October 2024
2020 Domaine Dureuil-Janthial, Rully, Bourgogne Blanc, Côte Chalonnaise France.
The talented Vincent Dureuil is making some fabulous whites these days, even though the reds are very good too, and actually I know this small winery mainly for this Rully Blanc bottling, which is always an outstanding white Burgundy value, with this 2020 vintage being truly outstanding adding an extra level of depth and palate impact. As in previous vintages this gorgeous Dureuil-Janthial Rully Blanc shows off a rich and expressive medium bodied palate with lemon preserves, quince, apple, pear and faint orange fruits, along with a strong mineral intensity, a rich leesy hazelnut note, all in a slightly reductive style and with a subtle oak element that is perfectly judged. This is a brilliant pale gold Chardonnay and clearly terroir driven with mineral tones and touches of clove spice, as well as delicate florals. Up against some serious Chassagne offerings in a blind tasting of Burgundy whites, this Rully, from the Côte Chalonnaise, really held its own impressively and I highly recommend checking out all of the Domaine Dureuil-Janthial collection if given any chance. Again it would be savvy to grab some of the current releases of Domaine Dureuil-Janthial, in particular these exotic and denser 2020s, but the 2022s I hear are exceptional too.
Vincent Dureuil, who took over the Dureuil-Janthial domaine from his father Raymond in 1994, has passionately made it his mission in wine to up the game in this part of the Côte Chalonnaise, which sits just about five miles south of Chassagne-Montrachet, and especially Rully, which is a fine limestone and clay terroir. As mentioned in my prior reviews, I have also enjoyed Domaine Dureuil-Janthial’s regular Bourgogne Blanc in other vintages, and their Rully 1er Cru “Chapitre” as mentioned before, also, very much caught my attention, along with the fabulous Aligoté, which as I said above is very much worth chasing down. The winemaking at Domaine Dureuil-Janthial is pretty much a process of staying out of the way and allowing the vintage, the grapes and the vineyards do the work and the speaking in the bottle, rather than forcing anything in the cellar. Vincent Dureuil gives the grapes a soft and slow whole-cluster pressing and then racks the juice straight into exclusively used barriques where the Chardonnay ferments with only indigenous yeasts. And in most cases, the wine sees about 12 months on the lees in neutral barrel and then another 6 months in stainless steel tank before bottling, to promote transparency and keep loads of verve and tension. Rully, as I’ve said before, makes for some tasty Chardonnays that deliver some of the best bargains in White Burgundy these days, such as this one.
($48-59 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive
2021 Weingut Spreitzer, Riesling Trocken, Oestricher Lenchen “Rosengarten” Grosses Gewächs, Rheingau Germany.
The gorgeous and beautifully aromatic 2021 Spreitzer Rosengarten Grosses Gewachs, coming from their Oestrich Lenchen vineyard in the middle Rheingau, near the estate, is a fantastic and well structured Grand Cru dry Riesling that should impress for decades to come, and while I’m excited for the 2023s, this wine doesn’t disappoint and I high recommend not passing it by if you see it! This Rosengarten GG shows off a heady perfume with layers of sweet pea, white violet, a delicate steely minerallity and a deep palate of orchard stone and citrus fruits, including white peach, apricot, tangerine and lime in a firmly held together medium full bodied wine with great extract and stony elements. Additionally it adds Asian tea and spices, a touch of quince, saline, wet flint and sea shore notes. When full open this Riesling shows its leesy opulence and brings out even more floral detail, just like the 2018 did, with hints of lime flower and jasmine. Oestrich, which has a long wine-producing history, is a town on the banks of the Rhein river and has five VPD Grosse Lage or Grand Cru vineyards, each planted is (obviously) predominantly to Riesling, including Doosberg, Lenchen, Jesuitengarten, St. Nikolaus and Rosengarten, as seen here, and the Sprieitzer’s have significant parcels in each. Notably, Rosengarten, which i visited in 2016, is one of the best parts of the greater Oestricher Lenchen site which faces south and is partially enclosed by a small stone wall that stores heat during the day, warming the vines closest to it. This spectacular VDP Grosse Lage “Rosengarten vineyard is not just a one trick pony either, it can make both exceptional dry and sweet wines, and it has a combination of loam, loess and hard marl, plus an alluvial sandy element to the soils, which adds to the depth flavors as well as a transmission of a lovely mineral tone to the wines.
Weingut Josef Spreitzer, now run by the brothers, Andreas and Bernd Spreitzer, was originally founded back in 1641, making it one of the oldest family wineries in the Rheingau, is located not far from the Rhein villages of Hattenheim, Oestrich-Winkel and Etville, where the Rhein river is at its widest point, it creates an almost lake effect and the terroir is quite unique here with less slate than just down the river in Rudesheim and the soils here vary with areas of loess, clay, shell limestone, gravel, a bit of slates, quartzite, iron-rich stones and sand, all of which forms the individual characteristics and complexities in Spreitzer’s diverse offerings. As mentioned in my prior reviews, Weingut Spreitzer strives to maintain fruit intensity, vibrancy and freshness, looking for finesse, so they settle the must (juice) by gravity for 24 hours after a whole-cluster pressing, they then allow the wines to rest on their gross lees and only filter the wine once during the fermentation and aging period. They employ a long cool fermentation, and extended lees elevage to protect the juice from oxidation, using mostly ambient (natural) yeasts for fermentation in both temperature controlled stainless steel and their old wood. They used the classic 1,200 liter casks, made of German oak, which are called Stückfass, in which this Grosses Gewachs was matured for close to 9 months before bottling, after which the wine is held almost a year before release. The whole collection at Spreitzer is full of quality efforts, and my favorites include their Estate Trocken, a bargain bottling, as well as their expressive Kabinett, Spatlese and special Alte Reben (old vine) Feinherb(s), which are outrageous values too, and of course their majestic Premier Cru and powerful Grand Crus, like this GG Rosengarten. I have been to Spreitzer, as mentioned, back in 2016 and always will be grateful of the experiences touring their most prized vineyards and tasting in the ancient cellars, and most recently caught up with Andreas in San Francisco where I tasted through an exciting set of 2021, 2022 and barrel samples of 2023s, all of which were impeccable made and distinctive Rieslings.
($60 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive
2022 Bedrock Wine Company, Bedrock Vineyard, Heritage Red Wine, Sonoma Valley.
A bit more expressive, riper and concentrated than the 2021, but still showing a heightened level of finesse, which is notable considering the warmer vintage and there’s a lot to admire here in this dark purple and luxuriously layered 2022 Bedrock Vineyard Heritage Zinfandel Blend, and one of California’s most cherished and historic vines in the Sonoma Valley. This bottling by Bedrock is really a must have for California wine enthusiasts and this year’s release has loads of pleasure and potential, joining wines like Ridge’s Lytton Springs, Turley’s Old Vine Zin and Biale’s Black Chicken, to name a few, that show off Zinfandel’s best qualities. This 2022 is hedonistic and deep with black raspberry, sweet plum, blueberry compote and candied cherry fruits, along with snappy herbs, brambly spices, black licorice and lovely dark florals, plus a subtle toasty oak note, a touch of loamy earth and an underlying velvety tannin structure, making this a joy in the glass, but with a seriousness that ops it up a level. Morgan Twain-Peterson MW, winemaker and owner of Bedrock, uses only grapes that come from the original 1888 plantings at his Bedrock Vineyard, for this spectacular California wine from the heart the heart of the Sonoma Valley. This historic vineyard is set on well drained rocky soils in a climate that sees lots of sunshine and heat in the Summer, but that cools down dramatically at night with the valley pulling in cool air from the west and the Pacific as well as afternoon breezes. The Bedrock Vineyard includes a high percentage of Zinfandel, but there are dozens of other varietals interplanted here, including Mataro, Grenache, Petite Sirah and other rare old grapes, like Alicante Boushet and Carignan, all of which add to the complexity, balance, a touch of savoriness and very age worthy substance here.
Bedrock Wine Co. was started in 2007, as mentioned here in my prior reviews, by winemaker and Master of Wine Morgan Twain-Peterson, son of the legendary Zin maker Joel Peterson of Ravenswood fame, and his partner Chris Cottrell, who also has his Under the Wire label, featuring unique sparkling wines, which are well worth searching out too. The winemaking here at Bedrock remains faithful to their beliefs, made with simple low intervention traditional methods that showcase the vineyards first and foremost with Morgan Twain-Peterson MW saying “overly sculpted by activist winemakers tend to be less satisfying and soulful gustatory experiences..” Of which I totally agree and is a reason why that this winery has been elevated to the top echelon of California wine and Bedrock is one of my favorites, especially these Heritage Reds. The latest releases from Bedrock are exceptional and have a sense of lightness and grace, traits not always found in Zinfandel based wines with this one and the Evangelho Vineyard Hermitage Red, also a site owned and farmed by Twain-Peterson, always being favorites in the collection, The Bedrock reds are produced in most cases with natural un-inoculated fermentation(s), native malo-lactic, and with the use of whole clusters in fermentation, the wine is left to do its thing with gentle attention along the way without additions. They take great care to use the best aging vessels as possible, preferring only to use quality oak in the aging process, using barriques and larger casks when the wine demands it. Really, Bedrock focuses on the individual vineyard and what it needs in each vintage, saying at the core of all of their wines is allowing these sites and grapes a stage to show ideal ripeness and individual personalities, again seen here in the 2022 version, showing just how special this site is! It was great to catch up with Bedrock’s Chris Cottrell recently and taste through the latest releases, all of which are brilliant efforts, especially this one and the under the radar Pato Vineyard Zin, don’t miss them.
($45 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive
2022 Weingut Selbach Oster, Riesling Trocken, Zeltingen “Sonnenuhr” Grosses Gewächs, Mosel, Germany.
As I’ve noted recently in prior reviews, there’s so much to admire in Selbach Oster’s latest set of releases, in is hard to pick favorites, but there are ones that you should really look out for, with their stunning 2022 Sonnenuhr GG being maybe my first choice, along with the single parcel Rotlay Riesling, the brilliant 2023 Schlossberg Spatlese and the 2023 Himmelreich Kabinett. This stunning 2022 Sonnenuhr Grosses Gewächs Riesling is an almost flawless dry Riesling with incredible mineral intensity and Chablis Grand Cru elegance, it shows off a steely core of classic Mosel slatey influenced citrus and apple fruits, smoky spice, a touch of tropical essences, crystalized ginger, clove, quince and bitter almond notes. Stony and crisp, this excellent, slightly floral toned Riesling has plenty of mouth watering acidity, though still very Selbach like in its pleasure on the medium bodied palate, with lovely generosity, concentration and depth. This is definitely one of the wines to watch in the current set of releases, which I was lucky enough to taste through with Johannes Selbach himself, along with his son Sebastian, who’s taken on a much bigger role in the last few years with some equally big success, and they’ve produced some fantastic wines, like this one. I’ve personally collected and enjoyed the Selbach Oster wines since about 2002 and have had great and rewarding experiences with them, especially with some age on them. I will also note, while I am a acid head and love the dry wines here, do not fear the sugar, their off dry and sweet bottlings are absolutely glorious and sublime with hedonism and impeccable balance, so never miss the chance to have their luscious Spatlese and Auslese efforts. The Selbach’s also do a unique, mouth wateringly dry and flinty Pinot Blanc that I also recommend, in case you might need a break from the Rieslings!
Johannes Selbach, as mentioned before, like Dr. Loosen, is one of Germany’s best known winemakers of his generation, and son Sebastian are raising the game here at Selbach-Oster, with an amazing collection of offerings from the 2022 and 2023 vintages. The winery, which dates back here in the Mosel since the 1600s, is looking forward and backwards, paying tribute to generations of Selbachs and their traditions as well as embracing the future with all of its uncertainties with confidence and intensity of their work. A very significant portion of their vines are on their original rootstocks and are ungrafted, including the stunning set of parcels in Zeltinger, their home town, like those that go into this masterpiece. I’m a huge and long time fan of these wines from Himmelreich, Schlossberg and Sonnenuhr, all set on blue Devonian slate, again, where this wine comes from. Selbach’s holdings of Schlossberg, Sonnenuhr, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Graacher and Bernkasteler Graben are ultra steep sites that showcase their slate driven terroirs to perfection and sit on contiguous slope facing south-south west and without question are some of the most prestigious sites in the Mosel. The winery notes that 85% of the Selbach’s vines are on steep slopes, which helps give their collection of Rieslings an extra boost of intensity and distinction. The Selbach wines have always been crafted to be generous and full of pleasure, highlighting the quality of the fruit and the expressive terroirs, with Johannes using traditional 1000L oak fuders on the upper end wines. The vinifications, as the winery notes, are done in a combination of fuder and stainless steel, in a hands-off manner with no fining, and with wild yeasts. The main focus at Selbach-Oster is on meticulous work in the vineyard, which is carried out with organic and sustainable farming, with the aim to produce and bring home perfect fruit, as seen here with this monumental Sonnenuhr GG. It was wonderful to see Johannes Selbach at Skurnik Wines West Coast German and Austrian wine portfolio tasting earlier this Summer and recapture Mosel groove and my Riesling thrill.
($48 Est.) 96 Points, grapelive
2020 Jean Foillard, Morgon “Côte du Py” Cru Beaujolais, France.
Always a favorite of mine, Jean Foillard’s signature Morgon Côte du Py Cru Beaujolais is a deeply purple/garnet hued beauty with satiny pure Gamay goodness on the medium bodied palate, showing off a violets bouquet, ripe berries and a spicy/savory whole cluster crunch. Reminding me a bit of 2009, but with a little more finesse and inner brightness, this 2020 is as good as it gets and is drinking fabulously well, with a classic Foillard profile of flavors. As always, this wine, comes from vines that range from 10 to 90 years old and set on the granite based soils with schist and veins of manganese this gorgeous Côte du Py shows black raspberry, sweet plum, black currant and strawberry, along with an array of subtle spice, dried herbs, and mineral notes. As it opens in the glass, you are seduced by exotic and heavenly florals, crushed peonies, as well as with hints of anise, walnut, a light and raw earthy element. The acidity is non aggressive, but life giving here, giving lift to the concentrated fruit density, and the textural pleasure of the semi-carbonic whole cluster fermentation adds sex appeal. This year’s version, from organic grapes with ultra low SO2 employed, as per normal, is serious stuff, and while ripe at 14% natural alcohol, the balance is impeccable, making for an exceptional wine to enjoy over the decade to come, though no patience is required here. I highly recommend searching out all of the Foillard offerings, including this Côte du Py, along with the rare black label Fleurie, and Jean’s son Alex’s wines, under his own label, are thrilling too and are excellent values.
Jean Foillard, as mentioned here in prior reviews, was greatly inspired by natural wine guru Jules Chauvet, a traditionalist who led the natural wine movement in the Beaujolais and redefined the wines of the region and who wanted to go back to pre-industrial style organic farming and not use chemical additives in the cellar. Jean and three other local vignerons, Marcel Lapierre, Jean-Paul Thévenet, and Guy Breton joined in on this movement, this became the Gang of Four, a nickname coined by the famed importer Kermit Lynch, who brought these masterpieces of Gamay to America, along with Dutraive and others brought critical acclaim to this region that had been badly maligned for generations. Foillard took over his father’s domaine in 1980, with stellar vineyard holdings mainly in the revered Côte du Py, as Kermit Lynch notes, the famed slope outside the town of Villié-Morgon and the pride of the Morgon cru. These granite and schist soils sit on an alluvial fan at the highest point above the town and impart great complexity on these wines. Jean Foillard, who hand crafts his wines using native yeasts and using traditional 100% whole cluster with a long gentle maceration that usually lasts just over 3 weeks and raises his wines in older barrels, always well seasoned and sourced from top estates in Burgundy, including the Domaine de la Romanee-Conti. This elevage of the Côte du Py in the used French barriques is between 6 to 9 months, depending on the vintage and always to preserve energy, transparency and purity. If you can find this 2020, buy it, but I hear the 2022s are pretty much on the same level and I look forward to getting some myself.
($55 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive
2020 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, Chassagne-Montrachet “Vieilles Vines” White Burgundy, France.
The pale gold/straw hued 2020 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey old vines Chassagne-Montrachet is super concentrated and richly flavored, it highlights the year almost perfectly in the glass, with a lush opulence and a beautifully textural mouth feel. The palate is full and deep with lemon curd, apple, pear and peach fruits, along with classic reductive flint, hazelnut, matchstick, wet stones and toasty oak vanilla and delicate florals, making for a very expressive version of Chassagne that will thrill Colin-Morey’s fans. This PYCM Vieilles Vignes bottling is always a special treat and even though not cheap it offers almost Grand Cru excitement and depth, with this vintage being especially impactful. Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, one of Burgundy’s biggest stars, follows a strict protocol and method, using all sustainable and hand tended vineyards, with mostly organic practices in the vineyards, while in the cellar he ferments and ages his wines in barrel, with early picks being the norm, using indigenous yeasts and somewhat notably, he prefers larger format 350L French oak demi-muids instead of the classic 228L barriques, with his Lieu-Dit and Premier Crus seeing close to 30% new if not more, adding just the right amount of toasty accents.
Domaine Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, led by Pierre-Yves Colin, who is the eldest son of the famed Marc Colin, is based in Chassagne-Montrachet in their new cellars there that he shaves with his wife’s label Caroline Colin-Morey. Maker of some of Burgundy’s most sought out white wines, Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, as mentioned here in prior reviews, has made a brilliant career in Chardonnay. Pierre-Yves worked aside his dad and brothers as the winemaker at his father’s domaine from 1994 to 2005, then stepped out on his own founding his own domaine, starting it from family vineyards he inherited from his family and his wife’s side too, also famous and with good parcels of vines in the region. Since that time, he rapidly rose in the wine world, especially with his Saint-Aubin and Chassagne White Burgundies, he has really is a star in the Cote de Beaune and these wines set the gold standard for quality. He and his wife Caroline, join Jean-Marc Roulot and Alix de Montille as one of Burgundy’s elite power couple, and while his top bottlings are spectacular, I am always thrilled with his less pricey offerings, especially his Saint-Aubin lieu-dit whites. The Colin family has some fabulous plots in some of the Cote de Beaune’s best vineyards, from Chassagne to Batard (Montrachet), and Pierre-Yves added some high quality vineyards to his own portfolio, expanding into the Cote de Nuits and to the Côte Chalonnaise, with great success, with Pierre-Yves doing a lovely set of Rully Blancs.
($150 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive
1986 Domaine Joblot, Givry 1er Cru “Clos du Cellier Aux Moines” Red Burgundy, France.
Wonderfully pretty, delicate, mature and pure, this 1986 Joblot Premier Cru Givry “Clos du Cellier Aux Moines” really shined and was a real surprise in a recent Blind Burgundy tasting showing off a smooth medium bodied palate with seductive earthy red fruits, light sous bois, autumn leafs, tea spices and potpourri. This was an interesting experience, as I’ve never had a seriously aged version of this Givry appellation and I’ve not any of this old school producer, with this Domaine Joblot putting on a fabulous display in the glass, and while getting to its maximum limit or past its best, there was tons of personality and soulful expression here to admire. You’d definitely want to enjoy this one sooner versus later, but I was thrilled by how it did with its silky layers of dried cherry, brambly red berry, strawberry and fig fruits, along with wilted rose petals, leather, pipe tobacco, truffle and beefy notes. This traditionally made fading beauty hung on nicely on an evening of some really impressive terroir driven Burgundies and was a rewarding treat, consider me a fan, and I’m very grateful one of my tasting group friends dug this out of long lost cellar collection. It’s good to know that second generation winemaker, Juliette Joblot is continuing produce high quality efforts and organically tends to her domaine’s 13.5 hectares of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay within Givry’s unique natural amphitheater.
The lesser known, Givry AOC appellation which is set in the Côte Chalonnaise, is a subregion of Burgundy, like Mercurey and Marsannay that is planted to about 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay. So the small Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) of Givry, like Rully, may be labeled for red or white wine, but as noted, the production of red wine dominates here and there are 27 Premier Cru vineyards, with just 24 acres of Pinot Noir vines within 1er Cru Givry AOC, including this Cellier Aux Moines, and the AOC was granted back in 1946. The greater Côte Chalonnaise, located to the south of the main Côte d’Or and Côte de Beaune part of Burgundy, is named after the historic town of Chalon-sur-Saône, situated on the Saône River. The town was an important trading post or central of the Celts in Gaul that was later used by the Romans, who began expanding the wine trade here, making it an important commodity moving up and down the river. While Pinot is the most common grape here, there is a commune, Bouzeron, that specializes in Aligoté, and Gamay is also found here. As a terroir, the Côte Chalonnaise do not run along the slopes of a single escarpment or range of hills, it has three main isolated areas set on patches of limestone, including Givry, which makes for high quality Pinots, as this Joblot shows even at almost 40 years old! I’m very excited to explore the more recent vintages of Domaine Joblot, one of the top producers in Givry, and the youthful Juliette’s efforts, with an eagerness to see how her latest Givry 1er Cru “Clos du Cellier Aux Moines” tastes!
($60 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive
September 2024
2016 Produttori del Barbaresco, Barbaresco DOCG, Piedmonte, Italy.
Always a great value for pure Barbraresco, this Produttori del Barbaresco is classy, delicately floral and lingering, with classic lght minty herbs, pipe tobacco, cranberry and racy ripe red fruits leading the way, along with a core of brandied cherry, tangy Damson plum. Additionally there’s some creme de violette, a touch of leather and subtle fig accents, along with tarry licorice, saline infused stones and a touch of alluring earthiness. The palate fills out nicely with this 2016 vintage showing its early potential well with some maturity, but still stays vibrant, fresh and structured throughout. With food and more time, the lingering flinty spices, dried rose petal, and iodine/savory elements given even more Nebbiolo complexity and enhance the experience with a bit more depth and concentration than the 2013, one of my favorites and less heat than the 2017 showed. This Barbaresco is sourced from various parcels and exposures, set on limestone and clay soils, rich in calcium with sandy veins, and was stainless steel vat fermented, per normal, after which it was then aged 24 months in traditional large oak casks. It is quite amazing that this wine, with 22,000 cases made, can be this good, this unique and this consistent, it is a tribute to each and everyone of the collection of individual farmers that go about their work with such pride and passion.
Modern Barbaresco, as noted in prior reviews of Produttori, came into being, or saw a significant re-awakening In 1958, when the priest of the village of Barbaresco, recognizing that the only way the small properties could survive was by joining forces, and he gathered together nineteen small growers and founded the Produttori del Barbaresco. The first three vintages were made in the church basement, then in the winery built across the square where the Produttori is still located. The Produttori as of today has 54 members and controls more than 100 hectares (250 acres) of premium Nebbiolo vineyards in Barbaresco. Before that, back in 1894, Domizio Cavazza, the headmaster of the Royal Enological School of Alba and a proud Barbaresco resident who realized that the area had a distinct terroir and was an equal to the bigger and more famous Barolo, created the first cooperative, the Cantine Sociali to compete with Barolo, he gathered together nine Barbaresco vineyard owners to make wine in the local castle that he owned, and this was how Barbaresco came into being. Sadly the fascist government of Mussolini put the original co-op out of business, but after the war and Italy’s re-birth, things started looking up for (the) Produttori del Barbaresco. These days the Cru bottlings, like their Asili, Montefico, Montestefano, Muncagota, Ovello, Pajè, Pora, Rabajà and Rio Sordo Riservas, are highly sought after, but this basic Barbaresco is a fantastic wine and a great value, especially in vintages like this. This 2016 Barbaresco is a lovely and pure expression of Nebbiolo and it has entered a nice drinking window, and I recommend you start enjoying this vintage.
($40-70 est.) 93 Points, grapelive
2017 Girolamo Russo, Enta Rosso DOC, ‘A Rina, Sicily, Italy.
The lighter framed, smoky, and mineral toned garnet/brickish 2017 ‘A Rina Etna Rosso, made by Giuseppe Russo of Girolamo Russo, comes from various Contradas, or crus, notably including the famous San Lorenzo, Feudo, Calderara Sottana and Feudo di Mezzo with mature vines that range in age from 20 to 100 years old, making a very delicious, slight reduced and savory expression of terroir. Russo’s 2017 ‘A Rina has a medium body and an underlying satiny feel, though is still authentically rustic with balsamic and gun flint notes, with a rounded and maturing palate of brandied cherry, strawberry and plum fruit, along with fennel, rosemary, cinnamon, cigar wrapper, camphor and dried rose petal accents. The final blend is typically 80-90% Nerello Mascalese, with a small dose of Nerello Cappuccio included, and maybe a tiny percentage of other varietals that are rare native grapes that were interplanted in some of the terraces. These sloping vineyard sites, on the cooler exposures of the north side of Europe’s most active Volcano are dominated by the volcanic soils and kept healthy through organic practices, which Giuseppe employed, after the death of his father in 2005, to make the best wine possible. Mount Etna is one of Italy’s most exciting growing regions and in recent years there’s been an amazing array of talent on display here, with these Girolamo Russo wines being certainly a great addition and well worth searching out, I am excited to try their new releases in the near future!
The Girolamo Russo winery, an all organic tiny Etna producer, led by Giuseppe Russo, who was a professionally trained and performing pianist, that started this label in 2005 with his family’s old vines vineyards, some of which are now a 100 years old. He works 15 hectares of vines on the cooler North side of Etna around the town of Passopisciaro, one of the most famous areas on the volcano and uses mostly the Nerello Mascalese grapes, one of the most iconic of Sicilian varietals these days. The signature Etna red grape is a varietal that thrives on the volcanic soils, it makes for a fine tannin structured, silky medium bodied, wine that leads to comparisons with Burgundy (Pinot Noir) with it’s elegance and complexity. Of course though with very different with its exotic lava/ash spiciness and brambly red fruited profile, it has it’s own terroir character that gives a unique appeal and style, as seen here in the Girolamo Russo wines. All of Giuseppe’s cru wines are crafted the same way, with native/natural yeast, without fining or filtration, or temperature control at fermentation and employing a gentile 10-12 day maceration, with hand punch downs, with each of the small lots kept separate until blending into each of the wines. The wines are aged in neutral oak casks, along with some concrete, on the fine lees for close to a year before bottling. Giuseppe Russo was keen to learn his craft and was inspired by the region’s stars, but truly wanted go his own way without being constrained by dogma or modern influences, relying on what he believes is the best way to express his terroir, as seen here.
($40 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive
2020 Marie-Courtin, Resonance, Pinot Noir, Extra Brut, Blanc de Noirs Champagne, France.
The gorgeous Marie-Courtin Extra Brut “Resonance” is a 100% Pinot Noir Blanc de Noirs from intense chalky soils in the Aube region and a riper terroir that was fermented and lees aged in stainless steel, as well as having no dosage, which gives this beautiful grower Champagne a fresh Extra Brut vitality and a structured mouth feel along with a crisp restrained nature, making it wonderfully pure and deliciously entertaining. I first reviewed the Resonance with the 2014 vintage, and while similar in finesse and style, this recent disgorgement is more elevated and complex, showing off lemony citrus, white cherry red apple skin, white nectarine and quince fruits, as well as leesy/yeasty richness on the luxurious palate, with hazelnut, bread dough, saline, light herbs, delicate florals, wet stone and a faint hint of reduction. Grower Champagne is a very exciting niche market and it seems to be getting better and better with some outstanding hand crafted single site wines, like these Marie-Courtin offerings, which are becoming pretty sought after, but still incredibly reasonable in price for the quality in the glass, as this one displays with panache.
The wonderfully talented Dominique Moreau, winemaker/cellar master at Champagne Marie Courtin, is crafting some serious all biodynamic/organic grower fizz from a single vineyard in the Côte des Bar zone of the southern most part of the region, not too far away Chablis, set on the same Jurassic era Kimmeridgian (limestone) soils. Marie-Courtin is farming a unique massale selection of old vine grapes, including these in an old vine Pinot Noir parcel that were planted in the 1970s. This warmer area allows for ripe fruit, making it possible to use a light or non dosage here, and add to the textural pleasures of these sparkling wines made by Moreau. While, as mentioned, the domaine is rather new to most Champagne lovers, with the first release coming in 2005, this tiny estate is already highly regarded and coveted, with their offerings joining the likes of Mousse, Cedric Bouchard and Jerome Prevost, to name drop a few, as a rising star(s) in the “Grower Fizz” category. Specializing in an extremely dry racy style of mineral and terroir driven bubbly, which I particularly enjoy, and that are just glorious with food, as well as appetizers such as briny oysters, caviar and or creamy cheeses, like Epoisses!
($60-79 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive
2022 Weingut Von Winning, Riesling Trocken, Ungeheuer, Grosses Gewächs, Pfalz Germany.
As per normal with this wine, Von Winning’s 2022 Ungeheuer really takes off when allowed to breathe and I think it has huge potential for even more magic in the coming decade, it is an outstanding GG that delivers Grand Cru White Burgundy class along with its Riesling purity and mineral intensity, I just love what Stephan Attmann has done with these profound dry Rieslings. Still remarkably fresh and tight, but you can feel the underlying concentration and depth here and it unwinds to display this vineyards classic and steely profile of lemon curd, apricot, white peach and mango fruits as well as wet stones, saline, spearmint, leesy hazelnut and lime blossom accents. Von Winning as reported far and wide, and of course by me in recent years, is one of Germany’s greatest and most unique wine estates, based in the Pfalz and with a no compromise sense of purpose in everything wine they do, from their basic state Riesling to their Grosses Gewachs, like this gorgeous and textural Ungeheuer GG, and it’s worth noting they also make one of the world’s great Sauvignon Blancs along with a sublime collection of Pinot Noir and sparkling Sekt(s)! Vigneron and cellar master Stephan Attmann has put tremendous effort and focus into the vines here with the Von Winning Riesling vines trained in the same way as you’d find in Meursault or Montrachet and he admits he is heavily influenced by the Cote d’Or and the great wines of Burgundy and his winemaking is also inspired by the fabled French region with barrel fermentation and lees aging with a very dry focus. Von Winnings set of GGs is almost unmatched, with Leinhohle, Langenmorgen, Grainhubel and this Ungeheuer being exceptional, along with the very famous Kirchenstück, maybe the most expensive vineyard site in Germany, and the exotic Kalkofen, to name a few.
The Von Winning estate, as reported far and wide, and of course by me in recent years, is one of Germany’s greatest and most unique wine estates, based in the Pfalz and with a no compromise sense of purpose in everything wine they do, from their basic state Riesling to their Grosses Gewachs, like this gorgeous and textural Ungeheuer GG, and it’s worth noting they also make one of the world’s great Sauvignon Blancs along with a sublime collection of Pinot Noir and sparkling Sekt(s)! Vigneron and cellar master Stephan Attmann has put tremendous effort and focus into the vines here with the Von Winning Riesling vines trained in the same way as you’d find in Meursault or Montrachet and he admits he is heavily influenced by the Cote d’Or and the great wines of Burgundy and his winemaking is also inspired by the fabled French region with barrel fermentation and lees aging with a very dry focus. Attmann, who has said his winemaking technique is not doing the wrong things at the wrong time, uses a gentle touch in the cellar allowing his top dry wines to go through indigenous yeast fermentations in cask and uses no additions with an all gravity flow press room, with his Grosses Gewächs wines ferment and age in 500mL French barrels, though he has refined his usage in recent times preferring less new oak, which is clearly the case here. As i mentioned in my recent reviews, I was thrilled to meet up with Stephan Attmann this Summer and taste through the latest efforts here in the States by Von Winning, which are imported by Skurnik Wines, and I was again blown away by his collection, including the top Kirchenstück GG, this Ungeheuer obviously, and the mentioned Sauvignon Blancs, plus my favorite village and Premier Crus! From Von Winning’s basic estate bottlings to these GGs, there’s a quality wine for everyone and in case you’ve not yet experienced this estate, you are truly missing out!
($79 Est.) 96 Points, grapelive
2007 Domaine Prieuré Saint-Christophe, Mondeuse Tradition, Vin de Savoie, France.
Grisard Michel’s wines are now huge cult favorites, especially after he retired, with some of his releases like the 2005 and this fabulous 2007 Mondeuse Vin de Savoie getting some nose bleed prices, making this a rare treat indeed. This nicely matured dark garnet hued Mondeuse shows off smooth layers of dried, spiced and dusty fruit with black raspberry, cherry, cranberry and reduced strawberry, along with hints of not sweet caramelized sugar, leather, briar, light floral notes, earthy loam and cedary accents. This Domaine Prieure Saint-Christophe was sneaky ringer in a blind tasting recently and it showed beautifully along side some finely aged Burgundies. The Mondeuse Noire varietal, which is a dark skinned alpine grape, produces a deeply colored wine with lots of earthy and spicy flavors, as well as having a heady violet and peony bouquet, especially in its youth and has some similarities to Syrah, but a bit lighter and more tangy usually. Mondeuse is grown primarily in the Savoie region of eastern France, high up and close to the Swiss border, though it has found its way to the new world. With this producer being a tough get, I also recommend the Vin de Savoie Chignin (Mondeuse) “Vieilles Vignes” from André et Michel Quenard if you want to explore this region and grape. The grape can now also be found in Argentina, Australia, California, Switzerland and freakishly as well as on Sicily, which seems odd. Most European plantings of Mondeuse Noire were devastated during the phylloxera epidemic in the late 1800s which nearly wiped it out, but the grape has recovered, though not to the percentage of acres it once enjoyed. In California, the grape has been used to good effect by a handful of talented producers, with Jaimee Motely, Pax, Lagier-Merideth, Raj Parr, who has really championed Savoie grapes in the state, and Aaron Pott doing really delicious and well crafted versions from Santa Maria to Mount Veeder.
The Domaine Prieuré Saint-Christophe which sadly has now has changed hands from the legendary Michel Grisard, who retired ten years ago, to Clément Giachino, who’s family fun another well regarded Savoie winery is trying faithfully to continue here, and I hear that the quality has remained true and up to the authentic and high bar set by Grisard. In recent years the label has been updated by Giachino, so you’ll know right away it is a different era for Prieuré Saint-Christophe. It’s noted that Michel Grisard began work on what would become Domaine Prieuré Saint-Christophe in 1978, when it was an estate in ruins, and it was no small task to turn it around. He left his father’s vineyard in 1982 to concentrate solely on this property and make it an iconic Savoie estate, declaring that the mission was to “turn Mondeuse into a great wine”, which he did. Mondeuse was not all that popular at the time, but has since become the leading red grape in Savoie, largely thanks to Michel and to a lesser degree the mentioned Quenard family, in fact Grisard is often referred to as the “Pope of Mondeuse”. He owned six hectares of vines, mostly Mondeuse, though Grisard also grew Altesse, the signature white in the area, on the ruggedly mountainous Savoie slopes.The wines were made with the potential for bottle aging and he discovered and employed biodynamic production methods, which enhanced his efforts greatly. The estate which spreads over the towns of Frétérive and Arbin, giving it different options when it comes to terroir, with some calcareous soils, as well as classic ancient clay and limestone. Four of the six hectares are exclusively Mondeuse and the rest is Altesse, again making these wines exceptionally rare. With Michel’s last vintage of Prieuré Saint-Christophe being the 2014 vintage, there’s not much available, and get wild prices, but the Clément Giachino made versions are well worth chasing down and fairly reasonably priced.
($N/A) 94 Points, grapelive
2022 Kermit Lynch, Côtes du Rhône, Rhone Valley, France.
The delicious, deeply colored and ripe Kermit Lynch Côtes du Rhône again is a wildly good value and a savvy choice for everyday drinking with expressive, authentic flavors and style in the glass that is very hard to beat for the price. As mentioned, this basic Rhône red offering that is usually made up mostly older head trained and dry farmed Grenache, along with some supporting amounts of Syrah, Cinsault, and Carignan, to name a few of the grapes in the cuvée, though the 2022 is much heavier in Syrah than normal, which adds even more complexity and depth. The 2021 and 2022 vintages are some of the best versions I’ve had to date, and again though I’ve mostly ignored this one and talked about other Côtes du Rhônes here, I always knew this wine was a tasty choice, but its been elevated in quality in recent years. The 2022 has a darker fruit character, with with the classic collection of spice, grilled herbs, earth and wild flowers on the satiny full bodied palate. The 2022 is very dark purple/garnet with crushed boysenberry, plum, pomegranate and blueberry fruits, with no wood used here, along with sticky lavender, delicate florals, spicy rosemary, pepper, minty anise and a loamy/stony element. Made with native yeasts, a 25 day maceration, and all fermented and aged in cement vats, the 2022 interestingly was 46% Syrah, 35% Grenache, 9% Mourvèdre, 5% Carignan, 3% Marselan,(a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache) and 2% Cinsault. As noted, this wine may have less Grenache than per normal, it still shines through and helps plush out the mouth feel and its unique combination of varietals make it all the more impressive, especially considering the size of production here. What’s not to like? This wine goes beautifully with Fall favorites or more hearty cuisine as well as simple dishes
The Kermit Lynch Côtes du Rhône red, which as noted before here at grapelive.com, is now sourced from Demazet Vignobles, a cave co-op in Morières-lès-Avignon, with François Pasturel overseeing the winemaking, located just south of Avignon, in a top area for Grenache, with alluvial soils. Working a handful of growers in the nearby town of Châteauneuf-de-Gadagne, which boasts an excellent terroir of galets roulés, those large round stones, which Kermit says is not unlike the much more famous Châteauneuf (du Pape) which is actually only just a few miles away! Kermit, who loves this region and who has many collaborations with vignerons in the area works closely with winemaker Jean-François Pasturel to develop the blend for this signature value bottling of Côtes du Rhône Rouge each year. Pasturel, himself a purist says he is thrilled to have the chance to produce a Côtes du Rhône he can be proud of, especially one he does not have to filter to death. Kermit can tell there is a true commitment to quality for this one and It is François’ chance to make a tête de cuvée, and you can almost taste his pride and joy in the glass. Some of the other Kermit value Rhônes come from Domaine de Durban in the village of Beaumes-de-Venise, which are a bit riper in style, while Demazet Vignobles, who’s been bringing small independent farmers sustainable income and making wine from interesting outlying areas here since 1929, and it’s a great fit to make this bargain red for Kermit, a wine that sometimes gets overlooked in his great portfolio, but one that never disappoints. I suggest getting to know all of the Kermit Lynch southern Rhône cuvées, including this easy to love Côtes du Rhône bottling, as well as step up Côtes du Rhône Villages and the white and red Vin de Pays de Vaulcluse selections.
($15 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive
2018 Domaine David Duband, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Premier Cru, Aux Thorey, Côte de Nuits, Red Burgundy, France.
I was excited to taste this vibrant and brambly dark garnet and ruby hued 2018 Duband Nuits-Saint-Georges Aux Thorey Premier Cru Burgundy which was sourced from vines that average 60 year old with most planted in the 1950s in this little known cru set on sandy and pebbly limestone and clay soils on a medium slope, of which I found beautifully crafted. The medium/full palate is concentrated with black cherry, briar laced raspberry, earthy currant, strawberry and tangy pomegranate fruits, along with a whole cluster crunchiness, smoky mineral, loads of spice, leather, subtle wood notes and blood orange notes. The Duband family domaine was originally founded in 1963, and David took over in 1991 moving away from conventional farming and converting to organics, which started really changing things for this almost unheard of property and David began his mercurial rise as a vigneron and winemaker. The certification of organics in 2006 and the quality of the wines started turning heads, allowing him to invest in some prime locations, including old-vine parcels in the famous Grand Crus, such as Clos de la Roche and Charmes-Chambertin! It’s noted that in the cellar, David changed course with his 2008s, going for a more modern brighter, less oak driven style with a focus on transparency, which has served him well and the wines all show individual terroir distinction and still have a sense of richness, complexity and heightened aromatics. This all clicked when I had this rare Aux Thorey and I really enjoyed the pop of the whole bunch fermentation and when I first tasted it, blind, I almost thought it was a Pommard, it showed a grip and more red fruit character than the darker more blue fruited and violet laced Les Pruliers by Duband that I tried a few years ago, I only wish I had a few bottles myself.
Now one of Burgundy’s stars, I first tasted with David Duband back in 2016 in San Francisco, and I wrote my first of my reviews of his wines in the Summer of 2017, when I sampled his brilliant set of 2014 wines, writing about the absolutely spectacular Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Pruliers. That wine was every bit as good as a Grand Cru, and Burgundies twice, three or almost four times the price, again proving to me once again that some of these Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Crus are stupidly underrated and in most cases under valued, asking the question, will they ever get Grand Cru status? Duband who took over some fantastic plots has crafted a gorgeous collection of reds, with his Les Pruliers leading the way, even over his fine Echezeaux Grand Cru, and this 2018 Aux Thorey 1er Cru, a site which I haven’t had many times if ever, is not far off and a real sleeper in the current lineup. As his importer, the late Becky Wasserman, has noted, Duband’s vineyards are exclusively located in the Côte de Nuits, where Pinot Noir is king. He farms a stellar collection of village vines too, including all the major communes from Gevrey-Chambertin to Nuits-Saint-Georges, and excellent Premier Crus in Chambolle-Musigny, Morey-Saint-Denis and Nuits-Saint-Georges, as seen here, plus his Grand Crus, which there are now six different ones in his portfolio. The winemaking is thoughtful here, with the Premier Crus getting close to 80 to 90 percent whole cluster and some 70 percent stems in the fermentation, adding energy and savory complexity. The maceration usually lasts just under three weeks, after which the must is pressed to tank to settle before going to barrel, with Duband using just about 30% new wood on the Premier Crus and the wine matures for close to 14 months in the 225L barriques and then an extra couple of months in stainless steel vat before bottling unfined and unfiltered. These are exceptional wines that I highly recommend for those that have never had Duband before and that love authentically raw, but elegant Burgundies.
($131 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive
2015 Domaine La Rogerie -Famile Petit – Boxler, Héroïne, Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs, Extra Brut Champagne, Avize, France.
Another beauty from La Rogerie, and the talents of Justine and François Petit-Boxler, also coming from very old vines set in chalky and clay in the Avize Grand Cru area, this Heroine vintage Champagne is very hedonistic, but soulful, as only these top grower producers can seemingly can do with a luxurious elegance and mineral/stony terroir driven character. A bit more distinctive than their non-vintage cuvée, this bubbly has a singular vitality and opulence with a steely start that leads to an impressive concentrated and chalky palate of lemon preserves, white peach, quince and green apple fruits, along with toasty hazelnut, leesy brioche, clove, spicy flint, crystallized ginger, lime flower, oyster shell, a hint of rose, saline infused wet stone and citron oil accents, all seamlessly rounded with a energetic small beading and creamy mousse. The Domaine La Rogerie – Famille Petit Boxler, which was founded in Avize in 2016 by Champagne’s François Petit and Alsace’s Justine Boxler, both from famous wine families, has become a must have with grower producer Champagne enthusiasts and their latest Vieux de Vie Non Vintage Blanc de Blancs is a gorgeous wine of depth, presence and elegance. Made from old organic vines that were planted between 1937 and 1961 with a massale selection of Chardonnay clones, with chalky soils and fossils that adds to the distinction of the wines here.
Justine and François Petit-Boxler’s Domaine La Rogerie Champagne house, as mentioned in my latest review of their Lieux de Vie Brut Nature, is all about terroir driven Grand Cru vineyards, which are in the Avize area and extend to the border of Cramant and Oger, where Chardonnay is magic. These chalky vineyards are famously known for their tuff and ancient limestone soils made up of marine sediments, allowing for deep complexity, mineral toned flavors and purity of fruit. The Boxler’s are famous in Alsace and I’ve loved those wines for years, especially their stunning Rieslings, but I had known much about this project and or Francois Petit, who was born and raised in Avize and seems to have been inspired by the cult favorite Selosse Champagnes. Justine and Francois, who have recently moved into a farmhouse that has been in the family years, have immersed themselves in this project and the nature here, they carefully work the land by plow by horse and lightweight tractors, have eliminated herbicides/pesticides, and are using homemade organic compost. The goal of this pair, they say, is to encourage the natural growth and development of organic biodiversity in the vineyards and showcase the purest form of terroir. This intense Extra Brut Avize Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Héroïne cuvée is, as noted by the winery, 100% Chardonnay from the 2015 vintage, and was small lot disgorged after many years of yeast aging, with a full 90 months on the lees in their cellar. I really love Grower Fizz and especially these racy Extra Brut (drier) Champagne offerings with either no or tiny dosage, so the discovery of La Rogerie has been a huge reward and I highly recommend them!
($85 Est.) 97 Points, grapelive
2018 Mount Eden Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Estate Grown, Santa Cruz Mountains.
The new releases from the legendary Mount Eden and winemaker Jeffery Patterson, his son Reid, are beauties, especially the top Santa Cruz Mountains estate offerings like this 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon that is an incredible Bordeaux like, almost old school, wine with a cooler tone and elegant depth with a structured palate of blackberry, currant, dusty plum and black cherry fruits, along with a Medoc like hint of black olives, loamy earth, pencil lead, cedar and minty licorice. This fine medium to full bodied effort highlights the distinctive terroir here and captures the vintage to perfection, picking up notes of creme de cassis, dried violets, wild sage, cigar box and subtle bell pepper, which makes this classic effort a very rewarding wine, in particular with food, which brings out an extra dimension and pleasure, taking away the grip of the underlying tannin. The soils up at Mountain Eden Vineyards are very thin with a dominant base of Franciscan shales, which are found in these coastal range vineyards, which suits these vines, with Mount Eden and Ridge’s Monte Bello exploiting this to near perfection, and it adds to the complexity and concentration of flavors. The climate is cooler than Napa, with the Pacific Ocean near by, especially for the Cabernet Sauvignon, and influenced by the vineyard’s altitude at over 2,000 feet up, again which gives these wines their Bordeaux character. The vines, as the winery notes, are trellised in a modern fashion, which promotes even ripening, with the long growing season adding refined tannins and depth, along with some nice natural acidity. The classic and coveted Mount Eden Vineyards Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, with vines that date back to the early 1980s, includes a small doses of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, plus a tiny percentage of Petit Verdot, which all add to the rewarding nature of this wine, as well as giving it that Bordeaux like personality.
The Mount Eden Cabernet Sauvignon was fermented in small 1,000-gallon stainless steel tanks, with the Patterson’s doing punch downs manually and macerated it, as they note, for about ten days, after fermentation was completed it was then was transferred into new Bordelaise (French oak) barrels where aged twenty-two months in the cellar. Mount Eden’s historic estate as started by Martin Ray and now run by the Patterson family sites on a rugged mountaintop in the Santa Cruz Mountains with 40 acres of low-yielding Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, plus tiny amounts of Merlot and Cabernet Franc vines that go into the Cabernet Sauvignon bottlings. Mount Eden Vineyards is one of the longest running family estates in California that is maybe most famously known for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but has always done a fantastic Cabernet Sauvignon. Interesting, separate from the relationship with Paul Masson, the heritage of Mount Eden Cabernet Sauvignon dates back to the 1890s, when the famed viticulturist Emmett Rixford of Woodside, California, obtained selected cuttings from Chateau Margaux in Bordeaux and it’s from Rixford’s famous La Questa Vineyard with these selections that were used to plant parcels at Mount Eden. This historic winery is perched up at 2000 feet, with an eastern exposure above Saratoga and overlooking the Silicon Valley in the Santa Cruz Mountain Appellation, just about 50 miles south of San Francisco. Mount Eden was founded in 1945 and was one of the original “boutique” California wineries by famed vintner Martin Ray, who as mentioned, focused on small lots of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Since 1981 Jeffrey Patterson, the current owner along with his wife Ellie, has guided the winemaking and grape growing at Mount Eden, taking it to the very top of California wines, making it an iconic winery, with the next generation carrying on this tradition of quality. I highly recommend these fabulous handcrafted and age-worthy small lot Estate Mount Eden Vineyards offerings.
($110 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive
2022 Cattleya Wines, Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast.
One of the best and most seductive of the 2022 Sonoma Coast Pinots I’ve tried so is this Cattleya Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir from winemaker Bibiana Gonzalez Rave-Pisoni, who’s Syrahs are some of my all time favorite wines in California, with lovely fruit density, silken texture and beautiful aromatics. The opulent, poised and elegant medium bodied palate shows off ripe black cherry, dark berry, plum and tangy pomegranate fruits, along with wilted roses, delicate brown and red spices, blood orange, smooth vanilla and wood smoke. The long satiny finish is very impressive carrying the fruit into an incredible long after taste and the balance is sublime, adding some subtle savory, lifting acidity and mineral tones as it opens up. I was lucky to taste this one with the winemaker and told me about the extra care that goes into her wines which see a long cold soak, gentle maceration and gravity flow only handling of the wine at her state of the art facility she shares with the Pisoni family winemaker and husband Jeff Pisoni in the Santa Rosa area. This basic appellation cuvée Bibiana says is born from cool climate coastal vineyards resting at over 1,000 feel of elevation, and the Sun Chase and Nightwing vineyards with she calls an incredibly diverse selection of Pinot Noir clones, including 115, 667, 777, Mt Eden and Swan. This Sonoma Coast was made with 100% fully de-stemmed fruit and was fermented with 100% indigenous yeasts in open top stainless steel tanks, with twice daily hand punchdowns, that Gonzalez Rave-Pisoni explains, extracts a remarkable color, tannins, and rich and complex flavors. Upon completion of the primary fermentation, the wine was lightly pressed and transferred to 60% new French oak barrels where it was matured for fifteen months before its bottling without filtration.
As mentioned here many times, Bibiana Gonzalez Rave-Pisoni, the Colombian born winemaker and vineyard consultant, is making some stunning wines, especially those under her signature Cattleya label, which includes an incredible set of Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, as seen here, and her awesome Syrah offerings from her husband’s family’s vines in the Santa Lucia Highlands. Gonzalez Rave-Pisoni’s stints in at some of the world’s great estates has helped her develop her love of place and to get the best out of each terroir, it also showed in her work when at Pahlmeyer with her Wayfarer Pinot Noirs from the Seaview/Sonoma Coast. Her talents are really on display here in the wines she does under her own label Cattleya, which she founded in 2012, and tens years on now the wines are getting even better. Bibiana Gonzalez Rave-Pisoni, who’s travelled the world to learn and make wine, is one of California’s hottest talents and part of a serious power couple with husband Jeff Pisoni of the Pisoni Estate and former winemaker at Peter Michael. Again as noted before, Bibiana started her journey in wine at University in Cognac getting her first degree there in 2001, before moving on to Bordeaux and achieving a higher degree with honors in enology, all of which led her to winemaking stints at some famous Chateaux and small domaines including Château Haut-Brion in Pessac-Leognan as well as with Domaine Stéphane Ogier in Côte-Rôtie along with small family estates in Alsace, Burgundy and far away in South Africa. I really enjoyed catching up with Bibiana recently and tasting through her latest wines, all of which showed fantastically well and I highly recommend her newest efforts, including this one, the stellar The Temptress Russian River Chardonnay as well as her and Jeff’s 2023 Shared Notes Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon white Bordeaux style wine.
($65 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive
2020 Domaine Bachelet-Monnot, Chassagne-Montrachet, White Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, France.
The Domaine Bachelet-Monnot, led by Alexandre and Marc Bachelet, is a label to search for and this flinty 2020 Chassagne-Montrachet is everything classic and modern white Burgundy lovers want with driving mineral intensity, slightly reductive and electric on the palate with a racy and stony medium bodied mouth feel, even in such a concentrated vintage, it is pure and excellent stuff. Fans of Roulot and Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey should take note of these steely/brisk Bachelet-Monnot wines, with this one hitting the sweet spot, it delivers lemon curd, green apple, white peach and quince fruits, along with chalky wet stones, matchstick, hazelnut, citrus blossom and clove spice. The wood is subtle and the underlying richness is quite impressive without taking away from the energy and vivacious nature. The Bachelet’s whites, they say, go through a long or slow pressing before being fermented in barrel with indigenous yeasts in larger 350L casks, which have significant following these days, and are lees aged for 12 months in barrel and an additional 6 months in stainless steel tank before release.
A winery that is getting loads of hype recently, especially for their beautiful whites is Domaine Bachelet-Monnot, with brothers Alexandre and Marc Bachelet working with top notch parcels in the Côte de Beaune, such as Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Folatières, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Referts, Grand Cru Batard Montrachet, Chassagne Montrachet, as seen here, and St. Aubin En Remilly, a real hot spot in recent years, along with quality vineyards within Maranges and in Santenay. I had only had their Pinot Noir before, and I really enjoyed that, but I can see why the whites had been turning heads and I am excited to follow the Bachelet’s in their latest releases. Skurnik Wines, who import Domaine Bachelet-Monnot, reveal that the AC Chassagne-Montrachet comes from 6 unique parcels, all carefully and sustainably farmed in Chassagne, with Lieu-Dits including La Canière, La Chêne, Les Benoîtes, Le Pot Bois, En Journoblot and Les Houlières, set on clay and limestone slopes and are at least 30+ year old vines. The well judge use of oak here promotes transparency and purity of form, even with this dense vintage, the élevage in the 350L barrels was done in just around 20% new wood, which feels just about perfect in this 2020, which I absolutely adore, and I can’t wait to try the 2021 and the upcoming 2022, which is due out soon.
($80 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive
2020 Weingut Georg Breuer, Riesling Trocken “Rauenthal Estate” Rheingau, Germany.
One of the best values in the Breuer lineup is the Rauenthal Estate Riesling and this pale straw hued 2020 that I tried recently is utterly delicious, mineral toned and pure with some welcome evolution beginning to soften the reductive and dry edginess, it is drinking nicely. The medium bodied zesty palate is very authentically Breuer and naturally slightly earthy, but with hints of exotic tropical elements with tangerine, muskmelon, green apple, yellow peach, tart quince and mango fruits, along with dried ginger, white blossoms, salt lick, wet flint and green tea notes.I am always impressed with the transparency and rustic charms in these Breuer wines and I have really loved my visits to their tasting room in downtown Rudesheim, both times I visited, back in 2009 and more recently in 2016. This vintage is generous at this stage with nice mouth feel and good acidity, making it pleasing with pork and poultry dishes. Theresa Breuer, a widely admired talent, at Weingut Georg Breuer, has taken, as I’ve mentioned here, a more natural approach to her wines and holistic in her farming of her estate vines, looking for physiological and aroma ripeness, which she feels are more important than must weight numbers. The grapes are only picked when Theresa and her team feel the fruit is perfect, giving the wines a sense of delicacy, transparency and elegance, rather than power or fruit density.
The Weingut Georg Breuer, now run by Theresa Breuer, was one of the key members of Charta, an organization formed to promote a drier style of Rheingau wine and the Breuer’s were early proponents and leaders of this style to great effect in the region. Theresa’s late father, Bernard, believed that the Rheingau was perfectly suited to producing very fine, elegant and flavorful dry Rieslings, and he has been proven right, especially in recent years and by his talented daughter. Bernard, as mentioned in my prior reviews, was also a strong advocate for a vineyard classification system based on geology, historical precedent, and the quality of wines, he also is credited with discovering the potential of the Rauenthal zone, which has become one of the most distinct sites in the Rheingau. The Rauenthal is a unique geological area and is a South facing site, allowing for deep concentration, with deep Phyllite soils with a covering of gravel deposits, it always makes for wines with a lovely perfume of white flowers and a parade of citrus and stone fruits that leans to the yellow (fruit) spectrum of flavors, as this 2020 Rauenthal Estate shows. The fermentations are sponti or started with pied de cuve, vineyards yeasts and fermentation and lees élevage is in large used barrels for the top wines and a mix of barrel and steel for the Estate wines, like this one. While I love all the Breuer Rudesheimer Berg Grand Crus, the more slate driven offerings, especially the Roseneck and the mighty Schlossberg, Theresa’s Rauenthaller Nonnenberg Monopol is iconic stuff, which I highly recommend, along with her Estate bottlings, like this one, plus the newer Lorch additions.
($35 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive
nv Henri Giraud, Solera 90-16, Ratafia Champenois, France.
The fabulous Solera 90-16 Ratafia Champenois, a rare fortified wine made in Champagne shows off roasted hazelnut, candied pecan, honeyed pear, lemon oil, fig and dried apple on the rounded and almost creamy palate, making one of the most rewarding versions I’ve had to date. Ratafia Champenois, for those that have not experienced it before is a unique blend of selected Champagne must (juice) and Champagne-based Marc or Brandy (Spirit) which comes out to be 18% alcohol and must be aged at least 6 years in oak barrels, with this Henri Giraud being a Solera, multi-vintage blend that was started in 1990. Most people will enjoy Ratafia with a cheese plate after a meal as a digestive, the aged complexity here in this Solera is really intriguing and with its almost dry nature, it doesn’t cloy in the mouth, while still having pleasing concentration. That said it could go with some dessert dishes, maybe crème brulée, but best to me with aged farm cheeses. Bottled in a 500ml bottle, and never easy to find, this Ratafia is well worth searching out and is fantastic hand crafted effort, enthusiasts will want to grab a bottle at their first opportunity.
Ratafia de Champagne or Ratafia Champenois is an ultra rare specialty liqueur from the Champagne region, and not bubbly, that is a blend of half brandy made from Champagne and half grape juice from the region, similar to Macvin in the Jura and with a touch of Sherry like nuttiness. This one, from Champagne house Henri Giraud, comes from a Solera, in this case as noted from 1990 to 2016, which adds complexity and dimension. Traditional Ratafia Champenois has a golden lovely tawny color in the and a rich, complex dried fruit, nutty and marzipan layered profile, as this one does. As noted, this stuff is a result of blending the barely fermented grape juice from various vintages with the brandy, all matured in small ex-wine barrels, giving it a range of flavors that maybe remind you of a fine Tawny Port, Madeira or Marsala. This Henri Giraud Ratafia Champanois is made from a 20-year-old Solera, which gives it a slightly oxidizing edge, but perfectly balances it out, with the slight sweet tones, vibrant acidity and the smooth textural nuttiness. I’m also a fan of the bubbly here at Henri Giraud, which dates back to 1625, and who is the president of the association of craft Ratafia in Champagne, so you can be assured that theirs is top quality.
($95 ESt.) 96 Points, grapelive
2022 Pisoni Estate, Pinot Noir, Pisoni Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands.
The Santa Lucia Highlands owe much to the pioneering spirit of the Pisoni family and this Pisoni Estate Pinot Noir is maybe the region’s best and most coveted wine, with this latest deep garnet/ruby 2022 vintage showcasing this terroir to near perfection and very much in keeping with the winery’s style, delivering an extra dimension of fruit density and texture, but still being beautifully balanced and wonderfully complex. The rich and luxurious palate revolves around a core of classic black raspberry, dark cherry, plum, blood orange and Mission fig fruits that are nicely accented by smoky oak, wilted roses, a hint of violets sultry earth, briar and brambly spices, as well as sage, cola bean, lavender and vanilla. The vintage provided excellent depth of fruit, silky tannins and great aromatics, all the while retaining acidity that gives an inner brightness and lift here, making this opulent Pinot Noir a standout. Winemaker Jeff Pisoni says the Pisoni Pinot Noir was all hand-picked from various blocks on different soils, including sand, loam, granite, marine sediments and bits of quartz, seeing careful sorting, a cold soak and a native yeast fermentation with partial whole cluster. After which, he adds, this wine is aged in barrel, racked with gravity flow into selected French oak with a high percentage of new wood, without racking or moving for 10 months. Bottling is then carried out carefully after final blending to tank, and as always, the Pisoni Pinot is unfined and unfiltered.
It was great to meet up recently with Jeff Pisoni, one of the most talented winemakers of his generation and taste his signature Pisoni Estate Pinot Noir, originally made famous by his father Gary, one of the greats of California, who created this iconic Pinot Noir, who’s passion for wine and the region led him to start planting grapes here back in 1982. Much has already been written about his achievements, his stories, like his bringing of La Tâche cuttings home in his socks to plant here. The Pisoni label was founded in 1998 and that first release set new standards for Santa Lucia Highlands wines and the latest release continues enjoy its place in the elite league of California Pinots. Gary’s enthusiasm lights up a room, you can’t help but to love the man, for his style and humble grace wrapped up in an extroverted personality, much like the Pisoni Estate wines taste! I will forever be a huge fan of Gary for all he’s done for Monterey wines and the next generation here at Pisoni very much pay tribute to him and are striving to be better and better each year. There’s a deep collection of quality offerings here with the Pisoni family, with these Pisoni Estate offerings being the pinnacle of their efforts, but not far behind are their Lucia Vineyards wines, including the Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noir, Soberanes Vineyard Syrah and the Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay, all of which I highly recommend, plus the related, Lucy Wines, with the Rosé and Gamay being fun and delicious. The 2021 and 2022 vintages, currently out there, prove the Pisoni’s can handle very different vintage conditions and produce outstanding wines, don’t miss them.
($85 Est.) 97 Points, grapelive
2018 Under the Wire, Chardonnay, Brut Sparkling Wine, Sangiacomo Vineyard, Carneros AVA, Sonoma County.
It’s the mission of Under the Wire’s Chris Cottrell, a partner in Bedrock Wine Co, to make California sparkling wines based on individual vineyards, like this fabulous grower producer inspired Sangiacomo Vineyard Sparkling Chardonnay bottling, that also highlight the influence of an individual year, as this cool vintage shows. The first vintage of Under The Wire sparkling wine was in 2011 and there’s been a wide range vineyards and varietals seen here from Riesling to Zinfandel, but this traditional method 2018 Sangiacomo Vineyard bubbly is by far my favorite by Cottrell, it rivals top notch Champagne, this is right up there, in my opinion, with the best of California sparkling wine. I have been tasting some excellent grower producer Champagne and Sparkling Wines, so I went into tasting this one with a tuned up palate, making this wine even more impressive, it delivers loads of quality and character, being luxurious and deep in flavors, but with a dry steely nature and elegance. This 2018 Sangiacomo Vineyard Sparkling Chardonnay starts with crisp apple, pear, white peach, golden fig, lemon preserve and quince like fruits, along with clove spice, bread dough, saline, a touch of earth, white flowers and leesy nuttiness. The vibrant and creamy mousse is perfectly matched to the acidity, richness and complexity here, this is very rewarding stuff that will appeal to a wide audience and can be easily match up to cuisine. The Under the Wire wines are obviously limited in production and have gained a following, so it is best to get on Cottrell’s mailing list, but I do encourage you to look for this one in particular.
The Bedrock Wine Co, as noted here in my prior reviews, was started in 2007 by winemaker and Master of Wine Morgan Twain-Peterson, son of the legendary Zinfandel maker Joel Peterson of Ravenswood fame, and his partner Chris Cottrell, who also has his Under the Wire label, featuring unique sparkling wines, such as this one. The winemaking here at Bedrock remains faithful to their beliefs, made with simple low intervention traditional methods that showcase the vineyards first and foremost with Morgan Twain-Peterson MW saying “overly sculpted by activist winemakers tend to be less satisfying and soulful gustatory experiences..” Of which I totally agree and is a reason why that his and Chris’ winery has been elevated to the top echelon of California wine. For this bottling, Cottrell says he’s trying to showcase California terroir with this all Chardonnay Blanc de Blancs, and that he wanted to work with some fruit from an archetypal vineyard, and though the Sangiacomo Vineyard is actually a lot of different vineyards he decided to work with a unique block that was planted in 1982 known as “Catarina’s.” He adds that not only do the old vines produce dynamic and wonderful fruit, they are also located on the other side of the creek from the original Ravenswood winery, where Morgan’s dad got his start. There’s a committed group of traditional method Champagne style producers making some incredible small lot and hand crafted yeasty single vineyard sparklers, including Michael Cruse, Samantha Sheehan of Poe Wines and Caraccioli, to name a few, and it is great time to discover them and these Under the Wire wines.
($60 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive
2021 Storybook Mountain Vineyards, Zinfandel, Eastern Exposures, Estate Grown, Napa Valley.
The impressive and sensual 2021 Storybook Mountain Vineyards Eastern Exposures Zinfandel, always one of my favorite Napa Valley wines, is beautifully aromatic, complex, deeply fruited and nicely structured with some mountain intensity, making this vintage very compelling stuff. This deep garnet and ruby edged Zinfandel shows off brambly black raspberry, plum, currant and cherry fruits in an elegantly layered wine with a smooth underlying backbone of tannin, plus a core of nice acidity, along with briar spices, a heightened sense of floral aromatics, sage, anise, cedar and a touch of vanilla. Coming in at around 14.5% natural alcohol, the 2021 Eastern Exposures Zin by the Seps family, which saw a small percentage of co-fermented Viognier, feels balanced from start to finish. As per normal here at Storybook, and not unlike Turley, the Zinfandel is organically farmed, hand harvested and native yeast fermented, 100% de-stemmed, and aged in a combination of mostly used American and French oak barrels for about 15 months. I was thrilled to taste through the Storybook Mountain Vineyards wine with owner and winegrower Jerry Seps recently, who I hadn’t seen in a long while, and I was delighted with the few 2019s and 2021s that I tried, I highly recommend these latest releases.
The historic Storybook Mountain Vineyards, which dates back to the late 1800s, was founded in modern times by Jerry Seps and his wife Sigrid in 1976 when they discovered and bought a ghost winery, with true winemaking caves and discarded vineyards, which he worked tirelessly to restore and replant, focusing on Zinfandel and Bordeaux varietals. Located a few miles North of Calistoga at the top of Napa Valley on beautifully positioned eastern facing slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains, on ridges that separate the Napa and Sonoma Counties. This site provides their vines a unique terroir and micro climate, with iron rich red clay and loam soils, and are conditions that makes these Storybook Mountain Vineyards wines their distinctive character and structure. Over the years, the Seps have made this one of the most desirable collection of California wines out there, joining the likes of Biale, Turley, Ridge, Bucklin, Lamborn and Bedrock to name a few, that Zinfandel enthusiasts can’t resist. As mentioned, the Storybook Mountain Vineyards has seen a change in generation, with Colleen Seps, Jerry’s daughter taking over the cellar and now leads the winemaking efforts here, which almost seamlessly transitioned with Collen continuing the style here with her wines. The generational change here at Storybook Mountain Vineyards has brought a lot of new excitement to a long time favorite and I look forward to following their efforts well into the future.
($60 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive
2020 Domaine Moreau-Naudet, Chablis AC, White Burgundy, France.
A bit more rounded and concentrated that normally the case, this wonderful 2020 Moreau-Naudet Chablis, from a choice selection of limestone parcels, is a beautifully drinking pure Chardonnay with a fine minerality and chalky palate of lemon/lime, green apple sand subtle stone fruit, along with delicate herbs, oyster shell, clove, dry honeycomb, citrus blossoms, golden fig, seashore notes and hazelnut accents. The fermentation(s) at Moreau-Naudet is always natural and spontaneous with indigenous yeasts, followed by a long maceration and elevage on lees, with a fantastic result in the wine’s textural quality and richness. The wine is usually aged for an average of 18 months depending on the vintage in a combination of stainless steel and 600-liter French oak barrels, with a majority of the Chablis AOC cuvee, typically two-thirds, sees just the stainless. There is a lot to admire at Moreau-Naudet and while the Premier Cru and Grand Cru are exceptional offering and highly sought after, I recommend not missing out on the regular Chablis bottling, with this 2020 being a well balanced, but richer wine that definitely makes an impact and should drink nicely for few more years!
The Domaine Moreau-Naudet has an almost cult like follow and Virginie Moreau, who has bravely carried on after the tragic death of her husband Stéphane in 2016, along with her winemaker have, as I have mentioned, continued the excellence found at Moreau-Naudet. The basic village Chablis bottling, in the brilliant Moreau-Naudet lineup, is the only wine in their cellar that sees any new oak, with this cuvée providing the seasoning for those barrels which end up in the Premier Cru program after the first fill. Even so, as Moreau-Naudet’s importer Grand Cru Selections notes, it is always just a few new barrels that are being added to replace far older ones and actually only constitute a tiny, almost un-noticable percentage of the final blend, as seen here. As seen in previous versions this pale straw colored Moreau-Naudet Chablis proved to be excellent as both an aperitif and main event wine with an array of cuisine choices, especially with fresh seafood dishes and soft creamy farm cheeses. This was impressive, and compares well with Moreau-Naudet’s outstanding Vaillons Premier Cru, that comes a tiny block of 35-50 year old vines set on the historic Kimmeridgian limestone and some rocky top soil that gives the terroir influence and class, so look for both.
($49 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive
2020 Domaine Dureuil-Janthial, Mercurey, Red Burgundy, France.
I just love what is coming out of Domaine Dureuil-Janthial and this small estate is certainly becoming one of my personal go to labels for value Burgundy wines, with this 2020 vintage being stellar for their releases, like this vivid ruby hued Mercurey Rouge beauty that delivers pure Pinot Noir class. Tasted blind in a seriously star studded lineup of Burgundy offerings, the minerally Domaine Dureuil-Janthial Rully Blanc and this almost Volnay like Mercurey Rouge way out performed what their more humble villages would normally do, and I loved the aromatics and depth found here, definitely a killer bottle of Burgundy for the price. The palate is still wonderfully fresh and vibrant with black cherry, red currant, blood orange and strawberry fruits leading the way in this medium bodied wine, along with a hint of flinty reduction, rose petals, red apple skin, a touch of chalky earth and delicate herbal tones. For his Pinots, Vincent Dureuil employs mainly de-stemmed grapes with a very small percentage of whole clusters used for the single-site wines and a cold maceration of 8-10 days in old wooden upright vats. The cool fermentation with indigenous yeasts is allowed to go slowly before the wine is racked into small barriques, with usually about 20 to 25% new with an elevage of 12 months. Dureuil lets the final blend rest another 4-6 months in tank before they are bottled unfined and unfiltered, which results in, as he suggests, very elegant and authentic terroir driven wines, like this delicious example.
Vincent Dureuil, who took over the Dureuil-Janthial domaine from his father Raymond in 1994, is an establish star now and has passionately made it his mission in life to up the game in this part of the Côte Chalonnaise, which sits just about five miles south of Chassagne-Montrachet, and especially with his Rully, which is a fine limestone and clays terroir, as well as his Mercurey. The Domaine Dureuil-Janthial, Domaine A et P de Villaine and Domaine Sylvain Pataille are some of the most exciting producers here in the Côte Chalonnaise and I suggest chasing down all of their efforts, in particular these 2020 wines, which are very elevated examples that rival much more expensive Burgundies, Though lesser known than some other places here in the Côte d’Or, like St. Aubin, Santenay or Saint Romain, Rully makes for some tasty Chardonnays that deliver some of the best bargains in White Burgundy, such as this Vincent makes. For Vincent, as he explains, the magic starts in the vineyards and every since he took over the estate, he has worked with organic principles, with each site treated as one would treat their own personal garden. His approach in the cellar is said to be classic and minimalist with low sulfur additions and a focus on transparency. For his whites, the whole bunches are pressed slowly and racked straight into barriques for fermentation and aging, and again they are classically reductive and crisply detailed. There’s a lot to admire here, with Dureuil’s collection of Rully Blancs and Rouge, as well as a selection of rare Puligny-Montrachet bottlings, a tasty Aligoté, and even this Mercurey Rouge, especially from this vintage, are all exceptional wines to look out for.
($45 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive
2023 Melville, Chardonnay, Estate, Sta. Rita Hills.
The 2023 Melville Estate Chardonnay is crystalline and electric in the glass with a cool toned character, vivid fruit density and a lovely mineral intensity that reminds me of Chablis in vitality, though pure California in expression and profile, this light gold/straw colored wine is an absolute thrill. The zesty palate gains depth and complexity as it opens up, it shows off crisp/steely details and reveals green apple, tart peach, lemon/lime and just a hint of tropical fruit, along with clove spice, an almond note, saline infused wet rock and white flowers. The Estate Chardonnay, as the winery notes, is a mix of of clones 4, 76, 95 and 96, along with Mount Eden, Hanzell, Hudson, Wente and a special Melville selection, was gently whole-cluster pressed, cold settled overnight and transferred by gravity to barrel for fermentation in neutral French oak barrels (15+ years old), with zero malolactic and sur lie aging without any lees stirring. Set in the rolling hills of Western Santa Ynez Valley, the Melville Winery, which was established in the mid nineties was founded by Ron Melville, who had previously grown high end grapes in Knights Valley, is dedicated to producing exceptional cold-climate Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Syrah grown exclusively on estate vines in the famed Sta. Rita Hills region, which Ron helped pioneer. Ron and his son, Chad Melville, now the director of the estate, are continuing their tradition of excellence and being one of the most critically acclaimed estates in California. As I’ve stated in prior reviews, Melville widely admired for their Pinot, rightly so, also do great stuff with their Syrah, which is my favorite, and in this vintage especially, I recommend grabbing their Chardonnay.
I’ve long been a fan of Chad Melville as a winemaker and of these Melville wines and again it is good to see these latest releases live up to and or exceed my expectations, with the regular estate Syrah being a huge favorite, along with their Block M Pinot, Terraces and the regular Estate Pinot, which I recently got a chance to try. All made an outstanding impact on the palate, impressing me greatly, as does this latest 2023 Estate Chardonnay. This latest selection of Melville’s collection are some of their best efforts to date and I highly recommend not missing them. As mentioned before, since Chad Melville took the reins here the Melville wines have gone 100% estate grown and the farming has moved in a more sustainable direction, which shows in the intensity and his light touch with wood adds to the wines transparency, though it must be said the grapes here have always been remarkable and the wines too. After making edgy and raw wines under the Samsara label, Chad has found his sweet spot at Melville and it’s been driven by a real sense of place focus, which is the best news I can give you, with these new releases having incredible purity. Chard says his chardonnay vines, which were planted in 1997, are predominantly on the west side of the Melville estate where we have varying degrees of sand density in the soil. This west side of the property also receives the brunt of brutally cold Pacific ocean-winds and these vines are grown in nutrient deficient, well-drained soils, resulting in a Chardonnay that captures the vibrancy of the cold Pacific Ocean, minerality, and really concentrated flavors that, as he continues,t are hallmarks of the SRH appellation, and can be seen here in this 2023 version.
($44 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive
2019 Clos Canarelli, Corse Figari Rouge, Corsica, France.
Clos Canarelli is one of my favorite producers and it was a pleasure again to sit back and enjoy their beautiful 2019 Corse Figari Rouge, a wine that is really coming into its own with graceful tannins and rewarding depth, showing off a rich array of dark fruits, delicate florals, subtle earthiness and savory tones. This bottling comes from all biodynamic vines planted in 1997 and set on pure granite soils which provides a mineral essence here and allows for spice and fruit intensity, that comes through perfectly in this vintage. The palate is full, but elegant, delivering blackberry, plum, cherry and huckleberry fruit in a seamless fashion, along with minty mountain herbs, tobacco leaf, cedar, graphite, grilled fennel, bitter coca and acacia flower. The powerful and sophisticated Corse Figari Rouge is passionately crafted by the talented Yves Canarelli from a unique blend of 80% Niellucciu, 15% Syrah and 5% Sciaccarellu, with Niellucciu being an ancient Etruscan clone of Sangiovese and Sciaccarellu being also an Etruscan grape brought to the Island ages ago and is the same varietal as Mammolo, a lesser known Chianti red grape. The Tuscan grapes are now indigenous here on Corsica and form the base for some the island’s most prized wines and make for truly distinctive efforts that don’t resemble their mainland cousins.
Clos Canarelli, originally founded in 1968, is an all organic and certified biodynamic estate in the remote village of Tarabucetta, on the outskirts of Figari on the southern tip of Corsica, is one of the Island’s most iconic wineries, crafting white, pink and red wines. According to Canarelli’s importer, the famous Kermit Lynch, who was one of the first to recognize the greatness on Corsica, Yves’s choice to convert the domaine to biodynamic viticulture has has given his wines an unusual freshness, complexity, and aromatic intensity that others in Figari have been unable to achieve. Kermit adds, In the cellar, Yves only uses indigenous yeasts, and prefers slow, deliberate, precise fermentation(s), and leaves his reds unfiltered. With this Corse Figari Rouge being 100% de-stemmed and fermented using large foudreswith gentle hand punchdowns daily then aged up to 18 months. This wine is a great alternative to Tuscan reds, Bordeaux and or Rioja, it certainly out performs many such wines in its price class if not much higher! In modern times, this Mediterranean island has gained attention for the fabulous Rosé and Vermentino or Vermentinu, as it is known locally. Corsica is riding high these days, once thought of as a rustic and remote wine producing region, the wines now are cherished for their excellence and uniqueness, with wineries like Abbatucci, Leccia and Clos Canarelli being highly coveted.
($51 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive
2021 Hundred Suns, Gamay Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon.
The lighter, wetter and brighter acid vintage of 2021 gave winemaker Grant Coulter of Hundred Suns some concerns I’m sure, but his Gamay Noir, as well as his Pinot Noir and Chardonnay all turned out very nice indeed, very much in an old world style, with this Gamay reminding me of Côte de Brouilly or Moulin à Vent in style. The cool and tangy toned 2021 Gamay Noir shows off a vivid ruby color and a mix of floral and herbal notes on the nose with the zesty medium bodied palate giving plenty of crunchy and juicy red berry, cherry, cranberry and tart plum fruits, along with bitter/minty herbs, racy orange peel, delicate mineral notes and a touch of fennel. The acidity is still plenty firm here, but everything comes together nicely with air and especially with food, and the low natural alcohol makes it wonderfully quaffable, plus it is delightful with a slight chill too. If you’ve not had Hundred Suns before, I suggest you make that a priority, as Grant Coulter and Renée Saint-Amour’s wines are some of the most exciting in Oregon and they are still fantastic values, especially their Willamette Valley series of offerings, but then again you don’t want to miss their outstanding single vineyard wines either.
As per normal in recent vintages, Grant sourced the Gamay from vines growing in the high hills of the Chehalem Mountain AVA on rocky basalt soils that helps keep the acid intact while these grapes hung out a long time, to ensure depth and ripeness. After harvest Coulter sorted the fruit into three separate lots, each seeing individual winemaking and aging vessels. One lot of 100% whole bunch was tightly sealed for a slow carbonic fermentation, while the second portion was half de-stemmed/half whole bunch, and a third that was fully de-stemmed and crushed traditionally. These three pieces of the Hundred Suns Gamay Noir puzzle were aged in a variety of barrels small and large, and with 25% of it uniquely aged in clay amphora. I’ve loved these Hundred Suns wines for the better part of a decade now and really admire what Renée and Grant have accomplished under this label, in particular the single vineyard Willamette Valley Pinots obviously, but also with this Gamay and the Chardonnay, which is a steely gem of a wine that is Chablis like and distinctive than many Oregon versions. as mentioned, you really don’t want to miss these Hundred Suns wines, the latest set now include some new vineyards, like Carson-Phillips and Lone Feather, which look like intriguing sites, joining the established stars, including Breaker, Badnarik and Mike Etzel’s (Beaux Freres) Sequitur Vineyard.
($35 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive
2022 Comando G Viticultores, La Bruja Tinto, Valle del Tietar, Sierra de Gredos, Vinos de Madrid D.O., Spain.
The beautifully chiseled, limpid ruby/garnet hued and ripely layered 2022 La Bruja Garnacha by Dani Land and Freddy Garcia of Comando G is a class act, again, in the glass with pretty florals, sultry earth and sexy fruit concentration. This is pure and riveting Garnacha from old vines up at around 900 meters above sea level in the Sierra de Gredos region in the mountains that overlook Madrid. The medium bodied palate has youthful freshness, but is very serious stuff with raspberry, plum, strawberry and brandied cherry fruits, along with some whole cluster pop, bramble and pomegranate undercurrents, along with snappy herbs, anise, subtle sandalwood, cinnamon, rose petals, grilled orange and peppery accents. There’s some grip and tannin that carry the flavors, but also a long silky mouthfeel that really makes this a hugely rewarding wine. Using organic grapes, grown on vines that range from 50 to 80 years old and are planted on sandy soils, with weathered from granite, slate, and quartz, farmed with biodynamic methods, Comando G’s La Bruja, 100% Grenache, was all hand harvested, with winemakers Landi and Garcia employing a natural yeast fermentation with the noted partial whole cluster (depending on vintage) and a long 40-60 day maceration. After which, the wine is racked to wood, that as they note, then saw an elevage of nine months in mainly large neutral French 500L and 700L oak vats, or a little old foudre, and sometimes even some clay amphorae to mature, which all adds up to transparency, terroir influence and authentic character.
As I’ve said before, every year these Comando G wines seem to get better and better, these are stunning wines that are almost Burgundy like class, in fact with its slight reduction, mineral tones and light graphite notes at the start they can remind me of a Premier Cru Nuits-Saint-Georges, but with dark Grenache purity. Comando G Viticultores is a small winery in the Sierra de Gredos, this special terroir in the mountains above Madrid in Castilla y Leon, central Spain, making hand crafted wines, it is led by the talented duo of Daniel Landi and Fernando Garcia, who have been friends since their school days and they formed Camando G in 2008, after always wanting to work together, even though they had successful careers with their own wine concerns, Bodegas Jimenez-Landi and Fernando at Bodega Marañones. As widely noted, and reported here, the Sierra de Gredos is a Garnacha region that rivals the world’s great sites for this grape, these wines show high elevation elegance and detail, but with old vine concentration and amazing aromatics as well as length, as this one shows to near perfection. The Sierra de Gredos is blessed with its combination of high altitude, freely draining soils, a mild climate, cool nights and long growing season which adds to the elegant moderate alcohol style, sensual lifted aromatics and complex nature of these wines. I’ve been a fan of this region for a while now, following producers like 4 Monos and Comando G for the better part of of a dozen years now. This region has some stars, with Landi really leading the way with his own label and these incredible Comando G efforts, which I really highly recommend, they do take Grenache or Garnacha to another level.
($40 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive
1990 Château Sociando-Mallet, Haut-Medoc, Red Bordeaux, France.
I’ve always loved Château Sociando-Mallet and it was a thrill to enjoy this 1990, even though it is a bit past its peak, it was wonderful, deeply layered and even held up nicely with sunny an outdoor meal, which included lamb, grilled asparagus, Greek pastry with feta cheese and some garden vegetables. The still full bodied palate has plenty of richness, but with loads of earth and leathery notes with dried cherry, reduced raspberry, stewed plum, fig and mulberry fruits, bramble, incense, wilted roses, bell pepper, loam, old cedar, minty anise, faint creme de cassis, pencil shavings, meaty sous bois, cigar wrapper and sticky lavender. With air you gets decayed forest leafs and tilled soil notes, but the color and fruit holds on with a sense of faded beauty, I can appreciate it for its former glory and the wine’s almost will to hold on and be rewarding, even as it clearly doesn’t have many more days of pleasure ahead. This was a delicious surprise and I am grateful to my friend Alex Lallos, who has stashed some lesser known and some very famous Bordeaux bottles in his cellar, and for which I’m thankful of his generosity in opening a few for me and a small group of enthusiasts that meet up once and a while. Sociando-Mallet, as I said, is a favorite, along with the likes of Château Haut-Bailly, Château Calon Ségur, Château Leoville-Poyferre, Château Lynch-Bages, Château Beychevelle, Château Haut-Bages Libéral, Château Cantemerle and Château Cantenac Brown, all of which are or used be exceptionally affordable “Left Bank” Bordeaux options. It’s wine like this that remind me to drink more Bordeaux and put away a few bottles again, even though the world has moved towards more immediate pleasures, because they are experiences that still very much excite me. The Château Sociando-Mallet, set on a beautiful gravel terroir overlooking the Gironde Estuary, is good Cabernet Sauvignon country and the wines are led by it, with most vintages seeing 50 to 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, with a good dose of Merlot, typically in the 40% range and with either some Petit Verdot, as seen here and or Cab Franc, though not a big factor in the final blends.
Château Sociando-Mallet is an unclassified growth Bordeaux producer within the appellation Haut-Médoc, which is pretty up there on the “Left Bank” of the river in the Cabernet zone of the Bordeaux wine region, in the commune of Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne, just to the north of Saint-Estèphe. This has always been in my lifetime in wine a real place to get value, some of my earliest Bordeaux experiences were with Sociando-Mallet and when I recently had this wine, which was brought out blind, I was immediately on the right track, with my palate memory seemingly on point here picking up the region’s loamy and minty nature. The dark hued1990 Sociando-Mallet was made from a blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, though many people swear they get some Cab Franc notes here, it really is the Haut-Medoc’s terroir that picks up that Chinon or Anjou like bell pepper note, even in ripe years like this one. The history here is interesting, with the current Château being situated on what was in 1633 the residence of a Basque nobleman named Sièvre Sociando, and that was the first documentation of the estate and any mention of its importance. After its acquisition in around 1850 by Madame Mallet, it became more known as a wine growing property and took on its current name. It saw a brief bit of notoriety in the late 1800s when it was recorded in the1883 Cocks & Féret directory, which later become an influential Bordeaux guide, but after that things went down hill with wars and tough times. In fact Château Sociando-Mallet was simply forgotten and was a derelict property of vastly reduced land by the time it was bought in 1969 by Jean Gautreau, who’s family still runs it, he was a négociant from Lesparre and is credited to bringing true respect to this widely known estate. Nowadays, there’s about 20,000 cases produced of the Grand Vin here and they are well priced, usually in the $40 range and especially in good years, which have firm tannic structure and can and do age well, are very good values. I must say, I didn’t expect the depth and robust nature in this 1990 Sociando-Mallet, but I was, again very impressed and look forward to searching out some modern versions with maybe 10 to 15 years of age, and I see many in the 40 to 50 dollar range, with 2014, 2015 and 2016s looking like good bets.
($135 Est.) 93 points, grapelive
2020 Domaine Bernard Moreau et Fils, Chassagne-Montrachet, White Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, France.
I had not had the Bernard Moreau wines in quite sometime and was incredibly impressed by Alex Moreaus’s 2020 Chassagne-Montrachet Blanc with its dense and luxurious concentration and underlying vitality and verve, this vintage has it all with deep fruit and mineral intensity, making it a serious white Burgundy. Grown on a small plot, the Chassagne vines are mature and set on classic clay and limestone and farmed sustainable with mainly organic methods with the winery focused on maintaining healthy and balanced soils, saying that they use only organic fertilizers and no pesticides. added to that, to ensure greater flavor intensity they farm for lower yields through pruning, de-budding to get later, but better fruit sets, and green harvesting in August to maximize ripening, both with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Alex is pragmatic and flexible in the cellar, with a deft use of new wood and long elevage(s) striving to show off terroir and vintage, which is clearly the case with his 2020, delivering a beautifully rounded wine with lemon curd, apple, Bosc pear and peach layering, along with chalky wet stone, clove spice, leesy brioche, dry honeycomb, white flowers, vanilla and subtle creaminess. In a week of tasting lots of white Burgundy, this one is noticeably less reductive, but still with an underpinning of vibrant acidity, it truly is an excellent Chardonnay that is best with food, from soft farm cheeses to lobster tail.
The Domaine Bernard Moreau’s roots go back to about 1809, as I learned recently, to when Auguste Moreau built a cellar across from the famous Champs Gain vineyard and farmed some Chardonnay and Pinot along that most coveted of hillsides in the Côte de Beaune. In the 1930s the Moreau project saw an expansion of the family’s vineyards under the guidance of Marcel Moreau, in fact close to 80% of the domaine’s current vineyard holdings were acquired by Marcel during his time in charge, which seems significant in terms of vision and providing for future generations here. According to the winery, at the remarkably young age of 14, Bernard Moreau took over the vineyards and cellar in the early 1960’s, something that would almost be impossible today. It was at this point In seventies that the reputation of this historic estate was fully established, again under the leadership of Bernard and Françoise Moreau, and it was in 1977 the winery was named Domaine Bernard Moreau. There was innovation in the farming and wine making too and they also purchased additional prime plots, with some St. Aubin and Volnay vines included, bringing the domaine close total to 14 hectares. Bernard’s sons Alex and Benoît joined the Domaine in the 1990s after having worked in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, and Alex is now, as mentioned, responsible for the overall operations of the winery including cellar, winemaking and the vineyards, which looks to have enhanced the wines and secured the future here. While the whites have always stood out, as seen here, the reds, especially the Chassagne Rouge and Volnay bottlings have started to create a buzz and I am look forward to trying them soon as well!
($90 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive
2015 Domaine Marc Roy, Gevrey-Chambertin, Vieilles Vignes, Red Burgundy, France.
Vigneron Alexandrine Roy, who leads the highly regarded Domaine Marc Roy in Gevrey-Chambertin, is one of my favorite winemakers in Burgundy and it was a nice treat to have her fabulous 2015 Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes. This deep and pure Pinot was tasted recently at a special blind tasting of Burgundy wines, where it showed extremely well and was one of the wines of the night. The deep garnet/ruby old vines Gevrey-Chambertin, from a concentrated and complex vintage, shows off loads of depth, warm ripeness and personality with dark berry, black cherry and reduced plum fruits leading the way on a rich medium bodied palate, along with mineral tones, crushed flowers, a touch of smoke, subtle wood, earthy truffle, orange tea, and fig. Alexandrine used all de-stemmed grapes here with native yeast, employing a very gentile winemaking style and it’s raised in traditional small barrique, about 30% new in this and most vintages, then bottled unfined and unfiltered that all showcases her desire for graceful textural wines and with transparent elegance, which is readily apparent in this beauty. Roy does a very limited selection of bottlings that includes her gorgeous Gevrey-Chambertin Pinot Noirs from mostly special Lieu-Dits, like her La Justice and Clos Prieur efforts, as well as this Vieilles Vignes (Old Vine), which as I’m sure you can tell is one of my favorites, along with a delicious Marsannay Blanc.
In October of 2015 Alexandrine Roy of Domaine Marc visited San Francisco and showed off her beautiful 2014 Gevrey’s, these were preview barrel samples that gave great insight into the vintage and showcased Roy’s gifts as a winemaker, and again I met up with her in the City in 2018 and tasted through her 2018s, in was a great pleasure to meet her and taste through her outstanding wines. So it was a thrill to get a chance, as mentioned, to blind taste this gorgeous and perfectly maturing 2015 old vine Gevrey-Chambertin, which absolutely impressed all that tasted it and (it) looks to have another 15 to 20 years left. As mentioned before, Alexandrine Roy is a 4th generation vigneron, and the current matriarch of the Roy family, she farms old vine parcels in Gevrey-Chambertin and the Marsannay parcel, where she does an excellent steely Chardonnay from, employing organic practices and is ever searching for perfection. This is a tiny domaine, according to her importer Skurnik, that includes just four hectares that are meticulously cared for as if it was Alexandrine’s personal garden. Alexandrine knows her vineyards (many of which are more than 100 years old) very well, as she’s basically grew up in them, and they are a reflection of her soul and they have roots that are dug deep into the classic shallow limestone soils. Roy’s mission is to show off the terroir through in her wines, something I can say she does exceptionally well, and I highly recommend chasing down her wines. While this 2015 vintage might be hard to find, I suggest looking for the current releases.
($100 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive
2020 Clos Sainte Magdeleine, Cassis AOC Blanc, Provence, France.
France’s historic and ancient Mediterranean fishing village Cassis in Provence is well known for its natural beauty, but maybe lesser known is that it is home to one of the world’s most iconic white wines and Clos Sainte Magdeleine makes one of the best, as seen here. Even with a few extra years of age now, this steely 2020 vintage, gives an exciting spark of freshness and has a sense of more evolved stone fruit and textural charm showing of tangerine, white peach, rounded melon and a hint of tropical fruit on the medium bodied palate, adding citron oil, almond and lime flower accents. The all organic Clos Sainte Magdeleine Cassis Blanc is all de-stemmed and gravity pressed and then the juice is fermented and aged in 100% temperature-controlled stainless steel tank with some lees contact and with most vintages seeing full malos. The regular Cassis Blanc, a blend of Clairette and Marsanne, plus a touch of Ugni Blanc, is, as noted before, aged in total for between 14 to 18 months in tank before bottling and release. Everything is done to allow the terroir to shine through and make a wine that goes beautifully with the local cuisine, which luckily mirrors the local food foods I get here on California’s Central Coast. The Clos Sainte Magdeleine’s Cassis Blanc, as importer Kermit Lynch adds, success lies in an uncanny ability to capture a dichotomous nerve and sun-kissed unctuousness, making it both incredibly food-friendly and delicious entirely on its own, of which I complete agree with. I’ve long admired and followed this wine, I enjoy it with sea foods and Middle-eastern dishes, like lemon chicken and couscous.
The Clos Saint Magdeleine estate, as I’ve mentioned in my prior reviews, now run by Fancois Sack was originally founded by Jules Savon, who won the Gold Medal for the domaine at the World’s Fair in 1900 and put this estate on the map and the Sack family who have been in charge for four generations continue to make awesome wines in this picturesque village on the Mediterranean sea, not far from both Bandol and Marseille, where Cassis is a favorite at the best bistros and cafes. The Cassis village wines (AOC) which allows only White and Rosé is an ancient fishing village, and as Kermit Lynch notes, Cassis has seen its fair share of visitors over the millennia. Greek colonists from Phocaea first arrived in the sixth century B.C., and with them came the timeless Ugni Blanc grape and viticultural savvy. The Romans later made their way here, as well as their Barbarian successors, followed by the medieval Counts of Les Baux, all the way to tourists of the modern era looking to escape the cold, dark cities. Cassis is not only an active port, but what Kermit calls “an earthly paradise…”, with the vineyards of Clos Sainte Magdeleine being particularly stunning, and, as I’ve dreamed of, it is a place I hope to visit in person someday sooner v. later. These vineyards jut out on to a private cape to meet majestic shoreline and spectacular limestone cliffs, poised above gorgeously beauty of the sparkling, azure Mediterranean, which is the perfect setting for this Cassis Blanc, it even transports me there, this is a must have Summer wine. As I’ve said, this dry and crisply focused Clairette and Marsanne based wine is one of the best from France’s Mediterranean region, don’t miss a chance to enjoy it!
($45 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive
2023 Desire Lines Wine Co, Dry Riesling, Cole Ranch Vineyard & AVA, Mendocino County.
Cody Rasmussen’s set of Rieslings are maybe the finest set of American versions you can find and his 2023 Desire Lines Massa Estate and Cole Ranch bottlings are the best yet and electric, especially this cool toned, steely and vibrant Cole Ranch old vine Dry Riesling with its racy acidity and mineral intensity making an instant rival to the best from Alsace, Austria and Germany. Like the outstanding 2018 and 2021 vintages, this greenish/gold 2023 Cole Ranch Riesling, from a cooler year, really has a laser like focus and precision on the crisp and tension filled lighter framed palate with zesty lime, unripe apricot, green apple, quince and muskmelon fruits, along with hints of peach pit, almond, chamomile, orange blossom, wet stone and lemon oil. This wine, as always, transmits the combination of rocky soils, that includes some limestone, gravel and loam that are here at the Cole Ranch, with its mature vines, with a stunning pristine clarity. I was grateful for the chance to taste the current and new releases of the Desire Lines collection with Cody’s wife Emily Rasmussen recently, who showed off these hand crafted and small lot bottlings, with the brilliant Rieslings again grabbing my attention. To make his Rieslings, Cody Rasmussen, also as noted before, uses traditional old world methods, with grapes seeing a whole cluster pressing with cold settling in tank, which bleeds out, or drops out the green phenolics, that, as Cody explains, is followed by fermentation in neutral barrels, where the wines are left on fine lees until bottling in the following summer, or about 9 months in total, which allows for a charming roundness, while focusing on absolute purity. I can’t seem to say it enough, this is a winery that should be on your radar and I suggest getting on their mailing as soon as possible.
One of the most iconic single vineyard alternative white wines in California, the Cole Ranch Dry Riesling by Cody Rasmussen at Desire Lines Wine Co, as I’ve said before, is an exceptional bottle of varietal wine with an amazing contrast between acidity and fruit concentration. The Cole Ranch Vineyard, located in a remote area of Mendocino County, is in a narrow valley, as Rasmussen notes, in the mountains between Boonville and Ukiah, it is a rare monopole site being both a single-vineyard and an AVA. The incredible mature Riesling vines here, as Cody adds, were planted back in 1973 and are on St. George (American) rootstock, all old school head-trained and dry-farmed, which makes them some of the most interesting and historic Riesling vines in California. Cody and Emily Rasmussen started their own micro-winery and label, Desire Lines Wine Co. with a small batch of Syrah in 2014 and now has a wonderful collection of wines from which to chose, including his set of Rieslings, which, like a broken record, I can’t recommend high enough for Riesling lovers, and the brilliant Carignane based Evangehlo Red Wine, which is from vines well over 100 years old. Rasmussen, who works for Morgan Twain-Peterson MW at Bedrock Wine Co, is doing some mighty work here with his Desire Lines label, and I will be reviewing a bunch more soon, with his Massa “Kabi” slightly off dry Riesling being another classic effort that has a nice generosity and goes great with spicy cuisine, making it a wine that proves you don’t need to fear residual sugar! While Rasmussen does fabulous Zinfandel with his day job at Bedrock, his Carignan and Mourvedre blend, mentioned above, comes from the deep sandy soils in Contra Costa and the famed Evangehlo Vineyard, which dates back to the late 1800s and an incredible historic site, is a sleeper in the lineup and a must have along with the Rieslings here.
($26 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive
2018 Il Paradiso di Frassina “12 Uve” Maremma Toscana Rosso DOC, Tuscany, Italy.
This unique dark garnet Maremma Toscana Rosso by Brunello producer Il Paradiso di Frassina is like fine music to the palate with a fantastic array of flavors and rustic charm led by loamy mulberry, plum, brandied cherry and brambly raspberry fruits, along with a spicy savory crunch, bay leaf, balsamic tones, dried flowers, cut tobacco, creme de cassis, anise and cedary accents. This firmly structured and medium to full bodied red has twelve distinctive varietals in the blend, including 40% Sangiovese, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Syrah, 6% Cesense, 6% Ancellotta (Which I’ve never heard of), 5% Alicante (Grenache), 5% Petit Verdot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 4% Merlot, 3% Carmenere, 3% Canaiolo and 2% Ciliegiolo, which the winery says are like individual notes in a piece of music. This wine keeps changing and evolving in the glass and while the Sangiovese leads here and comes into focus with air and food, the other grapes really all play key roles and I was totally convinced it was a Rhône based wine at first when tasted blind, but later I clearly got the dusty Sangiovese component, especially when I enjoyed with my meal. The subtle leathery element and warm ripeness in this Maremma Rosso makes this an old world treat, and it nicely contrasts with the winery’s top Brunello di Montalcino, which reviewed a while back. The music theme here is intriguing, and the estate’s main Mozart Vineyard at Il Paradiso di Frassina is an exciting project where Mozart’s music is played by specially designed Bose speakers 24-7 and heard in the vines, as well as in the cellar. This study into the beneficial effects of sound waves on the grapes and the resting wine post fermentation has actually proved successful! The winery truly believes this has been a breakthrough in winemaking, playing a part in producing a distinct and lusty Brunello di Montalcino, and even my skepticism couldn’t hide the big smile on my face when I had the 2016 Brunello and this wine is almost as delicious. This excellent wine, which is very seriously crafted, saw 100% de-stemmed grapes fermented in stainless steel with a 25 day maceration and then was aged for two and a half years in Allier oak barrels and one year in bottle, in the vault of Paradiso di Frassina, before release.
The 12 Uve comes from a vineyard located on sandy clay and loam soils the hills of Cinigiano, in the shadow of Mount Amiata and not far from the sea in the Maremma DOC on the Tuscany Coast and this crazy blend, which the winery calls a Super Cru, rather than Super Tuscan, is Bach inspired, as it imitates Bach’s musical scale with its 12 semitones.The Paradiso di Frassina, as I noted in my prior review of their fabulous Brunello, is set amongst olive groves and Tuscan forested hillsides and is an ancient medieval farm that dates back to the 11th century that is located just five kilometers north of the historic hilltop town of Montalcino. This estate is perfectly nestled at the foot of the famed hill of Montosoli, which is one of the best terroirs in all of the Brunello of Montalcino DOCG zone! The Paradiso di Frassina property, as they themselves note, enjoys a unique location in the picturesque countryside to the south of Siena, in the Val d’Orcia valley, not all that far from the border with Chianti, in rolling hills that marry a more continental climate and soils that range from volcanic to classic clay and limestone. It is a great terroir for Tuscany’s best known grape, located in a cooler zone, and with the vineyard immersed in the harmonies the famous Austrian composer Mozart’s music, that is played and spread amid the rows of vines thanks to a hundred weather proofed speakers at Paradiso di Frassina. This is not a silly gimmick, as it might appear to be, as this is a serious experiment into agronomic and scientific research concerning the beneficial effects of musical frequencies on the vines (Vitis Vinifera), supported by the Universities of Florence and Pisa, and from the center of agronomic research of Arezzo. It also came about with the sponsorship of and by BOSE itself, who obviously specialize in the production of ultra high quality audio systems and who were interested in what the results would find. Staying at Paradiso di Frassina with its two small villas or cottages on site has become a very coveted opportunity with the promise of gorgeous vineyard landscapes, good music, a relaxed atmosphere and great Brunello (to drink during the stay here) being a huge draw. The farm’s agriturismo limited accommodations are widely popular, so you’ll have to book it well in advance, which I would recommend for classical music and wine lovers. There’s a lot to admire here at Il Paradiso di Frassina and I highly recommend searching these Tuscan gems out, with this one being a great place to start.
($40 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive
2018 Giuseppe Rinaldi, Barbera d’Alba, Piemonte, Italy.
Of course, Giuseppe Rinaldi is one of the most sought after labels in Italy and a producer of coveted and rare Barolo, which I cannot afford these days, but just like other top Barolo makers there is their Dolcetto and Barbera bottlings that are the outstanding values, and this 2018 Rinaldi is just what the doctor ordered, even though not cheap by any means. As much as I love Nebbiolo, I love Barbera, so I was thrilled when a friend opened this beauty with a home cooked pasta meal recently, it brought joy and rustic charm to an evening of serious wine tasting and never once the lesser on the night. the 2018, with some age, shows off a minty and earthy character with brandied cherries, dark plum, briar laced Marionberry and currant fruits, along with hints of leather, pipe tobacco, bay leaf, dried flowers, cedar and balsamic notes. Rinaldi believes his wines should not be ones that pleases easily, especially his Barolo, rather he hopes his wines are austere or severe, so that they demand research. He says It takes time for a great wine to seduce and reveal its complexity, maybe like foreplay and you can see that even in this Barbera. While not as firm or austere as Nebbiolo, this is pretty serious and savory stuff and a bucket list Barbera for those that admire this grape, sadly it is none to easy to get, but not as hard as the Barolo and worth the chase.
The ultra traditionalist, Giuseppe Rinaldi, or Bebbe, represents the fifth generation of this historic winemaking family to work the vines here in the heart of Barolo, when he took charge of the estate when his legendary father Battista passed away in 1992. Rinaldi pays respect for his ancestors and the land by farming organically, and he ferments with the indigenous yeasts in his father’s and grandfather’s ancient tini—tall upright oak vats—without temperature control. with his Barolo seeing about a month of on skin maceration, he punches down by hand and ages in old botti grandi for 3 ½ years. Intriguingly, I learned that, Rinaldi like Maria-Teresa Mascarello, and her late father Bartolo, is a fierce adherent to the tradition of blending Barolo from different sites, instead of individual vineyards as is most common now. He has old-vine holdings in some of Barolo’s greatest crus, including Ravera, Cannubi and Brunate, but still he makes no single-cru Barolo bottlings. Beppe is widely quoted as saying that this, blending from different crus, is how the previous generations obtained a natural balance and harmony in Barolo, and, for him, it is still the perfect method to make his top wine. For the Barbera, Rinaldi fermented it spontaneously, then maceration on the skins in steel for about 2 weeks, after which the wine aged for 12 months in 33HL Slavonian oak casks, giving the wine a real depth of character and what a treat to enjoy. This is not an everyday Barbera, but this grape can be truly great, as seen here.
($79 Est.) 94 points, grapelive
2023 Alfaro Family Vineyards, Grüner Veltliner, La Playita Vineyard, Santa Cruz Mountains.
One of the first top notch dry Grüners in California, Alfaro’s estate La Playita Vineyard Grüner Veltliner, Austria’s signature white grape, is a dynamic and crisp version with bright lemon/lime, gooseberry, quince and tart white peach fruits, along with white pepper, verbena, bitter almond, sea shore and wet stone accents in a zesty lighter framed palate. i’ve always been a fan of this wine and Ryan Alfaro has hit a home run with this vintage, this golden straw tinted 2023, which is due for public release soon, is electric and crystalline, rivaling many of its cousins from the old world. This Grüner saw a cool stainless fermentation and after settling it was aged 6 months on its fine lees in neutral oak, to promote freshness and purity, while allowing for some textural quality. Just around 250 cases of the Alfaro Family Vineyards La Playita Vineyard Grüner Veltliner were produced and I would gather from my own reaction and other who tried at a recent trade tasting in San Francisco, this one that will sell out fast.
Ryan Alfaro, who is also gaining a great reputation for his personal Farm Cottage Wines, is a latest generation of Alfaro’s to craft wines at this hilly site, less than 8 miles from the cool Pacific Ocean and set on sandy loam soils between 450 to 800 feet above sea level, perfect for cool climate varietals. The long growing season here allows for deep flavors and retains plenty of zesty acidity, as seen here in the latest edition of Alfaro’s GrüVee. Ryan worked many years with his dad Richard, who got things started here in the late 1990s, in the cellar, in recent years he’s taken a bigger role with great success. After doing a stint with California legend Adam Tolmach at Ojai Vineyards and studying wine in New Zealand, he has brought a lot passion to the family business and has, as noted above, put a lot of hard work in to get to this point, and Ryan’s personal project Farm Cottage Wines is natural extension to these efforts at this small Corralitos estate. It was great to catch up with Ryan recently, along with his dad Richard at their distributor’s portfolio tasting in San Francisco, and I was highly impressed with the full set of Alfaro wines, including some of my other favorites here, like the Trout Gulch Chardonnay and Pinot, along with the regular Estate Pinot Noir, all of which are beautifully drinking wines.
($34 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive
August 2024
2023 Cleto Chiarli e Figli – Vecchia Modena, Lambrusco Grasprarossa DOC “Nero” Methode Ansestral Sparkling Red Wine, Modena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
This dry and tasty Vecchia Modena Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro black label from Cleto Chiarli is a delightful red sparkling wine with a deep magenta and ruby color and a bright juicy medium bodied example with a vibrant beading mousse. The vivid earthy blackberry, cherry, blood orange and brambleberry fruits are lifted by natural acidity and the Pet-Nat style creamy bubbles make this tasty Lambrusco shine, along with hints of leather, lilacs and tangy herbs that add to the complexity here in a sparkling red that goes great with simple country rustic cuisine. The Cleto Chiarli Lambruscos are some of my favorites from the Emilia-Romagna region and always bring a smile and some fun to a meal and this one really is a delicious example and great with meaty dishes. We’ve seen a dramatic rise in quality in Lambrusco in the last ten years and this one definitely has loads of character and balance, it’s a great way to discover these unique and traditional wines, which go great with burgers, pasta lunches and or as a fun aperitif or starter wine.
The Vigneto Cialdini is Cleto Chiarli’s top-of-the-line Lambrusco Grasparossa DOC that with the 2023 vintage has moved into the Cleto Chiarli’s Vecchia Modena line, and now know as (the) Vecchia Modena Nero. Cleto Chiarli’s importer, Chambers and Chambers, says the wine is made through a single fermentation under pressure, rather than the normal two-fermentation process of almost all other classic sparkling wines. This dry Lambrusco is in the Brut range, with only a slight sweetness detectable. The vines where this wine comes from, Vigneto Cialdini, the name of the vineyard, is dedicated to Enrico Cialdini, who was a famous general during the unification of Italy. Made from vines that have served up fine and hearty Lambrusco efforts since ancient times, this single vineyard is located in the heart of the Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro denomination and makes for a high quality sparkling red wine, as seen in this fabulous 2023 vintage and I highly recommend this distinction fruit driven, spicy and savory Cleto Chiarli e Figli – Vecchia Modena treat.
($18 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive
2022 Domaine Frédéric Esmonin, Gevrey-Chambertin AC Rouge, Red Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, France.
The pretty, dark ruby hued and open knit 2022 Gevrey-Chambertin is a rewarding Pinot Noir with a lovely silky texture and concentrated fruit with a medium bodied palate of dark cherry, mulberry and plum layers, along with subtle oak, tea spices, mineral tones, a touch of sultry earth and a delicate mix of florals. This is wonderfully pure and already is drinking well and it has the depth and structure to age, much less reductive in nature than most Burgundies in this realm and with good acidity to shine with a meal. Frédéric Esmonin has beautiful Premier Cru and Lieu-Dit parcels in Gevrey-Chambertin, including “Estournelles St-Jacques,” “Lavaux St-Jacques,” “Clos Prieur” and “Champonnets” to name a few and the Village wine is always a treat too. The Premiers Crus, like from the Lavaux Saint-Jacques, which is Grand Cru quality, is a touch darker in fruit, with mineral and iron notes. Esmonin uses a bladder-press which gives excellent control over the amount of pressure exerted on the grapes, which are picked only when they have reached ideal ripeness. The grapes are de-stemmed and after a short cold maceration gives the wines an extra dimension of fruit, and only indigenous yeasts initiate fermentation. The domaine ages its wines in oak for between 14 to 17 months, with carefully selected French oak barrels of Allier and Nevers forest wood, which are exclusively made by coopers Radoux and Berthomieu. The top wines see about 80% new oak, but this one can be the reverse depending on the vintage with the 2022 getting a bit more new than say the 2021, but usually is more neutral.
The Frédéric Esmonin winery is one of the most consistent performers, and a fine high quality producer based in Gevrey, and they draw upon some prime vineyard holdings to make these beautiful Pinot Noirs. Their Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyards were mostly re-planted in the 1950s so the wines and are reaching sublime levels of complexity and consistency that can only be achieved with these older vines.This Gevrey-Chambertin, as I’ve said before, you’ll want to re-visit in 3 to 5 years and again in 10-15 years, one of the best in the set for value, but if you are looking for a bit more serious offerings both of the Grand Crus I tried were exceptional with Esmonin’s Mazy-Chambertin getting my personal nod for the cellar. There’s not much of these wines available, but certainly they will be worth the effort to get some, especially these exceptional ’22s and the set of Gevrey-Chambertin bottlings, which I have enjoyed for more than 15 years now, in particular the Gevrey-Chambertin “Clos Prieur” and this one. I have been lucky enough to taste with the domaine’s namesake Frédéric Esmonin a few times at tastings in San Francisco, and I am a big fan of wines here, though sadly he wasn’t able to come to this most recent tasting in the City, hosted by Monterey Bay Wine and Atherton Wine Imports. It truly is heroic with his being wheelchair bound, and with no heirs, how he is able to run and manage this estate, with his 90 year old dad still helping, bravo Frédéric for all of your awesome and brave efforts and putting out such delicious stuff year after year, it is truly inspiring. Esmonin’s Pernand-Vergelesses too are very good, but it is the Gevrey offerings, including this one, the Lavaux Saint-Jacques rarity and the Clos Prieur, which are real prizes here!
($55 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive
2023 Reeve, Vermentino, Sonoma County.
Noah and Kelly Dorrance’s Dry Creek based Reeve wines are lovely California wines and their 2023s are stellar across the board, it was great to catch up briefly with Noah as he showed off his latest stuff at a portfolio tasting in San Francisco, with his new Vermentino putting on a delightful and refreshing performance. For this vintage Dorrance put his Vermentino together from three Sonoma County sites, including some estate Dry Creek fruit, that gives depth and ripe textural elements, the Las Brisas Vineyard, which always enhances the cool climate zesty and green essences in Vermentino and a western Sonoma site that adds mid palate complexity. This cool year 2023 really excites the palate with juicy citrusy lemon/lime, gooseberry, along with white peach and tart apple fruit, all accented by steely and stony notes, plus wild herbs, bitter almonds, white florals and zesty verbena. This brilliant effort adds an extra dimension with air and food which make it great for Summer quaffing as well as with a full meal, especially sea foods like steamed clams and or raw oysters. Vermentino looks to continue its run of success in California, with many fine efforts coming from many drastically different regions from cool to hot and from many exciting producers from Ryme to Tablas Creek, with the varietal being high in acid allowing it be grown in wide range of climates. This Reeve Vermentino embraces all those forces with its mix of terroirs, but the sunny warm Dry Creek and its stony volcanic soils providing some backbone, spice and opulence to the mix. This vintage, 93% Vermentino and intriguingly 7% Falanghina was fermented and aged in a combination of stainless, concrete egg and very neutral French oak barrels to achieve these thrilling results.
Reeve Wines, as mentioned in prior reviews, was founded by Noah and Kelly Dorrance, who hit the ground running with an all-star winemaking team that included Ross Cobb, of Cobb Wines and Katy Wilson of LaRue Winery and has kept getting better and better with each new set of releases with this 2023 collection being the best yet, especially Noah’s awesome Heinz Chardonnay, the Pinots and this brilliantly crisp Vermentino. Noah and Kelly have special love for Tuscany, where they got married, and in particular Cortona, which is home to one of Italy’s most intriguing wineries, d’Alessandro, and it inspired them to try their luck at Italian varietals like Sangiovese and Vermentino. I’ve been impressed with their versions, which usually feature a California twist and hope to show off a sense of place, with this Vermentino being a nice tribute to the Tuscan and Ligurian coastal styles with a crisp, mineral toned and salty charm and subtle richness, which this Mediterranean varietal is known for. Like I said, I really enjoyed all of the wines here at Reeve, this was a serious and delicious array of wines, which still has the talented hands of Katy Wilson guiding Noah’s stylish and desirable efforts. The winery based in Healdsburg is mostly focused on cooler hillside fruit and work with sustainable vineyards that provide grapes that excel in purity and vibrancy, which clearly shows in this set of 2023s. Noah’s early career in importing classic European wines also inspired and influenced his wines, with his wines going for restraint in alcohol and a light touch with oak use, things that make these Reeve wines very popular with Sommeliers, as they are food friendly and nicely balanced, as seen here, with this wine coming in at just 12.7% natural alcohol. So be sure to search out these Reeve wines, I’m sure you’ll find some of these small lot and hand crafted offering very compelling!
($38 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive
2022 Cattleya, Syrah “The Initiation” Soberanes Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands.
I was very excited to taste through the latest Cattleya wines and it’s not a surprise I was blown away by this producers set of outstanding offerings and especially this awesome “The Initiation” Syrah from the Pisoni’s exceptional Soberanes Vineyard, a wine that is regularly one of California’s best. After the almost perfect 2021, winemaker Bibiana González Rave-Pisoni had to deal with a bit more difficult conditions with heat spikes playing havoc with even ripening, making her efforts here even more remarkable and this 2022 is a gorgeous wine of depth, a full range of flavors and elegance. The full bodied Initiation Syrah has incredible fruit density and velvety tannin(s), like a Giugal La La, displaying boysenberry, damson plum, blueberry compote and black cherry fruits, along with crushed violets, creme de cassis and vanilla, as well as subtle savory meatiness, sweet cedar, black licorice, bitter espresso, smoky graphite and peppery spices. The SLH terroir coolness helps cut into the opulence and warm ripeness adding a fine sense of balance here, making it again a class act and a standout example of this varietal. The deep purple/black hued Alban Clone (Côte-Rotie) Soberanes Syrah, again saw, a 10 day cold soak and a slow maceration and primary fermentation lasting about three weeks with gentle punch downs and pump overs daily until it was dry, then it was pressed to French oak 228L barrels, with close to 70% new, where it matured for 16 months. The Initiation Syrah, Bibiana says, marks the true beginning of a quest, one she took, to Côte-Rôtie, home to some of the world’s most exquisite Syrahs, was where she worked her very first harvests and made her first wines. Now her goal with her Pisoni family vines is to create a Syrah of great beauty and finesse that shows this terroir, but honors where she’s been. The Soberanes Vineyard, owned and farmed by the Pisoni team, on decomposed granite and sandy loams, in the Santa Lucia Highlands captures the essence of the region with its cool Pacific Ocean breezes and chilly nights allowing for long hang time for the grapes, giving deep ripe flavors and a lift of natural acidity, and it’s one of the most important sites for Syrah in the state, as seen here and with the Pisoni family’s own Lucia version.
As I’ve mentioned before, Bibiana González Rave-Pisoni is an unlikely master of vine, coming from Colombia, a country almost without any grape vines, but, in her childhood she says, a few sips occasionally stolen from her father’s wine glass were enough to inspire an all-consuming dream—to become a winemaker and as soon as she could she packed her bags a went to France! While in France she quickly took to winemaking like a duck to water, ultimately earning a BTS degree in Viticulture and Enology from Cognac, which was followed by a degree in Enology from the University of Bordeaux, she adds, graduating with honors. After which she was well on her way to stardom, working the sheer granite slopes of Côte-Rôtie at Domaine Stéphane Ogier, then she helped at Domaine Clusel-Roch, before returning to Bordeaux and the famed estates of Château Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion. If this sounds amazing for a young Colombian winemaker, it was only the beginning of her incredible journey which has seen her excel in Burgundy, Alsace, Cognac and even in South Africa before turning her attention to California, where she is one of the state’s absolute best winemakers. While in California she met and married another rising star winemaker, Jeff Pisoni of the famous Pisoni Estate in the Santa Lucia Highlands and the two have become an awesome team, producing wines together under their Shared Notes label. In 2011 Bibiana’s Cattleya label was born and by 2014 she had become winemaker of the year, focused almost exclusively of Syrah vines at the Pisoni’s Soberanes Vineyard, though she had at that time helped Pahlmeyer’s Wayfarer become a world class producer of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The Soberanes Vineyard, planted last among the Pisoni crus, has proven to be one of the top sites in the highlands and while I love the Chardonnay and Pinot from here, I truly believe Syrah, which is mainly Alban (Cote-Rotie) clone, is the best grape here. The Orchid or Cattleya, as noted before, is Colombia’s national flower, hence the name for Bibiana’s solo project, which includes her heroic Syrahs, as well as her regional bottlings of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which are also just amazing wines, they too continue to impress all that taste them, it’s needless to say I highly recommend them all!
($70 Est.) 96 Points, grapelive
n.v. La Rogerie – Familie Petit – Boxler, Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs, Brut Nature Champagne “Lieux de Vie” (#2) Avize, France.
This exciting and deep Vieux de Vie 100% Chardonnay, coming a mix of vintages, and a 2018, 2019 and 2020 base, from very old vines set in chalky and clay in the Avize Grand Cru area and makes for an excellent Brut Nature bottling with a rich mouth feel, ultra dry extract and a luxurious but vibrant beading mousse. This gorgeous La Rogerie offering, which I had head about, but haven’t had before, shows off precise steely details and has a firm palate of lemon, apple, quince and white peach fruits, as well as a serious stony quality, white blossom, honeycomb, saline, clove spice and a hazelnut leesy depth. The Domaine La Rogerie – Famille Petit Boxler, which was founded in Avize in 2016 by François Petit and Justine Boxler, both from famous wine families, has become a must have with grower producer Champagne enthusiasts and their latest Vieux de Vie Non Vintage Blanc de Blancs is a gorgeous wine of depth, presence and elegance. Made from old organic vines that were planted between 1937 and 1961 with a massale selection of Chardonnay clones, with chalky soils and fossils that adds to the distinction of the wines here. A big thank you to my friend Alex Lallos, who has long worked with small Champagne houses, rarity grower fizz and top Tête Cuvée bottlings from the Grande Marques, and who shared this bottle with me and friends, he never fails to amaze me with his generosity and discoveries, and this one was remarkable.
Justine and François Petit-Boxler’s Domaine La Rogerie Champagne house is all about terroir driven Grand Cru vineyards, which are in the Avize area and extend to the border of Cramant and Oger, where Chardonnay is magic. These chalky vineyards are famously known for their tuff and ancient limestone soils made up of marine sediments, allowing for deep complexity, mineral toned flavors and purity of fruit. The Boxler’s are famous in Alsace and I’ve loved those wines for years, especially their stunning Rieslings, but I had known much about this project and or Francois Petit, who was born and raised in Avize and seems to have been inspired by the cult favorite Selosse Champagnes. Justine and Francois, who have recently moved into a farmhouse that has been in the family years, have immersed themselves in this project and the nature here, they carefully work the land by plow by horse and lightweight tractors, have eliminated herbicides/pesticides, and are using homemade organic compost. The goal of this pair, they say, is to encourage the natural growth and development of organic biodiversity in the vineyards and showcase the purest form of terroir. This absolute delicious non vintage La Rogerie Brut Nature Grand Cru Champagne “Lieux de Vie” Number 2 (only 155 cases made) was disgorged, I think, in 2022 after seeing close to three years on the yeast, it really impressed me and I can wait to explore the full collection of offerings and recommend grower producer Champagne enthusiasts search out these offerings, with this one being a great place to start.
($99 Est.) 96 Points, grapelive
2020 Raul Perez – Castro Ventosa, Mencia, D.O. Bierzo, Spain.
The fresh very Beaujolais like 2020 Castro Ventosa Mencia is vibrant and spicy with a pretty violet/lilsac nose, juicy berry fruits and a savory ops on the medium bodied palate, it shows off all the quaffable joy that this grape can deliver to near perfection. Authentic and charmingly raw in style, again reminding me of a Côte de Brouilly, this Mencia has layers of black raspberry, plum, candied cherry, pomegranate and cranberry fruits, good zesty acidity, loamy earth notes, minty anise, truffle, bay leaf and a light sense of old cedar. The family owned Castro Ventosa winery led by Raul Perez has been in viticulture since the 18th century and remains a benchmark producer in Castilla y Leon’s Bierzo region, focused on old vine Mencia wines, with all traditional bush vines and organic farming. This “Bunny” bottling is an entry level from the famed Raul Perez and made mostly from Valtuille de Abajo grapes, from very old vineyards, with a good combination of the of grapes sourced as well from all the places in the town, sometimes including over 300 micro plots! Fans of Mencia with really enjoy this bargain version and love its sultry character and easy to drink quality.
The Castro Ventosa estate, with the largest old vine holdings in the area, can proudly say that it is one of the few wineries in Bierzo with all its vineyards on their own property and Its Mencía vineyards are all more than 85 years old. As early as 1752, the ancestors of the Pérez family were vine growers in Valtuille region here and continue today under the leadership of Raul Perez, one of Spain’s greatest winemakers and the Godfather of Mencia! The soils here in the Bierzo, differ from the Ribeira Sacra and are mostly a mix of clay soils, clayey with stone, sandy and rich in organic matter and the terroir is more Continental influenced and with a minor bit of the cooling from the Atlantic, giving the Mencia real depth and complexity. Castro Ventosa typically lists this wine with having 85% Mencia, 8% Alicante Bouschet, and the other 7% being a mix of white grapes and other native and super rare varietals and usually sees a full de-stemming all stainless fermentation and maceration. The fermentation takes place only using native yeasts and lasts about 25 days, in cool temperature controlled vat the with daily pump overs before pressing, then it rests and goes through malos. After which the wine sees a short 3 months in neutral old 5,000L wood fudres, then it gets bottled quickly to preserve freshness and transparency. What’s not to love? This is an under the radar gem from Raul Perez’s family winery, I highly recommend chasing this one down.
($24 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive
2022 Weingut Carl Loewen, Riesling Kabinett, Herrenberg, Old Vines, Mosel, Germany.
The old 1200L Mosel fuder raised 2022 Herrenberg Kabinett is beauty from Loewen and even though it’s got a lighter off dry palate it drinks drier than you would expect and has some serious depth, intensity and steely tones with racy citrus, white peach, kiwi, crisp green apple and quince, along with slatey flint and spice. The brisk, low alcohol, but juicy palate adds dimension and a touch of the lees adds a almond and there a bit of verbena and apricot that lingers, this is so good. A huge fan of Christopher Loewen and the Carl Loewen wines and his set of 2022s were impeccable and outstanding wines, and for value it s almost impossible to drink a better Kabinett for the money than his pure and mineral driven Herrenberg. This brilliant Carl Loewen Herrenberg Kabinett comes from ungrafted 100 year old vines, with the Longuicher Herrenberg being planted in 1902, and there remains some original blocks here from 1896 that go into the top cru wines. it is set on pure red slate closer to the Mosel River where it gets a reflection effect, meaning riper fruit and the iron rich broken slate soils influence the Riesling in the grandest way possible. Loewen is very careful picking only grapes that are non botrytis for his drier wines, which takes extreme attention to detail. As noted, these Longuicher Maximin Herrenberg Riesling grapes are from some the oldest Riesling vines in Germany, and from a dramatic steep vineyard, that transmits terroir into the wine.
The Carl Loewen estate, as mentioned before, originally founded by the Catholic followers of the Maximin order was privately established during Napoleonic times around 1803 and the Loewen family purchased the famous Maximin Klosterlay in 1805, after which the family continued to pick up steep parcels in the area, with Christopher’s dad collecting some great plots in more recent times, including the second steepest site in Germany, they very smartly picked up historic vineyards that were difficult to farm, but produced awesome grapes. The Loewen the younger, Christopher, has taken over in the cellar and has set the world on fire with his wines since about the 2014 vintage, employing a more natural approach in the cellar and stricter organic practices in the vines, and as he puts it, he presses the grapes whole cluster and the pomace is never moved as to not break up the solids that leads to phenolic (bitter) flavors that can mire delicate wines and he browns the juice pre-ferment(s), which reduces reduction and he allows the wine to ferment sponti, using no yeast or enzyme additions with his single vineyard wines and top cuvées going directly into large fuder, oak casks. Congratulations to Christopher Loewen, not only for his absolute masterpiece 1896 Feinherb, which I reviewed previously, but for the whole collection of the Weingut Carl Loewen 2022s, including this one, all of which are stunning efforts that I highly recommend, again each of these Rieslings are stars in their own right, don’t miss them.
($25 Est.) 93 points, grapelive
2021 Weingut Künstler, Riesling Trocken, Hochheim Kirchenstück, VDP Grosses Gewächs, Rheingau, Germany.
The gorgeous Künstler 2021 Hochheimer Kirchenstück Grosses Gewächs sourced from select parcel on calcareous löss and loam soils from vines planted in 1969 is starting to unwind from a tight and youthful period and gaining magnificent palate expansion, while remaining precise, steely and crisply detailed with this region’s lemony tones and exotic tropical fruit notes in the full bodied, texurally pleasing, but with a vibrantly dry vitality. There’s a lot going on here, and it should keep getting better, displaying white peach, bitter melon, green apple and quince, along with leesy notes, clove spice, white blossoms, saline, chalky stones and lingering tart mango and hazelnut. The Kirschenstück GG or Grand Cru vineyard site is, as Künstler notes, set on a heavy lime bedrock, with löss, loam, and sand, making for a complex mix of soils that all play a part in this wine’s greatness. The grapes in this wine come from vines in the famous village of Hochheim am Main, which gained prestige in the 17th century Britain, after a brief visit by English royalty and the term ‘Hock’ was used to describe all Rhinegau wines for the better part of a hundred years. At that time, these Hoccheimer wines were much more famous than Mosel wines and were even, as historic record shows, more expensive than some of the finest Bordeaux. As I’ve mentioned, Künstler has a vast collection of Rheingau Cru plots from Hochheim to Assmannshausen, where he has an amazing parcel in the fabled Hollenberg Vineyard where he gets some his Pinot Noir, plus Gunter has some Rudesheimer Berg GG vines in Rottland and Schlossberg, which are intense with slate vigor, as well as some quartzite influenced blocks in the Drachenstein, which is one of my favorites. I was, as I am usually, very impressed with the latest Künstler wines, in particular their Kostheim Weiss Erd GG, the new Pfaffenberg Monopol GG, the profound Hölle GG, and this fantastic, if not under the radar, Hochheim Kirchenstück GG.
Gunter Künstler, who’s family has been involved in winemaking since 1648, is one of Rheingau’s greatest producers based at the confluence of the Main and Rhein rivers in the “Hoch” sub zone, which along with Rudesheim one of the most historic winemaking villages in Germany. As noted before, Gunter Künstler’s family winery was founded in Hochheim am Main, in 1965 by Gunter’s father Franz, with Gunter taking over In 1992, after which its fortunes began to rise quickly. In 1994 the Künstler estate was admitted to the VDP, and since then it has become maybe the most iconic grower of the “Hoch” zone and one of Germany’s best. The historic sleepy Hochheim am Main, doesn’t always get a lot of attention, but it truly is one of Germany’s most distinctive terroirs, and it was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson, who famously visited Germany and the region here back in 1788 and wrote about the delicious wines he found. This area takes heroic farming effort to overcome the humid conditions to produce crystalline dry Rieslings without Botrytis and Künstler is working these amazing sites with organic practices and his wines are some of the most elegant and monumental dry wines in Europe. Künstler explains that he ferments with (a) cultured yeast because it’s often still warm when grapes are being picked and to work sponti (native yeast) would mean a greater risk of volatile acidity. The cellar at Künstler gravitates toward cask fermentation as opposed to steel, though tank is used here as well depending on vintage and style of the wines. Wood gives, what Gunter says is the ideal for giving some low-tech micro-oxygenation. The overriding goal at Künstler is to produce soulful wines with expressive and authentic personalities, especially these GGs, which are incredible in terms of depth and elegance, as seen here. Again, as noted in my prior reviews, this is a must have label for serious white wine lovers and collectors, I have been lucky over the years to have tasted with Gunter and had many older vintages which were and are astonishingly like Burgundies when they have significant age, in particular the offerings from Hoccheim, with the limestone and marl soils adding to that impression.
($62 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive
2022 Farm Cottage, Syrah, Ryan Spencer Vineyard, Alfaro Family Vineyards, Santa Cruz Mountains.
From vines named after him by his dad, Ryan Alfaro’s Farm Cottage Ryan Spencer Vineyard Syrah is a stylish and complex deeply hued wine that excites the palate with a dense array of blackberry, damson plum, tangy blueberry, currant and bramble berry fruits, a heady mix of dark florals, spice, earth and wild herbs in support, along with hints of clove, tar, licorice, tapenade and subtle oak notes. This ripe, but vibrant Syrah has a nice textural mouth feel and modest alcohol, making a fine companion to a wide selection of cuisine choices, going great from everything from Basque cheeses to Korean BBQ, with just the right about of cool climate acidity. The response to Ryan’s Farm Cottage label has been amazing and there’s quite a well deserved buzz about these wines, in particular the set of Santa Cruz Mountains Pinots. Ryan worked his dad in the cellar in recent years, after doing a stint with California legend Adam Tolmach at Ojai Vineyards and studying wine in New Zealand. He has brought a lot of new passion to the family business and has, as noted here, put a lot of hard work in to get to this point, with Ryan’s personal project Farm Cottage Wines being a natural extension to these efforts at this small Corralitos estate.
As the winery notes, the Ryan Spencer Vineyard Syrah plot was originally planted back in 2001 by Richard Alfaro, Ryan’s proud dad, on his Corralitos estate using three different and distinct clones. The hilly site, less than 8 miles from the cool Pacific Ocean, is comprised of 7 acres broken into separate blocks on a very steep slopes and up between 450 and 800 feet in elevation. These unique parcels are situated on sandy loam and are clones 470, 877, and 174, for those that are into those things, like myself. Ryan says he hand harvested the grapes on October 6th, allowing for a long hang time, hence the depth and complexity of the fruit. Then he continues, unlike the original Alfaro version, the grapes were fermented 100% whole cluster in an open-top stainless steel tank with those vivid stems adding distinction and pop here. A natural pied de cute (fermentation starter direct from the vineyard) was put into the tank on day two. The must saw gravity rack and returns that were performed twice a day for full, but gentle extraction. The healthy skin fermentation lasted just nine days before Ryan pressed the wine, after which he racked into neutral French oak barrels for an elevage of just about 9 months. This excellent unfiltered, sultry and transparent Syrah gets kinda forgotten behind the Pinots and the fabulous Trout Gulch Chardonnay, but it shouldn’t be missed and I’m even more excited about the 2023 vintage!
($40 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive
2023 Weingut Schloss Lieser – Thomas Haag, Riesling Kabinett, Juffer, Mosel, Germany.
Kabinett Riesling is having a moment in the spotlight and are some of the most pleasing lighter framed and easy to love whites in the world, with this brilliant 2023 Schloss Lieser Juffer version showecasing why these wines are having a modern revival, displaying crystalline purity, delicate sweetness and freshness. I was very excited to taste Schloss Lieser recently in San Francisco and this one was a thrill with its slate terroir of the histroic Brauneburger Juffer cru showing through with smoky, mineral and spicy character influence behind the peach, tangerine, green apple and fleshy melon fruits. The low alcohol, juicy Juffer Kabinett, coming from some un-grafted vines with 70+ years of age, is a fabulous effort and a delicious Summer sipper that brings nothing but smiles, it delivers the class of this vineyard in a no pretense, but is a serious and sublime quality effort. The wines at Schloss Lieser, as noted in my prior reviews, are almost all done in stainless steel and are exceptionally pure terroir driven efforts, as this drier Kabinett Juffer 2023 clearly shows. It was a pleasure to go through the latest set of wines with Lara Haag, who is one of the latest generation of this famous Mosel family led by her dad Thomas Haag.The Schloss Lieser Rieslings see no skin maceration fermentation(s) that are always spontaneous and the grapes a a cool, gentle pressing as to not allow for bitter phenolics and the must is allowed to take as long as needed to finish, sometimes about 6-10 weeks. Then the wine ages on the lees for 4 or so months, after which it racked to tank to further mature and is only bottled when it tastes ready to do so. There’s an incredible array of talent in the Mosel these days and Schloss Lieser has eagerly joined the ranks of top producers and these latest releases, mostly 2022 and 2023 vintages, really are stunning.
The historic Schloss Lieser winery, which dates back to 1904, is known locally to have one of most striking buildings in the Middle Mosel and it is beautiful Neo-Renaissance castle that was built in 1875, but it was known for its wine until recent times under the leadership of Thomas Haag, who’s father Wilhelm Haag is an important figure in German wine and the owner of Weingut Fritz Haag. Thomas decided to stay and lead Schloss Lieser instead of take our his father’s estate, which is run by the also very talented winemaker Oliver Haag, Thomas’ brother. Thomas became the director of the estate in 1992 and has slowly revamped this special small estate with some prime Grosse Lagen vineyard parcels, including the Lieser Niederberg Helden and the well known Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr (Sundial), which provides some elite old vine Riesling grapes. One of the most prized of vineyards, the steep Brauneberger Juffer, is set on classic decomposed Devonian slate and capable of producing monumental and structured wines, as seen in the Haag family’s GG version, which dry Riesling fans need to put on their bucket lists. The Haag family, as mentioned here in my previous reviews, with the new generation of Lara and Niklas, both of which studied at Geisenheim University in the Rheingau, the top wine-making school in Germany, have a hand in making the wines now. Also notable is that they have added other top quality vineyards to their portfolio, including Graacher Himmelreich, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Bernkastler Doktor and Graacher Domprobst, helping fill out the fantastic collection here. The extra care and effort here, in each and every bottling, including this lovely Juffer Kabinett, really pays off and these Schloss Lieser wines are exceptional and very rewarding Rieslings, with the traditional off dry, sweet and dry styles to chose from, to keep an eye out for!
($35 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive
2016 Domaine Fabrice Vigot, Vosne-Romanée “La Colombiere” Red Burgundy, France.
Totally unknown to me until recently, the Vigot wines look to be under the radar jewel with very classic Burgundy character, as this earthy old school Vosne-Romanée shows in the glass with morning forest floor and truffle led aromatics and a complex medium bodied palate of black cherry, strawberry, mulberry and tart blueberry fruits, along with hints of leather, delicate dried roses, orange peel, tea spices, anise and subtle sandalwood. This is a wine that changes as it swirls and the reduction funk, plus a faint brett note, taking a back seat allowing a more pleasing and silky personality to take over, though it is much more poised and elegant with food. I was on the fence on this one, coming from a single Lieu-Dit in the famed village of Vosne-Romanée and its limestone and clay soils, but it grew on me and in the end there was a lot to admire in its authentic and unvarnished style. The winemaking here is pragmatic depending on the grapes and parcel, with de-stemmed or full-cluster, depending on the vintage. The Vigot’s ferment with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks, with temperature controls, getting a gentle extraction of color, fruit depth and tannin. Wines are then pressed off the skins aged in new 228L French oak barrels for around 12 months, then transferred to older tonneaux for an additional six months, before bottling all unfined and unfiltered.
From what I’ve learned, Fabrice and Christine Vigot founded their own Domaine back in 1990 and not long ago, Christine inherited the vines from her family’s Domaine Bernard Martin-Noblet, giving them some extra top notch parcels in prime terroirs in the Côte de Nuits. Notable too, is that they have moved towards all organic principles, and are experimenting with biodynamics. Fabrice and Christine Vigot are focusing on crafted small lot, handmade and soulful Burgundies from the famous communes of Vosne-Romanée, Gevrey-Chambertin and Nuits-St.- Georges. Interestingly, especially to enthusiasts of Burgundy, I understand that the famed Mugneret-Gibourg and Dr. Georges Mugneret hired Fabrice Vigot’s father to tend a number of his prized vineyards in a crop-sharing agreement, which included a Grand Cru plot in Echezeaux, as well as prime plots in Nuits-St-Georges and Vosne-Romanée. The Mugneret-Gibourg contract, which was first done in the 1960s was passed down to Fabrice, who with his wife, Christine, continued his father’s legacy, until 2016, and though it has now ended, they still farm some very coveted grapes from all estate owned vines. The Vigot’s, who only farm 100% Pinot Noir are going to be all organic certified with this vintage and I look forward to trying more of these wines in the future, especially the Gevrey-Chambertin and Nuits-Saint-Georges, as well as their more affordable Bourgogne or Coteaux Bourguignons bottlings. I must thank Ryan Cooley, Sommelier at Carmel’s critically acclaimed Aubergine Restaurant for sharing his personal bottle and the introduction to this producer.
($90 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive
2021 Cantina Spada, El Cencio, Bianco Verona IGT, Italy.
The Spada El Cencio Bianco Verona IGT is an exotic and golden dry white wine with a beautiful sense of expansion and textural presence in the glass, it shows off racy gooseberry intensity to start and then adds expressive apricot, preserved lemons and muskmelon fruits, along with peach sorbet, vanilla, bitter almonds and a touch of waxy honeycomb. To achieve this, 50% of the grapes were partially dried, which adds some tropical notes and richness, without much if any residual sugar, keeping plenty of zest and zing, with this El Cencio having some mineral charm, mouth watering saline and wet stone notes. The winery notes, the grapes are all carefully sorted and hand picked, and this bottling saw a vinification in toasty French oak barrels, which is quite rare in the Veneto. The Spada vineyards are set in the heart of the Valpolicella Classico zone, in the area around San Pietro in Cariano in Verona, and I get the sense they are extremely focused on quality and traditional methods, along with a flourish of innovative winemaking, as seen here, with the use of red grapes in the white blend.
Cantina Spada, most known for their deep Amarone and Valpolicella reds, does an interesting selection of white wines with this El Cencio Bianco Verona IGT being a signature bottling, as this 2020 vintage shows. The vines for this wines are located in the Valpolicella Classico zone, but whites don’t get the DOC, and this wine uniquely was made from 50% Corvinone, a red varietal, juiced clear and 25% Garganega, the noble grape found in Soave, and the ancient Malvasia, again 25%, with the white grapes seeing a bit, as noted, of Amarone style drying before being pressed. The final blend is racked to small French barriques for fermentation and aging, with a percentage of new wood, for six months and then rested in bottle for another six months before release. Renzo Spada, the founder of the Spada winery, is nicknamed “El Cencio” hence the name here, and the winery continues to pay tribute to him in the most delicious way possible. I had not had the Spada wines before, I am not sure they are easily found in the States, but I was excited to try this one and look forward to exploring their full range of offerings in the future, especially the limited series of Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG bottlings, as well as the Valpolicella Classico Superiore DOC reds and the Ripasso!
($30 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive
2019 La Petite Tour de Bessan, Margaux, Grand Vin de Bordeaux – Medoc, France.
The pretty aromatic, dark berried and deeply hued 2019 La Petite Tour de Bessan Margaux by Marie Laure Lurton is wonderfully pure and ripe fruited with layers of earthy blueberry coulis, blackberry, currant, plum and black cherry along with classic Medoc loam, black olive, anise, a touch of iris and violet and a bit a raw tannin grip. Interestingly for a Margaux classified Bordeaux, Lurton uses no oak on this tank raised dark purple/garnet full bodied wine, made from mainly Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with a touch of Petit Verdot, which adds color and spice to the background. I was very joyously impressed with this wine, the second wine to Château Tour de Bessan, which I had never had before, especially as I probably would have never had noticed it or picked on the shelf, so thanks to H. Mercer Imports for putting this one in front of me to try. The top wine, with much more Cabernet Sauvignon in the final mix, sees about 30% new wood and is matured quite a bit longer, and while under the radar, it should be a Bordeaux to look for, especially for the price, and this one even more so. This 2019 La Petite Tour de Bessan Margaux with its light perfume and raw transparency of form is wonderfully food friendly and will go nicely with hearty meat dishes and or just with a selection of hard cheeses.
The estate where Château Tour de Bessan sits was originally established back in 13th century, where a tower was situated, in Soussans, and it wasn’t for centuries later that this Château became noticed, and It was in 1972 that Lucien Lurton bought the tower and vineyards from the Clauzel family. To show intent to make this a serious property, Lurton, according to their importer, pulled out all the stops to rebuild this wine estate, all the while managing his other more famous properties. In 1992, his daughter, Marie-Laure took over, and progress continued, armed with a wine making degree in hand, and 6 years experience under her belt, this Margaux’s vineyards began producing some outstanding fruit. Marie Laure, who cut her teeth working on her father’s other domains, knows all the blocks here like the back of her hand, and she led this estate to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly place, raised the quality to new heights. The vineyard parcels here are set on classic Medoc Pyrenean gravel with clay underpinning, making a happy long time home for Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, with Lurton adding Petit Verdot in more recent years starting in 2012. The typical cepage for the La Petite Tour de Bessan is about 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot and the wine is vat raised for close to 12 months, making it a wine to be enjoyed in its youth, rather than being a wine to hide in the cellar for a decade or more. The wine is a nice alternative to the oaky and flashy Saint-Emilion offerings and I recommend it to bargain Bordeaux enthusiasts.
($40 Est.) 90 Points, grapelive
2023 Dönnhoff, Riesling Trocken, Hermannshöhle, VDP Grosses Gewachs, Nahe Germany.
I needed a moment to gather myself and my thoughts after tasting this 2023 Hermannshöhle, such was the striking precision and quality here in this Grand Cru Dry Riesling, and words absolutely fail to describe what is in the glass, except maybe perfection. In fact maybe this wine will be a 110 out of 100 in the years to come, interesting I think giving this wine a 100 Points will almost take away from the anticipation and wondrous joy of Riesling fans that get a chance to experience this magical effort. Less flashy than the recently reviewed Felsenberg GG, this crystalline Hermannshöhle GG shows off a classic slatey/flinty mineral driven palate with lime, green apple, tart apricot and quince, along with subtle smokiness, delicate white blossom, saline, spice and citron oil. There’s tremendous depth and grace here, it easily rivals the white wine greats of the world and there’s so much more to come, just wow. Dönnhoff, which is located in the village of Oberhäusen an der Nahe, is one of the Nahe superstars and the full range of wines here are exceptional and these 2023s are stellar collection of dry Rieslings by winemaker Cornelius Dönnhoff, who produced some of greatest pre-release samples I’ve ever tried, especially this perfect Hermannshöhle. The Dönnhoff family, as noted here many times, arrived in the Nahe region over 200 years ago, and their modest farm slowly evolved into one of Europe’s greatest wine estates, making some of most desirable dry, off-dry and sweet wines in the world. The Grosses Gewachs dry wines, like this one, are typically fermented in Dönnhoff’s traditional German casks (1200 L stuck and 2400 L doppelstuck), with the lighter and or sweeter wines seeing mostly stainless steel, with both allowed to go through spontaneous fermentations. Though, interestingly, as Terry Theise, who introduced me to these wines, notes that Donnhoff’s cellar is unique in its capacity to hold all of its production entirely in stainless steel or in wood casks, allowing for the ideal élevage for any of wines at any point during a vintage, depending on the nature of the vintage or personality of each wine.
Helmut Dönnhoff, who is credited with bringing this property into the limelight had been making the wine since 1966, and now his son Cornelius, the 4th generation to run this historic winery and their 25ha of Grand Cru vineyards, has increased the fame of these wines as the winemaker. The Riesling vines here at Dönnhoff are old clones which according to the winery were sourced from sites in Niederhausen and Schloßböckelheim and the estate vines are farmed with holistic and mainly organic practices to preserve the soils here and produce the highest possible quality grapes, which are mostly Riesling. A vineyard that has the same prestige as Montrachet, the Niederhauser Hermannshöhle is one of Germany’s and especially the Nahe region’s jewels with some of the best and historic wines coming from this spectacular site above the river. As noted by the winery and wine lovers for over a hundred years, the Hermannshöhle has been revered as one of the Nahe‘s best vineyards and is a benchmark for the Nahe. It most likely takes its name, according to the Dönnhoff family, from a small mine, or “Höhle”, in the middle of the hillside and “Hermann” is derived from Hermes, the Roman god of messengers and travelers. The name likely hints at an ancient place of worship once located here, in Germany’s smallest region that straddles the Rheinhessen and the Rheingau. The VDP Grosse Lage Hermannshöhle vineyard faces due south and sits up around 150 meters above sea level and has a combination of complex soils with a lot of slate, mixed with igneous rock, porphyry (volcanic) and limestone elements. The mature and organically farmed vines are on steep slope and there is micro parcels here that allow making of both dry and sweet Riesling treasures. It should be noted that the Dönnhoff Riesling vines are all old clones and are quite distinctive in character and add tons of terroir personality, in particular in their Grand Cru wines, such as Klamm, Brücke, Leistenberg, Felsenberg, Kirschheck, Dellchen, Krötenpfuhl, Kahlenberg, and Höllenpfad. I was grateful to taste through Dönnhoff’s 2023s early this Summer and I again was blown away with each and every wine in the limited collection of samples and I highly recommend pre-booking a lot this amazing vintage, especially this unbelievable Hermannshöhle GG!
($100 Est.) 99 Points, grapelive
2016 I. Brand & Family Winery, Chardonnay “52 Month Elevage” Escolle Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands.
As a fan of Jura’s rustic, often funky in style with nutty, sherry like oxidative notes which are typical of wines aged sous voile, with flor, I was excited to try Ian Brand’s well aged California semi Non Ouillé version, which is still bursting with energy and has bright preserved lemon, apple, baked pear and dried pineapple fruits, as well as pecan, hazelnut, dried apricot, subtle wood, delicate florals, loamy stones, saline and clove spice accents. This held back 2016 vintage has a nice textural development with a touch of a honeyed waxy element and mineral charm to go with the expressive Jura character and the depth and complexity with impressed the true enthusiasts of this quirky type of wine, which has the zesty zing of a Fino or Manzanilla Sherry, making it great with Alpine cheeses and or Tapas plates, including fried anchovies or grilled sardines. In recent years there’s been an underground movement in California to explore the Alpine French style of winemaking, with both the Jura and Savoie regions being inspirational, especially in Sommelier circles looking for something unique and food friendly, as most have lower alcohol and can be very distinctive in a lighter framed wine. Brand naturally fermented and aged the cool climate Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay on the lees without racking for over four years before bottling, with a few top ups and allowing for a light filmy flor. Some of his evolved golden hued 2016 was held in bottle for another four years and is now about to be library released, along with a limited amount of 2010 and 2012, which are much farther along in the oxidative realm.
Jura tradition, according to Kermit Lynch, who imports some of the region’s finest examples, calls for aging whites sous voile, or under a fine “veil” of yeast, sometimes referred to as Flor, that grows over wine in barrel that has not been topped-off (non ouillé) to compensate for evaporation. The voile effectively slows the process of oxidation, while chemical reactions between these microorganisms and the wine below give rise to a highly distinctive and complex set of aromas. Continuing Lynch says these wines often hint at walnuts, beeswax, oriental spices, cheese rind, and brine, and I agree and that sous voile matured wines can come as a shock to the unhabituated palate, or newbie to Jura or a dry Sherry even. Their textural and aromatic singularity, Kermit explains naturally sets them in a category of their own at the table, (which) perhaps the best setting in which to gain an appreciation for such wines. Three of my own 100% Chardonnay favorites from the Jura are Jean-François Gavenat, who’s wines range from Burgundy style to the oxidative, the very authentic and old school Domaine Tissot and François Rousset-Martin, who’s Côtes du Jura Chardonnay is aged sous-voile in barrel for six years and the most like what you see here in Ian Brand’s flor influenced Non Ouillé bottling. Certainly this 52 Month Chardonnay will not be a crowd pleaser, but it intellectually it’s quite intriguing, recommend to only the geekiest of wine lovers, otherwise enjoy the crisp Albarino and or the normal Escolle and or Fox Creek Chardonnays offerings here. There’s always a few new goodies in Ian Brand’s winery and it’s a good time to visit the winery tasting room in the Carmel Valley Village.
($36 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive
2021 Bedrock Wine Co, Old Vine Zinfandel, California.
As per normal, this 2021 vintage Old Vine Zin from Bedrock really hits the spot with its deep purple/garnet color, dark fruit density, a dusting of spices and a satiny full body this wine is always eager to please. Coming from a wide collection of old vine sites throughout California, including Sonoma and Contra Costa counties, again sourced from vines ranging over 80 years old, with some well past a century, so you really taste and see California wine history in the glass with a hedonistic reward. Hats off to Morgan Twain-Peterson MW and his team for the excellent quality throughout the range here at Bedrock and these 2021s are exceptional offerings, especially his Heritage Old Vine Zins, but for outstanding value, this bottling is one of California’s greatest bargains. A bit less ripe and with a nice almost cool tone, this 2021 shows off classic layers of crushed black raspberries, Italian cherries, plums and currants, which is accented by classic bramble and briar spices, sweet cedary sandalwood, minty herbs and beautiful dark florals with a vibrant kiss of acidity and a hint of shaved vanilla. The Old Vine Zinfandel again includes a who’s who of top Zin sites with Teldeschi Ranch, Beeson, Sodini, Nervo, Dommen, Pagani, Papera, Evangelho, Pato, Katushas’ and of course Bedrock all playing roles here. I can say without a doubt, if I want to enjoy a soulful and pleasing California Zinfandel based wine, this and Ridge’s Lytton Springs are two of my favorites and ones I personally like to have around as much as possible. This no pretense offering can be enjoyed with a hearty range of foods, but is also just a really good sipper with friends and family, when you might not want to get into a more serious indulgence. While the flagship, old vine Bedrock Vineyard, Sonoma Valley Heritage Red, continues to be magic and it’s hard to imagine a better poster child for Californian wine, this one is an easy to like pure Californian red in the same mold as a Côtes du Rhône Village.
Bedrock Wine Co., as noted here, is run by Morgan Twain-Peterson, who’s family has a significant history making Zinfandel in California, with his dad Joel Peterson, famous for crafting some of the best Zins of the 1980s and 1990s under his ex Ravenswood label, with Morgan carrying on the traditions, but with the added responsibility of caring for two of the state’s most prized old vine Heritage vineyards, their namesake Bedrock, in the Sonoma Valley and Evangelho in the deep sands of Contra Costa County. In the winemaking, Bedrock’s main mission is to keep things simple and let the grapes do the talking, with Morgan saying that they try to use native yeast and natural fermentation(s) without additions, similar to how Ridge and Turley do their Zinfandel based wines, with the Zinfandel lots being made with almost entirely de-stemmed grapes, even though the winery embraces whole-cluster fermentation in their other varietals. Bedrock ultimately for their wines, focus on ideal ripeness, freshness and aromatics in their offerings and age their wines in top notch oak. Bedrock’s most prized wines are field blends which include many black grapes, but with this Old Vine Zinfandel there is a more single varietal style than their other efforts, with the finished blend being about 85% Zinfandel, plus 7% Carignan, 4% Cinsault and, as Twain-Peterson notes, there is also, bits and bobs of Grand Noir, Petite Sirah, Alicante Bouschet and other field-blended varieties. With this entry level wine, Morgan and Bedrock Wine Co. wants to express generosity and release a wine that can be enjoyed in its youth, as this 2021, as usual does it all very nicely and it should age for another decade too, and I can’t wait to try the 2023! In recent years, as I did deeper and deeper into Bedrock’s collection, a few under the radar bottlings have also stood out, and I’ll mention that I recommend you explore the whole range, but the Beeson Zin and Evangelho wines are right up my alley!
($25 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive
2018 Caraccioli Cellars, Brut Cuvée, Escolle Vineyard Sparkling Wine, Santa Lucia Highlands.
The absolutely gorgeous, intensely serious and cool mineral toned 2018 vintage Caraccioli Brut Cuvée grower producer Methode Champenoise sparkler is almost perfection in the glass, with a vivacious and luxurious mousse and a beautifully layered palate of bright lemon, tangy peach, green apple and crisp pear fruit, along with exceptionally well integrated yeasty richness and hazelnut, clove spice, delicate florals and wet stone accents. I help but be completely seduced by this 2018, I can’t remember a California sparkling wine reaching this level of depth, energy and elegance, bravo Scott Caraccioli and team for this amazing release, which by the way saw 58 months on the lees! As mentioned, Caraccioli’s estate Escolle Vineyard, which is set on the Santa Lucia Highlands’ sandy loams and sees a huge cool Pacific Ocean influence, was first planted in 2008, and is named after the historic local legend Honoré Escolle. Caraccioli says he was one of Carmel’s founding fathers, and was very influential in many ways to Monterey the region, as well as operating the main kiln for pottery and clay works in the area and was known to camp on the land where the vineyard lies. Escolle has become one of the most prized vineyards in the region and noted for the quality of the fruit, especially its Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The farming here is quite exceptional making it, along with likes of Garys’, Rosella’s, Tondre, Pisoni, Soberanes to name a few, a top site in the Santa Lucia Highlands and the recently added Gamay Noir here is showing huge potential, as witnessed with their own efforts and others. I caught up with Scott Caraccioli recently during Carmel’s famous Car Week events and was treated to his exceptional 2018 sparklers, which to my humble palate are the best yet and should not be missed!
Few other wineries, as I’ve mentioned before, have put together such a fine collection of terroir driven wines in such a short time than Caraccioli, especially their Sparkling wines, which is the main focus of the winery. It all started with the help of the late Michel Salgues, who had worked for famed Champagne house Louis Roderer for most of his career, including the last nineteen years at Roederer Estate in Anderson Valley, where he was the founding winemaker. Scott Caraccioli and his team have quickly gained a solid reputation for his grower producer style bubbly and is now considered one of the best producers in California of Champagne method sparkling wines. Caraccioli follows a very traditional regime from the vines to the bottle, with early picks to long lees aging on these elegant and extra lively wines. Caraccioli first does a light pressing of the cool and fresh juice in small lots, with the winery noting that they do 120 gallons (well below what the law in Champagne mandates: 150-180gl.) at a time. The Cuvée and Rosé see no skin contact and mostly gets some stainless, though some of the lots are fermented in barrique, with all of the primary fermentation(s) being spontaneous, done with ambient yeasts. The Caraccioli Brut Rosé undergoes the same processes and initial blend of 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir, as this Brut Cuvée. The difference in the Rosé is that Scott hand picks of a barrel of Pinot Noir still wine to blend into the final Rosé for color, while Brut Cuvée is all naturale. As mentioned in prior reviews, to enhance complexity and depth the young wine is barreled down-post fermentation for a few months, taking as Caraccioli explains, a little rest before blending, though in a few years there is some stainless aged juice and a long élevage in bottle. What a treat is was to visit Caraccioli’s Carmel by the Sea tasting lounge and taste the latest releases, luckier still to have Scott Caraccioli there to show them off to me, especially this one, and the fabulous vintage Rosé, both of which are equally stunning!
($65 Est.) 98 Points, grapelive
2018 Cantina Roeno, Teroldego della Vallagarina “I Dossi” Vallagarina Veronese Trentina, Italy.
The deeply hued black/purple and garnet 2018 Roeno I Dossi Teroldego Vallagarina IGT Rosso is a beautifully aromatic, complex and concentrated example of this rare and unique Dolomiti varietal and makes for a wine that has distinct character that reminds me of Chinon (Cabernet Franc) and Cross-Hermitage (Syrah) love child with dark fruit, spice, mineral tones, meaty elements and lovely florals. There’s a lot to love in this Roeno Teroldego della Vallagarina, with its very dark almost Petite Sirah like color and its layering of blackberry, wild plum, mulberry and black cherry fruits, along with an accenting of black olive, bell pepper, dried minty herbs, cedar, graphite, tartare and crushed violet flowers. This textural medium to full bodied effort impresses in the glass and has started to evolve into a very engaging wine with a firm underpinning of tannin, subtle acidity and now displays a rewarding mouth feel, along with a good length and persistence that makes it a superb companion with a hearty meal. The Roeno Winery, which has a unique array of varietals planted, is located near the border between the Veneto and Trentino, in the land known as “Terra dei Forti” or land with no borders, with the estate surrounded by majestic Dolomite mountain slopes that flank the Adige River. There’s a bunch of cool things being made here and this wine is just the tip of the iceberg and I highly recommend searching out these Roeno offerings.
After years of guessing and study, it was through DNA analysis, that revealed that Teroldego, native to the Trentino area, together with the Schiava Gentile, is a close relative of Lagrein and Marzemino, and a cousin of Dureza, which all are relatives of Syrah. In modern times, Teroldego has been championed by the famous Elizabetta Foradori and her wines remain the grape’s finest and most coveted efforts, they need to be on your bucket list of Italian red wines, but as a starter version of Teroldego, this Roeno is an outstanding way to begin your exploration of this varietal. For their Teroldego della Vallagarina, Roeno uses 100% de-stemmed and carefully hand harvested grapes that are fermented with maceration on the skins in temperature controlled stainless steel vats with pump overs to extract the Teroldego’s intense color, structure and fruit density. After primary fermentation the wine is pressed to large mostly used neutral oak casks, where the winery says it goes through natural secondary (malos) fermentation and matures for about a year before being settled in tank and then bottled. This was the first time I’ve tried the Roeno wines, by the Fugatti family, who’ve lived and worked here for multiple generations, and I look forward to sampling the full range of imported options, which is still pretty limited in the States, as I see that they do some Interesting stuff, including a dry Riesling, that looks like one of their signature wines. I also understand they have an ultra rare red made from 100% Enantio (which I had never even heard of) from vines planted in 1865, which is on my radar now to discover as soon as possible!
($22 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive
2023 Weingut Spreitzer, Riesling Kabinett, Lenchen, Rheingau Germany.
Again, as I’ve mentioned before, after focusing more on the old vine and dry wines, including the fabulous set of GGs at Spreitzer in my reviews, I noticed I hadn’t mentioned often enough, one of my favorite wines in their lineup, the delicious Lenchen Kabinett, and that is an almost unforgivable oversight on my part! This aromatic and bright lighter bodied pre-release sample of 2023 shows lovely potential for the vintage with radiant slightly off dry crystalline fruits, including white peach, green apple, honeyed lemon and hint of pineapple, along with lime blossom, rosewater, ginger spice and green tea. The Lenchen parcels, part of the VDP Grosse Lage (Grand Cru) Oestricher Lenchen vineyard, overlook the widest part of the Rhein and this area gets an almost lake effect climate, warmer and moist, usually allowing for high sugars and early ripening grapes, making for flexibility in picking so the Spreitzer’s can make a wide array of styles from the Grand Cru dry Grosses Gewachs to a lush and intensely sweet Auslese, as well as this traditional Kabinett. The Spreitzer team used a combination of old fuder (German oak cask) and stainless steel tanks to ferment and lees age the wines here, with the Lenchen Kabinett exclusively seeing stainless steel, to retain fresh detail as well as give texture, which this vintage manages to convey to near perfection, making for an ideal Kabinett Riesling. This is a wine that is both fun and quaffable along with having complexity to thrill the senses and goes brilliantly with food, classic German dishes and especially spicy Asian cuisines like Thai.
One of the oldest family wineries in the Rheingau, Weingut Spreitzer, which I visited in 2016, is located in the tiny hamlet of Oestrich in the middle Rheingau is run now by Andreas and Bernd Spreitzer, who took over from their father Josef in 1997 and have really done an amazing job elevating this historic estate. One of their prize holdings, is the Lenchen Vineyard with its VDP Grosse Lage Rosengarten being the elite parcel here, it is set on mostly of gravelly loam and loess soils and not far from the Rhein and the winery itself. There are numerous underground streams here that ensure that even in dry years the vines have plenty of refreshment and a natural source of water for the roots to drink up. During my visit with Andreas in the 2016 harvest period I got a chance to see a lot of his vineyards and tasted in the ancient cellars and in the modern tasting lounge the Spreitzer’s have. It certainly was a fantastic experience and a beautiful place that I recommend to visit when you tour the Rheingau region. The whole area should be on your short list of paces to taste when in Germany and Spreitzer is not far from some other famous spots like Kloster Eberbach and Schloss Vollrads, as well as being close the Geisenheim University and just up Rhein River from Rudesheim, one of the Rhein’s most picturesque villages. I was thrilled to catch up with Andreas Spreitzer earlier this Summer and taste through his upcoming releases, including this deliciously pure Lenchen Kabinett, all of which were outstanding efforts that are reason for excitement and the 2021 and 2022 vintages are already tremendous wines, with the Wisselbrunnen GG being a monumental and profound dry Riesling.
($24 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive
2020 Chiussuma, Carema DOC, Alto Piemonte, Italy.
Still flying under the radar, the new on the scene, Chiussuma winery that is based in the Carema and Caluso wine regions in Alto Piemonte, north of Torino, bordering the Val d’Aosta, specializes in Nebbiolo and this 2020 Carema DOC is elegant, evocative and beautifully detailed version which delivers lovely delicacy, purity and incredible length. This ruby/brick hued wine highlights why this remote area, lesser known than the famed Barolo and Barbaresco, is capturing the hearts of Nebbiolo fans, it shows off Burgundy like class, with fine rose petal aromatics, silky texture and mineral tones. The medium bodied palate delivers charming Nebbiolo red fruits, including brandied cherry, damson plum, currant and blood orange, along with all spice, crushed stone, wild mushroom, light cedar and anise accents. Still vibrant and fresh, this lighter framed Nebbiolo is developing nicely and gets better and better in the glass, this is a wine to spend an evening with and enjoy its full personality over a slow meal. Winemaker Matteo Ravera Chion says the Nebbiolo vines here are set on morainic & mica schist soils, carried up the impossibly steep slopes from the valley bottom, with the terroir benefiting from a dramatic daily temperature fluctuation, which adds complexity and distinction to the wines.
This winery, which is named after one of many nearby waterfalls, Chiusumma is located in Alto Piemonte and the Carema region, which has been produced Nebbiolo based wines for over five hundred years and a region that has seen a lot of modern times attention recently with this varietal’s most fanatic fans. Chiussuma has founded in In 2016 by the young Matteo Ravera Chion, a graduate of Torino University, who joined forces with a couple of locals including his wife Alessandra to form this label, first releasing a 2019 vintage Rosso Canavese, after which the longer aged 2016 and 2017 Caremas . These early efforts are what that caught the eye of a savvy importer and now we can get these exciting, extremely small lot and authentic wines in the States. The Carema, which was awarded its DOC back in 1967, by Ravera Chion here at Chiusumma saw a 100% de-stemmed 15 day skin maceration and fermentation, after which it was pressed to used bigger 500L Tonneaux barrels, where it matured for 18 months. Production is tiny by anyone’s standards, with this wine being a limited 100 case offering. Chiussuma also does a Caluso Erbaluce, a white wine that I am excited to try too. This vintage of Carema is only the second of Chiusumma’s wines I’ve tried and I was especially impressed by this one and recommend keeping an eye out for this one.
($60 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive
2023 Weingut Berger, Gelber Muskateller, Kremstal, Austria.
Digging deeper into the collection of Berger wines, beyond the basic Grüner Veltliner by Erich Berger, you’ll find some other outstanding values, especially the Rieslings and this highly aromatic and dry Gelber Muskateller, which is a fun and delicious Summer wine with classic Muscat jasmine perfume, a touch of spearmint, vibrant white peach, lemon/lime and crisp green apple, along with a stony element and bitter almond note. This is fine light bodied effort that is a fabulous aperitif wine and or fun picnic wine, being fresh and zesty it also goes nicely with lighter sea food dishes. An ancient, very floral varietal, the light gold/geen berried, Gelber Muskateller, which is the German (and Austrian) name for Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, a white wine grape that some believe originates from Greece, though certainly around the Mediterranean Sea, and is also commonly in Italian and French region, with Alsace maybe the most famous. It’s also quite versatile and can be used to make dry, sweet and sparkling wines with great success and is even done in a tawny port style too, most notably in Australia. Muscat is one of the oldest grape varieties in the world, of which there are many distinct different clones or genetic version, especially in Italy, and are differentiated by the color of the berries, like yellow, orange and black. Grown in the Kremstal on Loess and deep brown rich soils with gravel and marl, Berger’s Muskateller is slowly fermented and then shortly aged exclusively in temperature controlled stainless steel tank to allow for freshness of detail and transparency. I’m a fan of dry Muscat, especially from Müller-Catoir in the Pfalz, Germany, and in Alsace, but for everyday drinking it is easy to love this zesty/tangy Berger version.
As noted with my reviews of Berger’s wines, in the cellar, Erich Berger does everything to preserve and focus of vitality and freshness, he uses only ultra clean practices with his Grüner, Riesling and Muskateller only seeing selected cultured yeasts and temperature controlled stainless steel fermentation(s) and aging, nothing fancy, but highly effective for transparency and clarity of form. Erich Berger, the winegrower, is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet and completely humble, and to taste his his wines is always a pleasure, and as mentioned they all impress for their no pretense quality, and in particular, this one. Weingut Berger has implemented methods, such as organic farming, and a focus on sustainable practices to produce wines that showcase terroir and varietal character, and while always highlighted as a value producer, the game has changed here, as mentioned before in my prior reviews, and the wines are certainly winners through out the collection. I met up with Erich’s son Max at a recent tasting in San Francisco, with Berger’s importer Skurnik Wines, and was again impressed with the quality here, especially Berger’s white grape wines, as noted above, that come from steep terraced sites in the eastern section of the Kremstal region, not far from the Danube River, just to the west of Vienna on classic loess soils. I have really enjoyed Berger’s wines over the years, and have noticed a surge in quality in recent years and highly recommend the current vintages, in particular the Grüners of course, with the 1L bottle being an outstanding quaffer, along with the more serious single cru offerings, like the Gedersdorf Kremstal Grüner, as well as the superb intense Kremstal Ried Steiner Pfaffenberg Riesling, which is the most limited in the portfolio.
($24 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive
2021 Parsonage Village Vineyard, Syrah, Monterey County.
A big, opaque purple/black and tannic Shiraz style Syrah from Parsonage with deep aromatics, a dusting of mixed spices and a core of ripe black fruits, making for a broad and gripping wine that absolutely needs a hearty protein rich meal to bring out its best quality. This wine, sourced from the Argyle Vineyard in the remote arid San Antonio Valley area of Monterey, which gets a lot more heat during the Summer and cool nights from the Pacific Ocean breezes leads to thick skins and biting tannic structure, which this 2021 Parsonage delivers with chewy intensity, a nervy and fiery version of this grape, rather than the more opulent and hedonistic that the estate examples of Parsonage show. The palate is full and powerful with dark berries, violets and subtle wood notes lead the way with a firm layering of blackberry, plum, currant and blueberry compote, along with a touch of mocha, peppercorn, anise, Tahitian vanilla, incense and gritty graphite notes. Best to decant and enjoy this with a prime rib, lamb and or a selection of Basque hard sheep cheeses, this is a wine for those that are looking for throwback version of forceful Syrah. There were no 2020s due to the fires within the region here and these 2021s so far are turning out to be thrilling wines that look like they might need some extra bottle age to soften, though this one I think will stay on the firmer side, it makes for an interesting contrast to Parsonage’s more luxurious and hedonistic estate wines.
As mentioned many times here with my reviews, Bill Parsons planted his estate with Syrah, a first for the Carmel Valley AVA, and Bordeaux varietals, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and the rare Petit Verdot blocks back in 1998 and hit the ground running with his 2000 debut bottlings that garnered eye brow raising critical acclaim. The wines have impressed for their lush fruit driven quality, something that not many people thought possible here until Parsons brought these wines out, up until then most of the Carmel Valley reds were austere and needed tons of bottle age to be their best, like the wines that came from the historic Durney label, now known as the Massa Estate. If you’ve not had the Parsonage wines, now is a good time to start, in particular the estate grown bottlings of Syrah, like this Estate, the Cabernet Sauvignon and especially the single varietal Dario Reserve Merlot, which is also absolutely stunning in this stellar 2019, and the delicious 2018, vintages. The Parsonage wines are crafted by Frank Melicia, owner and founder Bill Parsons’ winemaker and son in law, who also makes the Silvestri wines, and that goes after richly flavored, ripe and textural wines that stand out, which has been a winning formula for this small label in Carmel Valley. As with all the Syrah efforts here, the grapes are 100% de-stemmed and vigorously sorted, seeing a lengthy maceration and daily punch-downs for full color and phenolic extraction and then they basket pressed to French oak barriques, mostly used and mature close to 18 months before bottling. I highly recommend chasing down the 2019s here at Parsonage for near term drinking and put these 2021s away for another couple of years.
($45 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive
2021 Weingut Prieler, Pinot Blanc, Leithaberg DAC “Alte Reben” Burgenland, Austria.
Georg Prieler, one of my favorite Austrian producers, makes some of Europe’s best examples of complex and delicious Pinot Blanc, rivaling top notch versions from Alsace and the Alto Adige, with his latest Leithaberg old vine being an outstanding vintage. The 2021 Leithaberg Alte Reben Pinot Blanc is delicately golden in the glass and has surprising depth and structure to go with a lovely mineral toned palate of apple, lemon preserves, white peach and fleshy melon fruits, along with yeasty hazelnut, honeycomb, zingy herb and stony notes. Fresh and lively with a medium bodied feel there is a lot to admire here and elevates this varietal, which can rarely reach this level, this is stunning stuff again from Prieler. Prieler’s 20 hectares of vines are cultivated in small parcels between the Leithagebirge, which according to the winery, is the last outpost of the eastern Alps that protect the vines from the western winds, and the Lake Neusiedl, which tempers the hot climate of the Pannonian plain, where there is the most sunshine in all of Eastern Europe. I highly recommend digging deep into this latest Prieler collection. Prieler has many varietals planted here, including Blaufränkisch, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Welschriesling, Sankt Laurent, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which all enjoy lots of sunshine and a complex series of calcerous and iron rich soils with sand, limestone over deep chalk, fossilized rock and some mica-schist. As well as this Cru version, Prieler does the all stainless Seeberg bottling, which is a great value priced option as well.
The Prieler estate, as mentioned here in my prior reviews, founded in 1972, is based in Schützen, which sits on the western side of the Lake Neusiedl, in Burgenland, it is a historic old farm, that was once dedicated to many types of agriculture, but now specializing almost solely in grape growing. Georg Prieler is a the second generation Prieler to run this iconic winery and the one that has brought world wide acclaim to this property with his fantastic terroir driven Blaufränkisch and Pinot Blanc wines. Georg’s wife Silvia brings a wealth of experience to the winery with a PhD in biochemistry, international experience including an internship at Domaine Dujac in Burgundy and a precise touch, which explains the class and finesse in the wines. The winery notes that all of the grapes are carefully crushed and fermented at closely controlled temperatures in steel tanks or wooden casks. The character of the variety and the vineyard determines how the wine will be matured and what in. For example, the Prieler’s add, the most of the Pinot Blanc will aged exclusively in stainless steel to maximize freshness and clarity, though this one sees two days on the skins and some lees aging in large cask, which adds depth, as seen here. Prieler’s Blaufränkisch and Pinot Blanc bottlings take center stage in the lineup, with the 2020 Oggau Johanneshöhe Blaufränkisch and this white Burgundy like 2021 Leithaberg DAC Pinot Blanc Alte Reben (old vine) being my favorites, along with their dry Rosé and the Kalkterrassen Gemischter Satz (co-fermented white blend), which was all new to me. Again, as noted and written here, Prieler is a jewel of a winery and if you’ve not had them before, now is an excellent time to do so!
($45 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive
2019 Whitehall Lane, Merlot, Napa Valley.
The dark purple/garnet and lush 2019 Whitehall Lane Napa Valley is a smooth and deeply opulent wine that is drinking fabulously well right now, it captures the varietal’s and region’s best character and qualities in the glass with lovely aromatics, a polished luxurious texture and has good depth and complexity with loads of dense black fruits, velvety tannins, a light dusting of spice and well judged oak use. This vintage of Whitehall Lane’s Merlot had a final blend of 87% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Malbec, and 2% Petit Verdot, and the winery notes it has always utilized the art of blending to make their Merlot, which adds to the total enjoyment in the wine, especially in years like 2019 that was ripe, but also well balanced. The full bodied palate delivers classic blackberry, black cherry, plum and currant fruits along with hints of pencil lead, chocolate, sweet sandalwood, sage/spice, caramel, delicate pipe tobacco, licorice, dark floral notes and smoky vanilla. The Merlot, sourced from multiple parcels and areas within the Napa Valley, 100% de-stemmed saw a lengthy cold soak and was fermented using a selected culture and once dry it was pressed to 100% French oak with about 35% new wood used. The Napa Valley Merlot was allowed to mature in barrel for close to 20 months, after which it was bottled unfined and unfiltered, that adds up to a wine that is ready to please upon release, though this vintage looks to be rewarding for a decade, such is the structure and fruit density.
The Leonardini Family, owners of the famed Whitehall Lane Winery in St. Helena, as I mentioned in a recent review, originally founded this label mainly dedicated to Bordeaux varietals in 1979, then oversaw the 1989 re-planting of their 14 acre vineyard site right near the famous Harvest Inn and eventually bought the vineyard in 1993, forming their first true estate property. According to the winery, the area had been originally planted to black grapes in the late 1800’s when the Lewelling Family settled on a large tract of land on the southern outskirts of St. Helena. The old-time farmers of the area said that the soil, Cortina Gravely Loam, in this particular area was renowned for quality wine grapes, though much turmoil followed and it wasn’t until more recent times and better farming that the full potential was realized here and it was planted to mainly Cabernet Sauvignon. Like the winery itself, the vines are right off the Highway 29 that carves through the Napa Valley, on the western side on what has become one of the most iconic area in the wine world. As mentioned, I was a huge fan of the early 1990s wines here, drinking lots of Whitehall Lane Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and the Merlot, that has long been a great value offering, as well as visiting the winery when I was up in Napa, so it was great to taste their current offerings, which I highly recommend. Most recently Whitehall Lane added a series of small lot Tête Cuvée Cabernets, a brace of Pinot Noirs rom cool climate sites and a single varietal Petit Vedot, all of which I am excited to try.
($40 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive
2022 Sandlands Vineyards, Assyrtiko, Lodi, California.
While winemaker Tegan Passalacqua is manly known for his red wine, especially his Turley Zinfandel and Petite Syrah, along with his own Sandlands collection of distinctive reds, including his fabulous Cinsault and Carignane offerings, he also has some very savvy whites, with the Semillon, Chenin Blanc and now this exciting and mineral crisp Assyrtiko, one of Greece’s signature white grapes, most commonly found in the famous wines of Santorini. This is a rarity in California, and maybe the only Assyrtiko in California, at least by a high profile and quality label so far and it sure likes like this varietal will find the state a happy home. This pale golden hued 2022, the debut release, from sandy soils in Lodi, has plenty of fresh acidity and shows of an array of sunny citrus and tangy stone fruits on the light to medium bodied palate with kumquat, kiwi, unripe apricot, quince and melon, along with bitter almond, zesty herb and a delicate orange blossom floral note. With air you pick up a textural appeal and a light yeasty tone, along with a mouth watering saline and chalky element, making for a nicely balanced white wine to enjoy over the next year and with a flexible range of foods, in particular grilled salmon, sardines and or squid dishes, though also a nice Summer refresher with a picnic or salad. Even in a year with some intense heat, this Assyrtiko, a grape that can handle arid and hot conditions, keeps a natural vibrancy, showing that it should be a good fit for the future, retaining acidity, like Vermentino does.
For these Sandlands wines, as mentioned before, winemaker Tegan Passalaqua, who is the vineyard manager and head winemaker at the famous Turley Wine Cellars, uses restraint and employs a light touch in the cellar here with most bottlings being small wines made with indigenous yeasts and lots of whole cluster. Along with an old school maceration(s) with hand punch downs, basket pressing and with the aging being done in well used barrels, mostly French oak. California wine enthusiasts are re-discovery Lodi and other region’s historic old vines, like here in Contra Costa County, with many vineyards being well over 100 years old, set on well draining sandy soils, which is what many of California’s best vineyards have. The Sandlands line-up encompasses these forgotten classic California varieties, and other rarities such as this Assyrtiko, Mencia and Listen Prieto, AKA The Mission Grape, primarily grown in decomposed granite (sand), as seen here, from regions and vineyards that have been farmed, as Passalaqua notes, for many generations but have remained the outliers of California viticulture. Coming from primarily head-trained, dry-farmed and own rooted 100 year old plus vines, as Tegan continues, that harken back to California’s roots of exploration, wonder, and hard work. There’s a lot to admire and enjoy here with Tegan’s Sandlands Vineyards wines, and while the reds are always very tasty treats, don’t over look the whites! I’ve been a fan of Sandlands for a long while and am very excited to see these latest set of wines exceeding my expectations, with the Mataro, Carignane and Cinsault really impressing me in recent years.
($22 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive
2021 Ridge Vineyards, Lytton Springs, Red Wine, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County.
The beautiful, aromatic, opulent and spiced 2021 Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel blend is one of my favorite vintages and is showing fantastically right now, with this slightly cooler year adding a heightened excitement on the palate with black raspberry, tree picked plum, Italian cherry, tangy red currant and puckering blueberry fruits, along with bramble/briar, sandalwood, anise, dusty earthy loam, smoky vanilla and delicate dark floral accents. This wine, while full bodied and densely vinous, is also nicely crafted to keep vibrancy of form, with contrasting savory notes to go with the seamless layering of fruit, this very seductive stuff again from one of California’s greatest wineries of all time. I have been visiting Lytton Springs since before the Ridge take over and seen it grow from a rustic barn with a few feral cats wondering through to its current form as one of the most sustainable and modern tasting facilities in Sonoma County, and even though I adored it back at the beginning, it still is a must visit when in the Healdsburg and Dry Creek area. I have many wonderful memories from Lytton Springs and equally great experiences with the wines from the estate, which are some of California’s best and most pleasing wines, which was again proved here with this 2021 edition. There’s a ton to admire about Ridge past and present and their current collection has an amazing array of diverse wines to chose from, including their famous Monte Bello Bordeaux blend, as well as things like single varietal Carignane, Syrah and even Valdiguié, and there has never been a better time to explore them.
Ridge’s Lytton Springs Zinfandel based bottling typically sees 70% Zinfandel along with a mix of small parts of Carignane, Petite Sirah, Alicante Bouschet and even some Cinsault and Counoise, as seen in this 2021 version, all coming from the old school bush vines around the Lytton estate property. For this wine, Ridge does all hand harvesting and a 100% de-stemmed native yeast fermentation with rigorous daily punch-downs and a full maceration, which goes for a couple weeks before being pressed to barrel. The Ridge Lytton Springs goes through natural secondary fermentation in the wood with an elevage in a selection of air dried American oak barrels, usually seeing close to 20% new oak, but with about 60% seeing 5 plus year old barrels to allow for authentic transparency and a focus on the purity of the fruit and the place. In recent vintages, I am noticing a slight and very welcome drop in natural alcohol, with this one coming in at 14.3%, which also helps deliver a more fresh and vivid profile, that I find more balanced and more appealing, especially with a meal. This 2021, which was aged in barrel for 18 months, ended up with a final blend of 72% Zinfandel, with a good portion coming from vines planted in 1901, 15% Petite Sirah, 9% Carignane, 2% Alicante Bouschet, from ancient vines right next to the tasting room, 1% Cinsault and 1% Counoise, from an 80 year old parcel. Ridge does everything they can to keep to minimum intervention in the winemaking with low sulfur and a light filtration, making these wines brilliant and delicious on release, but with the potential to age decades, as I’m sure this one will be able to do. I must say, as I get older I do like these Ridge Zins, including the classic Geyerville, Pagani and this Lytton Springs with bottle age, but was gracefully impressed with this 2021 from first sip to last drop, I wish I had a few more!
($55 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive
2023 Weingut Dönnhoff, Riesling Trocken, Felsenberg, Grosses Gewächs, Nahe Germany.
The Dönnhoff Schlossböckelheimer Felsenberg VDP Grosse Lage or Grand Cru site is set on porphyry dominated soils, which are volcanic influenced and is quite distinctive in the wines that come from here and this is very much the case with Dönnhoff’s outstanding 2023 Felsenberg GG barrel sample I tried recently at Skurnik Imports West Coast Germany and Austria portfolio tasting. Without quest the critically acclaimed 2022 vintage were exceptional wines, but I was curious to get a preview of the 2023s, and I was not disappointed, with Dönnhoff being some of the best examples, in particular their set of GGs, with this ’23 Felsenberg being close to my favorite with its spicy and slightly austere start and its intense mineral driven nature. Once given a moment to come alive in the glass this pale greenish/gold dry Riesling opens up to becoming a monumental and profound wine with heightened aromas and flavors that excite the senses. The medium bodied and racy palate shows layers of complexity with a mixed array of powerful forces engaging you, including lime blossom, tangerine, smoky rock, white peach, muskmelon, tart green apple, bitter almond, verbena and quince playing roles here. This wine is absolutely electric and zingy, but there’s an underlying vinous depth that makes you take notice and it lingers on and on with extreme persistence and length adding rosewater, tropical essences and tea spices, there’s some real potential here and I wouldn’t want to miss seeing what is going to happen in 5 to 10 years!
The spicy intense Felsenberg Grand Cru (GG) dry Riesling from Donnhoff is simply out of this world, and like I’ve said before here in my reviews, it is very different and unique wine and site in the collection of amazing vineyard that Dönnhoff has above the Nahe River, I can only explain that Felsenberg is to Hermannshöle, is like what Batard-Montrachet is to Corton-Charlemagne! In some ways, I can compare the Dönnhoff GGs to Grand Cru Chablis, especially Le Clos, as they are steely and mineral driven, more so than the wines of the Côte de Beaune and I mean that they are similar in class, even though the Rieslings here are very much varietal in the purest sense, it is just way of conveying just how fantastic they are and helps to explain where they sit in the peak of dry white wines, and they are maybe better, especially from what I recently tasted rom Dönnhoff! The mature and organically farmed vines in the Felsenberg cru are on steep slopes and are perfect to produce dry Riesling treasures, as seen with this 2023. It should be noted again that the Dönnhoff Riesling vines are all old clones and are quite distinctive in character and add tons of terroir personality, in particular in their Grand Cru wines, such as Klamm, Brücke, Leistenberg, Felsenberg, Kirschheck, Dellchen, Krötenpfuhl, Kahlenberg, and Höllenpfad. There’s exceptional quality throughout the range at Dönnhoff and I, as noted before, am a huge fan of these wines and highly recommend them all, with my personal favorites being the Leistenberg Kabinett, the Hermannshöhle GG, the Tonschiefer Riesling Trocken and this one. It was great to catch up on the latest releases from Dönnhoff, with their 2022 showing fantastically well and 2023s too, please note the 2023 GGs will be a year away from release, and all are wines to stock up on!
($89 Est.) 96-98 Points, grapelive
2019 Drew Family Cellars, Syrah, Perli Vineyard, Mendocino Ridge, Mendocino County.
Again, as fantastic as Drew’s Pinots are, Jason Drew’s Perli Syrah is just as desirable, and it is usually one of my favorite bottlings from this small family producer based in the western edges of the Anderson Valley, with this 2019 proving to be an elegant and compelling vintage, less meaty and gripping than most years with a vivid array of dark fruits, delicate florals, spice and mineral tones. I almost thought I made a mistake, and did a double take on the label to be sure I actually opened a Syrah and not a Pinot! Such was the graceful and bright nature found in this version of Drew’s Perli cool climate Syrah. The natural acidity and under 13% alcohol here with Drew’s Perli Syrah give this wine a lean and lighter feel on the medium bodied palate, which shows off some beautiful and silky black raspberry, tangy blueberry, damson plum and tart currant fruits, along with hints of briar, camphor, anise, peppercorns and a subtle violet toned bouquet. Definitely within keeping of pure Syrah varietal character, but this vintage is a bit more shy and less fleshy than I would have expected, though perfectly exciting, fresh and delicious with food. This year’s Perli comes across more Saint-Joseph like, rather than Cornas or Côte-Rotie, for reference in this exceptional Northern Rhône inspired wine. I love all of the Drew wines and as the estate gets more and more mature, the home grown stuff gets better and better, especially the Field Selection bottlings.
As noted here in my prior reviews, the Perli Vineyard, as Drew notes, comes from hillside vines that were planted about 20 years ago with the Syrah being the McDowell selection and the 877 clones, is 10 miles from the ocean and is perched at close to 2,200 feet above sea level on thin and steep north east facing slope. The Ornbaun soils here are a unique combination that gives this wine its soul, consisting of shale, fractured sandstone and rhyolite with some sandy loams. The McDowell selection, as Jason adds, is notable as it is the oldest field selection of Syrah in North America, brought into California to the San Jose Mission in 1880 and later planted on the McDowell Ranch in Mendocino County in 1902. This very lovely cool climate Syrah, with a nod to Cote-Rotie, is co-fermented with close to 5% Viognier in the traditional style of one of the Northern Rhone Valley’s most legendary places. The winemaking at Drew is always transparent and artisan in nature with a gentle touch to allow for a terroir driven profile with this Perli Syrah, with this 2019 noticeably less stemmy in profile than past editions, which maybe down to vintage conditions. Normally, Jason Drew, employs a 100% native yeast and 50% whole-cluster fermentation on his Perli Syrah with just the right amount of stem inclusion, but this one saw 100% whole bunches, and it was aged solely in a neutral French Oak, typically Puncheon(s), for 18 months. I also recommend Drew’s sister Syrah from the Valenti Ranch, and I am very excited for the new estate Syrah which I hear was just released to their mailing list!
($58-70 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive