Browse Month

January 2010

Sparring partner

Sparr 2004 “One” (Alsace) – This was too long to hold what is a fun, blended wine, because it’s getting watery at both the core and the fringes, but what’s left is still an easy-drinking, anonymous-grape quaffer. (1/10)

Absinthe without leave

[absinthe]Delaware Phoenix Absinthe Superieure “Meadow of Love” (New York) – The herbal side of the licorice family, but not fully expressed as fennel, but rather more like one of those monk liqueurs (Chartreuse, etc.). Brittle in both flavor and spirit, with a broil of alcohol as a top note. Piercing. Impossible to ignore. (1/10)

Delaware Phoenix Absinthe Superieure “Walton Waters” (New York) – Waxed herbs and finely-balanced herb, licorice, and bitter fruit rind characteristics. Very long. Kinda brilliant, really. I greatly prefer this to the “Meadow of Love” bottling. (1/10)

J. crew

J. Portugal Ramos “Marquês de Borba” 2007 Alentejo (Portugal) – Tight purple and red berries in equal measure, some licorice, and a bit of black olive, but fading and tiring. Yes, already. Perhaps a damaged bottle, perhaps just a wine that was best at release, but the structure is already clinging to life better than the exterior trappings of fruit. (1/10)

Budvar

[vineyard]Királyudvar 2005 Tokaji Sec (Hungary) – Previous bottles have had a lot more of a waxy planespace barrier to them. This is just bright, with zaps and pows of acidity punching through an arid mist of alpine fruit. I’m not quite sure where all the texture went, and it’s still a nice wine, but it’s not as interesting as it was last spring and summer. (1/10)

Darian Clarke

Darian 2006 Rioja (Center-North Spain) – Straightforward, entry-level Rioja. Red fruit, sun-weakened, over clumps of tan soil and indefinite pepper dust. Some oak. A fair wash of acidity. Pleasant, but not much more. (1/10)

Touché, Touchais

Touchais 1971 Coteaux du Layon “Réserve de nos vignobles” (Loire) – Oxidizing, but still fulsome enough, and one of the better-performing wines from this producer I’ve had in a long while. (1/10)

Distribution

Long Trail “Brewmaster Series” Winter White (Vermont) – The more I drink of this, the more I like it. Blizzard spices and yeasty warmth are a good combination. (1/10)

A nice Peyre

[bottle]Les Costières de Pomerols “Saint-Peyre” 2008 Coteaux du Languedoc Viognier (Languedoc) – Despite suggestions of the lurid/lotiony floral notes typical of viognier, this tastes more like one of the region’s picpouls than it does viognier. For many, this will be a good thing, and in fact the acid and general crispness are positives, but the consequence is that those honeysuckle elements that are present don’t quite integrate with the rest of the wine. Perhaps viognier does need to be just a little bit sticky (not sweet, but texturally adhesive) for its best expression, whether or not everyone likes that expression. It’s not a bad wine, though, and I suspect some will quite enjoy it. (1/10)

Palmina sweater

Palmina 2007 Dolcetto (Santa Barbara County) – 14.7%. I have the same general reaction to this wine as I do to Palmina’s nebbiolo, which is that they’ve got the varietal characteristics pretty much right (chewy fruit, red and black, with dense berry skins intact, plus acid and tannin that bite more than the seeming approachability of the wine would suggest), but they’re paired with a very Californian sense of nearly steroidal weight. The wine isn’t completely over the top, but it does drag and lull. On the other hand, those that find the Piedmontese originals not fruit-bomby enough will probably adore this wine. Good, promising, but do note the stylistic approach. (1/10)