Browse Tag

white

SylVV

Dirler-Cadé 2014 Sylvaner “Vieilles Vignes” (Alsace) — From a plot of vines planted in the Kessler in 1957, with some other sources blended in. The varietally typical tomatoes are, here, fully ripe, but there’s more mineral depth and vegetal richness than usual. (5/16)

Still they’re Cazins, identical Cazins…

[cazin]Cazin 2000 Cour-Cheverny “Vendanges Manuelles” (Loire) — Dried pollen, wax, and amber. Like peeling open the pages of an old photo album, with cover sheets sticking together and faded pictures slipping their bonds and tumbling to the floor. (5/16)

Christopher

[becker]JB Becker 1993 Wallufer Walkenberg Riesling Kabinett Trocken 010 94 (Rheingau) — I’ve had this at three different trade events over the last year or so, and the only thing I can be definitive about is that it’s highly variable; some bottles are totally oxidized, others are full of sweaty, almost meaty bass thud. This is one of the latter, and though there’s a brace of acidity helping it cling to the memory of when it used to be able to hit the high notes, this is definitely a band who’s had to take everything down a half-dozen steps. When it’s good, though…it’s OK. (5/16)

It takes a nation of deux mille to hold us back

[trimbach]Trimbach 2000 Pinot Gris “Réserve Personnelle” (Alsace) — Even when these aren’t fully dry (as I’d guess, due to the richness, that this isn’t), there’s so much acid and structure that they act dry. More pear and metal than spice — that will change over time — and still swaggering and vibrant. I can’t believe I’m writing this about a 16 year old pinot gris, but: while it’s drinkable, I’d hold it longer. (5/16)

Just one more thing…

G. Battista Columbu 2010 Malvasia di Bosa Riserva (Sardinia) — Outrageous texture, outrageous fog-blindness spice; like drinking a blizzard without the chill. Salty and pepper and full of citrus zest, this would be an overpowering wine…if it didn’t make me laugh out loud at the sheer joy of it. (5/16)

A stone

de Moor 2014 Chablis Coteau de Rosette (Chablis) — Narrower than the usual broad de Moor style, but with plenty of verve and cut. Seems like it should age pretty well. (5/16)

Bekaa call

[musar blanc]Hochar “Chateau Musar” 1995 Blanc (Bekaa Valley) — Long before natural wines brought endless weirdness to the glass, there was Musar Blanc: the most unreliably odd wine in general circulation. In a modern context it almost seems tame, yet push deeper and all the strange fresh/stale, young/old, rich/snappish contradictions are there. It’s a big, stone-fruited wine without much actual stone fruit. I kinda love it, but then again I usually do. Mature? Who the hell knows? (4/16)

The ties that bind

[de moor]de Moor 2012 “À Ligoter” (Vin de France) — From magnum. Beige to amber, still moving, but now turning simultaneously away and inward, leaving the memory of a sand-worn leaf in its wake. Even from a plus-sized bottle, I’d drink this soon. (4/16)

A Winkeler & a nod

[spreitzer]Spreitzer 2007 Winekeler Jesuitengarten Riesling Spätlese (Rheingau) — Very, very ripe apple, pushed to the verge of tropicality. A metal band dins in the background. There’s enough acid, more than enough sugar, and it feels like it’s going to tip over at any second. But it doesn’t. Wait? Sure, why not? But it’s fun now, too. (4/16)