We tasted last night (5/16/18) Some New Whites:
1. Ricci Terre del Timorasso DOC: Colli Tortonesi (14.5%; DinoCapriottiSlctn) Ricci Carlo Daniele/
Costa Vescovato 2015: Med.gold color w/ tiny bubbles that agglomerate on the surface; very light
pear/peach/floral rathe quiet/simple nose; rather tart ersatz acid frizzante very light pear/peach/Timorasso
rather weak/vapid flavor; rather short (from refreshed CO2) light pear/peach/Timo slight earthy watery/
vapid finish; a rather dull/vapid expression of Timo; another wine done in by dissolved CO2. $25.00 (K&L)
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2. la Colombera Timorasso Derthona DOC: Colli Tortonesi (13.5%; www.IndigenousSelections.com) PierCarlo
Semino/Tortona/Piedmont 2010: First btl was horrendously corked. Med.gold color; light nutty/oxidative/
caramel some floral/peachy bit earthy/herbal fairly complex nose some like an older Roussanne; some tart/
tangy light nutty/oxidative some caramel/toasty/butterscotch full/rich/lush light herbal/earthy complex
lovely flavor; very long tart/tangy bit nutty/oxidative/aged some peach/pear/floral/carnation complex
finish; showing a bit of age but still a wonderful drinking Timorasso. $27.50 (KK)
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3. Vigneti Massa Timorasso terra Petit Derthona (11.5%; DJK Imports) 2016: Light gold color; somewhat floral/
pear/peach/Timo/light spicy bit candied quiet/low-key nose; lightly tart rather quiet/low-key bit dilute pear/
peach/Timo slight caramel rather disappointing flavor; bit short light pear/peach/Timo slight earthy bit
caramel rather weak finish; speaks of Timo with a whisper; the regular Derthona is way better at only $5
more a btl. $20.00 (K&L)
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4. Vigneti Massa Timorasso montecitorio Derthona (13.5%; DJK Imports) WalterMassa/Monteali/Alessandria
2013: Med.dark gold color; quite strong floral/pear/peach/Timo bit spicy/nutmeg slightly caramelized/aged
fairly complex nose; lightly tart strong floral/pear/peach/Timo bit caramel/toasty some complex flavor; very
long/lingering strong Timo/pear/peach/floral bit caramel/aged finish; strong Timo character but shows a bit
the age or oak or both; pretty pricey at$60.00 (K&L)
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5. Vigneti Massa Timorasso costa del vento Derthona (14.5%; www.PortovinoItaliano.com) 2015: Light gold color;
very strong floral/pear/peach/quite spicy fresh/pure Timo lovely nose; fairly tart/tangy strong fresh/spicy/
floral/pear/peach/Timo/bright rather rich/lush lovely flavor; very long/lingering bright/fresh/zippy/floral/
pear/peach/Timo/quite spicy finish w/ an aftertaste that goes on&on; probably the best Timo I've had but
only slightly better than the regular Derthona Timo; pricey at $60.00 (K&L)
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6. Graci Arcuria DOC: EtnaBianco contrada Arcuris (Carricante; www.Graci.Eu; VinityWineCompany.com)
Az.Agr. Graci/Passopisciaro/MtEtna/Sicily 2015: Med.light gold color; lightly floral some stony/mineral/
chalky orangey rather perfumed lovely nose; fairly tart very floral/aromatic/spicy/peach blossom some chalky/
stony/mineral/saline fairly rich/lush flavor; very long/lingering floral/peach blossom fairly saline/stony/
chalky/mineral finish; not as coarse and more high-toned than I expected; not as lightweight as their regular
EtnaBianco; lovely white w/ a lovely salinity to it; on the pricey side but may be worth it. $50.00 (K&L)
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7. Meinklang Graupert Grauburgunder/PinotGris Natural Burgenland (demeter; Orange Wine; 11.5%;
www.NomadicDistributiobn.com) Michlits Werner/Pamhaugen 2016: Deep golden/burnished bronze quite cloudy color;
bit smokey very strong phenolic/resiny/skin-contact quite spicy bit peppery slight honeyed/orangey quite
complex nose; fairly tart/tangy very strong phenolic/resiny/cidery/skin-contact rather honeyed/orangey/spicy
light earthy/peppery quite complex flavor w/ slight tannic bite; very long/lingering quite strong resiny/
phenolic/skin-contact/cidery some honeyed/orangey light earthy/smokey very complex finish w/ slight tannic
nip; a very complex/exotic orange wine w/o the hard/tannic/austere many of them w/ extended skin-contact
show; resembles some the Forlorn-Hope Ramato; one of the better examples of skin-contact whites around at
a very fair price. $27.00 (K&L)
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8. Weingut Stadt Krems GrunerVeltliner Ried Weinzierlberg DAC: Kremstal (12.5%; www.Winebow.com;
www.WeingutStadtKrems.At) Krems 2016: Light gold color; very fragrant/perfumed classic GV/floral very strong
white pepper beautiful nose; fairly tart/tangy quite strong white pepper/gloral/GV/spicy light earty flavor;
very long/lingering strong white-pepper very floral/spicy/GV slight earthy finish; a beautiful expression
of GV w/ loads of white pepper character at a great price; way overperforms its pay grade. $26.00 (AV)
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9. Sohm&Kracher GrunerVeltliner St.Georg/Burgenland (13.0%; www.SchatziWines.com) Illmitz 2013: Med.gold color;
bit aged/honeyed rather floral/spicy/GV slight white-pepper maybe a bit botrytis very attractive/complex nose;
lightly tart slight mousey/hantavirus some aged/honeyed (botrytis?) slight oxidized some GV/floral/spicy
slight white pepper rather rich/lush flavor; very long/lingering rather rich/lush/honeyed slight funky/
hantavirus some floral/spicy/GV very slight white pepper finish; seems a bit aged afore its time and maybe
a bit of botrytis; quite a nice nose but a bit funky on the palate. $30.00 (K&L)
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10. Veyder-Malberg GrunerVeltliner Liebedich/Wachauer (11.5%; CircoVino) Spitz/Wachau 2016: Light gold color
w/ some dissolved CO2 bubbles; strong GV/floral/spicy fragrant slight white pepper bit light-weight/quiet
nose; bit tart some spritz/CO2 light floral/GV/spicy very light white-pepper quiet/low-key flavor; rather
short bit vapid/watery slight spritz/CO2 some floral/GV/spicy finish; a pleasant enough nose but the
dissolved CO2 makes the wine come across as vapid/dilute on the palate; rather overpriced at $32.00 (AV)
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11. IngridGroiss GrunerVeltliner DAC: Weinviertel (12.5%; CircoVino/Tuscon; www.Ingrid-Groiss.At)
Breitenwaida 2017: Light gold color; very strong floral/GV/very spicy/some white-pepper light earthy very
youthful lovely nose; fairly tart/tangy slight metallic very strong GV/floral/spicy/bit citric some
white-pepper somewhat rich/lush quite attractive GV flavor; very long quite spicy/bit white-pepper/floral/GV
beautiful finish; a bit simple right now but should get a whole lot better over the next yr; an absolutely
lovely GV at a great price. $22.00 (SFW&S)
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12. IngridGroiss Gemischter Satz Braitenpuechtorff (12.5%) 2017: Pale gold color; beautiful very floral/spicy
some GV/white-pepper quite spicy light earthy bit complex nose; lightly tart/tangy very strong floral/some GV/
bit white-pepper light earthy rather rich/lush flavor; very long/lingering very spicy/quite floral bit GV/
white-pepper somewhat tart fairly rich/lush beautiful bit complex finish; slightly preferred this to the GV
as a bit more interesting; beautiful GS at a great price. $25.00 (SFW&S)
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13. LaSibilla Pisciarella Campi Flegrei/Campania (2 weeks on skins; OliverMcCrumImports) Luigi di Meo 2013:
Med.gold cloudy color; some phenolic/resiny/skin-contact/cidery/orangey bit herbal/fresh hay/Kansas feed
store/funky some earthy very interesting complex nose; bit soft/metallic/tangy some phenolic/resiny/cidery/
orangey fairly stony/mineral slight oxidative/feed store/herbal very complex flavor w/ slight tannic/bitter
character; very long some phenolic/resiny/skin contact/cidery/orangey slight honeyed bit soft/metallic
slight earthy/oxidative slight feed store/herbal slightly coarse complex finish w/ slight tannic bite;
a fair amount phenolic/skin contact character but not the austere/tannic character on the palate that makes
some skin-contact whites unattractive; quite an interesting skin-contact that reminds me some of MattRorick/
Forlorn-Hope skin-contact whites from Lodi. $147.00 (TotalWines)
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More grugglespiff from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. LaSibilla: This is a wnry located just west of Naples. The specialize in Piedirosso and Falanghina varieties.
Planted on very sandy soil that doesn't require grafted rootstock. This is my first experience with their wines,
but I'm hoping to try them sometime.
Luigi is interested in reviving some of the region's near-extinct varieties. This is one of those varieties. No
reference to this variety in Robinson or d'Agata. There is zero/nada/zip hits w/ Google on this name. So, for
all intents and purposes, it is already extinct. If it doesn't exist on the InterNet...it doesn't exist. He is
also experimenting with a variety called Catalanesca. It was imported from Catalonia in 1450 and planted on
the slopes of Mt.Somma. I have, of course, followed this variety from the very start.
I liked this wine quite a lot in that it had a good balance between phenolic character and a lot of other
things going on in this wine. Clearly, a variety they should be planting all up&down the Coast in Calif.
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2. Timorasso: This is becomming mt favorite white from the Piemonte. Rescued from extinction in the early '90's
by Walter Massa. The standard Massa Derthona is pretty much my gold standard for Timorasso, although the
Boveri can be quite good.
I saw these high-end Massas at K&L and wanted to try them. They also had a lower-end Petite Derthona that
looked promising. I was rather disappointed in this one. These two high-end Massas were good, but only slightly
better than the basic Derthona at half the price.
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3. Carricante: I've had a number of EtnaBiancos, which usually have Cataratto blended in, that have left me
underwhelmed by the genre. Since KevinHarvey's Carricante was offered, I've started to pay more attention
to the variety. This Graci rather impressed me and is far better than their regular EtnaBianco. Good enough
to now make me a believer in Carricante.
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4. Sohm&Kracher: A cooperative effort of Aldo Sohm, one of Austria's highest regarded somms; and Gerhard Kracher,
son of the late Alois Kracher. I was particularly interested in this wine because it comes from a new vnyd of
his in the town of St.Georgen. This is the birthplace of Gruner, a natural cross between Traminer and an
unknown parent. In the middle 2000's, an unknown vine was identified in an abandoned pasture near the St.Georgen
village. The vine, now called StGeorgener-Rebe, turns out, by DNA, to be the missing parent of GrunerVeltliner.
The vine is being propagated into a vnyd and will eventually be made as a varietal wine.
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5. Veyder-Malberg: This is apparently one of the "cult" producers in Austria. I first noticed his wines up in
Boulder and they seemed on the expensive side. The Hochrain GV and the Bruck Riesling are priced at $80/btl.
The GV is a nice $30 Gruner. The Riesling is much better and worth maybe $50/btl. So I was eager to try a more
reasonably-priced GV. Alas, pretty disappointing.
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6. Ingrid Groiss: She is one of my favorite producers of Austrian wines. These two '17 just showed up last week,
so we immediately had to try them. They are both very solid IngridGroiss that will only be getting better over
the next few yrs...if'n I can keep my hands off the btls I got.
Because of their youth, I was expecting to find a slight amount of dissolved CO2 in these wines. I was not
able to pick up any of that, though.
Alas, in NM, only these basic bottlings show up, plus the rose. They don't bring in or are not allocated
her higher-end/more expensive bttlgs, which typically are terrific. Definitely a producer you can count on
yr in & yr out.
Tom