA/EA/volatility immediately lept out and I was sorta taken
aback by the strange character of the wine which showed hardly any GV varietal character. He seemed like
a rare slipup for David & Anna. When I retasted the wine after the tasting was over, it seemed to have
lost a small bit of this strange character. So I reinserted the cork and retasted this the following afternoon.
Voila!! It was a totally different wine and as good an example of GV from Calif that you can find. Go figure.
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2. Blaufrankisch: A cross of GouaisBlanc (man, does that grape get around) X Blaue Zimmettraube (who dat?) that
originated in lower Styria (now Slovenia). It's most widely planted in central Europe (Austria & Hungary),
though I don't ever recall seeing any from Slovenia. It's most widely planted in WashState/Yakima, where it is
called by its German, Lemberger. My take is that it is loosing traction in favor of Syrah.
This was a very interesting batch of Blaufrankisch. The Solminer struch me as the best one yet from Calif.
It's a grape they should show more interest in in Calif.
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3. StLaurent: Another very interesting grape. An ancient grape of unknown origins. It is thought to be related
to PinotNoir and a cross w/ some unknown parent, though not sure if DNA supports. Sometimes called Pinot StLaurent.
It is the most widely planted grape in the Czech Republic, but those are seldom seen in this country. In Austria,
it's most widely planted in the Burgenland, particularly East Burgenland. The Juris wnry is recognized as the
first wnry to give it street cred on the International scene. I particularly like the StL from Hannes Schuster.
It is grown sparsely in Calif, particularly the Ricci vnyd in the Carneros. MatRorick/Forlorn-Hope makes about
the best one in Calif. I gifted Hannes one of Matt's when I visited there. It should be more widely planted
in Calif.
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4. Batic: I've had a few of the various Batic wines from BlueDanube over the last few yrs and, generally, liked
them quite a lot. When I visited the VipavaVlly a yr&hlf ago, the guy in the Vipava TIC was so excited to have
someone show up w/ an interest in wine that he hustled me next door to their wine tasting room and started
pulling corks. I indicated I was particularly interested in trying Pinela/Zelen wines and skin-contact whites.
That really set the guy off. As we tasted thru a number of producers, I recall particularly liking the Batic
wines. I found a lot of the wines a bit on the rustic side, but the Batics stood out.
Batic makes a lot of skin-contact whites. The grapes are farmed organically & bio-dynamically. Run by the
father, Ivan, and his son, Miha. The grape-growing appears to be meticulous and the wine-making first rate.
I regret that I didn't know to make a visit to Batic when I was there.
I was particularly impressed by this Angel Grande. There appeared to be plenty of skin-contact in its
making, yet it didn't show the austere/astringent phenolic character those wines often show. Easily the best
VipavaVlly wine I've had and maybe the best skin-contact white I've had. Will be sending a btl out to SamBilbro
to try w/ Megan & Ryan & Kevin.
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5. VipavaVlly: This is an area in Slovenia that doesn't get a lot of attention. 'Tis a shame...it is a beautiful
vlly that focuses on winegrowing. As I tasted thru as many of the VipavaVlly wines as I could, the winemaking
struck me a bit on the rustic side and not of the level that you find in GoriskaBrda or the Kras. But I suspect
that the quality of the grapes they can grow there is/can be every bit as good as anyplace in Slovenia. I can
hardly wait to return for a visit.
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6. BlueDanube: A bunch of these wines come from BlueDanubeImports. They are one of the few importers that do DTC
sales. They have a terrific portfolio and it's been immense fun exploring CentralEurope thru their wines.
And I've barely scratched their extensive Hungarian offerings. FrankDietrich is picking up on my wine
proclivities/eccentricities and makes some very good recommendations. Great & prompt service.
Tom