Tag Archives: Grenache

Top ten imports at VINTAGES from May 30th

Organic Sirloin, parsley, black olive

Organic Sirloin, parsley, black olive

Should you be counting and despite the number of wines you will read about below, I have to tell you honestly that I was a highly competent mathematics student through high school. Distractions including but not restricted to cooking, music, words, pop culture, sports and ancient works of antiquity paved new roads but I can still count to ten. This list goes up to eleven because I could not in good conscience leave Thomas Bachelder’s pulchritudinous NSG out in the first day of June cold.

Related – Du bon Bachelder: Burgundy, Oregon, Niagara

So I tasted again and have updated my note on La Petite Charmotte 2011, a beneficient Bourgogne that hit LCBO shelves this past weekend. The Bachelder project turns water into wine in three countries. By now you know all about the trinité-terroir schematic as I’ve written about Thomas and Mary many times. The fact that VINTAGES happens to now be releasing the 2011 LPC, predecessor to the already tasted and reviewed 2012, the “single-vineyard NSG hugged up on a northern slope,” is of consequence because it’s a memorable, cellar-worthy wine from a really stunning vintage.

Related – Eight Ontarians to be released on May 30th

The other top 10 all happen to be reds, save for one exiguous white Burgundy. France and Italy (a.k.a. Old World) dominate the remainder, except for a lone, paradigmatic Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon and a refreshing McLaren Vale Shiraz. Get out there folks, spoken one more time in guiltless refrain. Here are your tasting notes.

From left to right: La Ferme Du Mont Première Côte Côtes Du Rhône 2012, Altivitis Ventoux 2011, Corino Dolcetto d'Alba 2013, Errazuriz Aconcagua Alto Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 and Maison Roche De Bellene Vieilles Vignes Bourgogne Chardonnay 2012

From left to right: La Ferme Du Mont Première Côte Côtes Du Rhône 2012, Altivitis Ventoux 2011, Corino Dolcetto d’Alba 2013, Errazuriz Aconcagua Alto Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 and Maison Roche De Bellene Vieilles Vignes Bourgogne Chardonnay 2012

La Ferme Du Mont Première Côte Côtes Du Rhône 2012, Ac Rhône, France (251645, $14.95, WineAlign)

A different sort of CdR works from this unfiltered red, on the side of winemaking that summons modern Rosso Sangiovese Grosso. That’s caused by the concentration of cherry liqueur, dried roses and a greater aromatic feeling of potpourri. Yet there is also fresh raspberry and at the other end of the spectrum, cured meat. With a touch of Brett it recalls Grosso in deeper, more expensive terms. The middle palate is a touch hollow, but at $15 beggars need not be choosers and so much pepper marks the austere finish. Add it up and the two words that come to mind are simply complexity and value. Drink 2015-2019.  Tasted May 2015  @Eurovintage  @VINSRHONE

Altivitis Ventoux 2011, Ac Rhône, France (414359, $17.95, WineAlign)

Prodigious Ventoux for a pittance considering the stuffing and the Mencia-esque (think Pittacum) deep, dark, black cherry and purple berry dressing. Rich and actually structured with equal and opposing tannins. That said, it never sheds its high-toned, carbonic youthfulness and the aromas are peppered by five spice, mandarin and hoisin. Something about this also reminds of Cru Beaujolais, but like an immature, yet volatile tank sample of Brouilly. But it’s more new world than that, so I wouldn’t construe all this as complexity, or balance for that matter, but instead, distraction. It’s certainly worth a look, with near, value-driven greatness due to righteous acidity, in a modern, semi-distinct representation of the region. If you like to keep it dark and sorcerer powerful, go gothic with this Ventoux. Drink 2015-2018.  Tasted May 2015  @AOCVentoux

Three from the Rhône Valley at VINTAGES May 30, 2015

Three from the Rhône Valley at VINTAGES May 30, 2015

Corino Dolcetto d’Alba 2013, Doc Piedmont, Italy (412353, $18.95, WineAlign)

Three district aromas emanate; fresh carbon-stoned fruit, cheese and earth. Plums and liquorice on the palate. More cheese. High acidity with gramercy to punctuality, dimension and peak performance prickling. A minutiae of tannin ekes out an ageing component. Could go both ways bitter finish. Better than most Dolcetto. Drink 2015-2017.  Tasted May 2015  @danieliwines  @vinidelpiemonte

Errazuriz Aconcagua Alto Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, Aconcagua Valley, Chile (203364, $19.95, WineAlign)

Presence and exceptional poise define the role played by this Cabernet Sauvignon. The character portraiture is so very Chilean. Florals oscillate in waves of vanilla, along with currants and tobacco. Dig in some Aconcagua earth and bell pepper, melded into and lost in an ol’ tenebrous, cimmerian buttermilk sky. Lush, rich and piqued by cracked pepper, anise and the dusty redundancy of liquorice root. Legitimately oaky but that is entirely OK. Drink 2015-2020.  Tasted May 2015  @errazurizwines  @Dandurandwines  @DrinkChile

Maison Roche De Bellene Vieilles Vignes Bourgogne Chardonnay 2012, Burgundy, France (299867, $20.95, WineAlign)

So stylish for entry-level Burgundy, ascertained and finessed by a light yet steady approach. Creamy texture stands out, above freshness and the under subtle tone of buttery oak. I don’t find it at all toasty but more of a slow, low temperature, moisture deprivation in the whirl of a dehydrator. Enter the forest through the gates of this Bourgogne on the route to Meursault. Drink 2015-2018.  Tasted May 2015  @RochedeBellene  @Nicholaspearce_

From left to right: Famille Perrin Les Christins Vacqueyras 2012, Serafino Shiraz 2012, Pierre Amadieu Romane Machotte Gigondas 2012, Badia A Coltibuono Chianti Classico Riserva 2009, Bachelder La Petite Charmotte Nuits Saint Georges 2011 and Monte Faustino Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico 2008

From left to right: Famille Perrin Les Christins Vacqueyras 2012, Serafino Shiraz 2012, Pierre Amadieu Romane Machotte Gigondas 2012, Badia A Coltibuono Chianti Classico Riserva 2009, Bachelder La Petite Charmotte Nuits Saint Georges 2011 and Monte Faustino Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico 2008

Famille Perrin Les Christins Vacqueyras 2012, Ac Rhône, France (973453, $23.95, WineAlign)

I tasted this Vacqueyras back in the fall of 2014 but did not write a formal tasting note. Six months in bottle has done it some serious, generous justice, in the aromatic simulacrum of balance. Settling has tempered what heat there may have been in extreme youth, humouring and buttressing the lamina of red fruit to stand alone, in avoidance of an impasse in jam. This has class in all months, seasons and at every level of education. It is both student and T.A., dug in to study and to mentor younger Vacqueyras in search of such structure and wisdom. Spice and smoke throw signals of added coil, only to relent to the drupe and resolve for involution. Times also allow for pretty florals beholden to garrigue. Chalk and grain give the tannin elasticity. Exemplary and necessary Vac with an inconsequential asking price. Drink 2016-2022.  Tasted May 2015  @Beaucastel  @ChartonHobbs  @VINSRHONE

Serafino Shiraz 2012, McLaren Vale, South Australia, Australia (407718, $28.95, WineAlign)

A richly textured, solidly structured and surprisingly believable, relatively tame, low alcohol (14 per cent) McLaren Vale Shiraz. The flowers are strewn across the aromatic entry, relenting to cedar and ripe berries. What a sincere inhalation of beautiful. Classic bones to carry a sense of place, constructed with heady serenity and savour faire. Shiraz of a tall order, to please many camps, from finesse to power, for instant pleasure and in attraction of the cellar junky. Drink 2016-2022.  Tasted May 2015  @SerafinoVino  @mclaren_vale

Pierre Amadieu Romane Machotte Gigondas 2012, Rhône Valley, France (973453, $27.95, WineAlign)

Show me an off vintage of the Romane Machotte Gigondas and I’ll throw in the proverbial tasting towel. This Amadieu can never disappoint. The ’12 offers spicy, smoky, piquant accents over top big red fruit. Much reduced yet non-reductive freshness abounds, set upon a valance of liquorice and dried flowers. The stuffing is packed and brimming, the herbs and verdancy sacrosanct with just the right kind of sting. Has savour but I would stop short of calling it savoury. It’s raspy but not rapacious. The Grenache-Syrah blend bides and lingers, long as the road that links Romane and Machotte. Drink 2016-2022.  Tasted May 2015  @Amadieu_G

Badia A Coltibuono Chianti Classico Riserva 2009, Docg Tuscany, Italy (683474, $38.95, WineAlign)

This is a very understated, creeping, impossibly concentrated Chianti Classico Riserva. Positively vital, as classic as classic gets while not once reverting to the kind of rusticity that refuses adaptation, ignores permutation or refutes progress. The cleanest fruit is scented by the dulcet appraisal of truffle and porcini. The pitch is just about perfect, the acidity ideal and the balance struck between fruit, barrel and age. Earth grounds the entire ordeal, rendering it peaceful and pleasurable, the possibilities playing out enjoyable and endless. The organic ’09 can be poured right now and the legs will take this down roads as long as the SP408 to Traversa and Gaiole in Chianti. Drink 2015-2029.  Tasted May 2015   @coltibuono  @HalpernWine  @chianticlassico

Bachelder La Petite Charmotte Nuits Saint Georges 2011, Ac Burgundy, France (357228, $49.95, WineAlign)

The spice notes reign in May, 2015. A smoulder stick of limestone wicks through the red, earthy fruit. Petite only in grace and largesse, in longevity this stretches from Nuits-Saint-Georges to roads leading in all directions. Careful, delicate and yet profoundly, powerfully restrained, not to be ignored Pinot Noir. Drink 2018-2025.

From my earlier note of November 2013:

Is so floral, mineral, intense and hypnotic it might be dubbed the Serpent Charmer. Iron and wine indeed, the iron of Nuits, the perfume of Beaune. This provocative bottling represents the third year of production, is conspicuous in Anis de Flavigny and an underlying gate. If montagnes is the harming one, this is the charming one. These are all from the same barrels, so what really affects the wines the most? Land and hand.

Last tasted May 2015  @Bachelder_wines

Monte Faustino Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico 2008, Doc Veneto, Italy (327122, $56.95, WineAlign)

You know it’s big, hot and full-bodied. But oh if this isn’t the epitome of how Amarone can woo, thrill and hypnotize. The fig-date-palm-dried fruit feeling proliferates within an anise liqueur base. The caked, cracking and arid earth flakes, chips and cuts with a mustard of spices. The smooth and velvety mouthfeel has variegated chalk and grain. Such a promiscuous Valpolicella that fleshes and swells as it swirls. Intense, rich and yet neither overpowers nor climbs over the top. Drink 2018-2028.  Tasted May 2015  @RegioneVeneto

Good to go!

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Recent uploads

Recently grilled

Recently grilled

It’s a themed based life. Most of what we taste is packaged into categories; country, region, appellation, varietal, blends, White, Red, Sparkling, Rosé and Dessert. Tastings promote a place or at the very least a gathering of sympathies, of wines meant to share a table.

Sometimes we taste in random preoccupation, with holistic hazard grace, in absence of direction, without a care to the world. More often than not my tasting notes are uploaded to WineAlign. Here are nine uploaded singles, in no particular and seemingly random order, save for the prices. They are all available at the LCBO.

From left to right: Guardian Reserva Red 2012, Château Des Charmes Cuvée D'andrée Rosé Estate Bottled 2014, Château Des Charmes Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Bottled 2012, Bodegas Castaño Solanera Viñas Viejas 2012 and Ravenswood Vintners Blend Zinfandel 2013

From left to right: Guardian Reserva Red 2012, Château Des Charmes Cuvée D’andrée Rosé Estate Bottled 2014, Château Des Charmes Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Bottled 2012, Bodegas Castaño Solanera Viñas Viejas 2012 and Ravenswood Vintners Blend Zinfandel 2013

Guardian Reserva Red 2012, Colchagua Valley, Chile (392787, $13.60, WineAlign)

A commencement red in which the parts control the sum, before, during and after. Quite frankly that’s okay. That Cabernet Franc and Carménère can be picked out so glaringly yet without harsh tones is a reward of sorts, an investigation into the varietal relationship with Colchagua, the guardian of these grapes. More fruit than earth is the basic tenet of the dependancy, again just fine, with the secondary players acting out the vibes of smoke, very ripe flowering shrubs and oak. Good show. The length says three to four acts more. Drink 2015-2019.  Tasted March 2015  @LFEWINES  @DrinkChile  @Noble_Estates

Château Des Charmes Cuvée D’andrée Rosé Estate Bottled 2014, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (333260, $14.95, WineAlign)

If any Rosé intimates a blush Niagara Brut (sans bubbles) I’d have to give the nod to this CdC named for family matriarch Madame Andrée Bosc. Early picked at less than 20 brix in a Sparkling wine state of mind and balanced in which sugar (6.1 g/L) and acidity (6.1 g/L) countermand one effacing the other. From out of the void comes pure Pinot Noir fruit, in varietal articulation, lustrous, vivid and painted in cool, receding sheen. The flavours are an early summer bowl of berries. Strawberries to mark the beginning of hope. In 2013 the complexity reached for another level. Here in 2014 the Cuvée D’andrée keeps it simple. A Foy Vance tune. “That was the last day of June. This is the first of July.” Drink 2015-2016.  Tasted April 2015  @MBosc

Château Des Charmes Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Bottled 2012, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (370320, $14.95, WineAlign)

Grabs hold of the vintage and runs with it, in a sprint. Everything about this is comfortable, expressive, flannel blanketed for warmth. Soft, cuddly Cabernet with huge potential in consideration of price. The oak on top of extraction speaks of a handled totality alongside great fruit. Contending fruit. Basks in a blinding glow in a fine example of what Cabernet can do in Niagara, from warmer spots. That said I do believe that fresh fruit like this, left to its own devices, without any significant barrel coverage, would have managed just fine for five years or more. Drink 2015-2018.  Tasted April 2015  @MBosc

Castaño Solanera Viñas Viejas 2012, Do Yecla, Spain (276162, $16.95, WineAlign)

Crafted specifically for a North American market palate, this blends Mourvedre dominated (70 per cent), maximum extraction Yecla fruit with equal supporting bits of Cabernet Sauvignon and Garnacha Tintorera. The latter two juicy bombshells help to smooth, flesh and melt the ooze of the firm, dredging and heavy of foot Mourvedre. Reeking of modernity, machination and posturing, the gangly, brambly and grippy old vines Solanera is a huge wine, a macho, manly, masculine and muscular red. It’s a shaken mess of fruit, edible flowers and has a smoky, cigar leaf edge. The only real concern is a lack of chivalrous acidity. What is there feels added, not integrated and will be quick to abandon ship when the fruit needs a life raft. At present there is no disputing the quantity of the composition for the money. Two years from now it will have less to say. Drink 2015-2017.  Tasted April 2015  @BodegasCastano  @andrewhanna

Ravenswood Vintners Blend Zinfandel 2013, California (359257, $17.95, WineAlign)

The Vintner’s Blend is Ravenswood’s opportunity to anatomize disparate, old vine California fruit into one Wonka blend, to craft a harmonious if homogeneous Zinfandel expression. The house style in consistency is nothing short of something palmary, here perpetuated in the dried fruit crannies of this 2013. Zinfandel and nothing but, though the variety carries a three quarters presence, the remainder in Petite Sirah, Syrah and “Mixed Blacks.” When the paltry asking price is considered, the VB gives the oak away, asking for little in return, save for a stoked grill or smoker and some well-rubbed slabs of protein. Combine the sweet, savoury, dark, brambly fruit with slow-cooked ribs and a fuligin crust. Men from all around will come calling. Drink 2015-2018.  Tasted April 2015  @CBrandsCareers  @TheZinfandelOrg

From left to right: Southbrook Vineyards Triomphe Cabernet Franc Rosé 2014, Pedroncelli Alto Vineyards Sangiovese 2012, Brezza Cannubi Barolo 2010 and Château Lafon Rochet 2004

From left to right: Southbrook Vineyards Triomphe Cabernet Franc Rosé 2014, Pedroncelli Alto Vineyards Sangiovese 2012, Brezza Cannubi Barolo 2010 and Château Lafon Rochet 2004

Southbrook Vineyards Triomphe Cabernet Franc Rosé 2014, Niagara Peninsula, Ontario (279117, $19.95, WineAlign)

Southbrook’s Rosé is a triumph of philosophy and direction in varietal election. Fundamental to a matter of degree, this is a wine to help cast little doubt on Cabernet Franc’s pink necessity for Niagara. Only CF adds a sweet, sour and savoury push to to a blush bleed, with a push-pull undertone of earth. Only this variety can draw salinity and funk from the soil without requiring additional reductive, rubbery underpinning. Here the sour berries are bright and the wine is light on its feet, yet clear and precise. If not for the apocopic finish, this would be exceedingly exceptional Rosé. Drink 2015-2016.  Tasted April 2015  @SouthbrookWine  @AnnSperling

Pedroncelli Alto Vineyards Sangiovese 2012, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, California (204461, $20.00, WineAlign)

Genuine take on Sangiovese, ebullient in red cherry, leather and chestnut. Swelling pulpy and if acidity does not at first succeed, it tries and tries again until vehemence is achieved. Sangiovese never looked so good in expatriate clothing for $20. Worth trying one now and putting a few away to see how they evolve. Sends a message to growers and producers in the Dry Creek Valley. Treat the variety with minimal oak love and seek out special terroir like the Alto Vineyards. Done right, Sangiovese can provide a bright and complementing alternative to Zinfandel. Drink 2015-2020.  Tasted April 2015  @Pedroncelli  @drycreekvalley

Brezza Cannubi Barolo 2010, Docg Piedmont, Italy (713511, $64.95, WineAlign)

Here, in the Cannubi vineyard, the classic impossible dichotomy of Nebbiolo, like an anvil and a feather, falling at the same rate, in a vacuum. The floral tones are set to eleven, while layers of many elixirs, liqueurs and tonics swirl in B-52 activity, bled from candied roses and chestnuts. A flavour that brings to mind fresh leather in cream sauce and a nutty glaze, like pistachio crème brûlée. Spiky, silken texture is akin to a web spun of savoury cookies strands. Tannins take over late and the sour finish, of fruits fed through a syringe by fills of intensity and verve. Wow Cannubi. Drink 2020-2030.  Tasted April 2015 @NaturalVines   @regionepiemonte

Château Lafon Rochet 2004, Ac St Estèphe, 4e Cru, Bordeaux, France (197228, 2009 $84.25, WineAlign)

An adolescent resolved, on the whole and as a rule for 2004’s, now advanced to adulthood. Chocolate and dusty weigh in straight away, as per the wood smothering of the time, so upfront and prevalent the fruit is the understudy. The whole in the heart of the middle is like the only living boy in New York, “half of the time we’re gone but we don’t know where, and we don’t know where.” So it must be filled with popular song. Then the wine shines, in Mediterranean tones, savoury ways, with black olives and sweet yet bitter solemnity. Quite perfectly fine, oldish Bordeaux, two-part harmony St. Estèphe. It will not rock your world but it will play scaling, soothing bass lines and lend echoing acoustics. Drink 2015-2017.  Tasted April 2015  @Lafonrochet  @BordeauxWines

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Top 10 May 2nd VINTAGES

From left to right: Gérard Bertrand Languedoc Syrah/Grenache 2011, Markus Molitor Haus Klosterberg Riesling 2013, Salwey Pinot Gris 2013, Elephant Hill Pinot Noir 2013 and Elephant Hill Syrah 2012

From left to right: Gérard Bertrand Languedoc Syrah/Grenache 2011, Markus Molitor Haus Klosterberg Riesling 2013, Salwey Pinot Gris 2013, Elephant Hill Pinot Noir 2013 and Elephant Hill Syrah 2012

Top 10 best buys for VINTAGES, May 2nd release. Get out there folks.

Gérard Bertrand Languedoc Syrah/Grenache 2011, Ap Languedoc-Roussillon, France (413237, $17.00, WineAlign)

Admiration is afforded this tidy little Languedoc, where red fruit meets citrus, lavender and garrigue. Peppery and just the right amount of earthy warmth, spice, softness and yet durability. A pleasure of florality and a fine grain runs through, with no bake, no shake and no cake. Yeomans work in Grenache-Syrah symbiosis. Drink 2015-2019.  Tasted April 2015  @GBvins  @FwmWine  @LanguedocWines

Markus Molitor Haus Klosterberg Riesling 2013, Qualitätswein, Mosel, Germany (409698, $20.95, WineAlign)

Architecturally precise, of cleanly drawn lines, like the Mosel Vinothek acquired and restored by Molitor in 1984 and winner of the “Architekturpreis Wein 2013.” The Riesling mimics the juxtaposition of historical and modern, seemingly steeped in the past and transposed to the present by state-of-the-art winemaking. This has slate, steep steppes rising from subterreanean acquired salinity and ingrained aridity. There is no way to hide from the scree of the past, avoid the incline towards the future, nor can it exist without the run-off of mineral left behind. Brilliant hue, matched density, matchstick wisp and wild tang. Honeyed and suckling porcine in an early roasting stage, with terrific texture. The beautiful arid length is purposed and linear, with much oomph in its gait. Will linger for five to 10 years easy. Tasted February and April 2015     

Salwey Pinot Gris 2013, Qualitätswein, Baden, Germany (409912, $21.95, WineAlign)

This Baden Pinot Gris is neither fad nor fashion and not an acquired taste. In terms of modern European Gris to Grigio schematics, it is a step up in class, reaching to a chasm of intensity not oft achieved in Baden or other similarly priced Alsatians or Italians. For mineral streaks it reaches west across the Rhine to seek a Vosges mentality, found within a pure, dry and crisp interior. Quite concentrated and ripe like some stylistically-driven Friuli and yet it is the whole package, the sapidity and the good bitters that give it strength in totality. Drink 2015-2020.  Tasted April 2015 @TandemSelection  @WinesofGermany  @germanwineca

Elephant Hill Pinot Noir 2013, Central Otago, South Island, New Zealand (309583, $22.95, WineAlign)

At this price it might seem a Central Otago impossibility but Elephant Hill achieves proper inertia with this fresh, forward, crisp and pure style, so at the end of the day it’s quite a steal. In consideration of the mostly 1er Cru appellation, it would be hard to find a better deal in Pinot Noir, save for a combined tumescence hailing from Niagara, British Columbia and Bourgogne. Struts carbonic in the best way imaginable, desires little in the way of cerebral complexity and hands over the goods with a quick delivery. But it hits the marks of Pinot Noir, Otago and New Zealand. The earth derived rides with chalky grain and the mudslide slim back side is energetic, mineral laced and just this side of gritty. Pinot Noir to sip towards a blue horizon. “I just might move my feet, ’cause there’s nothing like the sound of sweet soul music.” Taylor-made Central Otago, with easy sipping and listening in mind. Drink 2015-2018.  Tasted April 2015  @ElephantHill  @COPinotNoirLtd  @HHDImports_Wine

Elephant Hill Syrah 2012, Hawke’s Bay, North Island, New Zealand (408633, $22.95, WineAlign)

Much like the Central Otago Pinot Noir by this Hawke’s Bay based outfit, the Syrah is neither shocking nor strikingly complex but it does send a noticeable tip of the hat to the northern Rhône, with a cure on the nose, a smoke meat smouldering in flavour and a cool, sloping bounce in its step. The aromas bring both charcuterie and a braise of spice studded belly to mind. The flavours call upon dark, red fruit, fresh-faced and fleshy, along with needful, percolating acidity. The avoidance of sweetness and jam-layered cake is appreciated while it stays the course of Syrah and Hawke’s Bay, criss-crossing hydrated grains of sand and salinity like a river running beneath and through it. The lengthy finish offers the promise of mid-term cellaring. Drink 2016-2020.  Tasted April 2015  @ElephantHill  @HawkesBay_NZ  @HHDImports_Wine

From left to right: E. Guigal Crozes Hermitage 2011, Bachelder Wines Pinot Noir Oregon 2012, Gundlach Bundschu Estate Pinot Noir 2012, Dog Point Pinot Noir 2012 and Jonata Tierra 2008

From left to right: E. Guigal Crozes Hermitage 2011, Bachelder Wines Pinot Noir Oregon 2012, Gundlach Bundschu Estate Pinot Noir 2012, Dog Point Pinot Noir 2012 and Jonata Tierra 2008

E. Guigal Crozes Hermitage 2011, Ac Rhône, France (704908, $28.95, WineAlign)

Syrah with character, personality and expression that stands up to be counted. High-toned, earthy and nearly over the threshold of palatable Bruce Banner-Betty Ross bunching. Hints at oxidation but is oh so sound, oozes liqueur like old-school Tempranillo and yet can be nothing but sloping Rhône. Kirsch, leather, roses, steeped cherries, orange tea, cinnamon, vanilla, charcuterie, bacon, game and acidity that is rapturous and encapsulating. Has it all going on, going strong, with forward motion and a nod to its past. Plays funky beats, swells in Paul Williams baritone and Melvin Franklin deep bass. The temptations of such a wine are hard to resist. In a world where manipulation and critters sell millions of bottles “stop worrying about your neighbors and the fancy things they got.” Focus on the real deal, like this CH from Guigal and “Don’t Let The Joneses Get You Down.” Drink 2016-2022.  Tasted April 2015  @DOMAINEGUIGAL  @VinexxCanada  @VINSRHONE

Bachelder Wines Pinot Noir Oregon 2012, Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA  (333278, $34.95, WineAlign)

Pinot Noir packing blankets, covered, hovering like fluffy clouds on a windless day. “Today is a lovely day to run, start up the car with the sun,” to taste a pure and idealistic Bachelder Oregon expression. Big (14.1 per cent) for the monk, ripe, warm and reeling.

From my earlier December 2014 note:

Primarily constructed from the fruit of Yamhill-Carlton vines, a third of which is Lazy River, an apropos moniker because by harvest time it hardly moves. The warm vintage adds a calm dimension to a Pinot Noir more Burgundian than the Bachelder’s Niagara and also more table friendly. Pure perfume and like life in layered, rosy hues, a vie en rose, from the land and the river’s subtle flows. The terra mobilis. The underlying dream in Thomas Bachelder’s Oregon movement is mineral, like salinity, not limestone but something ambiguous from the river’s pull and under the river. Elegance lived and relived. Here is a wine from a very available warm vintage, with a mess of fleshy fruit, yet Thomas does not obfuscate the terroir. In 2012 and needfully so, it is served from a light hand. Currently available at the SAQ in Quebec and coming to VINTAGES in Ontario, Spring 2015.  @Bachelder_wines  @LiffordON

Last tasted April 2015

Gundlach Bundschu Estate Pinot Noir 2012, Sonoma Coast, California (397513, $49.00, WineAlign)

From winemaker Keith Emerson a Pinot Noir strummed from top to bottom clay loam that is such a matter of controlled emotion and intensity. From out of the fog walks this Sonoman of searing clarity, unapologetic, warm but never hot, telling it like it is. The first chord is the thing, as is the Pinot voice, as sure as Sonoma always turns blue. Beyond that initial substantial impression it glides, even shows the semblance of age, in a beautifully creamy strawberry folded into caramel note. Then potpourri into demi-glace. If the plan is to purchase, pop, pour and saddle alongside duck breast or a veal chop, then giddy-up. “You see it’s all clear, you were meant to be here, from the beginning.” A trilogy of ready, willing and dutifully able. Drink 2015-2017.  Tasted April 2015  @gunbunwine  @LeSommelierWine  @sonomavintners

Dog Point Pinot Noir 2012, Marlborough, New Zealand (329672, $49.95, WineAlign)

Perfectly bright Pinot Noir while simultaneously deep, dark and recondite. Energetic in spirit, ripe and packed with barbed, piquant fruit sewed in threaded badges of spice. Perfumed as if by cinnamon and displacing rose petals. Like the scent of a crystal clear summer’s night, all warm, dry and of dried strawberry juice cracked paint. Grounded and fulfilling, of its own holes, in the mouth and finishes with a feminine touch. A thoroughbred, a filly, that trots on an on, long after it has crossed the finish line. Drink 2016-2021.  Tasted April 2015  @DogPointWines    @TrialtoON

Jonata Tierra 2008, Santa Ynez Valley, California (221150, $89.00, WineAlign)

Syrah and Cabernet may be the varietal strikers in winemaker Matt Dees’ arsenal but take one whiff of his ’08 Tierra, a Sangiovese aged a spell to seal the sell and boom! Striking defines the operative, go figure. Never before has the Tuscan expatriate created such a buzz in a California uniform and it has yet been seen to contest with such hot skill. Bounces around in the glass, not so much reductive as plugged in, electric, static and then kinetic, even frenetic. The heat (14.6 alcohol declared) is felt though it’s filtered and spread, tempered by the cooler vintage, blanketing all facets of the composition, albeit with rhythm and in balance. This is Sangiovese from the Santa Inez Valley manifested as flowers and the steep-like tea of modern Nebbiolo wrapped around the enigma of bi-polar Brunello. The ’08 is brined, of olives and a cure, in Syrah braised bacon and smoky tufts of garrigue. Nearly sadistic in its heady risks and chances but how to turn away from the alluring intoxicants? “Forging ahead with precision, now there is no turning back.” This is a wine you can’t walk away from. Has great bitters and lit charcoal on the finish. Tierra the Annihilator. It is most definitely all in. Drink 2015-2020.  Tasted April 2015  @WoodmanWS

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It’s all been red before

Flat Iron steak, blood orange, scallion and chile

Flat Iron steak, blood orange, scallion and chile

At a major Burgundy tasting yesterday I tasted 18 whites and just three reds. Gasp! With the weather and the heaviness of winter still stuck to the bones it just can’t be helped. White wine is working right now.

Related – Whites of passage

So today reds it is and reds it will be, as it has been before. Tomorrow I’ll likely return to white once again. That’s all I have to say about that. Just reviews today folks. Mostly from the VINTAGES April 18th release coming this Saturday.

From left to right: M. Chapoutier Les Vignes De Bila Haut Côtes Du Roussillon Villages 2013, Le Cirque Carignan/Mourvèdre/Syrah 2013, Falernia Reserva Syrah 2010, Ravenswood Old Vine Zinfandel 2012, Alpha Crucis Titan Shiraz 2012 and Quail's Gate Pinot Noir 2013

From left to right: M. Chapoutier Les Vignes De Bila Haut Côtes Du Roussillon Villages 2013, Le Cirque Carignan/Mourvèdre/Syrah 2013, Falernia Reserva Syrah 2010, Ravenswood Old Vine Zinfandel 2012, Alpha Crucis Titan Shiraz 2012 and Quail’s Gate Pinot Noir 2013

M. Chapoutier Les Vignes De Bila Haut Côtes Du Roussillon Villages 2013, Ac Languedoc-Roussillon, France (168716, $15.95, WineAlign)

From the VINTAGES April 18th release

Perennial stalwart, especially considering the big box price. There is just so much going on in this veritable melting pot of character and boundless potential, right from the word sniff. Certainly modern and ripe but also layered with brush, scrub, duff, roots and rocks. A touch of briny salinity merges to liquorice and then there are the tannins woven with acidity. The length is a given. Lots of earth, plenty of smoulder and priced to case joint after LCBO joint. Drink 2015-2020.  Tasted April 2015  @M_Chapoutier  @Dandurandwines  @LaRegionLR

Le Cirque Carignan/Mourvèdre/Syrah 2013, Vin De Pays Des Côtes Catalanes, Languedoc-Roussillon, France (277079, $16.95, WineAlign)

From the VINTAGES April 18th release

A depth into earth crusts the dark fruit from wise old vines. Fresh and spring run sappy, from heat to be sure but in classic waves and stretches emanating from a floral, aromatic beginning. The bumble berry traffic jam in the middle is not enough to render it done at that point, despite its inability to avoid working up a sweat towards a woven textured finish. The citrus accent adds enough grain to see it through four more good years. Easy to love, hard to miss and smart to give it a try. Drink 2016-2019.  Tasted April 2015  @GBvins  @LaRegionLR

Falernia Reserva Syrah 2010, Elquí Valley, Chile (208371, $16.95, WineAlign)

From the VINTAGES April 18th release

Meaty, smoked, cured, reduced, reactionary, reductive, brambly, sappy, syrupy and still warm after the kill. All of these elucidations and more. Coconut and flowers meld in creamy waves within the muscular girth, sinewy grit and confident gumption of this high altitude, cool-climate Syrah. A huge varietal expression, like Barossa in a sausage factory, masculine, testosterone-driven, with layers upon layers of fruit, earth, game, pork belly, pepper and tannin. Not to mention raging acidity. Drink 2016-2020.  Tasted April 2015  @FalerniaWine  @ProfileWineGrp @DrinkChile

Ravenswood Old Vine Zinfandel 2012, Lodi, California (942599, $20.95, WineAlign)

From the VINTAGES April 18th release

Nearly a quarter of Petite Sirah blends into this (mostly) Lodi wizened vines fruit sourced out of San Joaquin County. Old vines are Zinfandel’s caché thing. The gnarly, petrified plants reach deeper underground and when the interstices of terroir and climate are in accord, the texture imparted by tannin is key. The ’12 Old Vines is a product of a maker (Joel Peterson), plot (Lodi) and conditions (cool and exceptional for the variety). Here a bottle to help define and divine Lodi. Elegance in as much as is possible, juicy in fruit in as much as can be found through texture and balance in so far as can be sheltered. Fresh is ascertained further along (as opposed to dry) on the spectrum, chewy of flesh, but not bone, silky and seductive. High quality Zinfandel in every respect. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted March 2015  @RavenswoodWine  @CBrandsCareers  @TheZinfandelOrg

Alpha Crucis Titan Shiraz 2012, Mclaren Vale, South Australia (377069, $24.95, WineAlign)

From the VINTAGES April 18th release

Nothing about the source, treatment or specs on this Shiraz scream elegance or restraint but it’s “cool and slow with plenty of precision, with a back beat narrow and hard to master.” Four premium vineyards of mature vines between 20-40 years of age have laid a deeply drawn foundation. McLaren Vale sunshine has given it warmth (14.5 per cent alcohol). Individual lots spending 15 months in small French Oak barrels before being blended together has imparted creamy texture. Added up this might have forced the Titan through the doors to heavy burden. Not so. Dusty, rich, dried fruits and herbage merge seamlessly together. Smoke lodge and graphite, berries, back bite and beat fall into great structure. Big time McLaren Vale that does not sting like a wasp, nor is it a bully. Say what you will but “call it heavenly in it’s brilliance…soft drivin’, slow and mad, like some new language.” Drink 2016-2022.  Tasted March 2015    @southaustralia

Quails’ Gate Pinot Noir 2013, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (585760, $26.95, WineAlign)

From the VINTAGES April 18th release

In 2013 there is warmth all around; in vintage, fruit, alcohol, tannin and overall character. Much in the way of cherries, black liquorice, pepper and spice. Tilled earth but in no way bespattered or hazy. Fleshy and ripe, of a depth with bitter fathered tones that bite yet fall back in line with misty fun fruit times in Babylon. The upholstering is rewarding though it finishes with some brute stuffing. A warm reclining Pinot Noir for sure. The kind that makes me want to “smoke everything in sight with every girl I’ve ever loved.” Drink 2016-2020.  Tasted April 2015  @Quails_Gate  @hobbsandco  @AMH_hobbsandco  @winebcdotcom

From left to right: Domaine Des Roches Neuves 2013, Red Rooster Reserve Merlot 2012, Illahe Pinot Noir 2013, Greywacke Pinot Noir 2011, Louis Jadot Beaune Boucherottes 1er Cru 2009 and Concha Y Toro Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

From left to right: Domaine Des Roches Neuves 2013, Red Rooster Reserve Merlot 2012, Illahe Pinot Noir 2013, Greywacke Pinot Noir 2011, Louis Jadot Beaune Boucherottes 1er Cru 2009 and Concha Y Toro Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

Domaine Des Roches Neuves 2013, Loire, France (Agent, $27.95, WineAlign)

There is Cabernet Franc, there is Samur and then there is Thierry Germain. Though a more intense single-vineyard bottle might render this one pedestrian, does it matter when the discussion involves biodynamic, 108 year-old, un-grafted, pre-phylloxera vines? The wow aromas and dense, dripping, liquid chalky, if intimidating texture is managed by wild sage, ancillary and marbled currants and acidity through the gambrel. The 2013 yield must have come in wild-eyed because while seemingly circular, in finished form it is a linear composition in diagrams intertwined. Not out of focus and will admittedly confuse a consumer or ten but if you can keep up with the changing gears the experience will be rewarding. Drink 2015-2020. Tasted October 2014 and March 2015  @rochesneuves  @GroupeSoleilTO  @LoireValleyWine

Domaines Des Roches Neuves 2013

Domaine Des Roches Neuves 2013

Red Rooster Reserve Merlot 2012, BC VQA Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (408963, $29.95, WineAlign)

From the VINTAGES April 18th release

Remarkably ripe and to the point of extract distraction in Merlot. A vintage-driven, heat days harnessed expression, all about fruit, with kisses from extended maceration and oak. Chewy, dense, rib-sticking red that cries for same in gastronomy. An air dominating smoulder and plenty of basting are sticky upon the mid-palate, a comfort to hold onto in median possession. This density lingers and delays before submitting to the salty lick of bitter denouement. One shouldn’t miss this near-decadent beauty even if the style agitates or aggravates fears of thick brushstroke style. This has five extended years ahead, at the least. Drink 2016-2021.  Tasted April 2015  @PellerVQA  @winebcdotcom

Illahe Pinot Noir 2013, Willamette Valley, Oregon (403154, $31.95, WineAlign)

From the VINTAGES April 18th release

Chinook speak for “land, earth or soil,” that agglomeration is both calling card and impression left after a taste. When Pinot Noir from Oregon has that pointedly Willamette combination of super terram flora and subterranean salinity it speaks with clarity, however light and un-muscular it may be. One senses a drawn sapid tang from ancient burrowed riverbeds that crawl feel below the surface. Strawberry is the key fruit note but Burgundy is the desire. This reminds of yesterday’s Ponzi and Lemelson, but also today’s Johnson Vineyard, albeit on a frame less taut. The complexity may not equate but the subtlety exceeds those comparisons. It hits just the right piercing notes because it’s shrill is just so pretty. The grain running through is arid, zestful and saline. This has terrific citrus interwoven through texture and the 12.5 per cent alcohol is something to embrace. Were Lewis, Clark and Curtis in search of fine Pinot at the end of an expedition day, this would have been the one. Drink 2015-2019.  Tasted April 2015  @illahevineyards  @wvwine

Greywacke Pinot Noir 2011

Greywacke Pinot Noir 2011

Greywacke Pinot Noir 2011, Marlborough, New Zealand (402651, $49.00, WineAlign)

From the VINTAGES April 18th release

Wow does this exuberant Kevin Judd Pinot Noir ever excite. The intensity of juicy calibrations and echoes, like breathtaking mountain peaks mirrored in the reflections of ancient lakes. Glassy and refractive, replaying upon itself, like a whirlpool of ocean tide. Silky like bean thread, transparent and glossy. A tug posits between cherry and anti-cherry. Layers of dried flowers and savoury accents. Accessible and worthy of a place in the deep cellar. Long and entirely special. Drink 2015-2025.  Tasted March 2015  @Greywacke   @greywacker  @oenophilia1  @nzwine

Louis Jadot Beaune Boucherottes 1er Cru 2009, Ac Burgundy, France (121319, $52.95, WineAlign)

From the VINTAGES April 18th release

Interesting to see this 2009 released after the ’10, a vintage that had many swooning. This ’09 is charming and unbelievably accessible. It may strike some as bygone-evolved, ancient history even, but ripe fruit matched by silky tannins will dupe even the most experienced palate. Here the Beaune’s beauty is upfront, outgoing, warm, inviting and flirtatious. What a gorgeous layering of fresh berries and creamy, sweet redolence. Very feminine, fleshy and gregarious. The back end shows a little bit of tension, further proof that this Boucherottes has spine and time left in the till. Distinguished and wondrous as Jadot gets, ready to please and stuffed to last. Drink 2016-2024.  Tasted March 2015  @ljadot  @HalpernWine  @BourgogneWines

Concha Y Toro

Concha Y Toro Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Maipo Valley, Chile (403980, $70.00, WineAlign)

VINTAGES Online Exclusive

The 2010 Don Melchor harkens backwards, to years like 2001 and 2003, rephrasing and rewriting the paradigmatic book. From seven contiguous, sub-divided blocks of Cabernet, the ’10 speaks most highly of Lot Two, emphasized by chocolate, menthol and mineral, in cohorts with Lot Four, in elegance and depth. Extended glom and time-lapse picking between April 22 and May 27 was the casualty turned blessing of a cooler growing season in the semi-arid Mediterranean-like scrub desert of Puente Alto. The alluvial motion hauteur of slow-ripened fruit can’t be overestimated. The frame by frame capture has resulted in aromatics wafting off the charts; violet, anise, roasting cocoa bean, garrigue, ferric filings, mortar on wet stone, Cassis and eucalyptus. There is no heat, rendering the 14.6 declared alcoholic irrelevant. Best of all, it smells like Chile as much as it does Cabernet. There is no need to discuss the (97 per cent) CS in terms of Bordeaux, that is until you taste. Then the tobacco angst and silky texture elicit Margaux. Black currants and fine chocolate melt on the finish, still with a mouthful of stones. For winemaker Enrique Tirado, this may be his “El opus.” It will age effortlessly for 12-15 years. For anyone who purchased this wine more than 10 vintages ago, comparing current cost can be a byproduct in natural preoccupation. Who would not want a return to the sub-$50 Don Melchor going back a decade or more? Yet while tasting the present decimus, $100 crosses the fiscal mind and seems completely apropos. At $70 the clarity and sonority of its value is the blazon of an epistle. Few Cabernet Sauvignon dominant wines from Bordeaux or Napa Valley can compare. Drink 2016-2025.  Tasted April 2015  @conchaytoro  @MikeAikins1  @DrinkChile

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Take a bottle, leave a bottle

Wines of the week

Wines of the week

Lately I’ve noticed a whole bunch of take a book, leave a book mini libraries popping up on front lawns in many Toronto neighbourhoods. The concept is right on so many levels and it occurs to me that the same could be done with wine. Open a few bottles and have a taste of each then exchange them with a friend or colleague so that each of you can sample new wines the following night without having to open anything new.

Last week the practice was put to good use and it allowed me to taste upwards of 40 wines without the benefit of a trade or media tasting. I traded wines with friends and colleagues over the course of three days and two nights. Yes, you can trust your friends to keep the provenance of a bottle so that your experience is just as fulfilling as theirs. Yesterday’s post covered the notes on 12 wines from the boot.

Related – Italian wines of the week

Here are nine more tasting notes from a wider global range, with a focus on Victoria, McLaren Vale and Langhorne Creek in Australia along with samples from the Mosel, Penedès, the Columbia Valley and the southern Rhône.

 

Urban Riesling 2014

Urban Riesling 2014, Mosel, Germany (Agent, $15.95, WineAlign)

Grapes from neighbouring vineyards in the Mosel are brought to St. Urbans Hof Winery and vinified in the Nik Weis way. This stresses the Weis notion where “cool climate vines develop flavours, not simply sugars.” Though straightforward and quite traditional, the Urban is clean and shy on flint but there is a slate’s medicinal bleed and piercing acidity. Lime and more lime. Quite dry and in moderate (9.5 per cent) alcohol. This represents quintessential entry-level Qualitätswein.  Tasted March 2015  @TheVine_RobGroh  @WinesofGermany

Taltarni 't' Series Shiraz 2013
Taltarni ‘T’ Series Shiraz 2013, Pyrenees, Victoria, Australia (Agent, $16.95, WineAlign)

A warm, highly perfumed entry with a hot stone streak runs forward and uphill through waves of lush berries. A wrinkle of vim is but a moment of abstruse behaviour. The macerated fruit careens in sweetness above the subtleties of savour but the spice directed oak takes over, along with a scaleable wall of tannin. This woven textile of a Shiraz needs a few years to soften. Drink 2017-2020. Tasted March 2015  @Taltarni  @TheVine_RobGroh

Heartland Spice Trader Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

Heartland Spice Trader Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, Langhorne Creek, Australia (Agent, $16.95, WineAlign)

Langhorne Creek is the source for winemaker Ben Glaetzer’s blend, an Australian curated combination that has secured its rightful ownership within the assemblage vernacular. The star anise on the label is apropos considering the red braised pork belly and Phở tái aromatic suggestiveness. That and red plums, poached and in a sweet bun’s paste. Add to them the steam from hot rocks and warm raspberry compote. Certainly on the syrupy side of texture but the palate is equally savoury as it is sweet. Lots of character here and a finish with extension.  Tasted March 2015  @heartlandwines  @langhornecreek  @TheVine_RobGroh

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Domaine du Séminaire Côtes du Rhône 2013, Rhône Valley, France (Agent, $14.95)

A rustic must is the truth serum here, the corollary of proper old school CdR winemaking. An affinity is sensed to both an Albert Mann Pinot Noir and a Baden Spätburgunder with porcine aromatics and an antediluvian aridity. Very cherry, dusty and plainspoken like a trending linear regression. Such a welcome step up from so many over the top sunshine dramatized Rhônes of excessive residual and alcohol. Though this clocks in at 14 per cent you would never know to read it on the spirit hydrometer. Direct energy and pulse would make this a very keg worthy red.  Tasted March 2015  @VINSRHONE  @RhoneWine  @HospiceduRhone  @TheLivingVine

Tapestry Bg & V Shiraz 2012

Tapestry Bg & V Shiraz 2012, McLaren Vale, South Australia (247155, $19.95, WineAlign) From the VINTAGES March 7, 2015 release

A regional vigneron’s blend from two vineyards, BG and V: The Baker’s Gully (old Lloyd Light Vineyards) at the base of the Southern Mt. Lofty Ranges and Oliver’s Road (the continuation of Field Street) near to the Vale Township. Really elegant and refined in spite of a big, bold and juicy character. Ripe, sunny and warmer categorical climate expression. Quite tightly wound with a metallic iron post or fist in your face, layered and initializing the baking effect. Needs three or four years to fully integrate at which time the pie will be ready.  Tasted March 2015  @mclaren_vale

L'école No 41 Semillon 2013

L’école No 41 Semillon 2013, Columbia Valley, Washington (SAQ 10707077, $22.25, WineAlign)

Sauvignon Blanc (13 per cent) adds buoyancy to the main attraction in this vanguard and reputable Columbia Valley pioneer. Quite toasty and marked by early nose-hair splitting and splintering barrel notes. Dare say reductive but not in a rubber sap run way. More like Sémillon-dominated Bordeaux, of big bones, cut through soluble rock, created a sinkhole that swallows up flavours, only to release them in geyser like fashion in later years. So with patience and age-time in mind, this Sem will have better years ahead, when the heavy (14.5 per cent) alcohol integrates and the lemon drop-butterscotch flavours mellow. Generous pH (3.2) and high Brix (24.2) were the product of a very warm vintage. Rounded by concentric circles of acidity and bitter pith tannin, this is very tropical, like Gewürztraminer, but more in mango than lychee. Needs five years minimum because the oak is overdone. Tasted March 2015  @lecole41  @WINESofWA

La Vida Al Camp Cava Brut Rose

La Vida Al Camp Cava Brut Rosé, Penedès, Spain (Agent, $25.95, WineAlign)

Blush Cava blend of Macabeu, Xarel-Lo and Trepat. Aromas scale the neck of the bottle with immediate desperation even before the cork has fully disengaged. The wine just looks savoury with its bronzing salmon patina. Possessive of an ultra-fine mousse, aridity in immediate initialization and very much the sum total of base elements. Sweeter than expected to taste, seemingly oxymoronic to the nose and in conjunction with a low to moderate 11.5 per cent alcohol. The overall package is one of those beautifully impossible pH/rS/aBV agglomerations. Flavours lean to strawberry and ginger. The Trepat gives it a Costers del Segre angle of anxiety. This has moments of Pinot Noir-esque kinship with some finer Crémant d’Alsace Rosé (like Louis Sipp) in such a refined way.   Tasted March 2015  @lavidaalcamp  @TheVine_RobGroh

Taltarni Pyrenees Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

Taltarni Pyrenees Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Pyrenees, Victoria, Australia (Agent, $27.95, WineAlign)

Bottled in 2012, this Taltarni is showing some age, in a positive way, in dried fruit and Cassis less sweet. Baking fruit and warm spice are grounded by earth and a chalky, citrus, lactic underlay. Has fully integrated components that some time ago included a grit of acidity and tannin, at this juncture no longer in control, but fully primed for peak time. In fact this Victorian has reached the secondary stage of its life. The raisining of fruit means drink it now and for another year.  Tasted March 2015  @Taltarni  @TheVine_RobGroh

Jamsheed Harem La Syrah 2013

Jamsheed Harem La Syrah 2013, Yarra Valley and Pyrenees, Victoria, Australia (Agent,$29.95)

Only 900 cases were made of this blend of Upper Goulurn (80 per cent) and Yarra Valley (20) fruit. Indigenous yeasts were used and 80 per cent was fermented as whole bunches then aged in new and older 500L puncheons. So very fresh, the Harem (Harum…) was bottled with out fining or filtering eight months after picking. “Amidst a sea of wheat,” in a world of jammy Shiraz, say hello to this 13.2 per cent alcohol Victorian Syrah. This is fully exposed and in exposition of its naked beauty. Were more of Victoria produced in this progressive rock, singer/songwriter style, the throngs would applaud. Pure, smokey, opaque and sultry, not exceedingly complex but built on whole bunch bravery. Lyrical, harmonious and eminently listenable. Quite rightly so, shines on brightly, a good album side.  Tasted March 2015

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If it’s value you want, it’s South Africa you need

From left to right: Porcupine Ridge Syrah 2013, Boschendal 1685 Chardonnay 2013, The Wolftrap Syrah Mourvedre Viognier 2013, Café Culture Coffee Mocha Pinotage 2014, Thelema Mountain Red 2012

From left to right: Porcupine Ridge Syrah 2013, Boschendal 1685 Chardonnay 2013, The Wolftrap Syrah Mourvedre Viognier 2013, Café Culture Coffee Mocha Pinotage 2014, Thelema Mountain Red 2012

I sat down a few weeks back to taste 20 South African wines, all value-based, consumer-friendly and market-driven. With WineAlign colleagues David Lawrason, John Szabo M.S., Margaret Swaine, Steve Thurlow and Sara d’Amato on hand, the general consensus at the tasting was positive and only worked to re-enforce how competitive South African wines can be in the sub-$15 market.

While certainly not immune to flaws, some South African reds and whites can sometimes get right in your face and yet others show remarkable elegance and complexity at entry-level prices. When I taste wines such as these I imagine the catastrophe of grace. They are wines that move through history with the fluency of a spirit. Some make a house cleaning of belief, others are solid senders. The South African tasting was more than just a group of cheap wines with something to say, more than a pleasant surprise, it was in fact, a pleasure.

Porcupine Ridge Syrah 2013, Swartland, South Africa (595280, $14.95, WineAlign)

Deep dish Syrah, with meaty and cured toppings and the mordant pitch of Swartland. Tarry, olivine rampant and filled with the late summer, sorrowful berries; blackberry and black raspberry. Naturally sweet, viscous, grainy and tannic mess of texture overlaying fruit. Tons of wine for the buck and a very promising vintage to lay down. Aridity takes over on the briery finish. Wow.  Tasted January 2015  @PorcupineWines

Boschendal 1685 Chardonnay 2013, Western Cape, South Africa (367698, $14.85, WineAlign)

Here is a buttery and toasty Western Cape Chardonnay, slightly dirty and reductive. Confused, seemingly high residual avoirdupois restricts the opening notes, though they surely begin to play. The aromatics are heavy with the soaking skins of pear, apple and quince in crumbled amaretto cookie and flaky pastry boozy waters. Give this three plus years to shed its nerdy phase and integrate its tangy persistence.  Tasted January 2015  @BoschendalWines  @liffordwine

The Wolftrap Syrah Mourvedre Viognier 2013, Western Cape, South Africa (292557, $13.95, WineAlign)

Referring to Marc Kent’s blend as traditionally Rhône may seem at odds in consideration of the north-south, modish chaos, the price and the locale, but folky it is. The blend is unvarying Boekenhoutskloof, grounded by Syrah with support from Mourvèdre and Viognier. The latter, aromatic white grape variety lifts and brightens the brooding load. This is quite sweet and sour, of high-toned red and black fruits meeting a reduction of Champagne vinegar. A tannic and mineral streak divides, circles and conquers all. This will drink better in a year and for a few more after that.  Tasted January 2015  

Café Culture Coffee Mocha Pinotage 2014, Western Cape, South Africa (292466, $12.95, WineAlign)

From the KWV stable, the triad of outwardly and rhetorically spoken culture is right there on the label, in all its java glory. Café, Coffee, Mocha. The charm here is that perhaps in 2014 it has actually been scaled back a touch, the wood suffusion, to at least reveal a modicum of red fruits. Nonetheless it is the notes of smoke, tar, rubber and of course coffee that dominate. “Cause it’s the new Mother Nature takin’ over.” There are also at least two spoonfuls too many of sugar. Like the annoying Guess Who song, this can only be taken in very small doses. “Find a corner where I can hide.”  Tasted January 2015  @TheCafeCult  @Diageo_News

Thelema Mountain Red 2012, Western Cape, South Africa (222570, $12.95, WineAlign)

From fruit up on the slopes of the Simonsig Mountains, this has real, natural cherry brightness, not to mention a kitchen sink of varietal interplay. Shiraz (37 per cent), Petit Verdot (25), Cabernet Sauvignon (23), Merlot (10), Grenache (4) and Cabernet Franc (1) are coalesced by a lighter hand and the effect is less frightening than might be expected. Like similar California action (save for Zinfandel and/or Petite Sirah), this comes together nicely, even coherently, with just a few wrinkles. Represents very good value for a multitude of purposes; BBQ and barbecue being two of them.  Tasted January 2015  @ThelemaWines  @EpicW_S

From left to right: Cape Heritage Inception Deep Layered Red 2012, Cape Heights Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, Flat Roof Manor Pinot Grigio 2014, Flat Roof Manor Merlot 2013, Boschendal The Pavillion Chenin Blanc 2014

From left to right: Cape Heritage Inception Deep Layered Red 2012, Cape Heights Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, Flat Roof Manor Pinot Grigio 2014, Flat Roof Manor Merlot 2013, Boschendal The Pavillion Chenin Blanc 2014

Cape Heritage Inception Deep Layered Red 2012, Western Cape, South Africa (369967, $12.95, WineAlign)

If 2011 was sweet, this next vintage is like Carabao mango, Luohan duo and Deglet noor dates all cooked down together into a mawkish, sappy jam. Or maybe it’s much simpler than that; just deeply layered refined sugar and red dye number 40. There is almost no aromatic discernment beyond the crystalline layers. No fruit, no soil, no acidity, no tannin. Just sweetness.  Tasted January 2015

Cape Heights Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, Western Cape, South Africa (129874, $11.30, WineAlign)

The simple drawn label indicates honest design and intent. The alcohol (14.5 per cent) seems spot on and in sweetness, honestly declared. Stones of fruit, full on Cassis, vanilla and wood spice are in the glass and obviously so. Scales greater heights than most generic California counterparts and comes across as Cabernet Sauvignon, with savoury Western Cape scents closer to Sonoma than say, Central Coast. Some coal and tar come in play with a good, persistent finish.  Tasted January 2015  @liffordretail

Flat Roof Manor Pinot Grigio 2014, Western Cape, South Africa (27128, $11.25, WineAlign)

With the simple aroma of vanilla drops on cut pears and refined sugar, this is clean, crystalline and simple Pinot Grigio. Inoffensive, for a large gathering it will not hurt any feelings. The production is mindlessly prepared and contrived, until a warm cookie dough nuance takes it to another level. Nothing shocking here.  Tasted January 2015  @FlatRoofManor

Flat Roof Manor Merlot 2013, Stellenbosch, South Africa (27128, $11.25, WineAlign)

A taut and toned Merlot, varietally correct and though the label reads 13.5 per cent alcohol, shows considerable heat. Very Merlot, dusty, mulberry scented, syrupy and familiar as a Cape red. Fully garnished, varnished and a rubber stamp this side of tarnished, the thick smoke does distort the clarity. Somewhat seamless in its heavy charms and structured, if quick to finish. Tasted January 2015  @FlatRoofManor

Boschendal The Pavillion Chenin Blanc 2014, Western Cape, South Africa (365353, $10.95, WineAlign)

Though the label has forsaken the partnership with (15 per cent) Viognier, the aromatic floral lilt persists, lifts and buoys the stoic and stark Chenin to impossible heights in a sub-$11 wine. The Chenin’s sharp reserve is inwardly atomic and the relationship with the 15 percenter strictly platonic. Together they create honeyed matter, walk hand in hand and handsomely forward. The residual sugar drip may be a touch heavy-handed but laying a bottle or two down for a few years is entirely possible and save for the price, even longer than that. The acidity circulates to the end, framed by a fine tannic texture.  Tasted January 2015  @BoschendalWines  @liffordwine

From left to right: Goats Do Roam White 2013, Flagstone Poetry Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, Durbanville Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Two Oceans Sauvignon Blanc Extra Dry Sparkling Wine 2013, Bellingham Big Oak Red 2013

From left to right: Goats Do Roam White 2013, Flagstone Poetry Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, Durbanville Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Two Oceans Sauvignon Blanc Extra Dry Sparkling Wine 2013, Bellingham Big Oak Red 2013

Goats Do Roam White 2013, Coastal Region, South Africa (237313, $10.95, WineAlign)

The popular and successful Rhône-ish north-south blend in 2013 is Viognier (67 per cent), Roussane (19) and Grenache Blanc (14). In memory, mimic and polar fellowship of the mother land, the GdR is spic and span clean if slightly saccharine and sentimental. I find this to be a typically commercial and derivative South African white wine, with an aromatic and palate profile of sugary, viscous appliqué and rubber tree sap. Has that awkward, gummy resin sensation, along with tropical notes. It’s the pineapple expression that saves the day and makes it more fun to drink.  Tasted January 2015  @DonGoatti  @FairviewWine

Flagstone Poetry Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, Western Cape, South Africa (358754, $10.95, WineAlign)

Like flavoured, warmed to dripping chocolate, with splinters. Like overripe blackberries seeping in warm rainwater. There is some formidable tannin and acidity which could use some air time to resolve. Quite unique and fun for an inexpensive South African red with only a minute level of rubbery, volatile acidity. Some earth and plenty of spice, much of it from wood. Quite bright actually and well made.  Tasted January 2015  @flagstonewines  @CBrandsCareers

Durbanville Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Durbanville, South Africa (22251, $10.95, WineAlign)

Extreme savour and notes for green vegetables are sprinkled with capsicum and dried caper dust in this piquant Sauvignon Blanc. Windswept tops of or cliff edges can be conjured at a sip, along with he dust of desert brush and spots of European gorse. Ocean mists join the notes of Ulex, contributing further green aromas and salty-based flavours. Acidity brings it all in focus. There is complexity in this SB’s drive.  Tasted January 2015  @dhillswine

Two Oceans Sauvignon Blanc Extra Dry Sparkling Wine 2013, Western Cape, South Africa (281311, $10.95, WineAlign)

Quite oxidized and based on the saccharine sugar aspect, “Extra-Dry” must be a translation from the local winemaker’s dialect. While it has some fining aridity on the back end, the early palate is coated with not so unpleasant sweetness. The capsicum captures the effectualness of the varietal, as do green vegetables and grasses. Intensity comes through in lemon curd and the finish is quite bitter.  Tasted January 2015

Bellingham Big Oak Red 2013, Western Cape, South Africa (350595, $10.80, WineAlign)

A Shiraz-Cabernet blend that’s all about the tree, the barrel and a winemaker’s loud and clear pronouncement of the way jammy Western Cape fruit should be treated. Tire tread and sappy tensor bandage smother along with all kinds of chocolate. Plenty of red fruit, grainy tannin and condensed acidity, straight out of the can. Big wine for so little.  Tasted January 2015  @DionysusWines

From left to right: Frisky Zebras From left to right: Nederburg Winemaster's Reserve Shiraz 2013, Douglas Green Sauvignon Blanc 2014, K W V Contemporary Collection Chenin Blanc 2014, Obikwa Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Frisky Zebras Sensuous Sauvignon Blanc Sauvignon Blanc

From left to right: Nederburg Winemaster’s Reserve Shiraz 2013, Douglas Green Sauvignon Blanc 2014, K W V Contemporary Collection Chenin Blanc 2014, Obikwa Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Frisky Zebras Sensuous Sauvignon Blanc

Nederburg Winemaster’s Reserve Shiraz 2013, Western Cape, South Africa (527457, $9.95, WineAlign)

Have always had a soft spot for this hard-nosed, high-alcohol (pushing the 15 per cent limit, despite the declared 14.5 on the bottle) heavy lead and plush red berry Shiraz. Especially at under $10. Graphite and mephitic barks, ferrous bits and cool bites keep it dancing under ground. It’s sweet and sour, with soy and balsamic swirls. Covers a wide ranging set of Western Cape parameters. Runs the flavour gamut and represents more than solid value. It’s the style, love it or not.  Tasted January 2015  @Nederburg  @ImportWineMAFWM

Douglas Green Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Western Cape, South Africa (367821, $9.80, WineAlign)

Mr. Green Jr. has fashioned the goods, following in the footsteps of his father. This is a cheeky little Sauvignon Blanc. Slightly oxidized, certainly pumped up by a touch of effervescent CO2 and tempered by Western Cape sentiments. Has hallmark South African flaw-ish white wine tendencies but also plenty of back-end bite meets verve. Like Scatterlings in a bottle, “in their hearts a burning hunger, beneath the copper sun,” this SB has tons of tropical flavour. Also possesses a green apple crunch and a Cleggy, cool, minty middle. Most excellent and affordable juice.  Tasted January 2015  @DionysusWines

K W V Contemporary Collection Chenin Blanc 2014, Western Cape, South Africa (18689, $9.45, WineAlign)

Despite the obvious base, elemental and flinty suggestions, it would take some yoga like stretching to pull a Chenin Blanc muscle out of the overall aromatics in a blind tasting. Yet somehow it screams Western Cape and South Africa. Reeks of gauze, sacchariferous density and homeopathic remedy. Saps moisture with anti-vivid aridity. Must overs are in vegetative tones. And, it’s all in.  Tasted January 2015  @KWVwines  @DiamondEstates

Obikwa Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Western Cape, South Africa (527465, $9.45, WineAlign)

Struts slowly out, the aromatic neck in craning position, the rotund body slightly awkward and stuck in one dimension. The sweet perfume is animal musky, in a medicinal way. The big bird is a perfectly planar white that is just and only that, hardly recognizable as Sauvignon Blanc, with no ties to any defined terroir. The ostrich abides for simple and ordinary quaffing.  Tasted January 2015  @ObikwaWines  @ImportWineMAFWM

Frisky Zebras Sensuous Sauvignon Blanc NV, Western Cape, South Africa (237685, $8.95, WineAlign)

From purchased fair-trade fruit, this non-vintage white wine is nondescript. Here brews honeydew in a bottle. Tinny, oxidized and briny, bronzing smells are also sunburnt. The mouth is the recipient of a greasy, reductive, effervescent and prickling salve. Non-Maleficence in Sauvignon Blanc.  Tasted January 2015

Good to go!

Seven compelling picks from VINTAGES for January 24

Potato Pancakes

Potato Pancakes

Today I will go out and taste another set of wines, graciously if institutionally laid out by our hosts at the LCBO. The challenge in assessment will be, as always, in the unearthing of the gems from within the larger group. There are always great wines to discover. That is the joy.

Two weeks ago I did the same. From that mass of juice I first published last week on the Spanish beauties that stood out to be counted. As far as a feature thematic goes, the Spanish armada was very impressive. Does that not say something about the state of quality in Spanish wine today? Like the wines presented below, those Spaniards are another group of wines whose future is being remembered with each passing sip.

Related – Varietal Spanish wine

In wine there exists minute atomic particles spinning and interacting in space, in the bottle and in the glass. Sure that’s really all there is. But we think, perhaps too much, yet still we think. The ritual relationship between vines and wines is based not only on rooted human connections to these vines and wines but also on a far more subtle intuition. It’s based on the idea that the vines and wines are breathed into actuality by civilized consciousness. Wine is compelling and begs to be entwined and transformed by the human imagination.

So, after that piece of grand advice, shopping list in hand, find a store nearby with any or all of these seven recommended bottles and have a great, wine-soaked January weekend.

From left to right: Aubert Visan Côtes Du Rhône Villages 2013, Rosehall Run Cuvée Hungry Point Unoaked Chardonnay 2013, Bibbiano Chianti Classico 2011, Vignobles De Balma Vénitia Cuvée Saint Roch Vacqueyras 2011, Domaines Schlumberger Saering Riesling 2011, William Fèvre Chablis Montmains Premier Cru 2012, Podere La Vigna Brunello Di Montalcino 2008

From left to right: Aubert Visan Côtes Du Rhône Villages 2013, Rosehall Run Cuvée Hungry Point Unoaked Chardonnay 2013, Bibbiano Chianti Classico 2011, Vignobles De Balma Vénitia Cuvée Saint Roch Vacqueyras 2011, Domaines Schlumberger Saering Riesling 2011, William Fèvre Chablis Montmains Premier Cru 2012, Podere La Vigna Brunello Di Montalcino 2008

Aubert Visan Côtes Du Rhône Villages 2013, Ac Rhône, France (224915, $15.95, WineAlign)

Highly modern, evolved and warm weather friend. Red fruits dominate the aromas and on the palate a good angst lurks of something darker and ferric, though not over the top. Has a level of complexity that will see it to future days of coming together. Tannins and acidity are tough so give it three to five years. Well made and more than laudable value in Côtes Du Rhône.  Tasted January 2015  @warren_walden  @VINSRHONE

Rosehall Run Cuvée Hungry Point Unoaked Chardonnay 2013, VQA Prince Edward County (401208, $19.95, WineAlign)

With five months to solidify the intent, now the County fruit is revealed as a very upfront and happy place fitted, unbaked Chardonnay. “Like a river that don’t know where it’s flowing,” the wine is hungry in heart, riverine pointed and a touch effervescent. This is to be liked, in an Irish belt and Germanic sangfroid meets Moscato d’Asti melding way. Not as dry as some other Ontario unplugged but inflected of a similar floral and leesy profile. Very unique take. From my earlier, August 2014 note: “What is so striking about Dan Sullivan’s unoaked Chardonnay is the classic and unmistakeable County perfume that can only be his. No matter the grape, a Sullivan white is a cold play of pear and citrus, made most obvious when oak is not around to confuse. A Rosehall white is always the most glycerin-textured in the County and Sullivan’s light touch ensures this PEC Chard is made in the vineyard. There is a lightness in its being but it is one of the better unoaked wines made in the region.” Last tasted January 2015  @Rosehall_Run  @sullywine

Bibbiano Chianti Classico 2011, Tuscany, Italy (168286, $21.95, WineAlign)

You have to swirl the stuffing out of this Chianti Classico, to aerify the concentrated must, soften the smithy metal and shake the dust out of the skeletal toys in the attic. In Chianti sometimes “nothing’s seen, real’s a dream.” After that it’s so very volatile, angry, biting, scathing and downright agitated. But it’s big and bruising, full of prune, fig and a real CC swagger. Very large for CC, in full conceit and with all those opposing forces in battle, I can see this aging for 10 plus years. Would like to see where it goes when it settles. In the later stages there is a funk, of the extra-terrestial Tuscan kind. Fun Sangiovese.  Tasted January 2015  @chianticlassico

Vignobles De Balma Vénitia Cuvée Saint Roch Vacqueyras 2011, Ac Rhône, France (4003822, $24.95, WineAlign)

Delicious smelling Vacqueyras, of pure red fruit distillation, bursting berries and a smouldering of warm earth. Breath deeply and it doth not burn at all, a sign of great restraint and seamless forward thinking. Nice soft structure and carries itself with such poise. What’s not to love here?  Tasted January 2015  @TheCaseForWine

Domaines Schlumberger Saering Riesling 2011, Ac Alsace Grand Cru, France (627950, $33.95, WineAlign)

To the north of Guebwiller, the vineyard is “the peninsula on the plain.” More often than not drier than the others, less weighty than Kitterlé and on par with Kessler, 2011 is the year of its kinship. Here alights the lemon drop, petrol, vintage given and vintage using searing Schlumberger. I have tasted the last five (in Saering, Kessler and Kitterlé) and here is the most intense of the group. Really wound tight, rolled into a fine Riesling cigar, with the stuffing to see that its “gonna go far, fly high…never gonna die.” Saering, those who wait patiently for you to become a star, “they’re gonna love you.” Tart and chalky, very calcareous, very serious. This needs 10 years to see heights elevated into another stratosphere.  Tasted January 2015  @drinkAlsace

William Fèvre Chablis Montmains Premier Cru 2012, Burgundy, France (977587, $49.95, WineAlign)

A revisit (nine months after first tasting) confirms the ascertained earth, the gathered calcaire and the efficiency of mastering this plot. While neither as elegant as Les Lys or as intense as Mont Milieu, the Montmains is struck by stark, lees melding structure and mouthfeel. The sensation is like sucking on a slow-release tablet of concentrated Montmains. It’s pointed, rigid and saline, like a bone from the skin of the sea. Amazing tannin. The weight is gathered from dynamism that turns seas to rock, rock to liquid. Needs five more years.  Last tasted January 2015  @WilliamFevre  @WoodmanWS  @BIVBChablis

Podere La Vigna Brunello Di Montalcino 2008, Tuscany, Italy (390807, $49.95, WineAlign)

If ever there was a glaring example of how a wine can polarize a room full of tasters, the Podere La Vigna Brunello is the dictionary entry. There is no doubt that it reeks of classic Sangiovese Grosso, of leather hides, centuries old liqueurs and hanging carcasses. Straight up, this is an animal, of Montalcino animale and animated beyond suspended belief. A combination of heavy syrup and evolution are well ahead of the curve. That in itself is not the issue, but rather the earthy, pruned fruit, overripe and heavily extracted. It’s a hematoma of a Brunello, with the swelling rising in the wine like bruises but, that said, it’s so very Brunello. Acidity is present but falls a bit short, while the length is just decent. I am not blown away by its ancient and pageant charms because it will not last. Were it a ’95 it would have huge appeal. but if consumed in 2033 it will most certainly provide for some muddy water.  Tasted January 2015  @buonvini  @ConsBrunello

Good to go!

Varietal Spanish wine

Meat Me in the Junction http://meatmeinthejunction.com

Meat Me in the Junction
http://meatmeinthejunction.com

In which camp do you take up permanent and loyal residence? Do you listen to, build your cellar around and taste exclusively of the singer-songwriter, the solo artist, the grape that goes it alone? Who are you? Varietal or blend?

Many a quarrel has landed on the subject of pitting meritage versus the single-varietal. The purist will argue that no combination of grapes can combine to make for the greatest of wines (save for Champagne). They will insist the skilled and important winemaker is one whose favourite medium is difficulty. That only the ones who are possessive of the cabalistic code can truly unlock the inner secrets of their art. That it can only done through the secret concentration and religious attention paid solely to one partner.

Pinot Noir and Chardonnay perpetuate in globally made, 100 per cent single solutions, not to mention the behemoths of Shiraz, Malbec, Tempranillo, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. To a lesser extent there are great vats composed of Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Nebbiolo, Gamay, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer.

The viticultural right of assemblage is one of the perks in modern winemaking, propped up by and standing on the shoulders of Bordeaux giants. The blending of grapes in summations to argue that the whole is the proper gross of fractions is a celebration of the 21st century avant garde.

Related – Off the beaten Italian path

Yet times evolve, change and tesselate. Old becomes new again. In November I travelled off the beaten Italian varietal path in an investigation of the B-sides, the ones that no one else knows about. I met the awakening of the Italian grape vernacular, engineered for companionless a cappella troubadours, from Albana to Ribolla Gialla, endemic (or indigenous, if the nomenclature suits you) and ancient varieties that have entered a time of new dawn. A similar renaissance is happening in Spain.

In October, at the invite of the downright honourable good Dr. Barry Brown of the Spanish Wine Society, I had the opportunity to taste through a wide selection of the wines of Navarra. The region lies between Pamplona in the north and the Ebro River plain to the south. Non-native varieties like Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot were introduced in the eighties, but it is the native Viura, Tempranillo and Garnacha that drive the Navarran machine.

The Rosado of Navarra were exceptional and the best examples were composed from 100 per cent Garnacha. The single-varietal compositions in Garnacha and Tempranillo by Bodegas Principe de Viana drove the companionless point. The exception to the rule was found in the wines of Bodegas Tandem. The small winery in Tierra Estella (Yerri Valley) is fashioning blends using Tempranillo with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in a combination of concrete vats and French oak. The slow ripening, meticulous handling and extended aging in wines crafted by José María Fraile is nothing short of exceptional. After all, they are called grape varieties and variety is the spice of life. Why shouldn’t blends have more fun?

In November I continued my Spanish odyssey with the wines of Garnacha. It was there that the solo records, in red and white really began to play in my varietal head. Garnacha (also known as Grenache) is one of the world’s oldest and most widely planted grapes. Its ability to assimilate the double-pronged effect of a Mediterranean climate and an Atlantic suffusion make it ideal for the Iberian Peninsula.

From left to right: Bodegas Tandem Ars Nova 2011, Bodegas Principe de Viana Garnacha Vinas Viejas 2013, Viñas del Vero La Miranda de Secastilla 2012, Lafou Els Amelers 2013, Edetària Selecció Blanc 2012, Bodegas Pirineos Garnacha 2013 and Grandes Vinos y Viñedos El Anayón Selección Garnacha 2011

From left to right: Bodegas Tandem Ars Nova 2011, Bodegas Principe de Viana Garnacha Vinas Viejas 2013, Viñas del Vero La Miranda de Secastilla 2012, Lafou Els Amelers 2013, Edetària Selecció Blanc 2012, Bodegas Pirineos Garnacha 2013 and Grandes Vinos y Viñedos El Anayón Selección Garnacha 2011

As the most notorious grape variety with the ability to go ying or yang, Ac or Dc, red or white, Garnacha makes for a fascinating study. Three examples expressive of Blanca’s western European white vinous supremacy opened my eyes to its capabilities. Viñas del Vero La Miranda de Secastilla 2012 (Agent, $16.00) from Somontano made use of four months in two year-old oak barrels to help develop texture in as good a value Garnacha Blanca as could hope to find. The Lafou Els Amelers 2013 (Agent, $28.95) from Terra Alta is a gorgeous wine of salinity, calcium, white flowers, fine lines and elegance. The Edetària Selecció Blanc 2012 (Agent, $39.95) also from Terra Alta is the pure distilled embodiment of Garnacha Blanca with its own unique and distinct aroma.

The Toronto Garnacha tasting ushered by Sopexa Canada brought into focus the grape’s diverse spectrum spread liberally around Spanish wine regions. When Garnacha goes it alone the results are extremely varied, from simple syrup, inexpensive drops to seriously structured compositions. As a varietal wine it is extremely accessible and offers exploratory song lines for all walks of wine consumer life.

From Somontano there is the Bodegas Pirineos Garnacha 2013 (Agent, $17.00), a prime starter’s example all about structure, with rock, chalk and lime-like citrus accents. This is a red Garnacha for the white wine drinker. Grandes Vinos y Viñedos El Anayón Selección Garnacha 2011 (Agent, $30.00) hails from Cariñena. Reeking ethereal and attenuated in American Oak, the high toast, citrus tone, vanilla and Rhône-esque garrigue is palpable. Crazy sweet tannins will carry this big fruit Garnacha to the next decade with pleasing clarity.

So with thanks to Macabeo, Prieto Picudo, Mazuelo, Graciano, Garnacha and the people who brought them to us, the individual is freed from the collective. In a twist of Descartian philosophy, of mind and mechanism, varietal wine is handled with the treatment of oxymoronic social sciences. The result is a triumph of secular materialism, the conceit of modernity and the reduction of the world to a single, simple mechanism. Varietal atom splitting is a resource to be exploited in blind interaction with the living planet.

In the end there is only one vine, one grape, concentrating, developing, existing one at a time. Here are six full tasting notes on varietal wines, each allowed to shine without intrusion and on their own line.

From left to right: Torre Oria Reserva Brut Cava, Dominio Dostares Estay Prieto Picudo 2011, Señorío De Sarría Viñedo No.8 Mazuelo Crianza 2009, Finca Los Alijares Graciano 2009, Baron De Ley Varietales Graciano 2010 and Viñas del Vero Secastilla 2009

From left to right: Torre Oria Reserva Brut Cava, Dominio Dostares Estay Prieto Picudo 2011, Señorío De Sarría Viñedo No.8 Mazuelo Crianza 2009, Finca Los Alijares Graciano 2009, Baron De Ley Varietales Graciano 2010 and Viñas del Vero Secastilla 2009

Torre Oria Reserva Brut Cava, Método Tradicional, Do Valencia, Spain (402255, $15.95, WineAlign)

Made from 100 per cent Macabeo, this is from a winery that is the first to produce Cava from outside of the Penedes DO. Here, from Valencia, up front there is dust, must and concrete, evidence of a lees-induced oxdative lean and wish upon a star aridity. There comes a time when dry fizz does not have to be the way to go, especially when trying to please many palates in too tight a space. So up steps this formidable Cava (with 9-10 g/L RS), in quality, with a crush of gala apple, a weight and a texture like a shag rug. Sure, it may be a bit disco but it’s also so very retro hip. Like Gorillaz and Clint Eastwood with “the essence, the basics,” and its “got sunshine, in a bag.” On the oxidative side? Yes and “the future is coming on.” Drink up.  Tasted January 2015  @cavaswine  @DO_Cava

Dominio Dostares Estay Prieto Picudo 2011, Vino De La Tierra De Castilla Y León, Spain (393140, $15.95, WineAlign)

A rare sighting of Prieto Picudo, one of the more idiosyncratic of grape varieties. This is the entry-level offering from Dominio Dostares (they make more precious best plot selection versions). Vines as ancient as 90 years old contribute briery cedar and leathery veins but this is quite modern, straightforward and aiming to please. Though a bit hot and heavy, the aridity (2 g/L RS) and the mineral streak keep it real. A harmonious if gangly red (from high acid soils), keeping warm and huddled within its hermetic, endemic environment. Short and simple, sweet and tart. Represents striking value in something other. Tasted January 2015  @oenophilia1  @_Cast_y_Leon

Señorío De Sarría Viñedo No.8 Mazuelo Crianza 2009, Do Navarra, Spain (391656, $17.95, WineAlign)

The release of relief in the activity of opportunity to taste something other, like 100 per cent Mazuelo, is just excellent. Compounded with the breath of fresh Spanish DO brought to the table by the current wave of Navarran wines, the experience is made that much more enjoyable. The wine is neither modest nor is it a mouse. Its body travels “on a road shaped like a figure eight.” It builds more than nothing out of something. The traced aromas are filled with pots of fresh flowers and the space is occupied by plenty of stuffing. No. 8 has a seamless, put together structure from the start. Silky and so very juicy with a streak of reminiscing rusticity. Great proper acidity and very stretched length. A very pretty if grounded and ode to history made wine.  Tasted January 2015  @navarrawine

Finca Los Alijares Graciano 2009, Vino De La Tierra De Castilla, DO La Mancha, Spain (392522, $17.95, WineAlign)

Not unlike Rioja, the wines of Tierra De Castilla in the heart of Spain are blessed with a Mediterranean climate augmented by an Atlantic influence. This organic winery is located beneath the Gredos Mountains in the Province of Toledo. The vineyards are protected from the northern winds by the mountain ranges. Though oft considered lower in quality, the Vino de la Tierra de Castilla designation is emerging from out of the Castilla-La Mancha shell. Tasting this 100 per cent Graciano just after a few months in oak and a bunch more in bottle before release would have shown more bright fruit and verve. Now four plus years later there is still much to admire in the high notes and brightness of the nose. Hard not to notice the strikingly and hauntingly beautiful aromatics. Also some dried fruit, like prune and turkish apricot. Akin to some Dão and some Rhône, without ever flirting with being baked or stewed flavours. Aridty juiced from rocks, acidity that follows suit and to nudge it forward in longer strides.  Tasted January 2015

Baron De Ley Varietales Graciano 2010, Doca Rioja, Spain (397166, $21.95, WineAlign)

Such a unique and life reaffirming, giving back red Riojan. The singular, singled out Graciano comeback revolution is upon us and we are all the beneficiaries. Here there exhibits a different sort of profile. A veritable profiterole of anise, cured chorizo, dried flowers and some spices (violets and the wafting aromas of Patatas a la Riojana). Not to be left off the redolent list is a funk, one that is not merde, but rather an old school, skinned hide. At the price and best of all is that the Graciano is so very, very long, like the Camino Frances, from the Pyrenees, through Roncesvalles and to Rioja.  Tasted January 2015  @RiojaWine

Viñas del Vero Secastilla 2009, DO Somontano, Spain (Agent, $32.00)

Took a sip and “the breeze blew back my hair.” Made from 100 per cent Garnacha, the elevated liqueur on the nose is invigorating and initially, somehow disturbing.  The combined forces of macerated, steeping cherries, melting liquorice and bubbling tar is extraordinary. Enveloped by a tinging, pinging acidity, the wine is structured in chalk, grain and gravelly tannin. The barrel influence is ingrained and the wine is most certainly huge but the overall composition is fresh, red and viscid. What to do after being hit in the face with a wine such as this? “How can I measure up to anyone new, after such a love as this?” Who are you Secastilla? Be patient, let it ride for years, let it soften. The comeback tour will be fun.  Tasted November 2014  @VinasdelVero  @WoodmanWS

Good to go!

Contino, McDonald and the Vine

Contino Head

The Rioja Reservas of Bodega Viñedos del Contino

Near the end of September, at the invite of two exceptionally grounded wine men, Rob Groh and Derek Kranenborg of The Vine Wine Agency, I attended a tasting at Cava Restaurant with Technical Director Jesús Madrazo of Rioja’s Bodega Viñedos del Contino. With former Cava Chef Chris McDonald providing the worthy and soulful snacks, Madrazo poured eight wines. Eight to leave lasting memories in impression. Edibles to boot, complex concentrations by Chef McDonald with his last Cava days coming near. Everything about the tasting, in both wine and food, was intense. I hope all were paying attention.

Two of chef’s hors d’oeuvre-style compositions were Foie gras and partridge Croquetas and Frogsicles with Pimento Alioli. Both unique, both instrumental in elevating the old and wise Riojas upwards atop a rightful pedestal. The wines of Contino are very classic Rioja, at times understated and at others overwhelming. Contino’s Rioja buzz with energy and verve. They are very alive. They ooze earth and soil.

Bodega Viñedos del Contino is a part of the Cvne (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) stable. Founded in 1879, Cvne today is three distinct wineries; Cune, Viña Real and Viñedos del Contino. Contino was born in 1974.

In 2006 Madrazo began producing the white wine experience. The challenge was in getting approval from the board of directors. After much experimentation, the first vintage came in 2010. Grown on calcium carbonate soils, the white Viura draws energy from stones, some larger than the solar collecting galets of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The rocks are the heliacal conductors to the vines, creating a paradox, of water loss and energy giving life. This, accomplished through dry, organic farming. “That’s how we play the game,” notes Madrazo.

At the Cava tasting, the ageability of the Riojas was the concept under investigation, but it was the three others wines poured, the flotilla leaders Blanco, Graciano and Viña del Olivo that really drove the point across. Longevity is the key to the Rioja heart. The Rioja Reservas are the soul. “In Spain,” says Madrazo, “we (continue to) fix everything. We release our Rioja in the 5th year.” Here are notes on the eight wines tasted.

Contino

The line-up at Cava Restaurant: Bodega Viñedos del Contino

Blanco 2012, Rioja, Spain (Agent, $48.95, WineAlign)

The third vintage of Contino’s crown jewel white is (80 per cent) Viura with Malvasia (five per cent) and Garnacha Blanca (15). The latter will bull its way into future vintage mix with incremental proportion as a result of increased plantings. “The Queen” gets right up into the face and nose, indicating success for its primary goal. To seek a capacity for aging. “Viura can age,” insists winemaker Jesús Madrazo. “Here I can see at least six years of life, maybe ten.” The Blanco has a meddling mid-palate metal and creamy sensibility. Big (90 per cent new oak) barrels housed the wine for six months to seek its second goal; fruit spiciness. This effect is magnified by the south-facing, down to the river slopes, one of the warmest areas in Rioja. The third objective is acidity but with the malic tendency well-managed, to seek equilibrium. The single block Garnacha and Malvasia elevate and balance out the estate’s omnipresent, all over the map Viura. The paradox lies in the terroir, where hot, solar conduit stones cause evaporation and yet give energy in simultaneous activity. Old vines (some as much as 70 years) draw and release, draw and release. The ebb and flow in ardor gives this Blanco verve and it is showing with style right now. It will live as Jesús said it would but it’s life will be hard and fast. Drink now and for three or four years.  Tasted September 2014

Bodega Viñedos del Contino Rioja Reserva 2008, Rioja, Spain (Agent, $48.95, WineAlign)

From a late harvest (two to four weeks behind the norm), the ’08 is an example of the philosophy yet entrenched in the past, with a desire for pure quality, regardless of the picking time. The conditions meant no single-varietal Graciano bottling and only a small case load of the Viña del Olivo. Quality was essentially earmarked for the Reserva, scoured from 62 hectares of Estate Tempranillo. The vintage is defined by straight up red fruit with some spice and a warm-climate, tree bark/resin effect. The wine’s personality come from out of the nerve centre’s tangy inflection. Though it’s a touch warm and zealous of alcohol (14.5 per cent), it speaks in cants of the Contino chateau style.  Tasted September 2014

Bodega Viñedos del Contino Rioja Reserva 2004, Rioja, Spain (Agent, $42.95, WineAlign)

“If it’s not broke, we fix it,” admits Jesús Madrazo of Contino. The estate’s ’04 says exactly what it should and it must. Old barrels (50-50 French and American) plus two years in bottle bring out the hard vine life heartbreak and hyperbole in fruit grown on calcium carbonate soils with stones bigger than Les Galets of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Stones that heat up from the sun, acting as solar conductors to the vines. Acidity may have been compromised but not structure. There is Rioja Alvesa sweetness, set against a whiskey town backdrop. There are plums, prunes and Phở. Yes, this is a quixotic and exotic Contino, ripe, spicy, floral, meaty but not gamy. Roast pork, Vietnamese style. Immaculate of youth, of original energy and of garrigue. The 2004 Reserva tells the Contino story like Ryan Adams sings about a broken heart. “Some things are born too strong, have to learn how to fight.” So, the Tempranillo will say, “you’ll have to excuse me if I break my own heart.”  Tasted September 2014

Bodega Viñedos del Contino Rioja Reserva 1998, Rioja, Spain (Agent)

Not unlike the book that wrote ’08, the vintage challenged with cold weather during harvest, this coming on the fits meets stops on heels and tiptoe starts that defined the overall growing season.  A first flawed bottle aside, a second one opened is musty in its own ancient and charming way. With only 10 per cent Graciano in the blend, this here is essential, old-school Tempranillo. Beyond the dust is a round and smooth elixir with a ferric vein of animal funk. There is liquorice and there is chalk. The grain of this Contino is like liquified barley or bulgur, with an earthy faro aroma, a creamy texture and long on glutinous structure. Earth keeps fruit in subterranean submission, though there will always be hints of dried plums and flowers to sustain life.  Tasted September 2014

Bodega Viñedos del Contino Rioja Reserva 1980, Rioja, Spain (Agent)

Here the Tempranillo has walked the sands, survived the winds of time and has arrived at the sultanate’s tent, exhausted, somewhat delirious yet basking in the accomplishment. The tapestry woven by 34 years of development has laid on a platter a veritable feast of dried fruits; prune, apricot and date, all chewy and densely concentrated. A diesel fume aroma indicates a modernity evolved and the oiled track shows the way out of Damascus (or in this case, Álava). The ’80 is a bit funkified too, with great acidity and length that lingers for a most amazing amount of mouth time. Dried flowers, namely violets define the perfumed finish. A Tempranillo possessive of exceptional survival skills.  Tasted September 2014

Bodega Viñedos del Contino Rioja Reserva 1974, Rioja, Spain (Agent)

An impossibly youthful 40 year-old Tempranillo, even surpassing the more evolved ’80 in that regard, with aniseed, coconut and beeswax in its current aromatic state. Less gamy and animal funky, yet persistent in earthy beats. The vegetal scents act as conduit to the light bulb shining brightly of circuitous flavours and resolved textures. Lingers in mouth feel, its layers of time slowly peeling back, revealing in length, a slide show of the wine’s life. With many year’s still ahead, this is a Tempranillo revelation and from one going back this far that gained no support from Graciano (because it was planted in 1979). Its apostle following instead comes by way of the white Viura. Pair with Chef Chris McDonald’s Foie Gras and Partridge Croquetas.  Tasted September 2014

Bodega Viñedos del Contino Graciano 2010, Rioja, Spain (Agent, $128.95, WineAlign)

Contino’s SV Graciano is the estate’s portent into the portal of ageability, beyond Tempranillo. Such formidable aromatics are on display, a result of low pH and high polyphenolic compounds. Has got something, but what it is, I can’t seem to place. It’s neither flora nor fauna, not rock, nor fruit. A combination of them all and a piercing streak of acidity leads to the expanse of a broad mouth texture. Sense perhaps black fruit, currants and berries. A toast, macerations, citrus even. This Graciano, the soul of Contino. Crème de cassis, eucalyptus, camphor, menthol and aniseed are all seemingly there, in colour, natural acidity, alive and dancing. Or are they? I looked at this Graciano, “from both sides now, from up and down, and still somehow,” it’s a challenge to see through the clouds. It’s so very large, exceeding the ministrations of other alterior SV examples, like that of Petit Verdot, Malbec or Cabernet Franc. In here it’s Graciano’s illusions I recall so I suppose I really don’t know Graciano at all. Imagine drinking this for 20 plus years.  Tasted September 2014

Bodega Viñedos del Contino Viña del Olivo 2011, Rioja, Spain (Agent)

The flagship wine from Contino has an uncanny braised pork belly in spirited wines reduction nose, spiced with star anise. The aromas then go straight to the back of the brain, bypassing the frontal lobes and acute senses of nose and tongue. A wine that drives a stake directly into the nervous system, leaves one twitching and paralyzed. From arid, calcareous clay, the 34 year-old vines are just deadly, direct and make for some seriously demonstrative fruit. The mineral expression can’t be denied; this represents the most in the estate’s terroir driven directive. The blend is Tempranillo (80 per cent), Graciano (10) and Garnacha (10). New oak (100 per cent) is split between French (70), American (20) and various other European wood. A wine that will need a minimum five years to reach adulthood and perhaps 10 more to enlightenment. Though it is marked and baked by chalk and cake the mineral keeps it so ver real.  Tasted September 2014.

Good to go!

Looking red ahead at December 6th in VINTAGES

Álvaro Palacios presents his wines from Priorat, Rioja and Bierzo Photo (c): Eric Vellend

Álvaro Palacios presents his wines from Priorat, Rioja and Bierzo
Photo (c): Eric Vellend

When I walk into the tasting lab at the LCBO this morning to taste the red wines on the December 6th release, there will be more than 100 bottles staring me down. Not just any 100 bottles. The assembled wines will be deep, dark, dense and intense, a December agglomeration meant to drink down with the holidays.

The VINTAGES releases are so protracted at this time of year the media tastings have to be split across two consecutive weeks. Champagnes and whites were put out last Friday so today’s reds will stain teeth, pile on the tannin and cause a general convocation in dehydration. A perfect Friday.

Luma's Bocconcini and Preserved Vegetable Salad

Luma’s Bocconcini and Preserved Vegetable Salad

Over the past few weeks I’ve managed to taste some of the releases at trade events, with my colleagues at WineAlign and yesterday with Álvaro Palacios. At the invite of Woodman Wines and Spirits I had the indubitable pleasure of being heralded through a paramount cross-section of the Spanish wandering winemaker’s portfolio, from Priorat, Rioja and Bierzo. Palacios poured six of his wines at Luma Restaurant in Toronto. Reviews for the Riojan La Vendimia, the Bierzo Corullón and the Priorats Camins and Les Terraces will be found on WineAlign.

Last fall I wrote about Spanish wines, insisting that Spanish winemakers “do not pussyfoot in producing superannuated yet contemporary wine.” I talked up the Iberian wine making superstars. Red and white wine heroes. Álvaro Palacios was at the top of the list. Jason Woodman felt and still feels this way. “If anyone embodies the promise and spirit of “The New Spain”, it is Álvaro Palacios.” I elaborated. “It has not been much more than 20 years since he took control of the esteemed empire built by his father, Jose Palacios Remondo, but Álvaro Palacios has already become one of Spain’s most famous and well-respected winemakers.”

Related – Ancient, state of the art Spanish wine

One Rioja and one Bierzo by the Palacios domain are reviewed here, along with six other new releases coming to stores December 6th. Here’s a sneak peek, looking red ahead.

Palacios Line-Up at Luma Restaurant Photo (c): Eric Vellend

Palacios Line-Up at Luma Restaurant
Photo (c): Eric Vellend

Palacios Remondo La Montesa 2011, Doca Rioja, Spain (674572, $18.95, WineAlign)

La Montesa epitomizes everything about the Álvaro Palacios application; professionalism, breviloquence and balance. It also brings together essentia to one common Riojan crossroads; Atlantic and Mediterranean, Tempranillo and Garnacha, French and American oak. In fact, it does the latter with such seamless ease, as neither barrel disturbs the proportion or the harmony. Fresh, pointed, serious and value-driven with ridiculous compete, the silky smooth Montesa uses calcareous soil as an organza overlay and acidity to keep it real. The alcohol is certainly real but like the wood (and the tannin), is never overdone. From now to 2018 with bells on.  Tasted November 2014  @WoodmanWS  @RiojaWine

Tenuta Rapitala Alto Nero d’Avola 2012, Sicily, Italy (Agent, 392852, $19.95, WineAlign)

The winery known as the “Beautiful Garden of God” has burnished a Nero d’Avola from the northwest corner of Sicily so perfumed you may consider dabbing some on your neck. Like the sweet-smelling roses that endow Nebbiolo with its characteristic charm, this Sicilian sports the same except that it is magnified by sunshine and salinity. A meeting of red fruits macerating in a bath of freshly squeezed plum juice does nothing but make you want to sip and sip. In the end there is tannin, but also prune juice and really daring acidity. This is a big but not over the top southern Italian red to enjoy now and for three more years. Tasted November 2014  @Dandurandwines

Cantina Zaccagnini 2012, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Doc, Abruzzo, Italy (Agent, $19.95, WineAlign)

There is much to admire about this most righteous and humble Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. From a west-facing vineyard with coarsely textured soils in the municipality of Bolognano, province of Pescara, very close to the Adriatic Sea. The maritime influence, while not dramatic, is significant, as nosed in salinity and humidity. The Zaccagnini spent a scant and refreshing four months in Slavonian oak barrels. The impart is gentle and sincere. The freshness and calm here reminds of a certain type of Syrah from St. Joseph, low in alcohol, preserved in acidity and full of savoury flavour. This is really well-judged, honest MdA that will linger in evolution for two to three more years of pure, simple drinking pleasure.  Tasted November 2014  @Zaccagninivini  

Lavau Rasteau 2012, Rhône, France (Agent, $19.95, WineAlign)

Equal parts Syrah and Grenache gather in this very warm Rasteau that spent (15 per cent of the cuvée) 10 months in French oak barrels. Typical of the upward trend in Rhône reds of elevated alcohol and vibrant spirit. There is no shortage of ripe fruit, concentrated flavours and modern attitude here. Beyond the up front aromas of raspberry and baked clay the Lavau continues its hearth oven stay and churns out roasted game, savoury pie and smouldering Rosemary branches. It’s a veritable Lavau luau, with both beef and pork in the pit and in need of a glass of something rich and spicy. This Rasteau will do the trick.  Tasted November 2014  @WinesOfFrance  @oenophilia1

From left to right: Tenuta Rapitala Alto Nero d'Avola 2012, Cantina Zaccagnini 2012, Lavau Rasteau 2012, Wakefield Jaraman Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, Caprili Brunello Di Montalcino 2009, Trinchero Mario's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

From left to right: Tenuta Rapitala Alto Nero d’Avola 2012, Cantina Zaccagnini 2012, Lavau Rasteau 2012, Wakefield Jaraman Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, Caprili Brunello Di Montalcino 2009, Trinchero Mario’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

Wakefield Jaraman Cabernet Sauvignon 2012, Clare Valley/Coonawarra, South Australia (142398, $24.95, WineAlign)

A most blanketed tapestry of aromas come flying like a magic carpet from this Clare Valley and Coonawarra specimen. The best of both worlds collide; blue fruits and cool mint/eucalyptus. Though slightly murky and vanilla distilled simple syrupy, the aromas make the grade and put on the show. The fine grain in tannin and chalky texture are a plus though they do cause separation anxiety for the delicate fruit. Very much like a good blue and red fruit Malbec, from Mendoza or the Clare Valley, this is not overly, varietally Cabernet Sauvignon but it is a very effective and spiced red for near-term drinking.  Tasted November 2014  @Taylors_Wines

Descendientes De J. Palacios Pétalos 2012, Do Bierzo, Spain, (675207, $26.95, WineAlign)

From Ricardo Palacios, nephew to and with Álvaro, this Mencia is so indicative and representative as the “naked grape” of Bierzo. Anointed with a concentrated perfume and panegyrized by a fruit transparency that is just not present in the Palacios wines of Rioja and Priorat. With Mencia, what you see, smell and taste is what you get. It’s varietally obvious and this Palacios plays the part with thespian control. A caramel note lifts, not drags this dense, purposed red, purple in every way, condensing the happy freshness of the vintage. Lactic black fruits are milky, developing to creamy, then on to licorice and candied nasturtium. Has a Bordeaux-like dusty camino real drive to it, in perfect sunshine, the vapors rising off the arid track. The Mencia asks “and would you let me walk down your street, naked if I want to.” Yes is the answer, because it is such an honest, moby grape. In ferment it makes cause for another composed wine by Palacios.  The clarity and ambition will take it safely to the next decade.  Tasted November 2014

Caprili Brunello Di Montalcino 2009, Tuscany, Italy (398073, $44.95, WineAlign)

From estate grapes grown on the hillside which slopes down towards the Orcia and Ombrone rivers. The Bartolommei family needed a summons of their winemaker’s acumen to reign in advanced fruit from a vintage that saw soaring summer temperatures. This ’09 runs on full throttle, high-octane Grosso and yet is a remarkably, obiter dicta fresh flood of sanguine, berry chalky juice. All that and more actually and while it’s flat out fun to taste at such a young age, its ability to go long is not a sure thing. Plan to enjoy now and for three to five big years.  @Caprili  @NaturalVines

Trinchero Mario’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2009, Napa Valley, California (399600, $64.95, WineAlign)

There is nothing chary about this single-vineyard Cabernet, named after the winery’s founder, situated in St. Helena. From soils ranging from gravelly to loamy to alluvial, the vines were only 12 years old when this dark beauty was made. Pitchy fruit is roped and tied by a whack of French oak, surrounding it with an aromatic bubble filled with lavender, charcoal, vanilla and licorice. A multi-plex of a red, darker than many, structured yet reliant on that mask of oak. Due to the mass and mess of fruit this will age nicely for 10 years but the wood will never go away. It’s just made that way.  Tasted November 2014  @Dandurandwines

Good to Go!