Browse Month

October 2008

Big Tulocay country

Tulocay 2001 Zinfandel (Amador County) – 15.7%. Based on the color, I’d think about drinking this. Based on the palate, I’d wait. Based on the structure, I’d have to choose against Caol Ila. How to solve this dilemma? Twisted, back-country berries and black pepper-dominated spice mark the wine’s unmistakable origin, but there’s a little more heat than usual (even for often-fiery Amador zin), and a lot of spirituous invective. As a pure expression of “fuck you” Californicated aggression towards even its most spiritually native of grapes, it’s a triumphant achievement, and I honestly do admire it for that quality. I even enjoy it on those terms. As a wine in the greater world of such beverages, however, it’s a bit much. (10/08)

Dynasty

Coturri 2001 Zinfandel Forsythe (Napa Valley) – 15.9%. This tastes very much like the Coturri grenache, which just can’t be good. It’s an overwhelming explosion of slutty fruit given a massive sheen of oak; not the flavor, but the polish, which (for me) is rarely a positive for zinfandel. The acidity is vibrant, and the wine is – despite the temple-throbbing alcohol, which is immediately noticeable – quite chuggable, but there’s just nothing interesting in this bottle. Except, perhaps, the next morning’s hangover. (10/08)

Frick & frack

[vineyard]Frick 2005 Muscat (Alsace) – Muscat through a filter, with its perfumes and exotica dominated by a firm acidic core. Dry. This would all be fine, except that within an hour of opening the wine rather rapidly oxidizes, turning absolutely undrinkably so by hour two. I want to like this producer, given the admirable vineyard work, but wine after wine is, for me, a massive disappointment. Or, like this, an abject failure…though of course, other bottles may perform differently (such are the blessings and curses of “natural” wines). (10/08)

Réserve judgment

Trimbach 2003 Pinot Gris “Réserve” (Alsace) – Not entirely insipid, but that’s about all that can be said. There’s very, very wan pear, and a bit of spare minerality, and an even more useless gesture in the direction of spice. Had I not seen the bottle, I’d think this was one of Hugel’s more insipid, mass-market products. Or Wolfberger. As a Trimbach – even from 2003 – it’s a failure, though I suppose a négociant can’t fail to release their core wines. Avoid. (10/08)

Dollars and Fontsainte(s)

Laboucarié “Domaine de Fontsainte” 2005 Corbières (Languedoc) – Incredibly appealing. Many Corbières are not, having this or that flaw, or a general indifference as their primary characteristic. This one is immediately drinkable, with a fine acidity enveloping tart red berries, gravelly soil with dry, arid aspects, and a cooling, brittle structure. It will probably age for a bit, but why wait? (10/08)

Poverty line

[orchard in snow]Poverty Lane “Farnum Hill” 2006 Kingston Black Cider “Reserve” (New Hampshire) – Sweaty and deeply complex, showing skin bitterness, tart but modulating acidity, and a series of metal sheathes around the core of cold apple-osity. Unquestionably the best domestic cider I’ve ever tasted, though I haven’t tasted more than a few dozen. (10/08)

Ulivi oil

[vineyard]Bellotti “Cascina degli Ulivi” 2006 Gavi (Piedmont) – Asian pear overwhelmed with spice (turmeric, white pepper, mace, clove), zingy and attention-dominating, yet somehow energetically affable and mild-mannered under study. This is a gorgeous, life-affirming blend of complexity and ease, simplicity and sophistication, appeal and mystery. And it’s only the basic bottling; the winery has “better” stuff in reserve. That’s tremendous work. (10/08)

Big Night

Forsoni “Sanguineto I e II” 2004 Rosso di Montepulciano (Tuscany) – This is such a beautiful wine, and has almost single-handedly restored my confidence in the category. Spicy strawberry and black cherry fruit with double-helixed structure and a very, very light bite of chewy skin tannin, this is a wine that loves nothing more than to dine. Don’t disappoint it. (10/08)

Up the creek

[squirrel]Nalle 2004 Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley) – 13.9%. A bit more advanced than I’d have expected – just a bit, though – with some of the very pleasant wild-berry fruit (tending more towards red than blue, purple, or black) having yielded to spice and a wavy, still-indistinct earthiness. But it’s such an easygoing pleasure to drink. (9/08)