Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 77

US NEW RELEASES
feet above sea level at Foley's Rancho Santa
Rosa, the ocean-cooled hillside producing
a clean, lemon-scented chardonnay underscored with golden apple and earth tones.
There's plenty of oak fragrance to the wine,
but the fruit runs with it, melding into an
intriguing wild-mushroom note. Pour it with
salmon roasted with maitake. (347 cases)
509916

90 | Matthiasson

$29

2016 Napa Valley Linda Vista Vineyard
Chardonnay (Best Buy) ^ This grows at a
vineyard Steve Matthiasson farms behind
his house in Oak Knoll. He harvests it in five
separate passes, then ferments and ages it
in neutral oak. The varied layers of ripeness
come together in a wine with salty savor and
touches of honeyed sweetness. It's light and
subtle. (1,250 cases)

$30

2015 Sta. Rita Hills Steel Chardonnay
(Best Buy) ^ Made without oak and without
malolactic, this chardonnay is clean, simple
and fresh: a lemongrass scent, a ripe flavor
of peach preserves and papaya. (241 cases)

GEWURZTRAMINER
509735

92 | Clif Family Winery

RIBOLLA GIALLA

C A L I FO RN I A RE D

90 | Benessere

$25

509920

92 | Matthiasson

$45

2015 Napa Valley Matthiasson Vineyard
Ribolla Gialla ^ Josko Gravner gave George
Vare cuttings from his ribolla gialla vines in
Friuli, which Vare grafted at his Napa Valley vineyard in 2001. Steve Matthiasson was
managing Vare's vineyard at the time, and
when he and his wife, Jill, purchased their
Oak Knoll vineyard in 2006, they grafted
some merlot over to ribolla using Vare's
budwood. Their 2015 is a fleshy white with
orange and honeycomb richness. Give it time
and the wine's freshness comes up, bringing
scents of pear in a crisp, clean line of flavor.
The fruit is crunchy even as the texture is full
and waxy, placing this with rich dishes, from
roast halibut to boudin blanc. (316 cases)
509448

$55

2015 Sta. Rita Hills Reserve Courtney's
Vineyard Chardonnay ^ Sweet acacia and
apple blossom notes lend a musky tone to
this wine's warm oak spice (it aged for 18
months in new French oak). It's broad and
loose, with cayenne-like heat to the flavors.
Pour it with spicy braised pork. (284 cases)
509272

89 | Foley

2016 Napa Valley Pinot Grigio ^ The springtime scent of narcissus gives this wine
remarkable freshness. With lemon flavors
and a crisp, mouthwatering finish, this would
make a lovely aperitif, or pairing with spaghetti with clams. (1,011 cases)

this viognier opens with air, yet it's not a
perfumed style: Rather, it's citrusy, firm and
structured, needing time in a decanter to
show its best. This grows at three vineyards-
one near Los Olivos in Santa Ynez, another in
Santa Maria Valley and a third in Edna Valley-and went through malolactic fermentation in neutral oak barrels, building richness
while remaining fresh.

509599

RIESLING

509279

90 | Two Sisters

PINOT GRIGIO

$30

2016 Anderson Valley/Mendocino County
Gewurztraminer ^ Laura Barrett makes this
wine from the Ferrington Vineyard, producing a gewurztraminer that emphasizes spice
and freshness. There's a note of honeysuckle
to the crunchy green apple flavors, bright
acidity lifting the wine and lengthening its
fruit flavor. Chill a bottle for Cantonese saltand-pepper crab this winter. (380 cases)

90 | Tatomer

$28

2015 Santa Barbara County Vandenberg
Riesling ^ Graham Tatomer spent a year in
Austria's Wachau region, working at Weingut
Knoll before founding his winery in 2008,
focusing on dry riesling. This one, mostly
from the Kick-In Vineyard, near Vandenberg Air Force Base, feels clean, with limeand-apple tension and notes of wet stones.
(Ten percent of the grapes in this vintage
were affected by botrytis.) It's a simple, spicy
riesling to pour with a fish stew. (325 cases)

SAUVIGNON BLANC
509233

90 | Stag's Leap
Wine Cellars

$26

2016 Napa Valley Aveta Sauvignon Blanc
(Best Buy) ^ There's stature to this wine's
warm prickly-pear and lime flavors. It's
structured by oak, but the main elements
are salty and crunchy, tomatillo-like in their
spicy edge. Pour it with fish flautas.

VIOGNIER
509412

92 | Workman/Ayer

$24

CABERNET FRANC

509146

93 | Robert Mondavi
Winery

$65

2014 Oakville District Cabernet Franc ^
Oakville through the lens of savory, mineral
cabernet franc, this wine focuses on a firm,
tannic line backfilled with supple, black flavor. That flavor is as much about obsidian
as blackberries, lasting with a cool feel. Its
gamey tone suggests a match with roast
squab or braised hare. All the fruit for this
wine grows at To Kalon. (988 cases)

CABERNET SAUVIGNON
509234

95 | Stag's Leap
Wine Cellars

$275

2014 Napa Valley Cask 23 Cabernet Sauvignon ^ Winemaker Marcus Notaro blends this
wine from two adjacent estate-owned vineyards farmed by Kirk Grace. Fay, with its alluvial soils, provides 44 percent of the blend in
2014; the balance comes from S.L.V., where
the vines rise higher up the eastern bench of
Stag's Leap, rooted in the crush of volcanic
rock that has washed down off the palisades.
They combine in a cabernet with cool richness, layering fruit notes of chocolate and
wild mushrooms with a rush of satiny fruit
tannins. There are no barriers to obscure the
wine's youthful integration or its complexity, still incipient, but there in the breath for
minutes, compellingly fresh and satiating in
its savor. (4,300 cases)

2016 Central Coast Ipso Facto Viognier ^
Musky orange-blossom scents emerge as
WINE & SPIRITS

FEBRUARY 2018

77


https://www.robertmondaviwinery.com/2014-Robert-Mondavi-Winery-Cabernet-Franc-Oakville-Napa-Valley?pageID=E710AAF3-9359-EEC2-DF75-FC7CB3BCD6A8&sortBy=DisplayOrder&maxRows=12& https://www.foleywines.com/Wine-Shop/Two-Sisters

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - February 2018

Contents
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - Cover1
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - Cover2
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 1
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 2
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 3
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 4
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - Contents
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 6
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 7
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 8
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 9
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 10
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 11
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 12
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 13
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 14
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 15
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 16
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 17
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 18
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 19
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 20
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 21
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 22
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 23
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 24
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 25
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 26
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 27
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 28
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 29
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 30
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 31
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 32
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 33
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 34
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 35
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 36
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 37
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 38
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 39
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 40
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 41
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 42
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 43
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 44
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 45
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 46
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 47
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 48
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 49
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 50
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 51
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 52
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 53
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 54
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 55
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 56
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 57
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 58
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 59
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 60
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 61
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 62
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 63
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 64
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 65
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 66
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 67
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 68
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 69
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 70
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 71
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 72
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 73
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 74
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 75
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 76
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 77
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 78
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 79
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 80
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 81
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 82
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Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 86
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 87
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - 88
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - Cover3
Wine & Spirits - February 2018 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2024spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/winespirits/2023winter
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