Browse Month

April 2009

My kind of town, Siccagno is

Occhipinti 2006 “Siccagno” Nero d’Avola (Sicily) – Fecal. Crystalline black raspberry soda, with an earthy texture later on. It’s a “pretty” wine, despite the funk, and I like it a great deal, though I wouldn’t serve it to the brett-averse. (4/09)

Collines all cars

Ogier 1997 Syrah Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes “La Rosine” (Rhône) – Ash, mud, soy, and baked fruit. It’s not bad, but it’s past its prime, as the tannin and acid now stick out of the wine like rabbit-ear antennae, and the usual Rhône meatfruit is getting more than a little drawn. (4/09)

It’s an unfair kop

Kanonkop 1993 Pinotage (Stellenbosch) – Corked. Oddly, this is something no one (including me) realizes the night the wine’s first opened, though it’s apparent on day two, and completely obvious by day three. A shame. (4/09)

Wolfer Blitz

Vollenweider 2001 Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Kabinett 01 02 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Pineapple and clean steel. Good. That’s about it. (4/09)

Peyraud tax

[vineyard]Peyraud “Domaine Tempier” 1994 Bandol “Cuvée Spéciale la Tourtine” (Provence) – Bretty, for sure, plus the usual mourvèdre horse of a different earth. Very aromatic, which seems to go hand-in-hand with those qualities in these wines. Dark dried fruit (or perhaps dried dark fruit) and a lovely graphite texture that really emerges on the finish. Tastes fully mature, but these wines seem to hang on a lot longer than one expects once they reach this stage. (4/09)

Birks in stock

Birks “Wendouree” 1999 Shiraz/Malbec (Clare Valley) – Wine as amaro, and I mean that in an appreciative way. Quite tannic, with the signature eucalyptus note present only in a supporting role. Blackberries at the core, plus a dusting of Tellicherry pepper. Intense. Texturally, like drinking the finely-ground dregs of coffee. As a guess, this wine has decades of life yet to explore. What I love so much about these wines are their unrepentant individuality, even more so than their actual quality…which goes beyond iconoclasm to outright indifference to their reception. (4/09)

Piesporter control

[vineyard]St. Urbans-Hof 2005 Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Auslese 026 06 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Minted peach blossom, plus thick orangesicle laden with vanilla. Reticent at its core, but delish around the perimeter. There’s no real value in drinking this now, considering the potential upside as it develops some muscle and flesh. (4/09)

Carema caramela

[label]Ferrando 2003 Carema (white label) (Piedmont) – Tasted blind, and though I momentarily nose my way into Barbaresco, I get no closer, nor do I do so with much confidence. And I certainly don’t get the year right. The reason? Conflict within the wine, and not a minor one. There’s tar, charred brown earth, some – but not too much – tannin, and a white powder texture. The structure’s all shoulders and knees, but the fruit seems worn out, as if the wine is headed to a premature demise. I can’t figure this out at all, even after the reveal. Drink? Hold? I have no idea. (4/09)

See, F.E.?

Trimbach 1998 Riesling “Cuvée Frédéric Émile” (Alsace) – The only reason to open this right now is to express your intense affection for pain inflicted by an invisible spirit, because it could not possibly be more closed. Like trying to catch sleet on your tongue, or maybe licking a flow of glacial ice, this wine gives nothing. Instead, it demands: patience, patience, patience. The structure is flawless, and this is going to be a stunner one day (albeit on the raw, sharper-edged side of CFEs), but that day is not today. Nor tomorrow. Maybe starting in about 2015, and continuing on for a decade or two after that? Yeah, that sounds about right. (4/09)

Paul Weiss(er)

[label]Paul Cluver 2007 Weisser Riesling “Noble Late Harvest” (Elgin) – 375 ml. Dense. Spiced honey and thyme. Powerfully sweet, but with the balance and underlying precision to support it. Really impressive, perhaps even surprisingly so. I’m eager to see what’s in this wine’s future. (4/09)