2019 Jim Barry Riesling Clare Valley Lodge Hill. Bright white hay in hue, close to colorless, surplus of shine. Whisper of powdered sugar to the nose but comprised more of lemon and lime citrus, mineral water, cherry, apple to pear fruit, floral only after it warms some. Medium-bodied, firm but not stern, the acidity allows for some textural give. Quite citrus laden, the lemon/lime joined by tangerine to pink grapefruit. Fruit takes on a more sour, tropical profile via passion fruit, papaya, guava notes. Note of asparagus. Pleasant and on point if not “racy.” Worth the $17 paid without qualms. (Screwcap)
2001 Ridge Geyserville. The core remains a deep purple, maybe lightened a touch by scarlet hues, rims are bricking pretty strongly, blend of reds and oranges. From the first sniff it’s pretty clear this has barely budged from youth, full of butterscotch and caramel, floral paste, cinnamon, blackberry to blueberry fruit, maybe concentrated enough to signal age. Medium-bodied, here it feels like it has lost some weight and more pointedly heft. The citrus, flower to lavender touches pretty it up nicely. The oak flavors remain too upfront for my preference. Blueberry, raspberry, boysenberry fruit, hint of apple, maybe maraschino cherry. Highly enjoyable but did think it would have matured further by now. 74% Zinfandel, 18% Carignane, 8% Petite Sirah.
2018 Sandlands Grenache Santa Clara County Besson Vineyard. Pinkish ruby with a gentle darkening to violet at the core, both vibrantly hued and transparent. There is a jammy, musky perfumed quality to the nose, raspberries and strawberries, molasses, rose petals, lavender, a slithering exuberance trumps most efforts at parsing it out. Medium-bodied, sappy if not gluey through the attack to mid-palate, slowly shaved down by acidity and to a lesser extent tannin. Blueberry, raspberry to strawberry fruit crests and falls throughout. The floral nature persists and I suspect for now pushes any citrus element offstage. It arguably displays more terroir out of the gate than many a Grenache wine. I like its chameleon like character now and suspect that 4-5 years out will achieve a more consistent presentation.
2018 Turley Zinfandel Amador County “Buck” Cobb Vineyard. Light violet core surrounded by glowing pink-magenta, jumps out of the glass. Dewily floral nose accompanied by freshly churned butter, molasses, the eucalyptus more damp than cleansing, you could stick you face in a bowl of crushed berries and it would turn out the same. Light to medium-bodied, there’s a pleasing fluidity to it, however, the palate feels hollow in the middle. The berry fruit comes with a touch of apple here. Cinnamon, ginger spar with the florality. Milk chocolate mix into the general butteriness. Drinking well but there’s an extra gear missing, doesn’t leave your toes tapping.
2019 NoneSuch Ribolla Gialla Sonoma County Chalk Hill. Fine gauziness to the greenish gold color, not deeply hued but consistent core to rims. Lemony nose with a minerally underpinning, smoky in a metallic sense, firm ripeness in the apricot, peach, pear fruit scents, muscular. Medium-bodied, delivers on that firmness found in the nose, not overly acidic, however, not an ounce of fat to be found on it. Lemon curd with a dollop of whipped cream. Otherwise it’s washed pebbles, stream water, quinine, and sandy banks. Shoulders squared fully through the finish. Impressive without any fanciful flourishes.
2019 Martin Texier Cinsault Rhône Vin de France Vigne du Masson. Bright and bouncy violet to watermelon pink in hue, spotlessly clean. Nose smells like just picked and pressed strawberries and raspberries, dry white stone and pebbles, light violet pastille, more open and airy than packed with scents. Light-bodied, the acidity tightens the mouth pores some. More floral here with less overt stoniness. The red berry to cherry fruit glides along with minimal effort. Mild sour twist at the end, refreshing. To me this is a great glou-glou, pound a few bottles on a summer afternoon wine. Maybe could age a few years but why wait? Happy face wine.
2001 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The purple core washed out by reddish clay hues, solid bricking out towards the rims where there is a yellow aura. Strong gamey to smoky component to the nose, tar, no funkiness, fried orange peels, whisper of lavender, the fruit scents lessened but still liqueur like concentration in the cherry, raspberry scents. Medium-bodied, shedding weight and grip as it progresses, all youthful structure resolved. The berry, cherry fruit more succulent than the nose suggests, close to candied sweetness. A few apple notes. Leather, tar, maybe a tad wooly. Nothing negative sticks out about it, to me a very good showing and in keeping with impression made on release. 80% Grenache, 10% Mourvèdre, 10% Syrah.
2007 Mas Blanc (Dr. Parcé) Collioure Junquets. Deep and consistent purple from the core to the rims, surrounded by a thin crimson aura, attractively glowing presence. The black fruits lend plushness to the nose while it maintains a mountain scrub airiness, some lavender or witch hazel, doesn’t seem inclined to make a big statement. Medium to full-bodied, velvety smooth, feels like it could have been pretty tannic in its youth. Currant, plum fruit, starting to turn to prune. It leaves a tingle behind in your mouth reminiscent of menthol or anise, along with some citrus. Waft of grill smoke. Content with itself, I can easily see it being dismissed. On this night it hit the spot. 90% Syrah, 10% Marsanne and Roussanne.
2001 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Most of the purple in the core replaced by a reddish black, wastes no time switching over to burnt orange along the rims, the bright surface shine brings some visual life to it. The nose full-on sous bois and matted damp grasses, replete with leather, old potpourri, the cherry to dark berry fruit scents are not weak but even after an hour+ decant are nowhere near able to fight for significant space. In the mouth it’s medium-bodied, retains an innate sweetness in the prune, raisin flavors with some fresher berry in there too. Menthol, lavender like notes, cocoa powder, minor swipe of mixed citrus through the finish. I was not a huge fan of the wine on release in 2003. This is a good plus wine, benefited from the decant. But wouldn’t consider it an all-time great and arguably passing peak. 30% Grenache, 30% Mourvèdre, 10% Syrah, remainder Muscardin, Vaccarese, Cinsault.
2005 Filliatreau Saumur-Champigny Vieilles Vignes. There’s a flat glow to the purple core, fades into very broad sienna red to orange brick into the rims. Super-stinky nose when first opened, merde and vegetal forest floor matter, takes its sweet time resolving, sweet black currant to cherry fruit eventually bubble up, old cedar chest, iron flecks, not getting any clear bell pepper notes. Medium-bodied, smoothed out and well integrated, clear afterimage of the tannin of youth. Almost grapey, sweet and savory character to the cherry, red currant, blackberry fruit, no meaningful fruit loss. Cedar and incense give it lift, leathery with tobacco leaf. Still, that vegetal element isn’t fully shaken. Had a lot more punch in its youth and would say the tradeoff for tertiary development was not a winning hand.
2017 Produttori Vini Manduria Primitivo di Manduria Lirica. Oddly the deep crimson influence makes the core look more black than purple, burnt red rims, very clean and spotless. Effusive dark berry to cherry fruit in the nose, topped off by charcoal, pine cone and smoke, fresh without being unduly dependent on fruitiness. Light-bodied with nicely framing tannin, rightsized for the overall body. More floral here, there’s a hard candy concentration to the strawberry, blueberry, raspberry fruit yet without excess sugariness. Retains that sort of volcanic, charcoal like earthiness. I find this well-balanced and smooth. Nicely priced and impressive for its manners and subtlety.
2018 Alberto Loi Monica di Sardegna Nibaru. Ruby red to violet in hue, rims maybe a lighter watermelon pink, clean throughout. Strong herbaceous streak to the nose, earthy but not stanky per se, red berries and cherries, light lavender and violets, falls short of “pretty.” Light-bodied, arguably over-structured with tannic brawn. That berry, cherry fruit starts off well but stomped to death by the finish. More of a citrus presence here, less of a floral. Inert earthiness, borderline volcanic in character. Unvarnished, maybe this was the wine great grandpa would have appreciated but not finding a lot of pleasure to be had. Probably not the grapes’ fault. (Composite Cork)
2016 Trinity Hill Syrah Hawkes Bay Gimblett Gravels. More scarlet purple than ruby, seems naturally darker, average cleanliness, nothing unusual visually. The nose features olive paste, tar and blood iodine, plentiful mixed black fruits for balance, takes awhile but shows a little grapefruit when fully opened. Medium-bodied and close to light, nicely framed by acidity. Licorice and violets first, darn peppery as well. Blackberry, blueberry to cherry fruit. Grapefruit more fully knit in. Hint of oak but noting distracting. Finishes a bit short for my taste. Otherwise, all the constitutive parts in place and work well together, easy drinker. (Screwcap)
2019 Envínate Castilla-La Mancha Vino de Mesa Albahra. Not quite as dark as expected but has the most day-glo to black light saturation imaginable, the purple to magenta color stains your eyes just looking at it. Floral nose of violets and lilacs before damp sand, steam pebbles and something close to camphor, the mixed berry scents taut with minimal give. Light-bodied, manages a sense of roundness in the mouth in spite of drying tannins. Adds a green apple bite to the berry fruit, much more thrust than juice. Evokes images of wind swept sand terraces when nothing but a tenacious grape vine would dare attempt life. Luckily it also tastes decent. In the final analysis for me needs more flesh to stand on its own. Could be a good seafood red. 70% Garnacha Tintorera (Alicante Bouschet), 30% Moravia Agria.
