2008 Tallulah Como

Napa White Shows Off Less-Common French Grapes

I like white wine. I actually do. If you’re reading this, chances are decent that you yourself are a wine blogger, or at the least you’re kind of a wine nerd. So maybe you haven’t experienced, recently, the concept that so many people have in life, which is that they are either “white wine” drinkers or “red wine” drinkers.

Me, I’m a wino (and a discussion about “taking that term back” would be a worthy one, for another time).

While I once would have sworn up-and-down that red wine is the only wine for me, I have long ago now (or so it seems) accepted that good wine comes in many different—ahem—varieties.

And this, dear readers, is the kind of white wine I get especially excited about.

First off, the varietal makeup here is not something you’re going to be particularly familiar with, as it’s predominantly a lesser-drunk-here-in-the-States Rhône Valley grape (marsanne), mixed with an only-slightly-more-common Rhône grape (viognier) and the Queen of White Wine (and of Burgundy), chardonnay.

More precisely, the 2008 Como from Tallulah Wines is Napa Valley juice, and 53% marsanne, 37% chardonnay, and 10% viognier.

So, what’s it like? Tasty. Tasty, tasty, tasty.

The wine is bright in the glass, and gives off a bright, sharp yellow-gold color. The nose starts off a bit predictable—featuring a pear note off the bat—then starts throwing you curve balls, as some light spices mix with ripe melon and apricot aromas.

The wine is medium-to-full bodied, which I found I expected due to its color and viscosity when swirled. The spice notes from the nose mix with a tropical cornucopia of citrus (mostly orange), pineapple, and cantaloupe.

The fuller-bodied nature of this wine keeps me from describing it as particularly “crisp,” but the tropical, melon-revolving aromas and flavors are so refreshing, that this still works wonders as a chilled summertime white.

Even if you’d never heard of marsanne.

Verdict: A-

Tallulah Wines