Berkshire Brewing Co. “Good Night Irene” West Coast Style IPA (Massachusetts) – One of the most confident IPAs I’ve tasted in a long time, relying not on extremity or amperage for attention, but instead presenting itself with utter clarity of purpose. Also, as a part-time resident of Vermont I can say this with conviction: F you, Hurricane Irene. (6/12)
Browse Month
July 2012
Roy Harper
Bonny Doon 2001 “Vin Gris de Cigare” (Earth) – Mostly grenache, with some mourvèdre, grenache blanc, and roussanne. Fruit-pop wine, bubblegummy and fun, with a rounded, polished, and highly marketable exterior. There’s lots of understated flash here, and while this does mean that there’s less substance than one might want, I don’t believe the wine is aiming for anything other than what it is. In which case it’s a success. (6/12)
Nickleby
Lafage 2009 Côtes Catalanes “Cuvée Nicolas” (Roussillon) – 100% grenache. Goopier than I remember it, or perhaps I’m confusing it with a different cuvée. This expresses a lot of the sticky, bubblegummy flaws of hot-site grenache, with a heaviness that isn’t countervailed by anything. It’s not a terrible wine, but it’s a fair bit more glue-like than I prefer. (6/12)
Corazon
Gaetano d’Aquino 2011 Pinot Grigio delle Venezie (Veneto) – Sticky, confected lime candy with very spiky acidity that doesn’t seem entire ripe (or there are other possible interpretations, I suppose). Industrial. (7/12)
Howell 3
Thurston Wolfe 2007 “JTW’s Port” (Washington) – 375 ml. Succulently sweet berry syrup. Just a bit of sweat. I wouldn’t hold it, even a little bit, but it’s fun. (6/12)
San Nacido
Longoria 2000 Pinot Noir Bien Nacido (Santa Maria Valley) – This has held very well, but it has neither complexified nor maintained steady-state, but has instead regressed into very simple old-pinot aromas of bark, soil, dust, and autumnal berry. I’ve another bottle, and maybe it will show differently, but as hard as it would have been to convince myself at the time, I think I should have consumed this at release. (6/12)
Colonel Potter
Brun “Terres Dorées” 2009 Morgon (Beaujolais) – Surprisingly open, given that from this year, site, and producer I’m expecting little other than a dense wall of go-away. Instead, there’s dusty morel and sappy blackberry, an almost shockingly nervy structure, and the promise of more insight as the glasses pass into digestive oblivion. (Well, you know what I mean….) I don’t know that it couldn’t go longer, but I do know that it’s nothing to be scared of at the moment. (6/12)
Calatroni, the Lombardese treat
Calatroni 2010 Oltrepò Pavese Pinot Nero (Lombardy) – Dirt and blackish fruit with a fair bit of space between its components. Slightly gritty but non-aggressive, structurally, yet with the balance to age for a bit. There’s even a bit of swagger. I’m intrigued. (6/12)
Tapping Jeremy
Tablas Creek 2010 “Patelin de Tablas” Red (Paso Robles) – Syrah, grenache, mourvèdre, and counoise, 14.1% alcohol. Immediately appealing. Warm berries, hints of mushroom, herb, and soil. Some spice, some pepper. Everything moderate to low-volume, but well-knit. The kind of wine of which one could consume a lot, which is (of course) the intent behind this newish bottling. (6/12)
Secateurs, Georgia
Badenhorst “Secateurs” 2010 Red (Coastal Region) – Thudding fruit with bitter vinyl that I cannot believe isn’t pinotage-derived (it isn’t: the wine’s blended from cabernet sauvignon, carignan, cinsault, and grenache). Maybe it’s the cinsault…which is, after all, one of pinotage’s absentee parents. A chore to drink. (6/12)