2018 Alta Colina Grenache Blanc Lynn's Cuvee
2018 Waters Prelude - Roussanne Viognier blend. Excellent
2015 Piollot Champagne Les Protelles
2016 Mauritson Dry Creek Zinfandel. I’d never heard of this wine before; Binny’s had a few closed out for $14.99, allegedly from $30+. Pomegranate with ripe berries and good balance from acid - not jammy. Nice enough at the discounted price but I still prefer the base Sonoma bottling from Seghesio
At virtual offline -
2017 Pali White Cap
2014 Domenco Clerico Barolo
2013 Force Majeure Collaboration Serice Vi Ciel du Cheval - GSM blend
2017 Moreau - Naudet Chablis. Good entry level chablis that really opened up on the second day. need to try more from this producer.
2017 Domaine du Chene Collines Rhodaniennes Syrah - ok. nothing special, better options at the price point.
2017 Burlotto Pelaverga - Love this.
2014 Brick House, Pinot Noir, Les Dijonnais
Drinking well with some air but I'll hold my other bottle for a few more years.
2017 Thorne & Daughters, Wanderer's Heart (Grenache blend)
2015 SIXTO Chardonnay Uncovered
2013 Tenet Syrah The Pundit, Columbia Valley. A little shortage of acid is keeping this from being outstanding. Fantastic, complex nose - crushed berries, fig, baking spice, pepper, Turkish coffee.
For Rosh Hashanah
2017 Palmayer Jayson Red
2014 Den Hoed Cab
2014 Stefania Crimson Clover Cab
2014 Agharta Red Label Cab
2015 Eyrie Pinot Noir
2007 La Motte Pierneef Collection Shiraz-Grenache
Went to visit some family in Napa, swung by the downtown tasting room for Mayacamas on Friday. Great little tasting:
2018 Chard was really nice. Refreshing and tons of mineral character.
2016 Merlot was pretty good, though not sure it was worth the price of admission
2003/2005/2014 Cabernet. Really fun to taste these three side-by-side. The 14 was great, but so young. The 03 ended up being my favorite, and surprisingly had a little bit more fruit character than the 05, which had a bit more of the tobacco/leather thing going on.
I have been pleasantly surprised by some 2003's lately. Had a 03 Beringer Private Reserve last night, and I thought it was delicious. For what I thought was supposed to be a down vintage, these two bottles were out of the park.
The best I had in the last week so :
2003 Araujo Eisele Cab
2015 Peter Michael Belle Cote Chard
2004 Clio
2017 Arista-Banfield Chard
2018 Ken Forrester, Roussanne
2016 Whitehaven, Pinot Noir
2010 Nicolas Perrin, Cote Rotie
2014 Francis Boulard, Champagne, Les Murgiers
2001 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova
1998 Château La Gaffelière Saint Emilion
Yum
J3
DifferentDave popped a 1970 Dows and a 1970 Warres.
Both decanted for 4-5 hours before tasting.
The Dows was slightly greenish, with hints of that condensed milk. This was surprising to me since my bottles of Dow have been much lighter.
The warres are mature and excellent, I acutally had called this btl the dow 1970. Lovely delicate mouthfeel that lingers with just that touch of berry sweetness. The main taste offers red berries cooked with all spice and cinnamon but in a lovely medium light bodied liqour. The finish is a lovely minute long sweet root beer note. Pretty close to a perfect port.
2015 Domaine Chignard, Fleurie, Les Moriers
Quite big for a bojo. Maybe needed some more time, but very enjoyable now.
The 2018 is excellent also, Steve. Drank through quite a few bottles already, and have buried the last few.
2018 Weingut Knoll Riesling Kabinett Ried Pfaffenberg Steiner. Electric.
2009 Domaine Capitain-Gagnerot Vosne-Romanée
2019 Dragonette Sauvignon Blanc Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara
This is a very decent CA SB for under $30. It isn’t in the league of my favorites (Merry Edwards and, though I haven’t had it since the ownership change, Eisele). But it compares favorably with other upper $20s CA SBs I’ve had.
@vinoevelo posted:2018 Weingut Knoll Riesling Kabinett Ried Pfaffenberg Steiner. Electric.
I had the pleasure of having an unplanned visit with Emmerich Knoll after getting into a chat with him at one of his vineyards. It is a surprisingly informal home-centered operation - we sat in his kitchen for an entire afternoon while he led me through a vineyard exploration of his wines. What particularly impressed me was the range of spiciness he gets from all the parcels of land. Unfortunately, some of the quantities are tiny but I managed to walk out with an armful of wines I found especially interesting.
2010 Pecchenino Barolo San Giuseppe - the best wine I have tasted from this producer and great value for money. Classic Barolo with dried roses, truffles, underbrush, cherry.
@otw posted:I had the pleasure of having an unplanned visit with Emmerich Knoll after getting into a chat with him at one of his vineyards. It is a surprisingly informal home-centered operation - we sat in his kitchen for an entire afternoon while he led me through a vineyard exploration of his wines. What particularly impressed me was the range of spiciness he gets from all the parcels of land. Unfortunately, some of the quantities are tiny but I managed to walk out with an armful of wines I found especially interesting.
Very cool.
Last night:
2015 Ferme de la Sansonniere La Lune Amphores - dissapointing. Too much 'natural' lambic funk and zero chenin.
1999 produttori reserva pora - first glass was tannic, with a nice mint lift on the backend with typical barbaresco notes. Unfortunately my only glass as Mrs. VeV decided she 'detected oxidation' and poured it down the drain. A heated exchange followed with accusations of 'its just a bottle of wine' and 'youre the one that turned me into a wine snob'. As dinner was hitting the table i went and grabbed...
1997 Fontodi chianti classico. Lovely. Great reminder of why i cellar chiantis. Not poured down the drain.
Last night;
Frisson Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Stagecoach Vineyard 2015
Quilceda Creek Red 2009
2004 Perticaia Sagrantino - Full blackberry flavour with a bit of spice; in its prime now
2004 Terredora Taurasi Pago dei Fusi - wild dark red berries, underbrush, old leather; silky texture
2018 Jean Foillard Fleurie - excellent.
2003 Montrose - excellent.
My palate has gone so far away from Cabernet based wines that, while the Montrose was clearly superior, my personal preference may have been for the Foillard.
2012 Bressler Cabernet Sauvignon
2009 San Giusto a Rentennano La Ricolma
Riper and rounder than other vintages I've opened, but that's not a bad thing. Still had good structure. Plush mouth feel with plum, dark fruit, sandalwood, spice. Made me think of a really good right bank Bordeaux.
over the weekend...
2019 Eduardo Torres Acosta Versante Nord Uve Bianche
2017 Eduardo Torres Acosta Versante Nord Nerello Mascalese
2018 Rene & Agnes Mosse 'Les Bonnes Blanches'
2018 Rene & Agnes Mosse 'Chico'
Equipo Navazos La Bota Manzanilla 82 'florpower mmxv'
All good. The Versante Nord blanc needed a ton of air. the first glass seemed like another failed experiment in natural winemaking so i put it back in the fridge. The next day it had completely transformed into a lovely etna bianco. Mrs. VeV and I were really pleased with the rosso as well. Not sure if the QPR is there relative to other good etna wines these days. Both Mosse showed well and am going to revisit them this evening. Equipo Navazos is always very good imo and this was perfect for afternoon snacks of nuts, chips and smoked grouse.
1990 Domaine Chenovre Ermitage Hospice de Beaune - classic Beaune pinot taste profile, with nice spicy red cherry flavour and just a little too much beetroot for my taste. That said, it was much better than I was led to expect.
2018 Treasure Hunter Kitfox Vineyards Summer Fling Russian River Vermentino
This is a delightful white that is made from a grape you do not normally see out of Italy. All vermentino lovers should seek this out. Beautiful balance of fruit and acidity. The business model of Treasure Hunter is one that I like. They work with several wineries and vineyards and make high quality affordable wines throughout California. Try and find this. Anyone try this wine recently?
IW
2000 Château Valrose Cuvée Alienor Saint Estephe
J3
2008 Cesari, Mara, ripasso
Lately:
2014 Domaine des Malandes Chablis 1er Cru Vau de Vey
2014 Ch. des Fougeres Clos Montesquieu
2014 Angela Pinot Noir Abbot Claim
2019 Pascal Jolivet, Sancerre (need to get more)
2013 Ridge, Geyserville
2015 Chateau de L'Ou, Cotes Catalanes, Infiniment
2011 Domaine du Gros Noré, Bandol