Inama Soave Classico

Azienda Agricola Inama
Vin Soave
Garganega
Soave Classico DOC
Verona, Veneto, Italy
2009
12%
$11.99 -- Twin Liquors, Bee Cave, TX

Color: Medium gold
Nose: Charred wood, honey, pear rind
Body: Light
Front: Honey
Middle: Sea air, honeysuckle
Back: A hint of hazelnut
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

Secretly, inside my overarching Washington wine tasting mission, the Italian white experimentation continues.

Ok, it's not secret, 'cause there you are reading this, but look: Pinot Grigio, perhaps the best known Italian white wine, mostly sucks. Largely, it tastes like acrylic with lime juice, no salt on the rim. Whereas by contrast the Greco di Tufo and Falanghina I've tasted lately--wines I'd never heard of before last year--have changed my life forever.

Now this wine didn't do that, but it wasn't bad. This bottle's a little disjointed and watery on the midpalate. But it's ruthlessly refreshing, and way, way better than the Soave I associate with my childhood. That's right, childhood, America; that is how we rolled in the backcountry in the early 80s, with the Soave Bolla.

If you like a delicate but not too complex wine, this will delight you; pair it with salty or shellfishy items, sweet nuts, or lemon vinaigrette-containing things.

Andrew Will Cabernet Franc

Andrew Will Cellars 
Cabernet Franc
Columbia Valley
Vashon, Washington, U.S.A.
2009
14.2%
$25.99 at Twin Liquors, Bee Cave, TX

Color: Dark ruby
Nose: Ass coffee, fresh berries and cream, roasted orange, faint nutmeg
Body: Medium to full
Front: Red cassis, cherry
Middle: Cherry-flavored coffee, with a touch of cream
Back: Currant tea, soft tannins
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

Andrew Will makes some phenomenal wine. But it's hard times, and now they're making a sort of second-label wine. Mind you, it's $30 a bottle, so perhaps the concept didn't quite sink in. The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, which is the initial release of the value series, is a total Pottery Barn Wine. But this one is different.

Now, you could ask, If you're going to try to make a more popular wine, with a wider reach, why make a Cabernet Franc? Americans don't know what Cabernet Franc is any more than they know what ass coffee is, even though both are in a lot of reds they drink. But the balance of bright, tart fruit with coffee-cream goodness in this bottle will erase such questions. If there was ever a Cab Franc that might convert average wine buyers, this is it. I'm guessing, however, that the black label Andrew Will series is going to rotate varietals, and that's all good as far as I'm concerned. Much though I want this house to succeed, I don't want too many people getting into these wines.

This lacks the power of their more senior wines--has a shorter finish and less body. But with any kind of food, it's great; it opens fast, and if this were $50 at a restaurant, I'd order it and be delighted. And second rank though it might be, this will age a bit, without question: the tannins are soft and polite, but they are insistent, balancing the acid of the fruit, and promising some deeper harmony in a few years.

Tablas Creek Vermentino

Tablas Creek Vineyard
Vermentino
Paso Robles, California, USA
2009
13.5%
$24.00 -- Tablas Creek, Paso Robles, CA

Color: Light gold
Nose: Pear, honeysuckle, lime
Body: Medium
Front: Pear, apple
Middle: Marshmallows--not roasted, river stones
Back: Lemon, pine
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

There's a slight effervescence in this wine that I find delightful, right off the bat. This isn't the acidic, cutting style that I'm used to from Italian vermentinos, but it is damn fine. The pine flavor is an illusion; this wine is not fermented in oak, and they stop malolactic fermentation to keep the acid levels high. Still, it's very smooth, and would be great with seafood, particularly of the briny sort. I'd serve this to anyone.

Freemark Abbey Chardonnay

Freemark Abbey Winery
Chardonnay
Napa Valley
Oakville, California, U.S.A.
2009
14.1%
$16.88 at Wine Pro, Paducah, KY

Color: Lovely light straw
Nose: Oak, lime, salt, pear
Body: Medium
Front: Honeydew
Middle: Oak, plastic
Back: Mild jalapeno, butter
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a smooth-drinking Chardonnay, in a big-oak style. The buttery oakiness predominates, so if you are, as I am, a more fruit- or mineral-oriented white wine drinker, you might steer clear. I find an oddly plastic-tasting element in this that I can't quite pin down but that's deterring me from pure delight. This will be super with a little Spanish chicken dish of some sort, or a rich fish dish, or perhaps some succotash.

It is going very well with a little Christmas brass music. Yee haw!

Elizabeth Spencer Sauvignon Blanc

Elizabeth Spencer Wines
Sauvignon Blanc
Mendocino
Ukiah, California, U.S.A
2008
11-14% (!)
$13.49 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Light dirty gold
Nose: Grapefruit, wood, honey
Body: Light to medium
Front: Kiwi
Middle: Apple, banana
Back: A little maderization, acetoney
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Fake cork

This, I suspect, was a lovely wine a year ago, but it's starting to go over the hill right now. It tastes better a little warmer, though, so don't follow (U.S.) custom in chilling it massively before serving it--a little bit is enough--and don't wait too long before you drink it. The mid-palate flavors are tasty; the apple is notably focused, which reminds me why I like this winemaker so much.

Sadly, I have no food pairing to report, except that it tastes good with almonds. The cupboard is bare. But good things are to come shortly. As the end of the year approaches, the wine begins to flow and the food to appear, copiously and experimentally, and this year will be no exception, as your favorite deity is my witness!

Note, 1/15/2011: Tried the 2009, and indeed, it's brighter and lacks the faint maderization. Bright acidity, good with cheese and such.

Roux Pouilly-Fuissé

Roux Père & Fils
Pouilly-Fuissé
Chardonnay
Grand Vin de Bourgogne
Saint-Aubin, France
2009
13%
$8.99 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Light gold
Nose: A little faint; sea salt, maybe some lemon?
Body: Medium
Front: Lemon, honeydew
Middle: Salted buttermilk pie
Back: A hint of cedar, gravel
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This was so cheap for a Pouilly-Fuissé that I had to try it. Not bad, though the nose is reticent. It's acidy and minerally, as one would expect, but there is a hint of baking spices lurking around the edges. I might get another bottle and put it away for a year or two just to see what happens. It's a smooth wine, and good with the sharp cheddar I'm finishing off. All in all, at this price, a good deal!

Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc

Duckhorn Wine Company
Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon
Napa Valley
St. Helena, CA
2009
13%
$21.99 at Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Very pale straw
Nose: Grapefruit, honeysuckle, melon
Body: Medium
Front: Grapefruit
Middle: Mango, canteloupe
Back: Oak, pear
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

It's pale but reasonably big in flavor; nicely balanced between acid and fruitiness and minerality; and it goes well with food. This is perhaps the second most to-my-taste Sauvignon Blanc I've had. Clearly I need to try more French ones, but next to Larkmead's this is the most delightful. The folks at Larkmead intimated that this is made at least partly from grapes they grow, and I believe it. I'm gonna go back and get more. Let me say, I'm usually unwilling to pay 21 bucks for a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, but this is actually worth it!