Hello and welcome to this week’s dig through the pile of wine samples that show up asking to be tasted. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of Vinography Unboxed, where I highlight some of the better bottles that have crossed my doorstep recently.

This past week included an eclectic mix of wines from here, there and everywhere. Let’s get started with a handful of wines from Napa, LOLA Wines. Proprietors Seth Cripe and Rafaela Costa make a whole range of relatively traditional wines from their property in Calistoga and with purchased grapes. Then they have a bunch of wines that they dub their “Artisanal Series” which include the bright Malvasia Bianca and Dry Muscat that I tasted this week, as well as their more mysterious dark Charbono, and one of the more elegant Zinfandels I’ve had recently. All are made in small quantities and, despite being made from obscure varieties, all hail from Napa Valley.

I’ve long adored the distinctive wines of Jermann in Italy’s Friuli region, but I only get to taste them occasionally, often when tastings like the Gambero Rosso Tre Bicchieri event roll through town. Jermann’s wines have won countless Tre Bicchieri awards with good reason—they’re usually delicious. And that was certainly true for the Capo Martino blend I tasted this week, with its undisclosed blend of native Friulian grapes.

This week I also am very happy to recommend some wines from one of Napa’s most distinctive producers, Enfield Wine Co. A project run by John Lockwood and his partner Amy Seese, Enfield produces spine-tingling wines from various sites in Napa and beyond, generally aiming for a high-acid, bright profile and accompanying low alcohol, but without sacrificing flavor. That’s true of the Chardonnay, Grenache, and Tempranillo-based blends I’m recommending this week. The Grenache and the red blend in particular are fantastic.

Sticking in the lighter-bodied red category for a moment, I can also recommend the Etna Rosso from Tornatore they have named Pietrarizzo. Generally speaking, Etna Rosso is one of my favorite categories of wine in the world. I adore its bright acidity, pulverized stone texture, and berry, herb, and floral qualities, all of which this bottle delivers.

Josh Hammerling is much better known, and rightfully so, for his sparkling wines made in Berkeley’s urban wine district, but he also produces some still wines. He recently gave me a bottle of his Gamay Noir, named “Late Air” and I’m very glad he did, as it is bright and expressive, and wonderfully quaffable. It’s got that gorgeous blood orange quality that lovers of the grape have come to adore.

This week I also tasted a polished and dark Cabernet Sauvignon blend from Tuscan producer Brancaia, which has been making organically farmed modern and traditional interpretations of Tuscan wines since the estate was purchased in 1981 and refurbished by the Widmer family. The estate is now in the hands of the second generation of Widmers, and continues to make quality wines. This blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc is not what you would normally expect from Chianti, but it’s a well made wine for those interested in a Bordeaux-meets-Chianti experience.

Lastly, I’m always up for anything new and off the beaten path. When a Canadian sommelier friend pinged me on Facebook and asked if I wanted to taste some Romanian wine, I was quick to say yes. A few weeks later, a box showed up with this bottle from producer Crama Ferdi, in Vâlcănești, Romania. I don’t know a lot about this producer, other than its a father-and-son effort by Fernando and Paul Mihăilescu, and they make a number of wines with various international varieties, including this limited edition Cabernet Sauvignon they call Red King. I’m not sure if its even available in the US, nor what it would cost if it was. But it’s always fun to taste wine from off the beaten path.

Tasting Notes

2023 LOLA Wines Malvasia Bianca, St. Helena, Napa, California
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of honeysuckle, wet pavement, and golden apples. Crisp flavors of golden apple, grapefruit pith, and dried yellow herbs have a clean brightness thanks to very good acidity. Lemony notes linger in the finish. 12.5% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $45. click to buy.

2022 LOLA Wines Dry Muscat, Calistoga, Napa, California
Pale gold in color, this wine smells of candied green apples, green melon, and white flowers. Bright flavors of green apple and green melon have a crisp zing to them thanks to excellent acidity. Notes of white flowers linger in the finish, along with a stony minerality. 12.5% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $45. click to buy.

2022 Jermann “Capo Martino” White Blend, Venezia Giulia, Friuli Venezia-Giulia, Italy
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of white flowers, white peaches, green apples, and a hint of chamomile. Bright and juicy flavors of ambrosia melon, green apple, chamomile, and Asian pear have a bright crispness to them thanks to excellent acidity and a light spiciness that lingers with some heat in the finish. An unspecified field blend of local varieties fermented with a short amount of skin contact and then aged in oak for 11-12 months before bottling. 13% alcohol. Closed with a screwcap. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $91. click to buy.

2022 Enfield Wine Co. “Citrine” Chardonnay, California
Light gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon oil, lemon curd, and white flowers. Lemon curd and lemon oil flavors have a faint butterscotch quality along with a nice stony underbelly and a hint of orange blossom water in the finish. I would like a bit more acidity. 13.2% alcohol. 900 cases made. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $32. click to buy.

2022 Enfield Wine Co. “Stained Glass” Grenache, California
Light ruby in the glass with garnet highlights, this wine smells of alpine strawberry, wet pavement, and dried herbs. Powdery, stony tannins coat the mouth while pure strawberry and dried herb flavors are juicy on the palate thanks to excellent acidity. There’s a wonderful stony mineral quality to this wine that is very compelling. Juicy and delicious. 13.3% alcohol. 450 cases made. Score: around 9. Cost: $??

2022 Enfield Wine Co. “Pretty Horses” Red Blend, California
Medium garnet in color, this wine smells of wet pavement, cherries, and dried herbs. Cherry and strawberry flavors have a wonderfully earthy and stony quality, as powdery mouth-coating tannins have a cloudy sensation to them and citrus peel and berries linger in the finish with a hint of salinity. Crunchy acidity. Compelling. A blend of 62% Tempranillo, 21% Carignan, and 17% Grenache. 13% alcohol. 450 cases made. Score: around 9. Cost: $35. click to buy.

2020 Tornatore “Pietrarizzo” Nerello Mascalese, Etna Rosso, Sicily, Italy
A light blood red in the glass with orange highlights, this wine smells of dried flowers, strawberries, sour cherry, and herbs. Powdery, stony tannins coat the mouth, and flavors of strawberry, herbs, and dried flowers mix with crushed stone, as very good acidity keeps things lively on the palate. 14.5% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $45. click to buy.

2022 LOLA Wines Zinfandel, St. Helena, Napa, California
Light to medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of blackberries, flowers, and raspberries. Wonderfully bright and lithe flavors of blackberry, raspberry, sour cherry, and blueberries are stony and crisp thanks to excellent acidity and powdery tannins. A very elegant and vibrant interpretation of Zinfandel. 13% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $50. click to buy.

2022 LOLA Wines Charbono, Calistoga, Napa, California
Dark garnet in color, this wine smells of faintly smoky black cherry, violets, and ink. Powdery tannins wrap around a core of black cherry, blueberry, and blackberry fruit that has an earthy and stony quality. Very good acidity. Dark and somewhat mysterious, but not heavy. 12.5% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $90. click to buy.

2023 Hammerling “Late Air – Escolle Vineyard” Gamay, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey, California
Light garnet in the glass, this wine smells of blood oranges, sour cherries, and dusty dry herbs. Bright blood orange and huckleberry flavors have a beguiling salinity to them and a bright purity that makes for very pleasurable drinking. Excellent acidity keeps things fresh and zippy. A very pretty wine. 13.3% alcohol. 125 cases made. Score: around 9. Cost: $42. click to buy.

2015 Brancaia “Ilatraia” Red Blend, Tuscany, Italy
Very dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of prunes, chocolate, and black cherries. Chocolate-covered raisins, dried black cherries, and cola flavors have a nice chopped green herb freshness to them and very good acidity. Muscular, leathery tannins coat the mouth and stiffen with time. There’s a long finish of licorice and raisins. Very rich and ripe. A blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Petit Verdot, and 20% Cabernet Franc. 14.5% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $67. click to buy.

2019 Crama Ferdi “Red King Reserva” Cabernet Sauvignon, Dealu Mare, Muntenia, Romania
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of toasted oak, black cherries, and herbs. Black cherry, forest floor, sweet oak, and notes of earth mix with dried herbs. Fleecy tannins hang around the edges of the mouth, and very good acidity keeps things fresh and vibrant on the palate. Well balanced, with little trace of its 15% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $??