1999 Mayacamas Chardonnay – Medium gold color, fine for 18 years. Aromas are spicy, mineral and flowery but not particularly fruity. The palate is moderately lean and very powerful, now with fruit, green apple and some pear. Still more of other things, lots of minerality, spices tend towards coriander seed and cumin, with a touch of cactus flower, less than in the aromas. This is fully mature; I would not be afraid to hold but not for long. It is distinctive, identifiably Chardonnay, clearly aged, but still vigorous and balanced. No noticeable oxidation. Rated 92.5.
FWIW, I bought a lot of aged Mayacamas Chardonnay some years back. My '97s have been dead, '99s fine, '01s a little better, '02s inconsistent but the best of all of the old ones if I open the right bottle.
2010 Ratti Marcenasco Barolo – Medium crimson color. Aromatics are open if not explosive, with more violet than roses, no tar but plenty of black plum. The palate is light to medium bodied, young with fresh tannins and acidity, balanced, liveliness not quite disguising some real muscle in the mid palate and finish. This is really harmonious, with freshness and depth playing off each other beautifully. I own some more, will probably wait at least a year but nothing wrong with opening it right now. Rated 92.5, a point of improvement very possible.
2012 Carlisle Zinfandel Bedrock Vineyard – Medium dark ruby color. Aromatics are redolent of roses, with some violets, plenty of red plum and black currant fruit along with some spice and black pepper. The wine is very fresh, more like 3 years than 5. There is good acidity, a liveliness and lift that doesn’t always show up in big boy Zins. I was impressed by the balance, thought this might be 14% alky… whoops, label says 15.5%. Does anybody make better balanced Zins? Not that I know of. Imagine an NFL linebacker that could also play forward in the NBA. I actually like this better than the Carlisle Vineyard (apologies to Mike Officer). Rated 93.3, up to 2 points of improvement possible. Will not open another for a couple of years.
Dan Kravitz