Susan & I shared this mixed bag of wines over the weekwnd:
1. IngridGroiss GrunerVeltliner DAC: Weinviertel (12.5%; VineyardBrands/Birmingham/AL) Ingrid Groiss/Breitenwaida 2024: Med.yellow color w/ tiny bubbles that dissipate; very strong GV/white pepper/very floral/gardenias slight mineral/stony quite spicy lovely GV nose; quite tart/tangy very strong GV/white pepper/floral/gardenias light mineral/stony crisp/brifgt rich/lush flavor; a beautiful expression of GV that should age well over the next 3-7 yrs. $21.00 (KK)
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2. Stiltianou Great Mother PGI: Kphth/Crete (13.5%; Mandalaria grape; 1 day maceration; natural wine; U/U; Eklektikon/Wilmington/DE) StilianouWnry/Heraklion/Crete/Greece 2020: Fairly dark color; strong grapey/herbal/bit pungent rather herbal/Cab-like/licorice some toasty/oak rather complex fairly intense nose much like a Foradori Teroldego; fairly tart/tangy bit metallic strong blackberry/boysenberry rather herbal/Cab-like bit rustic/dusty/OB some toasty/oak quite structured/angular flavor w/ strong chewey tannins; quite tart/angular & lacks richness/lushness but very interesting fruit & no hot-climate character; a fairly priced interesting red; a natural wine w/ no natty character whatsoever; one of the best/few Crete table wines I've tried. $29.00 (KK)
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3. Saint-Lannes IGP: Cotes de Gascogne (12.0%; 80% Colombard/20% Gros-Manseng; VintageImprts/Denver) St.Lannes/Gascogne 2023: Light yellow color; rather mineral/stony slight floral/Colombard quite simple/fruity rather dull nose; quite tart/tangy/metallic/flinty rather simple/Colombard/fruty flavor; a quite simple stony/Colombard wine & dull as dishwater. $10.50 (KK)
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4. OrangeBeard NorthCoast Skin-Frmtd WW (13.3%; 91% PinotGris/9% Muscat; 45 days skin-contact; natural wine) FreyVnyds/RedwoodVlly/Mendocino 2023: Dark golden/garnet/bit browning color; strong phenolic/skin-contact/very resiny rather earthy/dusty/OV slight floral/PG not very pleasant nose; bit soft slight natty/funky very phenolic/skin-conract/very resiny rather sour/earthy slight PG/floral quite tannic rather unattractive flavor; a hard/tannic very austere/resiny wine that I doubt will ever develop into anything interesting; very unpleasant for drinking now. $17.50 (KK)
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5. Forlorn-Hope The Faufreluches GWT TheHillVnyd/RRV (12.88%) MatthewRorickVnyd/Murphys 2014: Deep gold/brown very cloudy color; very strong phenolic/skin-contact/very resinous very slight GWT/hair-oil rather oxidative slight graham crackers quite dusty/earthy nose; very tart/acidic quite austere/phenolic/resinous fairly tannic/austere very little GWT/hair oil unattractive flavor; long quite tannic/austere very phenolic finish that tracks flavor; totally dominated by phenolic/skin-contact character & not showing any signs of evolving; rather painful to taste.
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More scurvyplit from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. I've always been a big fan of the IngridGroiss wines. This '24 Gruner was her latest release that just arrived here in NM. A beautiful expression of GV and one of her best ones yet.
Dry table wines from Crete are fairly rare. So I jumped at this one. Mandelaria is also know as Xinomavro. I was rather impressed by this wine. Lots of aromatics but a bit angular on the palate. Reminded me some of Teroldego in character.
I hadn't encountered a Frey wine in quite some time.They were one of the first organic/bio-dynamic wineries in the game and they played that card big time. I never found their wines very interesting & haven't tried one in yrs. But I took a chance on this skin-contact wine. It was a waste.
The Forlorn-Hope was a big disappointment; At 11 yrs of age, I was expecting it to show some of that graham-cracker/honeyed character that his skin-contact whites develop. It has not...just totally dominated by the skin-contact character. Not sure if it will ever come around.
Tom