2002-10-27 - 3:45 p.m. CalItalia 2002 Tasting, Take Two The rest of the notes from my CalItalia tasting... Note also that I've updated the Red Wine diaryring page to include links to my favorite wine buying and reading resources, plus all my wine-related entries...cheers! Ardente '00 Napa Valley (Atlas Peak) Sangiovese, $28. 375 cases. Pretty tawny color, fruity, good. Atlas Peak '00 Napa Valley (Atlas Peak) Sangiovese, $16. 24,000 cases. 85% sangiovese blended with merlot and petit verdot. Strawberry nose. Co-fermented/field blended to exrtact more color (per the helpful tasting table person). '00 Reserve Napa Valley (Atlas Peak) Sangiovese, $30. 1,000 cases. More tart than their other sangiovese, with a cherry taste and marshmallow nose. Fermented in Oak. Bella Luna '01 Estate Riserva I, Paso Robles, $33. 230 cases. This was a barrel tasting of a sangiovese (75%) and cabernet sauvignon (25%) blend that will be bottle din January. Lush honey nose and a tart dark berry taste. Benessere '99 Napa Valley Sangiovese, $29. 1,925 cases. Black berry fruit is predominate takeaway here. '99 Phenomenom Napa Valley meritage, $42. 92 cases. This is the first vintage for this 76% sangiovese/24% syrah blend. Full, fruity taste with acid/tannins that sit on the back of your throat. Boeger I bummed out the gentleman who was pouring 'cuz I honestly preferred the $14, higher production (2,190 cases) Barbera to everything else they were tasting...such is life. At least I know I can pick some up at the Jug Shop on Pacific at Van Ness... '00 El Dorado Sangiovese Reserve, $24. 95 cases. Pleasant aroma but too tart for my taste. '00 El Dorado Barbera Reserve, $24. 345 cases. Smoked oak aroma. '00 El Dorado Refosco, $12. 490 cases. Soft, floral nose. Third vintage of this varietal that had previously been incorporated into their meritage. Bonny Doon Didn't taste much here since I drink and buy their wines regularly... '01 Freisa Frizzante sparkling, $20. Super fizzy strawberry sparkling wine. Very dangerous how easily this stuff goes down. A good fit for a summertime brunch. '01 Barbera, $15. 2,040 cases. Very dry. Not to my taste. Brandborg This Oregon-based winery also produces wines from grapes they buy from various CA vineyards, hence their participation. My notes on this winery suck due to the silly banter at the tasting table. The pouring folks thought I was a journalist and were out to charm me...or something. '98 Napa Valley Charbono, $18. 300 cases. I'm starting to think this varietal doesn't do anything for me. It's pleasant and all, but so is sparkling water. '99 Russian River Valley Sangiovese, $18. 600 cases. Very drinkable and fun wine. Made me think of bottled sangria we'd drink in college. '00 Russian River Valley Sangiovese, $22. 500 cases. Significantly more tannins which would allow this to age. Would be good with food but not yet in a stand alone drinking state. Ca Vesta '98 Sangiovese. Fruit forward nose and body. '98 Barbera. Grassy nose. Burnt cedar and toast body. Another barbera that didn't grab me. Chathom Vineyards '00 Gitano Sierra Foothills Sangiovese, $12. 1,400 cases. 75% sangiovese, 25% merlot. '01 Gitano Sierra Foothills Sangiovese, $12. 700 cases. This had a more floral taste than the '00. Eagle & Rose Estate '99 Estate Napa Valley Sangiovese, $22. 1,340 cases. Very dry finish. Would be excellent with a hearty pasta dinner. '01 Sangiovese. Barrel tasting -- not sure when it will be bottled. Sweet, honey nose and a super dry finish. Favero '00 Sonoma Sangiovese, $28. 275 cases. Pleasant blackberry finish. '00 Sonoma Monte di Sassi meritage, $28. 75 cases. 65% sangiovese with 35% cabernet sauvignon. Very tart finish. Foppiano '00 Alexander Valley Sangiovese, $17.50. 1,600 cases. Oak nose with a cinammon and clove finish. the '01 barrel taste was quite similar, but with more of an earthy nose. Frey Vineyards According to the woman who poured for me, they are the oldest organic winery in the U.S. Made without sulfites even. '01 Mendocino County Sangiovese, $11.25. 800 cases. Great pure raspberry taste, but it was hard to get past the vinyl nose. Wild Horse '99 Paso Robles Juan Nevarrez Vineyard Dolcetto. Strong tannins and spice. Would need some tie to mellow out. '00 San Benito Barbera. The 3% zinfandel in this one must be why I liked it since I overall didn't enjoy most of the Barberas I tasted at this event (I'm such a sucker for zin.) Cherry nose and cherry and plum body. Best when paired with food. Vino Noceto '00 Shenandoah Valley Sangiovese, $15. 2,850 cases. Their 11th vintage of sangiovese. '00 Riserva Shenandoah Valley Sangiovese, $22. 500 cases. Strong cherry taste. Vi�a de la Cruz '00 Napa Valley Sangiovese, $26. 200 cases. Grassy nose with a fruit taste I more closely associate with zinfandel. Should have just added the brandy to their zinfandel port which is likely to be released by Christmas. I'll be checking back on that. Valley of the Moon '99 Dry Creek Valley Barbera, $22. 300 cases. Pleasant nose with medium body. A good accompaniment to pasta. Gargiulo '99 Rosata de Sangiovese. This pink wine features 9% zinfandel and had the grape skins left on 24 hours for color and alcohol (14.5 % alcohol). Berry and peach nose and dry nectarine body. '99 Sangiovese. Dry finish. Guglielmo I've always thought of Morgan Hill as the last chance to grab sodaor french fries on the way to Santa Barbara. It's also home to this winery. '01 Estate Santa Clara Valley Grignolino, $10. 300 cases. Light, dry, witha smokey finish. '00 Sonoma County Barbera, $12. 1,000 cases. Kunde-grown grapes with some petite syrah and zinfandel. Very drinkable (a.k.a. quite dangerous!) '01 Santa Clara Valley Sangiovese, $12. 400 cases. Blackberry nose and cherry body. Il Podere dell Olivos Their "Vita Nova" was my second favorite wine from this tasting; the others, while good, didn't have the same impact for me. '00 Santa Barbera County Barbera, $12. 1,200 cases. Bubblegum body. '00 Central Coast Teroldego, $20. 300 cases. Grassy nose, but pleasant,medium bodied. Also tasted the '99 Barbera Riserva, $20, 300 cases, but didn't note anything about it. Lava Cap '00 Reserve Barbera. Tannic finish. Too young to drink now. Luna Vineyards '99 Napa Valley Canto meritage, $60. 1,500 cases. Oak nose. Needs a hearty dinner to accompany it! L'Uvaggio di Gi�como '00 Barbera "Il Gufo", $16. 758 cases. Heavier style with a tuna fish nose. Would stand up well to game or a thick steak. '99 Sangiovese "Il Ponte", $32. 621 cases. Sweet cookie dough nose and a medium full body. Would have tasted at a certain other winery, but the young lady at the tasting table, whose tag stated she was a PR person, paid no attention as I stood in front of her for 2-3 minutes. She was too busy working her sales charms on a 40-something guy to pay me any attention. Alas, I was not the only person who passed her by -- so did a wine magazine editor I recognized from last year's event...Oddly enough, I have this weird feeling I know her from somewhere...given her winery being from a SoCal destination at which I've spent far too many holidays, this is quite possible...In fact, given the spelling of her name, I think she may have been a girl who'd had quite the crush on my ex-boy...what a small, small world. any comments? (0 so far) previous - next recently on almostgoldsf... in defense of an email box I came to do battle with SPAM - 2008-05-17 hello 2006 - 2005-12-31 Happy Thanksgiving - 2005-11-14 bon voyage - 2005-11-05 October already? - 2005-10-09