Browse Month

March 2008

Take the Helm

[bottle]Livon 2003 Colli Orientali del Friuli Pignolo (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) – Outright nasty when first opened, as if it wants to punish me for having the audacity to remove its cork. After some soothing words and calming gestures, it recedes to the status of tannic monster, like so many of its 2003 brethren. There’s great concentration here, coalescing a wine that moves from the darkness to the light with relative ease despite the weighty oppression of its structure. Floral compost aromatics dominate. There may be a lot of potential here, but the wall of tannin is currently impenetrable, and so I guess one must – as with any 2003 for which there is hope – wait and see. Emphasis on “wait.” (10/07)

No Lalande

[label]St. Michael-Eppan “Sanct Valentin” 1997 “Comtess” Vino Passito – Though I assume this is made from Alto Adige grapes, there’s no indication of appellation or origin anywhere on the label. Is that even legal? Well, I guess anything’s possible in Italy. This is rather light and well-aged, and I think it’s a little past its best. Candied orange peel and tarragon stand out, but to be honest there’s not much to rise above, other than a fresh, crisp acid wash in the background. The wine’s juicy enough, but there’s no complexity whatsoever. I expect more from this winery and this line, which probably affects my impressions and renders this reaction more negative than it might be were this the work of a different producer. (10/07)

Radio aromatico

Franz Haas 2003 Traminer Aromatico (Alto Adige) – Fat and lightly sweet-seeming (is it? probably not; it could just be the alcohol, which is intrusive), with bitter vanilla overtones and a core featuring a rather bizarre fruit salad: apricot skins, tangerine rind, and grapefruit dusted with a little nutmeg. Decent acidity only becomes apparent on the finish, by which time this blocky, pushy wine has managed to offend. Lacking complexity or actual presence, it replaces these qualities with sheer weight, but little substance. I’d like to try this in a different vintage. (10/07)

Bay Area Rapid Transit

[bottle]B. Bartolomeo da Breganze 2000 Breganze Torcolato (Veneto) – 500 ml. Tastes thirty years old, possibly due to a dried-out cork, but I have noticed that even the fantastic Maculan Torcolato is probably best in its exuberant youth. Were this a thirty-year wine, it would be pretty good, showing makrut lime, maraschino cherry, and a sine wave of extreme sweetness. At its young age, however, it’s a little disappointing. (10/07)

Mordorée or less

[bottle]Delorme “Domaine de la Mordorée” 2006 Côtes-du-Rhône “La Dame Rousse” (Rhône) – Very, very intense, squinching dark fruit, wet black leather, and woodsmoke into a tightly balled-up fist of pan-Rhône character. This is no easy-drinking Côtes-du-Rhône, and in fact would seem to be asking for a good rest in the cellar, but the raw and youthful materials are fairly impressive. (3/08)

Hello, God, it’s me…

[bottle]Voyager Estate 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot (Margaret River) – At a good midlife stage right now, showing concentrated blueberry and darker-toned fruit, some leafy, dark earth, and good balance. The structure has started to wear away, but it’s still present, and as yet it’s exposing no flaws. What hasn’t yet come is tertiary complexity, and I have no way of knowing if it ever will come with this wine. But if you’re still holding this, there’s no need to worry. (2/08)

Faith, Höpler & charity

[bottle]Höpler 2006 Grüner Veltliner (Burgenland) – Sharply appealing green; a puppy leaping and lapping at your ankles, eager to please and full of simple demands. There’s good clarity here, if not a lot of focus, and among bargain grüners that get beyond the acrid white pepper stage, this is a good wine. Don’t let it play amongst the big boys, though. (2/08)

Male Chauvigné pig

Richou 2005 Anjou “Chauvigné” (Loire) – Peppery greenness and grass lead off here, but with enough air the atmosphere turns to chalk and (dry) honey, with the dominant and binding characteristic being a strong aroma of aspirin. Loire fans will know what I mean, and this definitely seems to be a triumph of soil over cépage, though do note that it’s a pretty low-volume wine (by which I don’t mean the case production). (3/08)

Clarke Alexander

[bottle]Richard Hamilton 2005 Slate Quarry Riesling (McLaren Vale) – The elements for a solid, fruit-forward riesling seem in place, and yet the wine just isn’t very appealing. It exerts a lot of effort, flinging neon acidity and the slightly over-concentrated bite and sting of green apple against the palate, but there’s just not much going on behind the assault. Air eventually helps tame the wilder elements, but it never really moves past its overly aggressive nature. (2/08)

Needs a Trim

Trimbach 2004 Riesling (Alsace) – Leaky cork, and in fact the wine tastes a few years more advanced than it should. Even given that, it’s still pretty special, with intense, golden minerality (mostly iron) in columnar form, plus hints of mirabelle on the finish. Striking. (2/08)