Browse Month

May 2009

You taste like strawberries

Brezza “Tenuta Migliavacca” 2005 Freisa (Piedmont) – I love the exuberant fizz sometimes found in freisa, but this is a bit much for the unwary, and of the four people it’s served to, two reject it out-of-hand. That caveat aside, I still love it, though the XXXL froth comes with its burden of volatile acidity, which somewhat masks the neon strawberry zing. In no universe could this be called a serious wine. But why would you want to? (4/09)

Michelin fail

[vineyard]Studert-Prüm 2003 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese ** 11 04 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – 375 ml. Makrut lime leaf and iron dust, extremely sweet, and not acidic enough. In a vacuum, that wouldn’t be so bad, but knowing what it is kinda detracts from the impression; in that absence, it tastes a lot like a vendange tardive Alsatian riesling from a middle-tier producer in a middling year. Knowing the vintage mitigates the disappointment a bit, but this is still not a wine one will want to have bought in quantity. The finish is shortish, as well. Still, there’s hardly anything wrong with it, it does speak (to an extent) of its place and its grape, and one could drink a lot worse. (4/09)

Wine on the wing

[vineyard]Donaldson Family “Pegasus Bay” 2007 Riesling (Waipara Valley) – Bright apple-lime fruit, lightly sweet, with mirror-reflective silver-foil minerality and the perfect amount of acidity. Surprisingly long for a wine that attempts to give of itself so early, yet experience suggests that this portends complexities to come. A very fine example of everything it is: the grape, the place, and the producer. (4/09)

Donaldson Family “Pegasus Bay” 2007 Riesling (Waipara Valley) – Exactly…exactly…the same as the previous bottle. This is why we like screwcaps. (4/09)

Kumeu are you?

[grapes]Kumeu River 2005 Chardonnay (Kumeu) – Sulfurous and a little clumsy. Very, very sulfurous, in fact. Difficult to assess. 24 hours later, things haven’t changed much. (4/09)

Kumeu River 2005 Chardonnay (Kumeu) – Take two. Sulfurous, but less difficult than the previous bottle. Still, it doesn’t add up to much. This exact wine was very enticing six months ago, so it has obviously entered some form of hibernation. Optimists (and those who’ve had well-aged Kumeu River chardonnays; I have, and they’ve been wonderful) will assume it’s a normal closed period. Pessimists will eye the screwcap with reductive suspicion. I don’t know which is the correct assessment, but I do know the wine’s in no mood for a party at the moment. (4/09)

Eaststarboard

[bottle]Westport Rivers 2003 “Westport” Brut (Southeastern New England) – Significantly riper-tasting than usual, which is both good and bad. It’s good because this particular bottling is designed to be the fresh, friendly one, and that much crisp, apple-dominated fruit is welcome. Bad because it masks the sophistication the wine can sometimes show. Good because this isn’t, due to the mesoclimate, a wine that performs at a predictable level of quality every year. And bad because…well, I don’t have anything else. It’s a good wine, but as ever a little too much of the appeal comes from its surprising source. All that said, I do enjoy it, and an happy to serve it to others. (4/09)

Lini on me

Lini “Labrusca” Lambrusco Rosso (Emilia-Romagna) – There is, of course, plenty of deeply unserious Lambrusco. And then there are the serious, almost flagellant kind that seem to be a counter-reaction to the first. One is a travesty, the other is unnecessary. This bottling seems to live somewhere in the middle, with a fair amount of structure to its bursting, bubbly red fruit, and only the slightest touch of residual sugar. It’s very good, but not (for my palate) quite as groundbreaking as the Bianco. Still, one could hardly do all that much better. (4/09)

Almansa genius

[vineyard]Almanseñas “La Huella de Adaras” 2005 Almansa (Levant) – Purple fruit, focused and cylindrical, into which hints and allegations of black dirt cannot penetrate far. It’s young, yet it already seems to be all the way to wherever it’s getting. Juicy and gluggarrific. (4/09)

Pastry

Balland “Les Beaux Jours” 2007 Coteaux du Giennois (Loire) – Dried fruit (the candy, I mean, but not sweet in quite that way…though there’s a certain fruit-sweetness to the wine, and maybe even a micro-touch of residual sugar) and dusty, light-washed minerality. Enjoyable. (4/09)

Clan of the bitter beer

[bottle]Orkney Brewery “Dark Island” Dark Ale (Scotland) – Bitter. And yes, dark. Very complicated, by which I mean something slightly different than “complex.” Peaty, smoky, maybe even angry. Good? As one can see, I’m uncertain. (4/09)

Orkney Brewery “Red MacGregor” Ruby Ale (Scotland) – Bitter. And yes, red, but a dark red. Even more complicated than the dark ale, with more of a dried fruit character amidst all the swirling storm clouds. There’s sand here, I think. Good? Yes, probably, but not for everyone. (4/09)

Fraфch hopping

Williams Rose “Fraфch” Heather Ale (Scotland) – Tastes much as described: strong ale with the taste of the brushlands. Interesting, though I don’t know that I’d want to drink a whole lot of it. (4/09)