The theme of the last two months has been "making it through." When it comes to the weather -- an unrelenting series of small snowstorms that has kept the landscape monochromatic and the skies mostly gray for what feels like years -- I think we will, because the robins are back. When it comes to everything else, I'm not so sure. But here's what we've been drinking along the way.
Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah! 2019 California Mourvèdre, "Mo Yeah!". The potential of Mourvèdre to stretch from delicate floral aromas to dark tarriness is encapsulated in this wine, which has a core of bright raspberry fruit in the middle but also touches both extremes of height and depth. We had to hold the second half of the bottle until night 3 and it was, if anything, even better, which just makes me regret it was my last bottle. Spectacular even by EDWCY’s high standards. (Was this a wine produced by D&R but then bottled under Hardy’s new label? Can’t remember, but it might be.)
Pormenor 2021 Douro Reserva Branco. A taut skin-contact wine with reductive notes and the usual orange-wine phenolics. Not especially pleasant on opening; better-integrated waxy citrus and apple on nights 2-3. Look, Gravner rocked my world 25 years ago, but I increasingly feel that this style of winemaking has become the mirror image of injudicious oaking, which produces the same degree of convergence toward homogeneity in the final result.
Vincent 2023 Ribbon Ridge Pinot Noir. Obviously very young and needs some time in the glass to come together, and especially for the wood notes to integrate, but when it does, this is really nice: intense, fresh red raspberry and cherry fruit, zippy, with a long, ethereal, floral finish. Ripe without being at all heavy.
G.D. Vajra 2012 Barolo Bricco delle Viole. Decanted 2 hours in advance. Impressively complex and lively, with a long arc of aromas and flavors that begin with dark earth and tea, and turn toward higher-toned flowers and orange zest in the midpalate; with time, anise notes emerge, too. Some grip on the finish still, which becomes more giving with time in the glass. No hurry, but this can certainly be drunk with lots of enjoyment now.
Frog's Leap 2014 Rutherford Petite Sirah. Good time to drink this -- it still has some of the freshness of youth, but without the excessive grip, and with the wood pretty well resolved.
Monteraponi 2022 Chianti Classico. My first Monteraponi, and I like it a lot. Black cherry fruit with the old-school bitter almond note I miss in most CC these days, followed by a wave of savory leather. At cellar temp, it’s well-delineated and focused; with air and warmth, it becomes both more generous and a little fuzzy around the edges, without ever falling apart or seeming flabby. Half again as much in price as many of the Chianti I tend to keep around as daily drinkers, but definitely a more complex wine with more potential for development, and not as tarted up as some Riservas, so all in all, I think I’ll buy a few more.
Gomez Cruzado 2023 Rioja Blanco. Another fine bottle of this. Good candidate for a house white: it's mid-weight, neither sharp nor flabby, decent fruit but also some secondary complexity, the kind of thing that would please a lot of palates -- but for all that middleness, it's not mediocre or dull. Yum.
I Clivi 2022 IGT Venezia Giulia Ribolla Gialla "A Tessa". Good varietal character, weighty mouthfeel, citrus wax lifted by herbaceous crispness. I'd gladly buy again.
Bedrock Wine Co. 2023 Contra Costa County Red Wine, Evangelho Vineyard Heritage. Opened on the strength of David's TN. Not disappointed. Big without being overpowering, crisp and cleanly defined flavors, and a feeling that lots is still in reserve… confirmed by finishing the bottle after 48 hours open.
Domaine Bernard Baudry 2014 Chinon Les Granges. Still concentrated and fresh fruit on a frame that's become more delicate with a decade of age. Very good; unclear whether it will become more complex with further time. Drink or hold.
Château Haut-Bailly 2008 Pessac-Léognan. Takes only a half hour in a decanter to open up, and when it does, it’s a very pretty middle-weight wine with floral red and black fruit, dark graphite (8B, not the little no. 2 stub in the cardboard box on top of the library card catalog), and a long finish that blends earth, minerals, and a whiff of smoke. Great delineation of flavors and very lively in the mouth. Excellent.
Jean Foillard 2013 Morgon Côte du Py. And this is why you age cru Beaujolais. Nose of red fruit and moist earth leaps from the bottle before the first taste is poured. The back end is still wound tightly when opened, but within an hour, the laser beam of fresh cherry-raspberry fruit is joined by a hallelujah chorus of forest floor, mushroom, and minerality, too. Long and lingering finish. First of four, and I don't see any need to rush.
Azienda Agricola Gatti Marco 2022 Verdicchio di Matelica Villa Marilla. Mostly bracingly herbaceous but just a tiny bit floral. Punchy and varietally correct. I'd like this better if it were under 14% abv, but it's solid value in any case.
Extradimensional Wine Co. Yeah! 2023 Sonoma Valley Sémillon, Bedrock Vineyard. A tinge of copper in the color from the skins, but no heavy skin-contact effect. Malic, a little cidery, recognizably Semillon but in an understated way, with a long, dynamic finish. I like this but don't love it, and it's less interesting on the second night than on the first.
Kutch 2013 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, Bohan Vineyard. Deep and pure red fruit accented by spice. Bright and precise on opening, becomes richer and rounder over two hours, and a little muddled by the end of the bottle. Very good.
Arnot-Roberts 2013 Sonoma Coast Syrah, Clary Ranch. This might be the reddest Syrah I've ever consumed, which has a modest nose and full palate of tart and sweet cherries; if it weren't for the telltale savory olive-brine note on the downslope of the wine, I'd be stumped to name the variety from the fruit. Which isn't a complaint: this is very much to my liking, and still youthful enough -- the fruit doesn't give the impression of being faded -- that I'll sample my other 2013s before coming back around to this one.
Dönnhoff 2013 Nahe Riesling, Oberhäuser Brücke, Spätlese. Beautiful wine just at the beginning of maturity. Although the dominant flavors and aromas are on the bright, sharp side — lime and grapefruit rather than stone fruit or tropical — and there’s a fair bit of minerality on the finish, too, there’s also a pleasing breadth and body to this, as well as a mysterious bass note of spice that keeps it well-grounded but never plodding.
Lackner-Tinnacher 2022 Südsteiermark Sauvignon Blanc, Gamlitz. Interesting SB. Neither strongly agrodolce nor mineral-driven, this sits in the polite middle, stylistically, but it's not boring: it's finely balanced and engagingly dynamic within its bounds. I'd get it again, especially if I could get it for <$20 (which I didn't, this time).
Thomas Fogarty 1999 Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon. Pulled this from the "over the hill" bin and had a backup handy, but it wasn't necessary. Slightly crumbly cork came out well enough with a Durand. The color here was still intense ruby red, without much browning, although the color became slightly murky on the back half, perhaps from the agitation of pouring (I didn't bother decanting). Cedar, vanilla, and the barest hint of campfire frame sweet red and black fruit and maybe some green olive. A little too sharp when opened and a little too soft by the time we finished it, but where those lines crossed, there was a sweet spot of very nice if not profound mature California Cab. Certainly better than expected and a nice way to remember the person (my dad) who gave me the bottle many years ago.
Enfield Wine Co. 2020 California Red Wine, "Pretty Horses". Quite angular when opened; had a glass on night 1 and held 24 hours, at which point this was as rich, broad, and giving as you could want, but still fresh.
Dirty and Rowdy 2015 Redwood Valley Mourvèdre, Old Vine, Rosewood Vineyards. First impression, even in the mouth, is all aroma, as if somebody had walked by wearing a mysterious spicy perfume; but there’s still some crunchy fresh red fruit here too, which slowly deepens with air. Silky, light, a veritable Mourvèdre mousse (and that’s no Bull———). Hypnotic bottle.
Pierre Gonon 2014 St. Joseph Blanc Les Oliviers. Brassy tinge in the glass suggests this is pretty advanced, and it is, without being oxidized. Mildly aromatic, waxy, baked apple, spice. Has just enough acidity to keep it from seeming flabby, but the alcohol is slightly perceptible on the finish. Overall, a good but not great bottle. Benefits from food: we had it with a dish of farro with roasted fennel, butternut squash, walnuts, and Parmesan, and when paired with those flavors, it came across as a bit lighter on its feet than on its own. Drink up, I’d say.
Ridge 2011 Sonoma County Red Wine, Mazzoni Home Ranch. Still a lot of fresh, vibrant fruit here, reminiscent of nothing so much as old-school black cherry soda. The label says this got a heavier than usual oak treatment, but it's nearly imperceptible on the palate; overall, a good representation of the capacity of old Ridge Zins (well, slightly more than half Zin: lots of Carignane in this one) to become claret-like with some age. In a good spot.
