Le Piane 2005 Colline Novaresi “La Maggiorina” (Piedmont) – Not quite as bony and red-rieslingish as previous vintages, and while the wine’s less distinctive as a result, it’s also better. There’s some flesh on these bones – still chilly and nanoparticulate in texture – cast in intriguingly dark fruit and floral tones, but not heavy, hard, or even muscular. Rather, there’s elegance, firmness, and stability. A lovely wine. (1/10)
January 2010
Caneiro in a coal mine
Losada Fernández “Viña Caneiro” 2007 Ribeira Sacra (Northwest Spain) – A very complete wine, with full-throated mass but without overwhelming density. The fruit is dark and brooding, though there are leafier, petaled elements within, and the texture is of powder hinting at graphite. There’s plenty of acidity, as well. A really nice wine. (1/10)
Oh, Bergerie
Guégniard “Domaine de la Bergerie” 2007 Anjou “Sous la Tonnelle” (Loire) – Ripe, sweaty, and a little lurid. Aromatically sultry, with its bones wrapped in soft velvet and a long, prehensile tail. Very flavorful, not very structured, and while the present is rich with experience, I wonder what the future holds. (1/10)
I, white
Raventós I Blanc 2005 Cava “l’Hereu Reserva” Brut (Cataluña) – Deep, nutty, and rich, with yeasted lemons and fine structure. A sophisticated bubbly, not too demanding, but with good presence. (1/10)
Alex
Sipp Mack 2004 Gewurztraminer “Tradition” (Alsace) – Soft and pretty. A rose-scented expression of gewurztraminer’s feminine side. It’s still flavorful, but undemanding, and everything in support of those roses is B-plot, not the main narrative. (1/10)
Oppida opp opp, Oppida opp opp, look at greco go
Oppida Aminea “Caucino” 2005 Greco Sannio (Campania) – Ashen and somewhat oxidized…not, I think, unintentionally…and thus the wine flows more like lava than like water across the palate. Bronzed carnations, perhaps? Like drinking ruins. (1/10)
Forsoni, not for Toshiba
Forsoni “Poderi Sanguineto I e II” Vino de Tavola Bianco (Tuscany) – Lot 04/09. Hot. Decayed flowers and guttered raindrops, with that ever-present alcoholic fume dominating no matter what the temperature. I love Sanguineto’s reds, but am a more than a little repelled by this effort. (1/10)
Saam like it hot
Saam Mountain 2008 Chenin Blanc Middelburg (Paarl) – Full of the bright, round, yellow fruit that I’ve found is (happily) almost unavoidable in bargain chenins from South Africa. It’s clean, with a bit of spice and barely-fair acidity, though more of the latter would be welcome. Drinkable enough. (10/09)
JJ prune
Brana Eau-de-Vie de Prune “Vieille” (Southwest France) – A sharp and fruity nose, razor-like in its violence, somewhat belies the richness and generosity of the spirit within. It’s flavorful and ferric, with a sandpapery finish. I’m compelled and repelled in equal measure, and can’t figure out quite what I think. I will eventually come to adore this remarkable distillate, but tonight it is mostly a source of confusion. (10/09)
Fear of Haitza
Riouspeyrous “Domaine Arretxea” 2001 Irouléguy “Cuvée Haitza” (Southwest France) – Past it, and I wonder if the oak treatment hasn’t accelerated its decline. Quite tannic, with the remnants of overworked fruit and a dry finish. Dark and coal-hearted, but already with all four limbs and most of its torso in the grave. (10/09)