2016 Thomas Gerrie Wines Syrah Les Collines Vineyard Walla Walla Valley
Thomas Gerrie is an Oregon pinot producer/grower; Cristom's latest releases include a Gerrie Vineyard pinot, just for instance.
In 2016, he also made a syrah. Previous bottles were still in the dark red zone but this has turned very purple-black. Drinks well enough but there are notes of decay around the edges--drink up.
2017 Domaine Jean Royer Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Prestige Red Rhone Blend
PnP'd. Only took about ten minutes to knit together in the glass, but was instantly appealing with dark raspberry and pomegranite fruit, black licorice and just a little wet horse among the secondary nuances. Bright with good acidity for its age. Not sure of the blend but at this point it tastes of mostly grenache and mourvedre.
2017 E. Guigal Côtes du Rhône Red Rhone Blend
Back around 1990 I discovered Guigals CdR and fell in love. For $10 a bottle, they drank and aged well, an insane value.
But by the year 2000 the magic was gone. Tried one here and there but mostly they lacked appeal. A few years back though, someone poured the '17 and I liked it enough to buy a few bottles for cooking wine purposes. The other day I went to use the last of these and found it balanced, silky, peppery mostly red fruit fruit--raspberry and pomegranate--with some leathery secondary development showing around the edges. Overall, pretty classy and definitely well above it's $15 price point.
2019 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Chardonnay Arthur Dundee Hills
My last bottle from this fantastic cool vintage and I hate to see it go. Lemon, stony minerality and wet leaves after rain: very Chablis-ish in style with a long, lazy finish.