2023 Desire Lines Mendocino County Riesling, Cole Ranch. It's early days, but this is compelling already. There's an interesting push and pull between ripe stone fruit, on the one side, and laser-like acidity and spice, on the other, which makes this simultaneously generous and chiseled. Shared a couple of glasses with a dish of sheet-pan roasted brussels sprouts with lime, feta, and spices; will have the last 250 ml tonight or tomorrow. The specs on the DL website indicate a 5.6 g/l RS (it tastes dry) and say it came in a degree lighter in potential alcohol than usual for the site: since the ABV on this bottle is 13%, does that mean this usually clocks 14%? I can't (well, I'd prefer not to) imagine 14% Riesling.
2023 Desire Lines Sonoma County Fountaingrove District Sauvignon Blanc, Kick Ranch. A striking wine: zingy pyrazine nose and entry, but nothing sour or even citric here, just an intensely mineral midpalate and a texture that seems to become increasingly dense on the finish, as if your tastebuds were having to rush, Indiana Jones-style, to slip through the gap under a slowly descending stone wall. Hold onto your hat (and hold your remaining bottles, though this really was awfully good even now).
2023 Amevive Los Olivos District "Sundrop." A Roussane/Marsanne/Viognier blend, which I picked up on the strength of Tom's recent review, and which didn't disappoint. Lots of tension in this wine: floral but steely, rich but focused, intense but light on its feet. Delicious now and has the balance and substance to age for a decade plus. Also nicely moderate alcohol (13%).
2023 Amevive Los Olivos District Syrah, Ibarra-Young Vineyard. Fresh and youthful Syrah fruit, mostly black-blue with a penumbra of red, floral but touched by (unsmoked) bacon fat. This goes through some phases, starting off very aromatic on PnP, becoming reticent in the glass, and then opening up again with time and vigorous aeration. Medium body, nice balance and verve, but I think a little discombobulated right now. Very good with a lot of potential for growth.
2022 Perkins Harter Eola-Amity Hills Chardonnay, Bracken Vineyard. Second bottle of this, which I fell for earlier this year. Citrus, seashell, saline, maybe slightly reductive but not much. A super-focused leading edge on a broad base. Delicious.
2022 Division Winemaking Company Oregon "Division-Villages," "Béton." Explosively juicy red and black fruit, silken texture, medium-bodied, ripe but not at all big. Initially thought it was a majority Cab Franc but it’s only a third, with about another third Cot and a quarter Gamay, the rest Cab S and Pinot, and this makes sense, because little about the flavors screams Cab Franc. This really nails the goes-with-anything bistro red thing they’re going for. Bought three and wish it had been a case.
2021 Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah! Contra Costa County Mourvèdre, "Astral Plane." Not exactly decanted, because this was a spur of the moment bottle. Instead, poured off 375ml into a half-bottle to save for the next day, consumed the rest slowly over three hours with lots of aeration to let it catch up. Final impression on the first night: deep raspberry and plum-skin, an interesting orange zest note on the midpalate, and a long finish of leather and spice with aggressive tannins. A really different profile from straight Evangelho, more stern and dark, but delicious, and clearly built to age. I will hide my remaining 3 bottles for 5-7 years before touching another.
2021 Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah! California "Dude Ranch Red Reserve." Didn’t decant but poured the first glasses about half an hour in advance. This is one of the biggest and most tannic Yeah! bottlings I’ve opened, still on the medium-bodied and vibrant spectrum, but with a lot of oomph behind it. Spiced meat wrangled by juicy blueberry fruit, and I mean those really great, flavorful blueberries you get from the one farmer at the market who doesn’t overwater them into bland plumpness (and don’t even talk to me about the crap at the supermarket). Excellent now and will probably improve medium-term.
2018 Edmunds St. John Amador County Red Wine, "El Jaleo," Shake Ridge Vineyard. 31% Mourvedre, 29% Grenache, 26% Graciano, and 14% Tempranillo, which I falsely believed was the majority of the blend until I looked it up. Aromatic and delicate raspberry-cherry and darker black fruit on the entry, but packs a leathery and tannic punch, most reminiscent in its presence if not in its flavor of an excellent Etna Rosso. Consumed over a couple of hours and enjoyed, but this became increasingly weighted toward the raspy back end, which makes me think it's in a slightly grouchy adolescence (or maybe that was just me); in any case, I'll hold my remaining bottle.
2014 Forlorn Hope Carneros St. Laurent "Ost-Intrigen," Ricci Vineyard. Pulled this thinking it might be over the hill, but it’s got some life in it. There’s some fresh black and red fruit but the leading role is the savory-bloody element. Bright acidity makes it lively in the mouth. After two hours open, it begins to lose its distinctiveness and flatten out, so it’s on a downhill slope, but enjoyable in the meantime. Apparently FH doesn’t get this fruit anymore, looks like it goes to Ottavino (unknown to me) and maybe Cruse. Glad the vines are still there. This made me seek out some Austrian St.-Laurent, which I haven't tasted yet, but soon.
2014 Unti Vineyards Dry Creek Valley Sangiovese Riserva. This is perfectly fine but doesn’t have the definition or focus of the 2013, without being explicitly hot or flabby. Solid pizza-night wine.
2023 Gomez Cruzado Rioja Blanco. Not a frequent consumer of Rioja Blanco but this is the best I can recall tasting: aromatic, with a nose of wax and white flowers opening the door to a concentrated citrusy palate. Medium body, substantial but focused, food-friendly. Looks like this can be had at retail for around US$20, at which price, or a few dollars above, it’s excellent value.
2022 Punta Crena Riviera Ligure di Ponente Rossese, Vigneto Isasco. Light red, pleasantly herbaceous tart cherry on opening, gets deeper after half an hour of air, becoming velvety, at one point even showing a note that could be mistaken for a vanilla, though I'd be shocked if this saw new oak. Very good, and while not cheap, definitely more accessibly priced than Envinate Tintos, which are the light-but-intense coastal reds that come immediately to mind as comparisons.
2017 Jean-Luc Jamet Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes "Valine." Dominated by gamey funk -- appealing to me, but wouldn't be to all -- on first opening. But the fruit fleshes out with air. Bright and savory; peppery finish. I took this to a party without expecting it to be as funky as it was, but the bottle disappeared fast, so I guess I have sophisticated friends.
Drinking very nicely now.2002 Château Sociando-Mallet Haut-Médoc. An excellent bottle. On opening, deep ruby color with bricking, though the color becomes more opaque in the glass with the first half-hour of air. Immediately very aromatic, though mostly not suggestive of fruit: campfire, pencil shavings, and leaves, with a narrow band of black fruit on the midpalate that leads into a tarry liquorice finish. Subsequent pours show a richer and more vibrant core of fruit, balancing without losing the tertiary notes that give this so much interest. Declicious now, but based on the trajectory over two-plus hours, I'd guess it's nowhere near decline, and would plan to decant 30-60 minutes in advance, though I enjoyed watching it on its arc, too.