In need of a dry white wine for cooking lapin a la moutarde the other
night, I opened a bottle of 2004 La Yunta Torrontes that I had purchased
recently at a local wine shop.

color: pale green-yellow
nose: floral with stone fruit notes
palate: crisp, slightly herbal, with modest peach flavors and a decent
finish

This was my first encounter with this grape, made in this case by a
US-Argentina joint venture (http://www.southernwinegroup.com). It is
vaguely reminiscent of the few Vermentinos I've had and at $9 a decent
value.

With the rabbit, we opened:

2000 David Bruce Truchard Vyd Pinot Noir

n: smoke, light berry fruit, slight hint of oak
p: velvety soft, rich fruit, good acidity, smoke, earth, slightly oaky
finish

A decent but not great match with the rabbit (Burgundy or cru Beaujolais
is better with it), this was a very good example of CA Pinot. Plenty of
fruit, but not overextracted and showing good varietal character. This
bottle reminds me why many of my favorite CA Pinots come from Carneros.

Mark Lipton

Mark Lipton wrote:
> In need of a dry white wine for cooking lapin a la moutarde the other
> night, I opened a bottle of 2004 La Yunta Torrontes that I had purchased
> recently at a local wine shop.

<snip>

> This was my first encounter with this grape, made in this case by a
> US-Argentina joint venture (http://www.southernwinegroup.com). It is
> vaguely reminiscent of the few Vermentinos I've had and at $9 a decent
> value.

Mark,

not familiar with this one, but these can be refreshing in a vino
verde kind-of-way, can't they? Too bad these vines are very likely
getting grubbed up and replaced by more malbec.

Best,

Mark S

wrote:
> Mark Lipton wrote:
>
>>In need of a dry white wine for cooking lapin a la moutarde the other
>>night, I opened a bottle of 2004 La Yunta Torrontes that I had purchased
>>recently at a local wine shop.
>
>
> <snip>
>
>>This was my first encounter with this grape, made in this case by a
>>US-Argentina joint venture (http://www.southernwinegroup.com). It is
>>vaguely reminiscent of the few Vermentinos I've had and at $9 a decent
>>value.
>
>
> Mark,
>
> not familiar with this one, but these can be refreshing in a vino
> verde kind-of-way, can't they? Too bad these vines are very likely
> getting grubbed up and replaced by more malbec.

Heya, Mirabile Mark!
Sorry, I missed this post of yours (server at work is dropping posts,
including most annoyingly my own made from home). Yes, it's not going
to displace Grand Cru Bourgogne Blanc any time soon, but it does make
for a refreshing quaff, perhaps like getting spritzed upon while sitting
in an armchair ;-)

Mark Lipton