Browse Month

April 2008

Five stages of gris

Elk Cove 2006 Pinot Gris (Willamette Valley) – Sweet pear water ice (or, if you’re not from Philadelphia, Italian ice). This just tastes sweet with aught else to show for it; a common flaw with pinot gris. (2/08)

Cinq or swim

Elk Cove 2006 Pinot Noir Five Mountain (Willamette Valley) – Solid, with density traversing the palate. Very gravelly, some beet, but while there’s gravity there’s no freshness. (2/08)

Leonetti another fish

Leonetti 2005 Merlot (Columbia Valley) – Big, lush black cherry with mixed chocolates. Satiny tannin. Syrupy and port-like. Excellent in a style I find fairly repellent after about two sips. (2/08)

Saul

Ridge 2001 Monte Bello (Santa Cruz Mountains) – Gorgeous. Soil, gravel, sand, and loam. Herbs and the suggestion of fruit to come. Dark, smooth, and balanced, with an elegant power, well-restrained for now, but far superior to raw size or brawn. Epic. (2/08)

The donkey

Newton 2002 “The Puzzle” (Spring Mountain) – Intense, dark chocolate-coated blueberry. All crushed fruit and slathered jam. Long, decidedly New World, but tasty in that style. (2/08)

Without reliving the weeks before Easter

Shafer 2004 “Relentless” (Napa Valley) – Wafts of pretty oakspice, good red fruit, and lots of tannin…both grape and wood. Ultimately, the wine is completely dominated and then overwhelmed by the arbor, and lacks character as a result. (2/08)

George

Forman 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley) – A bit closed, but authentic, with peppers bracing the sweet fruit. The only flaw is a bit of obvious heat on the finish, but that could be exacerbated by the stage the wine’s in. Not bad. (2/08)

Unicanard

Duckhorn 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Patzimaro (Napa Valley) – Very dense. Blueberry milkshake, both vanilla and chocolate versions, with a full, lush texture. Tannic. New World all the way, but with more tannin than is typical in the genre. (2/08)