Hello and welcome to my weekly dig through the pile of wine samples that show up asking to be tasted. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of Vinography Unboxed, where I highlight some of the better bottles that have crossed my doorstep recently.
This week included a few very nice white wines from here, there and everywhere. Closest to home, the Singer Wine Viognier was a really excellent rendition of a tricky variety to grow in California. The hardest thing with Viognier is making sure you end up with enough acidity to keep the wine from tasting like syrup. The Singer rendition is bright and zippy even though it has pretty rich flavors. They also sent along their Syrah, which is dark and savory and brooding, but worth hanging on to for a few years to watch it blossom, as I’m sure it will.
The Troon Vineyards Vermentino has the great citrusy brightness and wonderful aromatics that have caused more than one winemaker to tell me they think it’s a contender for the next big thing in white wine. There’s not much of it planted in California or Oregon, but when it can taste like this, I tend to agree there should be more of it.
I haven’t had many wines made from the Armenian grape Voskehat, but the few I have had I have really enjoyed. That’s why I was excited to open this white from NOA – Noah of Areni, that is mostly Voskehat with a little bit of Khatouni. It didn’t disappoint, and at $15 a bottle it’s a no-brainer if you’re looking to break out of your weeknight white wine rut.
Palomino is an old grape, best known for making the fortified wine Sherry, which isn’t very popular these days, but used to be wildly popular in 18th- and 19th-century America. That’s why it used to be planted all over California. Most of those plantings have been replaced, but in the Cucamonga Valley in Southern California, the Lopez Ranch holds a few hundred acres of ancient vines planted in 1918, of which some are Palomino. Winemaker Ryan Pedvin sources grapes there for his Le Poidevin Cellars label. Both the Palomino white and the Zinfandel from the same site I tasted this week were quite interesting.
Moving on to red wines, the Van Ardi blend of Areni Noir, Haghtanak, and Milagh is guaranteed to taste unlike any other red wine you’ve had before. You’ll recognized it as red wine, of course, but the blend offers a really unique black currant character that is quite fun on the palate. Yes, Armenian wine is full of delicious surprises.
Lastly, I recently caught up for the first time in a while with winemaker Cris Cherry, whose Villa Creek wines in Paso Robles have always been reliably tasty. Cherry has a new estate vineyard project called MAHA Estate, which is in the hills of the Adelaida District of Paso Robles. Cherry farms it biodynamically and is also Regenerative Organic Certified, making the wines with no additions or manipulations other than a minimum of sulfur dioxide. The two Rhône-style blends he sent along from MAHA were outstanding, though unfortunately packaged in hefty glass that undermines Cherry’s dedication to sustainability with this new project. I hope he’ll find another way to signal the (clearly) premium nature of his brand that doesn’t have a nasty carbon footprint.
Tasting Notes
2022 Troon Vineyard Vermentino, Applegate Valley, Southern Oregon
Palest yellow-gold in the glass, this wine smells of candied lemons and grapefruit zest. In the mouth, bright lemony grapefruit and green apple flavors have a juicy zing thanks to excellent acidity. There might even be the faintest hint of salinity in the finish of this wine. Quite tasty. 13.1% alcohol. Demeter Certified Biodynamic. Regenerative Organic Certified. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $25. click to buy.
2022 Singer Wine “Baker Lane Estate” Viogner, Sonoma Coast, California
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of white flowers, peaches, and ripe apricots. In the mouth, juicy flavors of peach and white flowers mix with a hint of citrus pith. Excellent acidity keeps the wine fresh and light on the palate, despite the richness of its fruit. Very well done. 13.6% alcohol. Packaged in an unnecessarily heavy bottle weighing 1.65 kg when full. The winery says it has finally used up its heavy bottle stock and its next bottling will be with a much lighter-weight bottle. Score: around 9. Cost: $65.
2021 Noah of Areni White Blend, Vayots Dzor, Armenia
Palest gold in color, this wine smells of peaches and white flowers. In the mouth, peach, apricot, and some citrus pith flavors have a nice herbal quality to them and bright, juicy acidity. A tangy sour quality lingers in the finish like unripe peaches and kumquats. A blend of 80% Voskehat and 20% Khatouni. 13.5% alcohol. Closed with a technical (resin) cork. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $15. click to buy.
2022 Le Poidevin “Old Vine – Lopez Ranch” Palomino, Cucamonga Valley, California
A medium gold with amber highlights, this wine smells of orange peel and white flowers. In the mouth, citrus peel and Asian pear flavors mix with a faint stoniness and a light chalky texture. Not intense in flavor but pleasant enough. Planted in 1918. 11.07% alcohol. Packaged in an unnecessarily heavy bottle weighing 1.61 kg when full. Closed with a glass stopper. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $24. click to buy.
2019 Van Ardi “Estate Blend” Red Blend, Armenia
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of black currants and herbs. In the mouth, flavors of blackcurrants, citrus pith, and dried herbs have a nice bright freshness to them and excellent acidity. A faintly bitter licorice root and dried herbs flavor lingers in the finish. A blend of 40% Areni Noir, 35% Haghtanak, and 25% Milagh. 13.5% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $32. click to buy.
2021 Singer Wine “Baker Lane Estate” Syrah, Sonoma Coast, California
Very dark purple in the glass, this wine smells of wet metal, iodine, and blackberries. In the mouth, blackberry and bramble flavors have a bright orange-peel acidity. Powdery tannins coat the mouth, and earthier notes with a hint of licorice root linger in the finish. This seems like a wine that will benefit from a few years of bottle age. 13.8% alcohol. Packaged in an unnecessarily heavy bottle weighing 1.64 kg when full. The bottle weighs more than the wine inside. The winery says it has finally used up its heavy bottle stock and its next bottling will be with a much lighter-weight bottle. Score: around 9. Cost: $95. click to buy.
2021 Le Poidevin “Old Vine – Lopez Ranch” Zinfandel, Cucamonga Valley, California
Light to medium ruby in the glass, this wine smells of blackberry pastilles and flowers. In the mouth, bright and slightly candied flavors of blackberry, black currant, and orange peel have a juicy brightness thanks to excellent acidity. Lightly grippy tannins flex their athletic muscles as the wine finishes with berry and floral notes. 13.53% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $30. click to buy.
2020 MAHA Estate “Understory” Red Blend, Adelaida District, Paso Robles, Central Coast, California
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of strawberry and cola. In the mouth, juicy berry and cola flavors mix with a green mintiness that proves quite charming, along with notes of licorice root lingering in the finish. Powdery, dusty tannins, and excellent acidity. A blend of 34% Grenache, 33% Carignan, and 32% Mourvèdre. 14.9% alcohol. Demeter Certified Biodynamic, Certified Organic. Packaged in an unnecessarily heavy bottle weighing 1.59 kg when full. Score: around 9. Cost: $110.
2020 MAHA Estate “Backlit” Red Blend, Adelaida District, Paso Robles, Central Coast, California
Very dark garnet in the glass with purple highlights, this wine smells of blueberries, flowers, and blackberries. In the mouth, wonderfully juicy and bright flavors of blueberries, blackberries, and licorice are wrapped in a microfleece blanket of tannins and shot through with mouthwatering orange-peel acidity. Notes of citrus peel and dried herbs linger in the finish. Very tasty. A blend of 33% Syrah, 26% Petite Sirah, 18% Mourvèdre, 16% Carignan, and 7% Grenache. 14.8% alcohol. Demeter Certified Biodynamic, Certified Organic. Packaged in an unnecessarily heavy bottle weighing 1.59 kg when full. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $110.
