Browse Month

July 2010

Arbois-thers in arms

Tissot 2007 Arbois Poulsard “Vieilles Vignes” (Jura) – Wine geeks often express the notion that the wines of the Jura are difficult to understand (for novices, one presumes). That may be true for the whites that play in realms oxidative, but I’m less sure it’s true for the reds that don’t. This one, for example, has been plenty popular with aficionados and newbies alike, over multiple vintages. And what’s not to like? Appealing, pale red fruit of purity and lightness, paired with a delicate structure…unless one is a fan of jam, and exclusively so, it’s hard to register much negativity here. But there is a difference in the way that new and old hands approach this wine, and it’s this: first-encounterers want to gulp it. That’s a compliment, of course, but the experienced instead want to spend a lot of time poring over its details. Why? It’s the nervous trembling to the fruit, the sense of air and space within the wine, the organoleptic version of a musical silence that permits and encourages such close examination. (5/10)

Let it Bea

Bea 2007 “Santa Chiara” (Umbria) – Whitewashed fruit, dried into powder and then reconstituted into something utterly fascinating. It’s like drinking light in fine particulate form. Persists, persists, persists…and then it’s gone, clean and full of memory. Absolutely compelling. (5/10)

Pecorino

Romano Levi Grappa (Piedmont) – A “little girl” label on this one. I think most would call this fruity, but I’m not sure that’s it…the “fruit” is somewhat impressionistic, or perhaps even abstract. Not cubist. It roils with tactile complexity, as much textural as aromatic, and despite the typically cauldronesque warmth of grappa, there’s so much to both the texture and the aromatics that the heat goes almost unnoticed. Until later, at least. Definitely on the richer, more luxuriant side of Levi grappas, yet what’s most surprising is that this isn’t expressed alongside concomitant gravity, but instead with delicious weightlessness. Succulent and, reviewed in summary, majestic. (5/10)

Hemingway

Château Margaux 2000 “Pavillon Rouge du Château Margaux” (Margaux) – Lush, sultry, slutty, whorehouse Bordeaux. I don’t mean that as a bad thing, necessarily, but the lurid aromatics and the very particular texture…well, I can see why certain critics tend towards describing wines such as this in pornographic terms, because the lingo fits. There’s plenty of structure, but it’s oh-so-plushy and New World, and the dark fruit is expansive and soft. That said, there’s tobacco and pepper dust (more on the fruit than the spice side of pepper), and it is recognizable as Bordeaux. But modern Bordeaux, for sure. I find it impossible to not like, despite any stylistic reservations. Surprisingly drinkable now, but there’s far from any hurry to get to it; I suspect there’s a lot more development to come. (5/10)

Klin slate

Primosic 2006 Collio Bianco Klin “Riserva” (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) – Vibrant with complexity, quite tannic, and low-toned. If anything, slightly over-structured, oozing into a dark brown realm of density and gravity. And there’s no lack of oxidation, either. But it’s delicious. (5/10)

What does Marguer eat?

Loew 2009 “Premières Vendanges de Marguerite” (Alsace) – This is sylvaner rouge, which I’ve not had before and don’t expect to have very often in the future. Which might be a shame, because I think the green tomato/herbal edge of sylvaner (which gains an intriguing weight from good Alsatian sites) is expressed to nice effect in this pinkish guise. In addition to those herbs and tomatoes, there’s big acidity, tangerine, and a light edge of tannin. Intriguing. (5/10)

Evolution ’89

Trimbach 1989 Riesling “Cuvée Frédéric Émile” (Alsace) – By a fair margin the worst bottle of this I’ve had. Concentrated and full-bodied, but it’s a body comprised of not much other than beige mineral weight. It grows intensity over a few hours, and maybe there’s a faint suggestion of browned-out fruit, but not much else. Whatever the usual state and quality of the wine (which have, in turn, been vibrant and considerable), this bottle’s past it. (5/10)

Lytton tea

Ridge 2006 Lytton Springs (Dry Creek Valley) – I taste each new vintage of Ridge’s flagship zinfandels with an increasing sense of despair. Not because the wines are bad – they’re not, though there is the occasional vintage-by-vintage failure – but because they’ve become so anonymously tiring. Here we have bubblegummy fruit (not fully grenache-like, but still), coconut, toast, and a ton of obvious alcohol. Nothing to set it apart from dozens of other reasonable-quality zinfandels from the appellation. Where’s the singular character? Where’s the structure? Yes, this is a very young wine from a site that usually demands extended (for zinfandel) aging, but this is not the Lytton Springs of old in quality or character. (5/10)

Woven so well

Edmunds St. John 2007 “That Old Black Magic” (El Dorado County) – Steve’s wines aren’t always this approachable in their youth, but the surplus here doesn’t come at the cost of overall balance or integrity. Dark, deep, a little brooding, and quite solid…and yet light and lively despite the gravitic press. Dark fruit, dark soil, dark carpeting. Really, really good. (5/10)

Nardini’s escape

Nardini “Bassano” Grappa (Veneto) – Dominated by its floral/fruity/nutty notes rather than its heat or gasaholic stridency, which is welcome and unfortunately not common enough with grappa. (5/10)