Enjoyed at Wally's in Santa Monica.
Weekday catchup with a college friend I haven't seen in more than a year!
The sommelier, Aaron, recommended this wine, given the stature of Raj Parr. I've actually never had his wines before, so was excited to try, except…
I'm always skeptical of Italian varietals grown outside of Italy. I've tried Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Nero d'Avola, and even Primitivo from California (not sure why the last one isn't Zinfandel), not to mention the unfortunate experiment of Montepulciano from Texas, and been generally disappointed. Not bad wines, but nothing compared to what we get out of Italy.
But, figure no time like the present to experiment!
Gave this a decant and enjoyed over an hour at cellar temp.
I was pleasantly surprised!
In a blind taste, I would think this is Langhe Nebbiolo. If I squint, there may be some Santa Barbara characteristics to this wine, but it's not obvious.
Notes of red cherry, blueberry, rosemary, maybe some slight tar and coffee? Somm called out beef carpaccio, but I didn't quite get that.
This is a nice, balanced wine with solid acidity. Definitely would go well with food, but drank nicely on its own.
Enjoyable and glad I tried it, but would have to best honest, this is comparable in quality to Produttori Langhe Nebbiolo, which comes at half the price… a bit hard to justify the ~$60 price tag here.
No regrets and look forward to trying more Raj Parr wines!
Now, to answer the main topic, yes, with enough skill, they can. But I would like to see something that makes it uniquely California Nebbiolo, in a good way, versus something that tastes like a good Langhe, at twice the price.
Definitely feasible, after all, Pinot Noir in California tastes different if its Sonoma versus Santa Barbara.
90 points.
by rnjbond
1 Comment
Worth noting that before prohibition most of the varietals planted in California were Italian and Spanish, the climate makes a lot more sense for them than French, with the exception of Cabernet Sauvignon which will grow on the moon if given a chance.