Browse Month

January 2010

Rebecca

Losada Fernández “Pena do Lobo” 2008 Ribeira Sacra (Northwest Spain) – Red apples and raspberries, with a cranberry tartness to the acidity. Thin in odd places and at odd moments, with gritty tannin that takes a steadier path through the wine’s length. Good, if a bit awkward, but needs food. (1/10)

Forrester research

[bottle]Ken Forrester 2006 Chenin Blanc (Stellenbosch) – South Africa is full of sunny, inexpensive chenin that expresses a round, fat-faced fruit that’s absolutely irresistible, and also of overly-ambitious oaked versions that manage to be more interesting than most similarly-constructed New World chardonnays, but perhaps aren’t the best use of chenin blanc. Very, very few wines straddle a middle ground, but here’s one, and it’s a beauty. Richer than it would be from the Loire, and youthfully simple, but with familiar honey, chalk, wax, and quinine at a nudged-up volume, yet balanced and pure. I’ve had this with a little age (albeit from younger vines), and the expected characteristics of aging chenin were indeed on display, to the wine’s benefit. I have high hopes for this wine. (1/10)

Pégaulantern

Féraud “Domaine du Pégau” 1994 Châteauneuf-du-Pape “Cuvée Réservée” (Rhône) – From a very cold cellar, so read what follows in that context. Rounding into form, but not yet done describing that arc. Classic earth, underbrush, meat, and antique funk – heavy on the meat, with just a little bit of stink; only the truly brett-averse will cavil – in a somewhat heavy-handed but not leaden package. The weight of the hand comes from an overabundance of structure, and I don’t know that the wine’s other elements will outlast that structure. But it’s enjoyable enough to drink now, so if this is an anxiety, why wait? Otherwise…wait. Not too long. (1/10)

Sean John Donjon

Lucien “Le Vieux Donjon” 1994 Châteauneuf-du-Pape (Rhône) – From a very cold cellar, so read what follows in that context. This is very difficult, with still-sludgy tannin and a concentrated, reductive, nearly impenetrable density. There would seem to be a great deal of iron, blood, and compacted earth within, and the wine’s very long on the finish, but there’s also a glossy sheen to the exterior that I don’t care for at all. Judgment completely reserved. (1/10)

Raspberry beret

[label]Otter Creek Raspberry Brown Winter Ale (Vermont) – I tend to prefer beer with fruit involved in its conception to beer in which fruit is more of a conceptual additive, but this is kinda nice, and the reasons are twofold: first, the brown ale is quite good, and second, the raspberry is nicely restrained. It’s a counterpoint…not a raspberry-flavored beverage on an absent foundation of allegedly brown ale, but a brown ale to which is added a suggestion of raspberry. I wouldn’t want to drink it all night, but it’s nice. (1/10)

Istrianics

Russolo 2006 Malvasia Istriana (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) – Some lead, some oxidation, and some heavy metal machinery. Very, very odd. Good? It’s hard to say. It’s certainly intriguing, but ultimately there’s too much death here. (1/10)

Slender

Trimbach 2006 Pinot Blanc (Alsace) – These wines, fairly basic in their normal state, are best in years when either their minerality or their spice are allowed to shine, which I presume corresponds fairly directly to the length and heat of the season, respectively. This is one of the latter: stone fruit, as much crisp as ripe, with pretty baking spices. There’s a little bit of minerality, as well. One of the better examples amongst recent vintages. (1/10)

Wassails in the sunset

Shipyard “Woodstock Inn Brewery” Winter Seasonal Ale “Wassail” (Maine) – Heavy, with the suggestion but not the actuality of wintry spices. Not that interesting, in that it attempts to replace character with density. (1/10)

High thanks

Wolaver’s “Alta Gracia” Coffee Porter (Vermont) – Yep, that’s porter. And yep, that’s coffee. Morning and evening, in one drink. “Good” is kinda beside the point…one either embraces the concept or doesn’t. (1/10)