Browse Month

December 2008

Riding the Bench

[vat]Ridge 2006 Zinfandel East Bench (Dry Creek Valley) – 14.9%. Pure essence of Dry Creek – just like the text on the label promises – and quite wonderfully restrained in its post-harvest packaging. Wild, vine-y berries, twisted and gnarled, swirl on the palate. There’s a very light bit of coconut, but this wine is mostly about its fruit, which is concentrated but not overly intense. There’s light but balanced structure for medium-term ageability. Delicious. (12/08)

Trinch your cheeks

C&P Breton 2005 Bourgueil “trinch!” (Loire) – For about a half-hour, there’s an is-this-corked? mustiness and ungenerosity to the nose that I’ve found is more than occasionally the aromatic signature of ultra-natural wines. But it can’t be corked under this particular closure, and so there’s nothing to do but wait it out. Eventually, the mist and shroud turns to something earthier, though it never quite stops obscuring the rest of the aromatics. OK, then, how about the palate? Well, it’s full of black dirt and freshly-plowed anger, slashed with fine acidity and shreddings of tobacco. I suppose it’s hard to tell from this note, but other than the difficult nose I quite like the wine, and it’s absolutely enticing with food. But I’d choose my drinking companions with some care. (12/08)

A Sonnenglanzing blow

[vineyard]Bott-Geyl 2001 Pinot Gris Sonnenglanz “Vendanges Tardives” (Alsace) – Delicious. Very sweet pear, but full of the exotic aromatics and textures of a freshly-picked heirloom variety, rather than some rock-hard supermarket ball of blandness. Not all that spicy, but burnished in bronze and a measure of darkness and smoked obscurity (which is, in my experience, a signature of Sonnenglanz pinot gris). I’ve never been overly convinced by the ability of this grape from this site to age in a complexity-heightening way, so drinking it now might not be a bad idea. (12/08)

Today or to Mauro

Mauro 1998 Vino de Mesa de Castilla y León (Castilla & León) – Lavishly (and, based on the taste of it, expensively) wooded, but that element has matured nicely into its old-furniture, spicebox stage. However, the fruit dries out rather sooner after opening than I’d like. In the early stages, it’s plummy, texturally lovely, and maturing. Later, it kinda disappears into its wood. I’m not sure if this is just a transitionary stage or the wine’s coda, but I’d be inclined towards the latter interpretation. For a short while after opening, however, it’s quite nice. (12/08)

Dogs of Warre’s

Warre’s 1994 “Late Bottled Vintage” Porto (Douro) – This is not a great Port, to be sure, but the problem I have with this wine is less its inherent quality than the fact that I’ve realized I just don’t much like ruby Port without significant age. The fruit here is big and simple-minded, there’s certainly no lack of sugar, the relatively minor tannin is foursquare, and there’s just not a whole lot more to say about the wine. (12/08)

Mosca on the Hudson

Sella & Mosca 1999 Cannonau di Sardegna “Riserva” (Sardinia) – Over the last nine years, this has turned from grenache to aged cabernet franc. How’d that happen? Razor-edged fruit, sharp and porcupine-y, bristles with narrow-gauge redness around a gravelly core. It’s interesting, but I think the wine’s more appealing in its fresh and fruity youth. (12/08)

Sella & Mosca 2004 Cannonau di Sardegna “Riserva” (Sardinia) – Strawberry, sun, and bubblegum…though the latter is a very minor component in comparison to the other two. It seems somewhat insulting to call any wine gluggable, but this one definitely is. One of the most reliably appealing quasi-mass market labels out there. (12/08)

The Master

[label]El Maestro Sierra Oloroso Sherry “15 años” (Jerez) – Frankly, this is a difficult wine for me, and I’m not sure I can do it justice. Intense almond aromas – but more the shells and skins than the sweeter nuts within – and the usual arid, almost-mold-but-more-ancient-than-that, topnote, but with more space and singularity than I’m used to. Then, a stark dryness that tastes…well, it tastes like a decaying building. I suppose that doesn’t make much sense, but try to think what the Acropolis might taste like, were it to suddenly become consumable rather than viewable. Absolutely planar throughout, and eventually I begin to suspect that the wine’s finish doesn’t ever actually end, but just continues to some sort of infinitely-distant asymptote. An extremely intellectual sherry. I think it might be terrific. I’m not sure I like it. Obviously, I need someone to explain it to me, and then we’ll see. Or not. (12/08)

Celilo Stitch

Sineann 2007 Gewürztraminer Celilo Vineyard (Columbia Gorge) – Juicy, refreshing, and forward. Fragrant. Lemongrass and underripe guava, crisp pear, pretty good acidity. If you’re thinking that none of the preceding sounds anything like the gewürztraminer with which you’re familiar, you’re right. But if you forget what’s on the label, it’s a quite pleasant quaff. (12/08)

Moon Frye

Costières & Soleil “Sélection Laurence Féraud” 2005 Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages Séguret (Rhône) – Is this closing, or drying out? It’s certainly not as tasty as it was this summer. The dark fruit, chewy and brush-infused, has receded a bit, leaving bare a intrusive bubblegum and candy that don’t work to the wine’s benefit, plus a bit of soy on the finish. There’s still a certain muscularity, and the balance hasn’t suffered, but I have no idea if this wine was designed to age like a proper top-line Séguret or was always intended for youthful swilling. It’s worth keeping an eye (or nose) on, either way. (12/08)

Pessac-New Jersey

Lurton “Château de Rochemorin” 2005 Pessac-Léognan (Bordeaux) – Totally innocuous. Everything here’s big, but to little effect. (12/08)