2021 Filomena Wine St. Laurent, Ricci Vineyard, Carneros, Sonoma County
Tasting Notes
The 2021 St. Laurent from Ricci Vineyard is a rare bird, with less than 10 acres of the grape known to be planted domestically. Earthy, botanical aromatics, with cedar and herbs jumping out of the glass. The palate is quite bright and fruity in contrast to the spice rack on the nose, cherry and pomegranate fill the center with some stemmy spice wrapping up the finish.
The Vineyard
Ricci Vineyard is located off Ramal Road in the Carneros region of Sonoma. It is planted on Huichica loam, a slightly acidic soil found predominantly in flood plains. The average temperature during the growing season stays relatively mild with heat spikes being offset by its juxtaposition to the Schell Slough and San Pablo Bay. Thick morning fog is a daily occurrence, as are afternoon winds blowing through the Sonoma Valley.
Luke Nio, Owner & Winemaker
Luke is a Bay Area native who spent his formative years in Petaluma, CA. He graduated from Davis in 2011 with a BS in Viticulture and Enology and began working for Kaz Winery in Kenwood, who was making natural wine before it gained the popularity it has today. After working a few harvests domestically and one in New Zealand at Trinity Hill in Hawkes Bay, he settled in as the Cellar Master for Bedrock Wine Co., where he worked for 7 years. He then worked as Assistant Winemaker for Green & Red Vineyards in Chiles Valley for two years before landing at Kivelstadt Cellars where he is currently the Head Winemaker. His winemaking philosophy is minimal intervention, while also using his training and knowledge to make clean, age-worthy wines.
Specs
Appellation: Carneros
Soil: Huichica loam
Harvest Date: September 8, 2021
Vinification: Fermented indigenously with 50% carbonic maceration, pressed at dryness and aged in neutral French oak for 30 months of elevage.
Alcohol: 13%
Production: 120 cases
Varietal: St. Laurent
TA: 5.82 g/L
pH: 3.56
What’s Included
4-bottles:
4x - 2021 Filomena Wine St. Laurent, Ricci Vineyard, Carneros, Sonoma County
Case:
12x - 2021 Filomena Wine St. Laurent, Ricci Vineyard, Carneros, Sonoma County
Price Comparison
Not for sale on winery website, $300/case MSRP
About The Winery
Winery: Filomena Wine Company
Owner: Luke Nio
Founded: 2014
Location: Sonoma, CA
Small lot, minimal intervention wines using unique grapes from some pretty special places
A small family-owned wine label founded by Luke Nio in 2014, Filomena is an outlet for Luke to experiment and express himself through his winemaking, and make some delicious wines along the way—at least we think so!
We strive to source grapes from sustainably farmed vineyards with many of our growing partners practicing organic methods and planting obscure, alternative varieties. Each wine we make is from a different AVA, showcasing a variety of terroir from across the state of California.
Filomena is a family name; it was his grandmother’s middle name and his great-grandmother’s first name. Luke wanted use the name for his label to honor the women that helped shape him. The image on the label is actually an old family photo (how could you not use that image?), and the date written on the back was 1926, right in the middle of Prohibition.
Available States
AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
This could be very interesting! The only other St. Laurent I’ve had is from @winesmith, and it also came from this same vineyard. Clark says to drink it with seafood, and I have in fact had with salmon on more than one occasion. Comparing this side by side to WineSmith’s version would be an interesting comparison, but my St. Laurent from WineSmith is all gone.
@TimW@Vinito@winesmith
I’ll pile on with the same thoughts, as I still have both the '13 and '14, assuming I can find them.
And perhaps Clark has some insights on this one as well.
@TimW I’ve had WineSmith’s St. Laurent paired with Thai food, sushi and paella…a terrific complement to all three. The later vintages (‘15 and on) were flashed which really cleaned up the wine.
Luke from Filomena here! I’ve not had Clark’s SL myself, though seeing the low abv’s on his makes sense. This wine, at 13%, was the highest I had ever seen from Ricci SL. Most years settle in the high 11’s to mid 12’s.
My winemaking style tends to lean towards the aromatic side, so I’m curious to see what Clark did with this fruit, even in big drought years like '13-15.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2021 Filomena Wine Company St. Laurent - $50 = 27.77%
Sorry for the delay, we had some trouble getting connected with UPS, so had the bottle in hand late last night.
We ended up ordering Thai after a Good Friday service last night, paired with a 2008 A.J. Adam Riesling Spätlese that was pretty great. Knowing we needed to rat the St. Laurent before this morning, we took a break to watch a movie and pulled out some cheese and snacks with the new wine.
I was also very interested to see this was a St. Laurent from Ricci Vineyard, as we’re pretty familiar with Clark’s version of this, having consumed 15 of the 2015 and 3 of the 2018 WineSmith bottling.
Sadly, we did not have a good showing of this Filomena example, and I’m wondering if we had a flawed bottle or it had a very hard journey to NY. I had 4 rats, including me, my wife, oldest daughter, and our college friend. The consensus from the other 3 rats was that the wine was quite harsh, thin, once dimensional/flat, and very, very tart. I was less unforgiving, but also found it pretty lean. It reminded me of a Finger Lakes cold climate red that is quite tart and too lean in body if not ripened enough. Definitely not a solo sipper, possibly a food wine, but we didn’t get that far.
I waited to write this review until early afternoon today and the wine had been open for 12+ hours to see if it changed, and I required (asked…) everyone to retaste. All agreed that the wine had filled out a bit on the palate and was a more lush and less harsh version of last night’s wine but none would choose to drink it compared to other wines available in our cellar.
I didn’t have an opportunity to open a WineSmith St. Laurent and compare, but my memory of those is of a fairly lush, balanced wine with plenty of acid, recommended for sushi and seafood. This one definitely has the acid but lacks the body and balance.
I’ll come back to the fact that this bottle could be flawed. Wondering if there are other rats to compare, we didn’t get anything close to the winery’s tasting notes.
Luke the winemaker here, bummer-town that this bottle wasn’t showing well for you! I will say that the palate is intentionally on the lighter side as I did a partial carbonic maceration with this wine. Because of the whole berries, there is less extraction during the ferment. I usually throw a chill on this bottle before popping too, hits the spot sitting on the back porch.
Though the color and aromatics may point to a beefier palate, this SL is quite light on it’s feet. Certainly benefits from being open a few hours like you mentioned. I hope any other bottles you may have received show better!
Thanks for chiming in, Luke! Our bottle was a nice cellar temp and I definitely got the acid! Like I said, I was less critical, but my wife and daughter have really sensitive palates and I think the perceived “sourness” of the acidity turned them off. The wine definitely improved after being ole for 24 hours.
It’s awesome you are here on the forum, hopefully some other Casemates engage with you this weekend. Thanks again for your input, sorry my report wasn’t more favorable.
2021 Filomena Wine St. Laurent, Ricci Vineyard, Carneros, Sonoma County
Tasting Notes
The Vineyard
Luke Nio, Owner & Winemaker
Specs
What’s Included
4-bottles:
Case:
Price Comparison
Not for sale on winery website, $300/case MSRP
About The Winery
Available States
AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Apr 27 - Wednesday, Apr 29
2021 Filomena Wine Company St. Laurent
4 bottles for $59.99 $15/bottle + $2/bottle shipping
Case of 12 for $129.99 $10.83/bottle + $1/bottle shipping
This could be very interesting! The only other St. Laurent I’ve had is from @winesmith, and it also came from this same vineyard. Clark says to drink it with seafood, and I have in fact had with salmon on more than one occasion. Comparing this side by side to WineSmith’s version would be an interesting comparison, but my St. Laurent from WineSmith is all gone.
@TimW I had the same exact thought.
@TimW @Vinito @winesmith
I’ll pile on with the same thoughts, as I still have both the '13 and '14, assuming I can find them.
And perhaps Clark has some insights on this one as well.
@TimW I’ve had WineSmith’s St. Laurent paired with Thai food, sushi and paella…a terrific complement to all three. The later vintages (‘15 and on) were flashed which really cleaned up the wine.
@TimW
Luke from Filomena here! I’ve not had Clark’s SL myself, though seeing the low abv’s on his makes sense. This wine, at 13%, was the highest I had ever seen from Ricci SL. Most years settle in the high 11’s to mid 12’s.
My winemaking style tends to lean towards the aromatic side, so I’m curious to see what Clark did with this fruit, even in big drought years like '13-15.
How much more are you saving by buying a full case?
(Note: tax and shipping are not included in savings calculations.)
2021 Filomena Wine Company St. Laurent - $50 = 27.77%
@winedavid59
So far, sales of this offer are looking to be a very coastal.
Can we expect any Rats?
Labrat reporting in!
Sorry for the delay, we had some trouble getting connected with UPS, so had the bottle in hand late last night.
We ended up ordering Thai after a Good Friday service last night, paired with a 2008 A.J. Adam Riesling Spätlese that was pretty great. Knowing we needed to rat the St. Laurent before this morning, we took a break to watch a movie and pulled out some cheese and snacks with the new wine.
I was also very interested to see this was a St. Laurent from Ricci Vineyard, as we’re pretty familiar with Clark’s version of this, having consumed 15 of the 2015 and 3 of the 2018 WineSmith bottling.
Sadly, we did not have a good showing of this Filomena example, and I’m wondering if we had a flawed bottle or it had a very hard journey to NY. I had 4 rats, including me, my wife, oldest daughter, and our college friend. The consensus from the other 3 rats was that the wine was quite harsh, thin, once dimensional/flat, and very, very tart. I was less unforgiving, but also found it pretty lean. It reminded me of a Finger Lakes cold climate red that is quite tart and too lean in body if not ripened enough. Definitely not a solo sipper, possibly a food wine, but we didn’t get that far.
I waited to write this review until early afternoon today and the wine had been open for 12+ hours to see if it changed, and I required (asked…) everyone to retaste. All agreed that the wine had filled out a bit on the palate and was a more lush and less harsh version of last night’s wine but none would choose to drink it compared to other wines available in our cellar.
I didn’t have an opportunity to open a WineSmith St. Laurent and compare, but my memory of those is of a fairly lush, balanced wine with plenty of acid, recommended for sushi and seafood. This one definitely has the acid but lacks the body and balance.
I’ll come back to the fact that this bottle could be flawed. Wondering if there are other rats to compare, we didn’t get anything close to the winery’s tasting notes.
Thanks for the chance to rat!
@wnance
Luke the winemaker here, bummer-town that this bottle wasn’t showing well for you! I will say that the palate is intentionally on the lighter side as I did a partial carbonic maceration with this wine. Because of the whole berries, there is less extraction during the ferment. I usually throw a chill on this bottle before popping too, hits the spot sitting on the back porch.
Though the color and aromatics may point to a beefier palate, this SL is quite light on it’s feet. Certainly benefits from being open a few hours like you mentioned. I hope any other bottles you may have received show better!
Cheers!
Luke
@MoreAcidPlease
Thanks for chiming in, Luke! Our bottle was a nice cellar temp and I definitely got the acid! Like I said, I was less critical, but my wife and daughter have really sensitive palates and I think the perceived “sourness” of the acidity turned them off. The wine definitely improved after being ole for 24 hours.
It’s awesome you are here on the forum, hopefully some other Casemates engage with you this weekend. Thanks again for your input, sorry my report wasn’t more favorable.
Happy Easter!
DIPLOMAT! RAT-A-TAT! FAT CAT! AWESOME!
@wnance everyone’s got different tastes and palates, that’s why we make so many different varieties! Appreciate the Ratting.
Cheers!