Folino Estate Vineyard and Winery - Jan 2020 - The tasting options are back to pick six, which included two of the Black Label selections I paid extra for on the previous visit. I remembered some of the wine issues we encountered on the last visit. The Chardonnay Barrel Reserve had apple and butter aromas, lemon rind on the palette, and a slight browned sugar cookie finish, which made it an interesting wine. The Cabernet Franc was light-bodied with fresh tobacco aroma, fruity flavor and high tannic finish, while the Merlot was medium-bodied, but had a wet leather, stale, aroma, plum flavor and high tannic finish. Lorenzo Forte, which seems to be there consistent staple wine, was medium-bodied, dark purple in color, with drying tobacco aroma, cherry flavor and a peppery tanninc finish. The Black Label Tannat had earthy aromas, black raspberry and cherry flavor and a vanilla bean finish.
I decided to walk back to where the winery was to be built (on the first visit) and noticed lots of work had been completed. One room, with many barrels and a few tables, look like it was for small events while the winery had many tanks set up; one row looked like it was still being installed.
July 2019 - We purposely waited to return to sample wines made from the vineyard. They have several tasting options, my wife chose the standard tasting while I chose the Black Label.
Her tasting consisted of Chardonnay, with light oaking, the Estate Label Pinot Grigio, with notes to tangerine and pink grapefruit, Riesling, which unfortunately was dumped because of the foul aromas, the Pinot Noir, light and fruity, Cabernet Sauvignon, which seemed flawed with some off-aromas, and the sangria of the month, fruity, but seemed watered down.
My tasting consisted of the Luca Forte, a blend of Chardonnay, Viognier and Marsienne, fruity with the Marsienne standing out at the end, the 2016 Cabernet Franc, with light cherry notes and black pepper aroma, the 2016 Lorenzo Forte, their blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, bolder that the Franc, the 2015 Barbera, which started off with an off-aroma but transitioned to dried fruit and blackberry, ending with light tannins, the 2014 Tannat, from California, with dark color, light light tea flavor and heavy tannins, and the L'Amore di Lidia, made from the Tannat grape and fortified, the tea flavor was prominent.
Jan 2016 - This winery just opened in November 2015 and is quickly developing a following. While I was there, the tasting room was not busy, but their restaurant was, and this was on a Wednesday for lunch.
Their typical tasting consists of choosing six wines from their list, but for our tasting, we were going to taste all that were available. While we were tasting, we learned that none of the current wines were produced or bottled at the winery. These opinions are based the wines available and on what I hope, will become wines produced by the winery.
The vino da tavola bianco, a chardonnay blend, had a slight black licorice aroma, but the sweet vidal blanc, tasted at the wine bar versus in the restaurant, were different. The wine in the restaurant was sweeter in taste versus the tasting bar having the sweetness on the nose; not sure if there were different vintages. Their winter sangria was a welcomed difference to the traditional red. Made using their bianco, it had the sour bite from grapefruit, the citrus aroma from blood oranges and the spice from thyme. I enjoyed it, but no my fellow tasters - too much thyme.
The merlot was mellow with earthy tones and slight oak. The cabernet franc had chocolate undertones, but appeared to be watered down (at least the grapes were not stressed as much as the merlot). The chambourcin had a nice berry taste, but had an aftertaste that I cannot describe. The cabernet sauvignon, with deep cherry taste and an oak finish was enjoyable, but it was the Lorenzo Forte, a blend of the merlot, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc, that was the best. Although I do not know the blend percentages, I enjoyed it better than the cabernet sauvignon.
While there, I enjoyed lunch. We dined on red wine polpette, meatballs infused with red wine, and served with red sauce and percorino parmesan, Arancini, risotto balls, stuffed with ham and mozzarella cheese, served with red sauce and a garlic aioli, and the funghi pizza, topped with portabella, oyster and cremini mushrooms. For dessert, we had the polenta crumb cake with lemon and rosemary. All the dishes were fresh and delicious.
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