Browse Month

January 2009

Slough it off

Scholium Project 2007 “Naucratis” Lost Slough (California) – Verdelho. Given a sufficiently open mind, this actually seems like it might be wine: sweet mango and persimmon, albeit with the texture of a smoothie. Drinkable, but you won’t want much of it. (12/08)

1999

Scholium Project 2006 “The Prince in His Caves” Farina (California) – Sauvignon blanc, and for a change with this producer the cépage is actually reflected in the wine, which smells of sweat and asparagus, tastes like green pepper, and is dominated by a fierce, off-putting acidity. (12/08)

A roll of the Eurydice

Scholium Project 2007 “Eurydice” Rocky Hill (California) – Pinot gris, according to the web site. I’ll take their word for it. All I can get out of this wine is wax and fat…and not the “fat” that critics use to suggest a lack of balancing acidity. No, I mean actual fat. Stale fat, too. But mostly, it smells and tastes of wax. This is a practical joke, right? Some sort of oenological funnin’? (12/08)

Detzemer collector

Rauen 2004 Detzemer Maximiner Klosterlay Riesling Auslese Trocken 7 05 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Makrut lime, fresh coconut, and papaya. Bright and sunlit, and while the wine is good in a tropical sort of way while it lasts, the finish is disappointingly short. (12/08)

Lot’s wife

Blanchard Vin de Table de France “Lot 1” (Loire) – A mysterious wine. A bit of online research leads to the following: sauvignon blanc and, believe it or not, cabernet (franc or sauvignon, we don’t know) vinified white. The thought behind the closure is equally mysterious: a crown cap under a wax capsule. Kind of irritating. OK, so how about the wine? Bewildering is what it is: foamy, powdery, and sweet, with a bit of lime. Very, very strange. (12/08)

Ferdinando’s hideaway

[vineyard]i Clivi di Ferdinando Zanusso 1997 Colli Orientali del Friuli Galea Corno di Rosazzo (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) – Fairly advanced for this bottling, which has spent some time in a warmish store (Vintages, Belmont Center) and might have been displayed standing up for a time. All this really means, though, is that the wine is a lot closer to full maturity than pristine bottles: honeysuckle and fine-grained pollen with a lovely milky texture and very good length. (12/08)

Lini tower of Pisa

Lini “Labrusca” Lambrusco Bianco (Emilia-Romagna) – Fragrant. Green apples, acidity, and fun lightness. My first white Lambrusco; I didn’t even know they existed until I saw this bottle. (12/08)

Afterlude

Leeuwin “Prelude Vineyards” 2000 Cabernet/Merlot (Margaret River) – Red pepper, dark cherry, and cassis, with a dash of eucalyptus. Good weight and balance. Admittedly a little green (not altogether unpleasantly so, but it’s right on the edge), and already showing some early signs of development. Somewhere between OK and good. Probably not much of an ager, though. (3/05)

Margan for error

Margan 2003 Semillon (Hunter Valley) – Herbs and grass, with a semi-hollow middle but surprising length. Tingly, especially late. It seems insufficient, but I’ve learned the value of humility when it comes to assessing young Hunter semillon; I’m not aware of any other wine that blossoms out of its youthful ugly-ducklingness to such an extent. (3/05)