Browse Tag

red

Backward falcon

[bottle]Peregrine 2003 Pinot Noir (Central Otago) – Intensely liqueur-like, with sweet-tasting fruit hanging exposed in a wine that lacks the requisite structure to support it. I’m not sure what’s happened here, as the wine was much better balanced in its youth (though the sweet note was always present); maybe this is what passes for this wine’s “dumb phase,” or maybe things have just fallen apart around its fruity event horizon. (7/07)

Coteau, Japan

[bottle]Domaine Coteau 2005 Pinot Noir (Yamhill County) – Dense and syrah-like, not least because there’s also a healthy infestation of bretty aromas that would seem much more at home in a hefty Northern Rhône. This is incredibly dense and unyielding, and I question whether or not it’s actually pleasurable, much less a worthwhile expression of pinot. Age is unquestionably necessary, and maybe it will be a lot more appealing with proper cellaring, because there’s plenty of structure and extract underneath the funk and weight. Certainly this is what some look for in pinot noir, but it’s not really my style. (7/07)

Alma for the poor

[label]Alma Rosa 2005 Pinot Noir (Santa Rita Hills) – These days, my typical complaint about pinots from this region is that they taste like someone spilled a combination of cherry syrup and whiskey in the fermentation vessel. This wine reminds me of my complaints from the old days: that fruit cola wasn’t something I was interested in buying at pinot prices. This wine is all over the place, showing intense but candied strawberry and raspberry, then sticky soda, then a gritty, sandy texture, haphazard structure, and an overly child-friendly finish. I sorta want to like it given the backstory (it’s the new Sanford wine), but I just can’t. (8/07)

Nice Gammes

[grapes]Michon “Domaine St-Nicolas” 2005 Fiefs Vendéens “Gammes en May” (Loire) – Very light. Practically a rosé, and I think one should employ it as such. I assume this is gamay, because it shows the dusty-toned and slightly volatile aromatics of gamay I’ve tasted elsewhere on the fringes of the Loire, here with a clamshell mushroom character at its root. This will appeal to a very limited audience, and that’s a shame, because there’s a lot to like here. (7/07)

The Moriers the merrier

Chignard 2000 Fleurie “Les Moriers” (Beaujolais) – The most flawlessly ripe (yet crisp) berries imaginable, but presented in fractal facets glittering with brilliant acid-polished light. Tellicherry pepper and delicate floral notes seem dusted on the top, elusive but present. Breathtakingly gorgeous. Possibly the best Beaujolais I’ve ever tasted. (7/07)

Tête offensive

[chai]Louis Tête 2005 Beaujolais-Villages (Beaujolais) – Very light, but a boisterous little fruit bomb nonetheless, crisp and mildly volatile, with a keening raspberry/cherry core. (8/07)

A Fleurie of activity

Coudert “Clos de la Roilette” 2004 Fleurie (Beaujolais) – Coming along well, with an earthy, violet-hued aroma giving partial way to more interesting lavender and black truffle underneath. There’s plenty of sprightly acidity and a little bit of balancing tanning, and the finish is a long as it is pretty…though there’s hidden strength, as well. Beautiful wine. (7/07)

They Blewitt

[blewitt springs vineyard]Clarendon Hills 1998 “Old Vines” Grenache Blewitt Springs (Clarendon) – High-toned raspberry and bubblegum with a lash of volatile acidity (not actively unpleasant except to the sensitive). There’s obvious alcohol, but otherwise this is surprisingly shrill, as if age had narrowed it to a shrieking point. It’s interesting enough, but I wouldn’t exactly seek it out. (7/07)

Rough diamond

Rosemount 2005 Shiraz (South Eastern Australia) – This is the Diamond Label bottling. Bitter and somewhat rancid fruit in a synthetic key. Ugly. (8/07)

Star trek

[bottle]Voyager Estate 2003 Shiraz (Margaret River) – Flavorful, full-bodied and balanced, with affable dark berry and leather characters structured by soft tannin and a light winemaking hand. A solid performer, though there’s no complexity (at least not yet). (7/07)