TN: Some New Reds...(long/boring)

We tasted last night (2/20/13) Some New Wines:

1. Praxis CentralCoast Lagrein (14.5%; www.PraxisCellars.com; FrenchCampVnyd/PasoRobles) 2005: Dark color
   w/ little bricking; strong plummy/blackberry quite earthy/root cellar/loamy some toasty/oak slight
   alcoholic nose; fairly tart some plummy/licorice/blackberry bit alcoholic some toasty/oak rather earthy/
   loamy/root cellar bit hard/tannic/rough flavor; fairly long bit alcoholic rather toasty/charred/oak finish
   w/ some modeast/hard/coarse tannins; a bit like a PS; still going strong but probably not going to improve
   any. Well priced at $18.00 (LocalFlavor/Geyserville)

2. Praxis CentralCoast Lagrein (13.5%; www.PraxisCellars.com) Sebastapol 2007: Very dark color w/ little bricking;
   very interesting herbal/rosemary/thyme/pungent/fresh green beans some earthy/loamy bit plummy/blackberry
   quite exotic nose; softer bit tangy/grapefruity strong pungent/rosemary/herbal/thyme/fresh green beans some
   plummy/blackberry light earthy/loamy flavor w/ some hard tannins; med.long earthy/loamy strong herbal/
   rosemary/thyme light blackberry/plummy/fresh green beans very slight plastic/vinyl finish w/ some hard tannins;
   a rather exotic red at a very good price. $16.00 (K&L)

3. SantaBarbaraWnry Lagrein JoughinVnyd/LosOlivos/SantaYnezVlly (14.0%; www.SBWinery.com; 109 cs) 2004: Dark color;
   rather earthy/loamy/dusty bit alcoholic slight raisened/overripe fair toasty/oak some plummy/boysenberry/elderberry
   almost Port-like nose w/ no signs of age; very strong/tannic/hard/rough light plummy/boysenberry some toasty/oak
   flavor; med.long quite hard/tannic/rough/coarse light plummy/boysenberry light toasty/oak finish; still very much
   alive but probably drying out and will never outlive the fierce tannins. $28.00 (MW/SoPas)

4. Harrington Lagrein FratelliVnyd/SantaClaraVlly (14.1%) 2011: Very dark color; beautiful very plummy/blackberry/
   bit Zin-like slight herbal/thyme/savory light pencilly/oak lovely/fragrant nose; slightly tart really lovely herbal/
   thyme/savory strong plummy/blackberry/slight licorice almost RRV Zin-like some pencilly/oak slight earthy/dusty
   flavor w/ some tannins; long bit tannic/hard strong plummy/blackberry rather savory/herbal/thyme/pungent light
   pencilly/oak slight earthy finish; needs 2-5 yrs yet; a lot like a RRV Zin w/ a bit of the earthy/loamy Lagrein
   character; wonderful aromatics; maybe Lagrein has found its home; better than any AltoAdige versions I’ve had;
   very well priced at $25.00

5. Harrington Charbono FratelliVnyd/SantaClaraVlly (13.2%) 2011: Dark color; some earthy/plummy/licorice/blackberry
   light pencilly/oak some smokey/pungent/licorice bit earthy/rustic quite interesting nose; quite tart light earthy/dusty
   some licorice/plummy/blackberry light pencilly/oak fairly rich/structured flavor w/ some tannins; long pretty tart
   light earthy/dusty some licorice/plummy/blackberry light pencilly/oak light herbal finish w/ modest tannins; shows
   a bit of the earthy/rustic side of Charbono but more bright/high-toned character than most; quite an attractive/
   interesting rendition of Charbono. $25.00

7. Terra d’Oro Teroldego BurkeRanch/AmadorCnty (14.5%) 2009: Dark color; quite perfumed/fragrant licorice/plummy quite spicy
   rather ripe bit herbal/rosemary some briary/Amador/blackberry bit bramble/Amador Zin-like quite exotic nose; fairly rich
   quite spicy briary/Amador/brambly some Am.oak/toasty bit alcoholic slight herbal/rosemary/pungent flavor w/ light tannins;
   long bit pungent/herbal/rosemary/savory strong briary/Amador/blackberry/bramble/Amador Zin-like some Am.oak bit alcoholic
   finish w/ light tannins; quite an interesting that speaks more of Amador Zin than Teroldego; fairly priced at $19.00 (CB)

8. Harrington Teroldego FratelliVnyd/SantaClaraVlly (13.1%) 2011: Dark color; rather herbal/savory/rosemary/thyme strong
   plummy/blackberry/blueberry/cranberry/spicy light pencilly/oak some floral/violets/aromatic quite lovely/exotic nose;
   softer bit herbal/savory strong blackberry/blueberry/boysenberry/cranberry loads of berry fruit light pencilly/oak
   rather exotic/beautiful flavor w/ modest tannins; very long/lingering some herbal/savory/rosemary strong blueberry/
   blackberry/cranberry light pencilly/oak slight earthy/plummy/licorice some floral/lilacs/plummy finish w/ modest
   tannins; a rather exotic wine that treads a fine line between ripe berry fruit and a savory component; some like the
   Foradori (regular) Teroldego but w/o the granitic minerality they display; quite a lovely/exotic wine. $25.00

9. Foradori Morei Teroldego IGT: Vigneti delle Dolomiti (13%) Mezzolombardo 2010: Very dark/black color; beautiful
   pungent/licorice strong blackberry/plummy/boysenberry some toasty/oak some earthy/granitic slight herbal/walnutty
   quite interesting nose; soft very strong/lush/plummy/boysenberry/blackberry light licorice/earthy/dusty/granatic
   some toasty/Fr.oak/smokey flavor w/ some hard tannins; very long pungent/licorice/earthy/granitic strong lush/
   plummy/boysenberry structured some toasty/oak finish w/ hard/tannic backtaste; needs more age; speaks strongly
   of Teroldego but not as international in style as her Granato; a bit lusher & richer than the Sgarzon; a really
   beautiful expression of Teroldego. $55.00 (BWM)

10. Foradori Sgarzon Teroldego IGT: Vigneti delle Dolomiti (13%; www.ElisabettaForadori.It) Mezzolombardo
    2010: Very dark/black color; very much the same nose but a bit more earthy/dusty/old vine and a very slight
    whiff of TCA/musty; somewhat hard/tannic/rugged much less plummy fruit some toasty/oak flavor; med.long rather
    hard/tannic earthy/dusty slight plummy/licorice/boysenberry finish; seems like it might be slightly compromised
    by TCA. $55.00 (BWM)

11. Kayra Vintage Okuzgozu Aydinak/Elazig/Turkey (SingleVnyd; Collectible Series #5; 14.5%) 2008: Very dark color;
    strong ripe/boysenberry/late harvest some herbal/piney/earthy almost Zin-like slight raisened nose; soft very
    ripe/overripe boysenberry/blackberry/late harvesty/raisened bit earthy/rustic slight hot/alcoholic/fumey flavor
    w/ little tannins; med. very ripe/overripe/boysenberry/blackberry/Zin-like some earthy/rustic soft finish w/
    very little tannins; a bit on the rustic side but clean and no brett; more like a soft late-harvest Zin than
    anything; best Turkish wine I’ve yet had (out of 5-6). $22.50 (WoP)

And the usual stuff from TheBloodyPulpit:

1. Praxis: This is the label of Susan and Bill Arbios in SantaRosa for their wines made from purchased grapes.
   This comes from what is the oldest planting (20 yrs old) of Lagrein in Calif, down in the mtns to the
   East of SantaMaria (BienNacido??). These were not very expensive wines so I had low expectations. They
   well exceeded them. They had much the same earthy/loamy character I get out of AltoAdige Lagrein, but
   somewhat more fruit then those usually show. Quite nice & interesting wines.

2. Foradori: I was looking forward to trying these single-vnyd Teroldegos from ElisabettaForadori. I’ve always
   been a huge fan of her regular Teroldego. She also makes a high-end one ($60) called Granato that I don’t
   like as well because it’s a bit too international in style for me. These two Foradoris were more along the
   Granato lines, but I liked them quite a lot.
   Elisabetta farms organic & biodynamic. She has supposedly gone over to the dark side and now ferments in
   amphorae and uses “natural” winemaking techniques. A friend recently tasted the new releases and thought
   they were badly flawed.

3. Terra d’Oro: This is the Amador outpost of SutterHome. Originally the MontevinaWnry that once made some of the
   greatest Amador wines ever. I stopped into their tasting room about 2 yrs ago and didn’t find anything that
   particularly thrilled me…pretty light & boring in the SutterHome model. So I tried this wine on DarrellCorti’s
   suggestion. Not a profound wine by any means but I was rather impressed by it showing more character than
   any other Terra d’Oro’s I’ve tried of late.

4. Lagrein: This variety, found mostly in the AltoAdige, is a natural cross between Teroldego and an unknown/extinct
   variety. It is a sibling of Marzemino and a cousin of Syrah.

5. Teroldego: Is a very old variety from the Trentino. It is also a sibling of Dureza, one of the parents of Syrah.
   It is mostly grown in the CampoRotiliano of the Trentino area. The ones I’ve particularly liked have been those
   of ElisabettaForadori. It’s a variety that resembles, to my taste, Refosco from Friuli, but not the tannic
   backbone. Maybe resembles also LaCrema di Morra d’Alba a bit. WolffVnyds in the EdnaVlly also grows Teroldego but
   I’ve never seen it to try. A very good variety that I hope gets more attention in Calif.

6. Charbono: This is a variety known as Charbonneau in the Savoie (never seen one from there). In SouthAmerica, it
   goes by the name of Bonarda, unrelated to the Italian variety of that name. It was once thought to be related to
   Piedmontese Dolcetto, but that turn out not to be the case.
   I try most every Calif Charbono that I can get my hands on. It’s a grape that reminds me of PetiteSirah a bit…
   lots of color and tannins, a bit on the rough/rustic side, not a lot of fruit. I’ve liked the Turley’s annd Tofanelli’s
   that I’ve tried. This Harrington was one of the best I’ve ever had. It had more fruit and high-toned character than
   they usually show. It reminded me a bit of some of the old Inglenook Charbonos, but w/ less earthy/coarse character
   and much less oak. Sort of a Charbono made by a Pinot producer.

7. Harington: This is the wnry of BryanHarrington. Set in the industrial bottoms of South SanFrancisco…not exactly
   a tourist hot-spot…especially since Katie the Riveteer left the metalwork fab shop out front of the wnry. I first
   discovered Bryan’s wines when I found out he was making Nebbiolo. I recently tried a bunch of his Pinots and liked
   them a lot…on a more elegant/refined scale than many from Calif. Maybe even…gasp…a “wine of balance”!!
   Bryan has been experimenting with making some unusual/exotic varietals when he can track down the grapes. He and
   MattRorick/Forlorn-Hope are certainly birds of a feather when it comes to exotic varieties. I would suspect that
   it must be a real challange to a winemaker when a bin of Tannat or Teroldego shows up at your crushpad, you’ve
   never made the wine before, don’t have a vast wealth of experience tasting others that are out there…but you know
   you gotta make a wine, hopefully good or even great, outta those grapes. Sorta like RobertRedford in “The Candidate”
   when he finds out he won the election…“Now what do we do??”
   Anyway, I’m delighted w/ Bryan’s (and Matt’s) enthusiasm in pursuing these unusual varieties. Now if only he
   could track down Freisa…Tazzalenghe…Marzemino…Refosco…Brachetto.
   Tom

Nicely done Tom!

Nice notes as always, and thanks for the Harrington mention, Tom - glad you enjoyed the wines. BTW, we are actively on the hunt for at least one of those varieties you mentioned at the very end of your post. Shouldn’t reveal too much yet, but hopefully we’ll get ahold of more interesting stuff this year.

One minor correction - Bryan’s winery is not in South San Francisco, it’s in San Francisco. May not seem like a big distinction to you out-of-town folks, but it’s a big difference to us Bay Area locals!

Tom, I am a great fan of Lagrein, be it Alto Adige, Cali or Washington State. Where did you get these wines?

Remy Drabkin of Remy Wines in McMinnville makes Lagrein grown in the Willamette Valley, at Illahe Vineyards.

I second the general approval of Charbono, having had many vintages of Summers (under $20) and several Robert Foley ($35) renditions and I think a Turley. In my experience it has been nowhere near as tannic as Petite Sirah, but still structured/full bodied, with limited blue and black fruit stylings/modest sweet tones with no funk and an herbal upper register combined with a decently robust finish. A nice change of pace that might not reach the heights of greatness but is a satisfying mid-priced alternative. I’ll be on the lookout for that Harrington.

Haven’t seen a charbono since Br. Timothy was making it.

Marlene,
I picked the first three up several places over the last 4-5 yrs:
LocalFlavor: A small shop up in the town of Geyserville
K&L in SanFrancisco
Mission Wines in SouthPasadena

Presume they’re long since gone.
The Harrington I got direct from Bryan.
Tom

Fun stuff. Thanks for the notes.

No expert on Lagrein but I do like Remy’s version.

Jason