Browse Tag

sweet

Childish Porto

Quinta do Infantado 1995 Porto (Douro) – Soft, woven fabric and reams of spice in which are nestled gentle red fruit, freshly-dug earth, and nut shells. This is in a beautiful place right now. (2/08)

Lur-pak

Lur-Saluces “Château d’Yquem” 1990 Sauternes (Bordeaux) – I find this wine strangely unaffecting. It’s not fully open, but even what’s ferreted forth is somewhat twisted and upset. There’s a pristine quality in the background, and the thick layers of other-than-wine (from both the vineyard and the cellar) don’t really detract in any fundamental way, but other than a toasty, baked apple and jellied apricot aroma that seems to dominate, there’s just not all that much here. Low-level taint? Damaged bottle? Damaged taster? Perhaps any, perhaps all. (8/07)

4-0

Foreau “Domaine de Clos Naudin” 2003 Vouvray Moelleux (Loire) – After the Yquem, this seems bracingly acidic…which demonstrates yet again the importance of separating Sauternes and its ilk from more structure-dominated wines. In a proper peer group, things might turn out differently. In any case, the acid does prod and spike and lash, which makes me wonder how it got that way. There’s no lack of sugar, certainly…in fact, it’s an intense, perhaps almost painful sear of sweetness that zips right past cloying and into the realm of liquid Saccharine. Yet it doesn’t seem out of balance, either. What aromatics there are dally in the realms of apple, leaf and lanolin…there’s no discernable chalk…and they’re entirely bound up by the residual sugar. If there’s a flaw – and there is – it’s the oppressive monotone volume of the wine; Philip Glass as interpreted by Scott Ian. In truth, it’s a little dull. But I can’t help but think that it’s a success for the vintage, at least, whether that says anything useful or not, and I must admit that I enjoy it. Will it age? Certainly. Well? I have no idea. (8/07)

The Würz of times

Merkelbach 2006 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Beerenauslese 011 07 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Sulfur. Luscious, with creamy makrut lime and some nicely-preserved acidity. For a BA, however, it’s medium light, and the finish is a little abrupt. It could just be too young, though. (4/08)

Back in Black

[winery]Black Ridge 2003 Gewürztraminer “Late Harvest” (Central Otago) – Sweaty feet, spiced lychee, and some fetid notes on the finish. Everyone but me hates it. I don’t think it’s good, but it’s at least interesting. (It’s worth noting that the “foot” element was something I noticed at the winery, as well.) (3/05)

A winged barn

[bottle]Barnard Griffin 2005 Syrah Port (Columbia Valley) – 500 ml. The problem here is that the wine is much, much more “syrah” than “port,” and I’m not sure smoky, leathery blueberry is the best canvas on which to draw sweetness and fortified intensity. It’s not at all a bad wine, and in fact the form of it is quite enticing, it’s just that the wine seems misguided from conception. Perhaps with a very carefully-selected food. Cheese, certainly, over dessert…and something that can take the sweat and toil of syrah in stride. (6/08)

Elba grease

Fondiari “Mola” 2005 Aleatico dell’Elba (Elba) – 375 ml. Certainly my first wine from Elba, and one of the more unusual aleaticos I’ve tasted (bet you don’t read that phrase every day). It’s got the bright, keening, slightly herbal red fruit with laser-sharp acidity one expects, and the zippy fruit-derived sweetness, but there’s also a stronger-willed, brown-rock substance to its foundation, and an intensity rarely found in a wine that’s usually lighter and more lithe than this. It’s definitely an alternative expression of the grape, but I really enjoy it. (6/08)

For MR and MR

Telmo Rodríguez “MR” 2002 Málaga Moscatel (Málaga) – Classic muscat with more intensity and brilliance than usual, though it’s in no way a light wine; sun shines from the core, almost blindingly so, lending warmth and presence. There’s more spice than normal, and a dense, rounded texture. Delish. (6/08)

Emery High

[bottle & label]Emery Muscat “Efreni” (Rhodes) – Pure muscat, with all the perfumed sweetness that entails, but with a sort of mirrorball minerality shining from within, which lightens what would otherwise be a fairly thick wine. Extremely tasty. (5/08)

Apothecary

Boch 2006 Trittenheimer Apotheke Riesling Beerenauslese 25 07 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Intensely sweet and intensely acidic, just as a BA should be, with a forward presentation of makrut lime and exotic jewelry-quality minerals tumbling and churning in rapids of elegant power. Poised, lengthy, perfect. And still so, so young. (5/08)