Week of 9/26/21 : Vinography

Good day and welcome to my weekly dig by way of the pile of wine samples that present up asking to be tasted. I’m happy to convey you the newest installment of Vinography Unboxed, the place I spotlight a few of the higher bottles which have crossed my doorstep lately.

This week would possibly simply have the sub-headine “The week of nice values,” as the primary few wines I’ve bought listed here are all tremendous scrumptious, and all beneath $25.

The place would possibly one discover such a font of vinous values, you ask? Why Italian white wine, after all. From north to south, Italy makes fabulous white wines that always commerce at a tiny fraction of the value commanded by its well-known purple wines.

Take the La Valentina Pecorino, as an illustration, with its stony lemon brightness that you simply’d need to drink with virtually something you eat (together with after all, Pecorino cheese). It’s a mere $17. Then there’s the marginally extra regal Arneis from storied producer Vietti, with a faintly saline apple and lemon complexion.

From the identical neighborhood because the Arneis you’ll additionally discover the Enrico Serafino Gavi di Gavi, the grape from the commune of the identical identify in Piedmont, singing its white floral and lemon cucumber track for a mere $16.

If you understand me, you’d have predicted that one in every of these wines will surely be a white wine from the slopes of Mount Etna. Sure, I’m volcano-obsessed, and this deeply mineral expression of Carricante from Tasca d’Almerita simply lights me up, and for $19 its a steal.

Final however not least, Askos and also you shall obtain. As wine lovers we should always all the time be seeking new experiences for the palate, so right here’s one for you from Masseria Li Veli that can ship way over its mere $19 tariff: Verdeca. It’s an historical and barely mysterious grape indigenous (possibly) to the Puglia area of Italy. I say possibly as a result of in accordance with the world’s main grape geneticist, it’s an identical to a grape additionally present in Greece. Who had it first? We don’t know. However for those who attempt it now, you’ll get pleasure from it a lot, that received’t matter.

Nearer to dwelling, I’ve a set of latest releases from a younger model known as Marine Layer, to not be confused with the retro-styled clothes model of the identical identify. That is one more wine undertaking from the peripatetic Baron Ziegler, who runs an import firm in addition to a number of wine manufacturers up and down the West Coast. So far as I can inform, Marine Layer is the spinoff from a set of wines with the identical identify at one in every of Ziegler’s earlier tasks, Banshee Wines. The wines are well-made expressions of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast. In actual fact, they’re scrumptious. I’ve only one gripe with them, and that’s the truth that within the identify of premium branding, they’re packaged in ridiculously heavy bottles with wax over the cork. I don’t thoughts the wax, as its comparatively skinny and straightforward to take away. The heavy bottles, although, are horrible for the atmosphere and must go away.

Merry Edwards’ wines have all the time discovered their highest expression in her single-vineyard bottlings, and this week I’ve bought two of them, from the Bucher Winery and a web site known as Warren’s Hill, which I believe is the higher of the 2 (wonderful) bottles, due to its positively electrical acidity. Merry offered her vineyard in 2019 to the Champagne home Maison Louis Roederer, but it surely continues to make top quality wines in the identical model.

And now for one thing…. darker. Jonata is a widely known identify in some circles by advantage of getting the identical proprietor as Screaming Eagle, billionaire Stan Kroenke. Positioned in Ballard Canyon down within the Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara, it produces numerous Rhone-style wines that lean in direction of richness and opulence. Winemaker Matt Dees tends to maintain them full of life, with good acidity, although, in order that they’re nonetheless drinkable of their richness. I’ve bought two of their new releases this week, the Fenix, which is a Merlot-dominant Bordeaux mix, and Todos, which is a mix of all 10 grapes farmed on the property.

Final however not least, I’ve bought the newest launch from a small property in Saint Helena run by the energetic and enthusiastic Linda Neal, for whom her little winery, Tierra Roja, is the fruits of a life-long ardour for farming. Neal fell in love with agriculture at an early age, and geared the remainder of her life, together with school and profession round it. The second-to-last chapter of that profession concerned 20 years of winery administration. Now she has just one winery to handle, and a few assist with that, which was significantly necessary for this 2018 classic, as a result of for the primary time, Neal wasn’t concerned within the harvest. As a substitute she was volunteering for the Peace Corps in Morocco. She clearly left issues in good arms, as her 2018 Cabernet is brimming with vitality and depth.

Notes on all these under!

Tasting Notes

2019 Fattoria La Valentina Pecorino, Colline Pescaresi, Abruzzo, Italy
Pale gold in shade, this wine smells of dried lemon rind and a contact of sea air. Within the mouth, faintly saline flavors of lemon zest, lemon pith, and pomelo have a brilliant zip due to implausible acidity. There’s a beautiful mineral spine to this wine, with a faint chalky grip to it. 13.5% alcohol. Rating: between 8.5 and 9. Value: $17. click to buy.

2020 Vietti Arneis, Roero, Alba, Italy
Palest gold within the glass, this wine smells of white flowers and moist chalkboard. Within the mouth, lemon and lemon pith combine with golden apple, moist chalkboard and white floral notes for a crisp, faintly saline mouthful with implausible acidity. Scrumptious. 13.5% alcohol. Rating: round 9. Value: $25. click to buy.        

2020 Enrico Serafino “Grifo del Quartaro” Gavi di Gavi, Piedmont, Italy
Palest straw within the shade, this wine smells of lemon cucumber and white flowers. Within the mouth, beautiful floral notes combine with star fruit and inexperienced apple with a touch of candied guava. Lean and brilliant with wonderful acidity and a chalky mineral spine, it is a delight of a wine. 12.5% alcohol. Rating: round 9. Value: $16. click to buy.

2020 Tasca d’Almerita “Tascante Buonora” Etna Bianco, Sicily, Italy
Palest straw to the purpose of being almost colorless within the glass, this wine smells of moist pavement, pomelo pith, and unripe apples. Within the mouth, deeply stony flavors of lemon and lime pith combine with grapefruit juice and moist chalkboard. Implausible acidity makes for a crisp, zingy expression of the volcano. 12% alcohol. Rating: between 8.5 and 9. Value: $19. click to buy.

2020 Masseria Li Veli “Askos” Verdeca, Salento, Puglia, Italy
Palest gold in shade, this wine smells of white flowers and candy pastry cream. Within the mouth, delicate flavors of lemon pith, grapefruit zest, white flowers and oyster shell have a superb brightness due to wonderful acidity. Very refreshing. Verdeca is a uncommon Puglian grape selection that’s apparently additionally present in Greece by the identify Lagorthi. 13.5% alcohol. Rating: round 9. Value: $19. click to buy.

2018 Marine Layer “Aries” Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, California
Gentle yellow-gold in shade, this wine smells of lemons and pastry cream. Within the, mouth, lemon curd and pastry cream flavors have a pleasant edge to them due to excellent acidity, in addition to a pleasant silky texture. Hints of vanilla within the end. 13.6% alcohol. Is available in an absurdly heavy bottle, weighing 1.68 kg full. Rating: between 8.5 and 9. Value: $36. click to buy.

2018 Marine Layer “Hole’s Crown Winery” Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, California
Gentle greenish gold in shade, this wine smells of lemon pith and grapefruit pith. Within the mouth, lemon and grapefruit flavors have a faint toasty be aware to them, and first rate, however not implausible acidity. Good flavors however lacking some dynamism. 13.2% alcohol. Is available in an absurdly heavy bottle, weighing 1.68 kg when full. Rating: between 8.5 and 9. Value: $50. click to buy.

2018 Marine Layer “Lyra” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, California
Medium garnet within the glass, this wine smells of cherries and a touch of chocolate. Within the mouth, brilliant cherry and raspberry fruit is silky and easy, with wonderful acidity that retains issues fairly juicy throughout the palate. Hints of citrus peel enter the end with barely perceptible tannins. 13.8% alcohol. Is available in an absurdly heavy bottle, weighing 1.68 kg when full. Rating: round 9. Value: $45. click to buy.

2018 Marine Layer “Gravenstein Winery” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, California
Medium garnet in shade, this wine smells of raspberries and raspberry leaf. Within the mouth, silky flavors of raspberry and bitter cherry are zippy and juicy due to wonderful acidity. There’s a faint kumquat and dried floral be aware within the end with only a contact of the natural high quality that comes from some stem inclusion within the fermentation. Fairly fairly. 13.2% alcohol. 125 circumstances fabricated from absurdly heavy bottles, weighing 1.68 kg when full. Rating: between 9 and 9.5. Value: $65. click to buy.

2019 Merry Edwards “Bucher Winery” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma, California
Medium garnet in shade, this wine smells of barely smoky raspberry and cherry fruit. Within the mouth, raspberry and cherry notes combine with herbs and powdery tannins that flippantly coat the mouth. There’s a faint smokiness within the end, with a touch of alcoholic warmth. Wonderful acidity. 14.3% alcohol. Rating: round 9. Value: $63. click to buy.

2019 Merry Edwards “Warren’s Hill” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma, California
Medium garnet in shade, this wine smells of brilliant cherry and cranberry fruit. Within the mouth, implausible acidity makes flavors of cherry and raspberry come alive and bounce throughout the palate. Faint, gauzy tannins coat the mouth and flavors of citrus peel linger within the end together with brilliant cherry. Wonderful. 14.5% alcohol. Rating: between 9 and 9.5. Value: $66. click to buy.

2018 Jonata “Fenix” Purple Mix, Ballard Canyon, Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara, California
Very darkish garnet in shade, this wine smells of black cherry, tobacco and earth. Within the mouth, wealthy black cherry and licorice notes are wrapped in a suede-like blanket of tannins. Faintly bitter licorice root notes linger within the end together with cola nut. Fortunately there’s sufficient acidity right here to maintain issues contemporary and stability out all that plush richness. A mix of 66% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot, 5% Cabernet Franc. 14.5% alcohol. Rating: between 8.5 and 9. Value: $90. click to buy.

2018 Jonata “Todos” Purple Mix, Ballard Canyon, Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara, California
Inky garnet in shade, this wine smells of faintly smoky blackberry and black cherry fruit with some chopped herbs. Within the mouth, a wealthy, velvety melange of blackberry, black cherry, licorice and cola swirls beneath its delicate blanket of tannins. Respectable acidity. Undoubtedly on the wealthy facet, with the faintest trace of warmth on the end. A mix of all 10 grape varieties grown by the property: 45% Syrah, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Petit Verdot, 9% Petite Sirah, 5% Merlot and 6% of 5 different varieties. 14.4% alcohol. 2640 circumstances made. Rating: round 9. Value: $54. click to buy.

2018 Tierra Roja Cabernet Sauvignon, Saint Helena, Napa, California
Inky opaque garnet within the glass, this wine smells of black cherry, iodine, and cassis. Within the mouth, intense and juicy black cherry, blackcurrant and cola flavors are tinged with vanilla and a touch of toasted oak. Supple, muscular tannins wrap across the core of the wine however don’t put an excessive amount of of a squeeze on the palate, letting lengthy notes of blackcurrant and black cherry linger within the end with a touch of licorice. Highly effective and intense, however fairly properly balanced, with wonderful acidity. 14.8% alcohol. 250 circumstances of bottles too heavy for their very own good, weighing 1.65 kg when full. Rating: between 9 and 9.5. Value: $170. click to buy.