April 25, 2024 - Really enjoyed - nice balance with a medium body, round palate, mild oak and sufficient acidity.
August 15, 2023 - Bitter notes oregano and sage dominate the palate, which shows some citrusy elements as well. Medium acidity, but bitter herbal notes dominates the palate with subdued lime and mango notes. Ending is medium with oaky notes.
Overall this felt unbalanced and not particularly appealing - bitterness dominated fruit with not very exciting results.
February 24, 2023 - Excellent excellent and excellent. Gift from Violet Grgich and one of my favorite whites of all time!
Cork & Taylor Wine Podcast
December 9, 2021 - Honeyed nose of grass and gooseberry. Touch of sweetness, silky apricot fruit. I like it.
September 22, 2021 - 4thWednesdays - Sept 2021: A: Pale lemon (with lustre)
N: Medium (+) nose of radish, arugula, apple, lime rind, white peach, grapefruit rind, wet stone
P: Dry, high acidity, medium alcohol, pb, pronounced intensity, medium (+) body and long finish
Balanced fruit and acidity, length and intensity are ideal and complexity here. well defined fruit profile. Outstanding quality
Guess:
Gruner Veltliner. Kremstal. It was vegetal and had more body than I expected yet the fruit was not very ripe.
Mistakes:
The richer mouthfeel was related to time spent in barrel rather than the warmer climate of Kremstal. I missed all other clues to barrel ageing and the fruit was likely riper than I thought. Also no white pepper which might have lead me away from Gruner (though I rarely get it on Gruner). I should have locked on to the absence of phenolic bitterness, that would certainly have moved me towards the other very vegetal white grape, SB.
September 22, 2021 - Tasted blind. Clear, pale straw. Med (+) to high intensity, slightly reductive nose dominated by green, weedy, vegetal pyrazine notes, with some tart lemon peeking through. No new oak apparent. Dry, with med (+) to high acidity, med (+) alcohol (13.5%). Med to med (+) body, with pronounced concentration and med (+) length. Drink now, not likely to improve with further aging.
This is clearly Sauvignon Blanc. The hard question is whether it's from Sancerre, NZ, SB-heavy Bordeaux White or California. In hindsight, what appeared to be cool climate tendencies were merely the result of picking the fruit a little early, to minimize the sugar/alcohol. Also, what appeared to be smoky, mousy, reductive aromas were in fact the result of fermentation and extensive lees aging in oak barrels. There's not enough minerality for it to be Sancerre and not enough fat and French oak spice for it to be a White Bordeaux. I actually thought it was NZ.
July 18, 2021 - Crisp and light, plenty of fruit forward, nice finish. Great with crab cakes.
March 13, 2021 - On the lean side for a Napa SB.
March 7, 2021 - Master Somm wine tasting. Superb