TN: Dinner @ BluePlate w/ BayArea Friends..(short/boring)

When I arrived for my last trip to the Bay area (8/29/19), as we usually do, a bunch of us got together for dinner:

1. Failla Viognier AlbanVnyd/EdnaVlly (14.7%) 2010: Med.gold color; bit nutty/oldViog some remaining pear/Viog some pencilly/oak somewhat complex lovely nose; quite tart/tangy some nutty/toasted hazelnuts/oldViog/honeyed some pencilly/cedary/oak slight pear/Viog/fruit bit hard/austere flavor; very long/lingering tart/austere/angular rather nutty/old Viog some pencilly/oak finish; showing some age but drinking quite well and lots of nutty/oldViog character; best to be drunk up.

2. Harrington Chard LiebelerVnyd/SantaCruzMtns (13.1%) 2018: Light gold color; strong ripe/melony/Chard rather toasty/smokey/oak slight earthy/dusty/mineral nose; rather rich/lush strong melony/Chard/lemony/ripe some toasty/smokey/oak bit earthy/dusty/stony/mineral bit complex flavor; very long/lingering ripe/melony/lemony/peach/Chard some toasty/smokey/oak bit mineral/earthy finish; a lovely Chard that shows that somewhat earthy/mineral character you find in SCM Chards; some like the MtEden Chards w/ less oak.

3. Briceland Arneis SpiritCanyonVnyd/MendoCnty (13.5%) 2017: Light yellow color; fairly fragrant floral/Arneis/carnations slight stony bit quiet/low-key nose; tart some Arneis/floral/carnations slight stony flavor; long lightly floral/Arneis/carnations lightly stony finish; a fairly pleasant Arneis but a bit on the quiet/mild-mannered side.

4. Peay 71%Roussanne/29% Marsanne Estate/SonomaCnty (12.6%) 2012: Light gold color; quite fragrant Rouss/honeyed/honeysuckle/floral/Rouss rather rather spicy bit pencilly/oak slight earthy somewhat complex lovely nose; very light nutty/agedRouss strong floral/Rouss/honeysuckle/honeyed slight pencilly/oak rather spicy slight earthy flavor; very long/lingering lightly tart rather rich/spicy slight pencilly/oak balanced rather honeysuckle/Rouss flavor; quite a youthful Rouss showing little signs of age.

5. LaddCllrs Chard CuveeVoile Calif 2017: Light gold color; slight nutty/oxidized/yeasty/sherry some melony/Chard very complex nose; lightly tart some nutty/oxidized/sherry-like some ripe/melony/Chard quite complex flavor; shows some of the sous voile character with some melony/Chard character; one of the most exotic Calif Chards I’ve ever tried; amazing stuff; words fail me on this one; resembles strongly many of the sous voile Chards from the Jura but w/ more fruit as well.

6. Dom.Arnoux-LaChaux Echezeaux Grand Cru 2010: Med.color; strong earthy/dusty/OV bit loamy some violets/PN/floral light toasty/oak bit complex nose; fairly tart/tangy bit hard/angular some toasty/pencilly/oak light floral/violets/PN some earthy/dusty/loamy/root cellar flavor w/ some hard/chewey tannins; very long rather hard/lean some earthy/dusty/loamy light floral/violets/PN finish; a bit on the rustic side and a bit tight/hard; probably needs some age; not the mind-blowing RedBurg I was expecting for a GrandCru.

7. MarchWines St.Laurent RicciVnyd/Carneros (11.9%; www.marchwines.com) MC Wine Group/Napa 2018: Med.dark color; very strong plummy/St.L/bit blackberry light earthy/loamy almost PN/floral quite lovely aromatic nose; lightly tart light toasty/oak strong plummy/St.L/blackberry/boysenberry bit loamy/earthy quite floral flavor w/ modest tangy tannins; very long/lingering strong plummy/St.L/blackberry/bit floral/PN-like light toasty/oak finish; an absolutely lovely expression of St.Laurent; lots of lovely aromatics w/ a bit of that earthy/loamy character you find in Burgenland St.L; more high-toned/floral/less rustic than Matt’s St.L.

8. Harrington Alvarelhao SumuKawVnyd/ElDoradoCnty (13.2%) 2018: Med.color; quite fragrant/perfumed/lightly floral slight earthy/rustic/ElD mushroomy fairly high-toned nose; lightly tart quite perfumed/floral/violets/bit plummy slight earthy/rustic very interesting flavor w/ light gentle tannins; very long some floral/violets/almost Nebb-like bit rustic/earthy finish w/ light tannins; quite a pretty easy-drinking red w/ a bit of rustic character and speaks quietly of ElDoradoCnty.

9. Alban Abbott Viognier T.B.A. EdnaVlly (9.1%) 2000: Dark brown/burnished bronze color; very intense botrytis/peachy/apricotty/raisened no Viog fairly complex TBA nose; rather tart some sweet/sour very intense botrytis/peachy/apricotty fairly sweet slight earthy some complex flavor; very long/lingering rather sweet very intense botrytis/peachy/apricotty bit earth rather tart/tangy finish; loads of intense botrytis and not much else; fairly typical of an old Calif TBA.

A brief BloodyPulpit:

1. When I make a Bay area trip, we often get together for dinner that first night w/ a bunch of wino friends: KenZinns/BryanHarrington/EricLundblad/TomLeaf/AlanRath to share some interesting/special btls. Bryan had made arrangements for a no-corkage night at the BluePlate restaurant in TheCite; in UpperMission/BernalHeights area. As usual, the food was outstanding. The wines were outstanding. And the company couldn’t have been better. My TN’s are a bit sparse because there was a lot of chin-waggin’ going on.

2. CuveeVoile: This wine was a real eye-opener for me. This wine was made with one barrel “sous voile” (under a veil of flor yeast) as they often make whites (Chard & Sauvignin) in the Jura, blended w/ one barrel of conventional Chard. This is an amazing Chard that very much resembles those from the Jura, but w/ more fruit present. I kept going back to this wine until the btl was drained, finding new things every time as it breathed. Not yet released but I’m getting some.
   JuraSousVoile
   Bonne/VoileWhites

3. March: This is a new wnry for me. Winemaking team in Napa of Maura Christoffers and Charley Johnson. I stumbled upon it at BayGrape wines and, having had RicciVnyds St.Laurent from MattRorick/Forlorn-Hope, wanted to try it right away. I was quite impressed w/ this wine. It had some of the earthy/loamy character you get from Burgenland St.L but more high-toned floral character. I took a btl of Matt’s St.L to share w/ HannesSchuster in St.Margarethen and he was impressed by it. I’d love to show him a btl of this March St.L.
   Tom

That was a fun dinner, and always good to see you, Tom! Thanks for writing up the notes, and here are a few photos. That’s Bryan Harrington, Tom Hill, Eric Lundblad, Alan Rath, and Tom Leaf at the table from left to right.

Yeah, Ken…that was a really special evening. Thanks so much for pulling the gang together. But I was crushed to hear about Bryan. Put a damper on the whole event. So sad.
Tom

Thanks for the notes! That said, I am not sure how to read “oxidized/sherry” notes on Eric’s Chard, they seem to be very odd to me. Will ask him to bring a bottle to a tasting on the 24th.

I didn’t get any oxidized notes myself. That chard is one of the best domestic chards I’ve had this year!

Thanks for including Briceland the mix.

I always appreciate your view of the wines, TomHill.

Anyone else have any comments on the Arneis?

While I didn’t take notes for our wines with dinner, I did enjoy your Arneis, Andrew. I’d tasted it earlier in the year and thought the floral component came out more with the bottle we had at the dinner. Like Tom, I also picked up a stony mineral element on the Arneis. I liked the wine quite a bit, and among California Arneis bottlings that I’ve tried (probably a half-dozen or so) I think the Briceland is among the best.

Overall a very good group of wines at the dinner.

Hi Ken,

Thanks for your comments. I continue to be pleased with that what comes out of that vineyard year after year. This year’s juice is in tank settling as we speak. It came in with a nice balance of green and yellow fruit and clocked 21.9 brix. The 2018 batch has gotten some high marks including Double Gold/94 pts in the the Orange County Fair. More importantly, it continues to be my wife’s and mom’s favorite wine.

Yup, Andrew…I thought it was quite a pretty expression of Arneis. Not quite as intensely aromatic as the Idlewilds are,
which is pretty much my gold standard for Calif (or anywhere) Arneis. But it certainly spoke of Arneis and showed some
of that stony/mineral character I look for in Arneis, which you get more strongly in many from Piemonte.
Arneis is a very good grape and I wish more folks would plant it in Calif.
Tom