Browse Tag

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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)

Mb

Mt. Difficulty “Roaring Meg” 2008 Pinot Noir (Central Otago) – Second-label and cheaper Otago pinots are either surprisingly good or flawed in a regionally-representative way: too much weight and alcohol. Here, while there is some alcohol on display, it’s not because the wine is too weighty. On the contrary, it’s wan, tired, and uninteresting. It reminds me of one of those Eastern European pinots that used to show up in educational blind tastings a few decades ago, just to wrench the works (“betcha can’t guess that this is from Bulgaria, tee hee”) in that I while I understand how it got made, I don’t understand how it got purchased, shipped to foreign markets, and given valuable shelf space. (5/10)

A real groener

Neil Ellis 2007 Sauvignon Blanc (Groenekloof) – Driven and slightly pushed sauvignon, which ramps up the mineral and green components alike. There’s nothing underripe about this wine, which tends more toward apple than herb, and so it can handle the escalation of volume. A very solid wine. (5/10)

Jeff Spicoli

Two Hands 2008 Shiraz “Gnarly Dudes” (Barossa Valley) – 14.9%. Concentrated blackberry jam with lots of (iffy) acidity and just enough scraping tannin. Some grappa, as well. A fruit bludgeon, adorned with peppery studs and juicy-fruit rivets. Gluggable, though you’ll feel it later. (5/10)

A world of no

Gallo “Wild Vines” Blackberry Merlot (Origin Unknown) – Fruit of the Loom, but a few days after you ate the fruit. Fake, fake, fake. “Contains 0% juice” – it says it right on the label – and sweet. A scoop-and-mix fruit drink, at best. (5/10)

The sheer Gaules of it

Lapierre 2008 Vin de Pays des Gaules (Beaujolais) – Painfully green, biting, and underripe. I didn’t think Lapierre had it in him to release such a nasty, unpleasant wine. (6/10)

Main street

Donaldson Family “Main Divide” 2005 Riesling (South Island) – Makrut lime, icy-bright sweetness, ripe apple zing. Fresh and zippy. (7/10)

Crystal logic

Lafage 2008 Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes “côté EST” (Roussillon) – 50% grenache (blanc I assume, though the label doesn’t specify), 30% chardonnay, 20% marsanne. Usually a reliable bargain wine, but performing very awkwardly from this bottle, showing pointed elbows of alcohol and jittery melon with sun-drenched lemons. Finishes white peppery. (5/10)

Barsotti voce

Edmunds St. John 2008 Gamay Noir Barsotti Ranch “Porphyry” (El Dorado) – A stark, bare rock face of minerality with some tart, rhubarb/raspberry-ish fruit. Ungenerous and light, but long. I’d like to see this one again after some time in the cellar; a little erosion would be welcome. (5/10)

A Witters tale

Edmunds St. John 2009 Gamay Noir Rosé “Bone-Jolly” Witters (El Dorado County) – Raspberry and something in the peach realm, deft and light and gripping the palate as loosely as possible. Deft but not dodgy, light but not ethereal; very present without being insistent. (5/10)