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thor iverson

Writer, educator, communicator, consultant. Wine, spirits, food, cocktails, dining, travel. Authoring a book on the sensorial theory of wine & cheese pairing.

Kelly Ripassa

[zenato]Zenato 1995 Valpolicella Superiore “Ripassa” (Veneto) — One of those “wait…I still have this?” finds from the move five years ago. Still, I didn’t get around to it until now.

It’s actually holding well — that much non-sugar dry extract has to count for something — and what’s left is like a dense dried fruit residue layered with dried fruit paste. That sounds worse than I mean it, but it’s not really a wine for drinking anymore (which it was in its youth), it’s a wine for contemplating, thinking “huh,” and moving on to something more quenching. (4/16)

My belle

[csm]Chateau Ste. Michelle 1995 Meritage (Columbia Valley) — I would absolutely have guessed this would be presentable and drinkable. I would not have guessed it would be pretty good. It’s a safe wine that manages to show some nice tobacco-leaf and drying-fruit development despite the corporate baggage it carries. I like it a lot more than the allegedly superior Saint-Julien that it easily outshines. (4/16)

Boried now

Borie “Château Ducru-Beaucaillou” 1995 Saint-Julien (Bordeaux) — Something is off with this bottle. Like razors in an field of herbs, it’s nothing but anger and pyrazines. (4/16)

Bekaa call

[musar blanc]Hochar “Chateau Musar” 1995 Blanc (Bekaa Valley) — Long before natural wines brought endless weirdness to the glass, there was Musar Blanc: the most unreliably odd wine in general circulation. In a modern context it almost seems tame, yet push deeper and all the strange fresh/stale, young/old, rich/snappish contradictions are there. It’s a big, stone-fruited wine without much actual stone fruit. I kinda love it, but then again I usually do. Mature? Who the hell knows? (4/16)

Mignonette

[mignon]Christophe Mignon Champagne Brut Rosé (Champagne) — Disgorged 26 February 2013, dosage somewhere under 8 g/l. Gentle fluffs of drifting fruit-lint. There’s a bit of nerve here, but you have to search to find it. The first bottle I opened, right after receiving a half-case, was better, and so based on this performance I’m going to let the balance rest for a while. (5/16)

The ties that bind

[de moor]de Moor 2012 “À Ligoter” (Vin de France) — From magnum. Beige to amber, still moving, but now turning simultaneously away and inward, leaving the memory of a sand-worn leaf in its wake. Even from a plus-sized bottle, I’d drink this soon. (4/16)

The more, the terrier

[cowan cellars]Cowan Cellars 2015 “Jack’s Rosé” (North Coast) — Poised between tension and fragility, yet in the end it’s much friendlier than either. Refreshment through a gauzy historical filter. Fun, too. Let’s not leave that out. (Disclaimer: the winemaker is a friend.) (4/16)

Horse at 11

[coudert]Coudert 2005 Fleurie Clos de la Roilette (Beaujolais) — Autumn into winter, with the structure slightly exposed. I wouldn’t think this would hold much longer, but I’ve been wrong before. Nonetheless, I’m drinking mine. (4/16)

A Winkeler & a nod

[spreitzer]Spreitzer 2007 Winekeler Jesuitengarten Riesling Spätlese (Rheingau) — Very, very ripe apple, pushed to the verge of tropicality. A metal band dins in the background. There’s enough acid, more than enough sugar, and it feels like it’s going to tip over at any second. But it doesn’t. Wait? Sure, why not? But it’s fun now, too. (4/16)