Binner 2007 “Les Saveurs” (Alsace) – Supple and appealing, though of course there’s the mushy, unfocused quality common to most Alsatian blends. But this has a nice spice, texture, and lift (not VA-derived) to it. (5/10)
Browse Month
July 2010
The rock
Lapierre 2007 Morgon (Beaujolais) – Pretty delicate for a Morgon, it’s sweet-natured smallberry fruit dusted with soil and slowly immersing itself in a creamy black trumpet mushroom texture. But the shoulders, bones, and muscles of Morgon are not here. As such, I’d drink this vintage sooner rather than later. (6/10)
Roagna, Roagna, Roagna your boat
Roagna 2005 Dolcetto d’Alba (Piedmont) – Starts off difficult and overstructured, though of course this is a very early moment to be drinking such a wine. A lot of air and…well, the tannin doesn’t subside, but the acidity shows a little brighter, and the dark, chewy fruit lumbers into the background. This is by any measure a heavy, muscular wine, and it will require a fair number of years to peel away the layers of difficulty. (6/10)
Gabutti-frutti
Cappellano 2005 Dolcetto d’Alba Gabutti (Piedmont) – Where do I start with the flaws? I’ll need extra ink. I don’t know if the problem is with the wine, the shipment, or just this bottle. But pretty much everything except refermentation and TCA that could go wrong with this wine, has gone wrong. Yuck. (6/10)
Nicoll Kidman
Nicoll Dry Wildflower Mead (Maine) – Yeah, it’s mead. Dry-ish honey in drinkable form. And then? Nothing. The problem is less this beverage than my tastes; once one has delved into single-source meads, the blends seem…well, boring. So that’s my bad. I can recommend it for those whose palates haven’t been ruined by, um, varietal bottlings. (6/10)
Here’s the wind-up
Amador Foothill 2006 Zinfandel Clockspring (Shenandoah Valley) – 14.5%. Very straightforward zinnish fruit: generous wild berries, a little feral, some pepper, a brief spike of alcohol on the encephalograph. Simple. Could be more of…something. Anything. (Hopefully not alcohol.) But OK. (6/10)
Penicillin
Château du Roquefort (a/k/a Domaine du Roquefort) 2006 Vin de Pays des Bouches du Rhône “Gueule de Loup” (Provence) – A blend of grenache, the cabernets, and merlot. At a cost of a few dollars, this would be fine: basic fruit, basic structure…the kind of wine one un-jugs and sloshes at a picnic, or in front of the kitchen TV. It’s more than that, and as a result it’s less than that. I don’t see what cabernets and merlot add to grenache, and I don’t see the reverse either. (6/10)
My name is Gilroy
Bonny Doon 2009 “Clos de Gilroy” Grenache (Monterey County) – Simple-minded strawberry bubblegum, raspberry, and doofusberry. Yes, that’s a new fruit. Not heavy but still managing to show its alcohol. Quite drinkable with aggressively-flavored animal parts and a switched-off brain, but the least bit of thought or attention leads to unpleasant reactions. (6/10)
What is morgen on?
de Morgenzon 2006 Chenin Blanc (Stellenbosch) – Heavy, leaden, dead from gravity and then necromanced with wood. While it will never be my favorite thing to do to chenin blenc, this cellar treatment can work in producing a fruity-but-internationalized wine. But it didn’t work here. Everything decent and appealing in the wine has been beaten to death, then reanimated and beaten a second time. (6/10)
Oh, Reuilly?
Domaine de Reuilly 2008 Reuilly Pinot Gris (Loire) – Pinkish orange and too avant-garde sorbet-like for my tastes; the sensation of sweet-tart candy and herbed pear isn’t a pleasant one for my palate. (6/10)