Tuesday, July 14, 2009

California 2009 – Vino Noceto Winery

Vino Noceto, www.noceto.com,  is a small family owned winery in Amador county in the Sierra Foothills.  Their first vintage was in 1990 at 110 cases.  They have grown to about 9000 cases now.  The largest part of their production is Sangiovese.  There are 8 listed on the tasting sheet.

We were a little pressed for time because their tasting hours are a bit short, so we didn’t get to taste as many wines as we would have liked.  They are open weekdays from 11:00 to 4:00, which is a later opening and a earlier closing than most of the wineries in the area.  As a matter of fact, we got there just at 4 the day before and they were closing the gates.  So we squeezed them in the next day.

Here are some of the wines we tasted:

2006 Noceto Sangiovese - medium bodied, with lots of berry flavors along with a bit of chocolate.  Nice finish.  Good food wine.  $17.00

2006 Riserva Sangiovese – more intense flavors and color than the first Sangiovese.  Long finish, deeply colored.  Nice balance.  $24.00

2006 Misto Sangiovese – this was our favorite of the Sangiovese wines.  It is an estate field blend of Sangiovese, Malvasia, Canaiola Nero, and Trebbiano.  Each of these grapes made a nice contribution to the complex flavor profile.  $26.00

2006 OGP Zinfandel – the initials stand for Old Granpere Vineyard – they claim it is the oldest documented, producing, Zinfandel vineyard in the world.  The wine had rich fruit and a nice intensity with a hint of smokiness.  $28.00

2006 Lindsteadt Barbera – beautiful wine – bright, rich, blueberry fruit.  One of the best Barberas we tasted this year.  Interestingly, as I was going through my wine cellar Saturday, looking for something special for our dinner guests, I came across Vino Noceto’s 2004 Barbera.  It was excellent.  Nice to see that kind of consistency.

This was the last place we visited in the Sierra Foothills.

Next stop – Paso Robles

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