TN: Clendenen Family Vineyards 2001 Bien Nacido Vineyards Nebbiolo

Now this is wine: Clendenen Family Vineyards 2001 Bien Nacido Vineyards Nebbiolo. I've yet to have a properly aged Barolo or Barbaresco, but surely this wine indicates I should be laying down high quality Nebbiolo. While Santa Barbara County isn't renowned for Nebbiolo, a notoriously finicky grape, this is excellent wine with years of potential development ahead of it. The structure is awesome, and there's enough flesh and complexity to make this wine far more than a rigid backbone. It's a wine I have when relaxing at home during the evening where I can sip it and let it evolve. If only my cellar had more wines like this!

The wine is produced by Jim Clendenen of Au Bon Climat from Bien Nacido fruit. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir typically come to mind with Clendenen and Bien Nacido. But I guess Clendenen wanted to take on a grape even more challenging than Pinot. While I'm no Nebbiolo expert, I think this was a real success and is better than the Piedmont Nebbiolos I've tasted around this price point.

• 2001 Clendenen Family Vineyards Nebbiolo Bricco Buon Natale Bien Nacido - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley
  
  
  
  Right up my alley. Firm, but not heavy. Ripe, mature cherry and raspberry. Leather, violet, tar, cedar and spice. Complex, well-balanced. Med-high acid with chalky tannin. Long finish, I could sip this all night. If medium aged CA Nebbiolo can be this good, I should be stocking up on Langhe Nebbs.
  
  

TN: Foxen 2006 Tinaquiac Vineyard Cabernet Franc

I've been too busy to post recently, but will try to catch up in the next few weeks with a few interesting wines. One of them is the Foxen 2006 Tinaquiac Vineyard Cabernet Franc. The fruit is sourced from a dry-farmed vineyard in Santa Barbara County, or more specifically the Santa Maria Valley AVA. This falls stylistically in with a lot of CA Pinot Noir, which shouldn't be too surprising given the producer's track record with Pinot. Still, the profile is all Cab Franc, and on the earthy side. Didn't seem like a long ager, but it had character.

• 2006 Foxen Cabernet Franc Tinaquaic - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley
  
  
  
  Very Cab Franc in character--not a given in CA Franc. Black cherries and tobacco nose, same flavors. Has a fair amount of oak, but the earthy finish meshes well with it. Plenty of fruit, plenty of earth. Structure about on par with a mid-level Pinot Noir, mild yet not formless. Finishes long.
  
  

WN: Longoria 2007 Blues Cuvée vs. Campo di Sasso 2007 Insoglio

This is a comparative tasting I've been hoping to do for some time. Both the Longoria 2007 Blues Cuvée and the Campo di Sasso 2007 Insoglio have similar blends roughly evenly split between Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. But the former is a "Super Barbara" sourced from a variety of terroirs in Santa Barbara County while the latter is a "Super Tuscan" indicating it consists of international varieties like Cab, Merlot and Syrah grown in Toscana. By most accounts 2007 was a strong vintage in both regions.

As of now, the Insoglio gets the edge. While it doesn't have much structure for the long run, the mix of varieties shows through and there's genuine earthy complexity. The Blues Cuvée in contrast is big, structured, fruity and oaky in a well-made New World style. It has better potential long-term, though it's hard to say whether the fruit and oak will eventually recede to reveal the intrinsic character. The smoke of the Syrah and tobacco of the Cab Franc and Merlot are deeply buried if they are there at all.

Both are around $20 to $25 depending on where you look and really illustrate why style and structure are so important. Both have plenty of fruit, but beyond that picking just one would come down to personal taste and intent. Do you want a fruit-driven wine to age? Blues it is! Do you want some earthy, funky complexity right now? Then there's the Insoglio. The Insoglio would be a re-buy for me personally, but it's not a question of it being better. The flavor profile just works for me.

• 2007 Campo di Sasso Insoglio del Cinghiale Toscana IGT - Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
  
  
  
  35% Syrah, 30% CF, 30% Merlot, 5% PV. Aromas of tobacco, smoked meat/bacon, toast and cherries. Medium bodied, medium-low acid, light tannins. Light on oak, too. Nice cherry fruit upfront, then finishes heavy on olive tapenade. Mellow, earthy wine with a core of red fruit and a great herbaceous edge. Structured for near-term consumption.
  
  
• 2007 Longoria Blues Cuvée - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
  
  
  
  31% CF (Alisos), 27% Merlot (Alisos), 24% Syrah (Clover Creek), 18% CS (Estelle). Aromas of plum, cedar, tar and vanilla. Definite new world Bdx blend aromas. Full bodied, creamy, but also fresh with med-high acidity. Tannic with a dose of new oak. Finishes dry. Big, ripe, balanced, dark fruited. Needs a few years to let tannins mellow in my opinion. A little one dimensional now, though the delicious factor is there big time.