2018 Sandlands Red Table Wine (Contra Costa County). Luminescent magenta violet, pinkish rims, very fine filminess to it. Nose starts off with tart cranberry, pomegranate notes before settling into juicy raspberry, blueberry, beyond that there’s a vague flatness to it, light anise or lavender, sand and weathered shale, expected more florality. Light to medium-bodied, sufficient tannin to give it erect bearing while remaining supple on the whole. Here the florality appears along with that lavender. The fruit is tart and “wet” in a way that I don’t take as identical to juicy, blueberry, blackberry, cranberry. Again sandy rather than earthy as one would expect from the producer’s allusion to vineyard composition. Abrupt finish and at the moment I am finding this rather bland. 55% Carignane, 45% Mataro.
2012 Black Kite Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands Soberanes Vineyard. Reddish purple coloration, dark core, the rims tend towards scarlet, showing some but not excessive age, did pour with more surface fizz than I’d like. The nose offers a dewy denseness, clove and ginger dappled black berries and cherries, touch of cleaning menthol, a bit of brine lurks offstage. In the mouth it’s full-bodied and for me on the clunky side. Lots of spiciness, less so clean citrus or stone. Might be the power of suggestion based on the visuals but now and then feel a mild fizziness. Very ripe mixed berry, arguably plum fruit. Can see it getting tomato skin notes with more age. Not what I was expecting but, hey, that may be why it was available on the secondary market. Drank it, forgot it.
2017 Eberle Zinfandel Paso Robles. As much if not more scarlet to it than purple, very nice transparency, adequate hue strength, doesn’t look washed out. As with a recently sampled 2018, the nose seems a bit at cross-purposes, smoky with cherry liqueur then more erect green apple and pickle brine notes, not as obviously oaky as said 2018. Light-bodied, about as herbaceous as you’d want a Zinfandel to be, sweet and sour cherry, raspberry, strawberry fruit with that green apple punctuation. Pine and lavender able to provide lift. However, overall body too slight to take the brunt of the oaky creaminess. Perhaps more monochrome but likewise better integrated for it. Attractive for its brightness, can see it falling off the cliff soon enough. Grapes sourced 40% Steinbeck Vineyard, 34% Wine-Bush Vineyard, 13% Cocavin Vineyard, 13% Sauret Vineyard. (Synthetic Cork)
2018 Sandlands Chardonnay Coombsville. Light yellow hay hue, while not that much color it has a glow to it which increases presence. The nose has some give and spread but is mostly concerned with focus, lime zest, fresh cream, pickle brine, mint, pear, apricot scents, leaves me with an impressive of indecisiveness which totally contradicts what I see as its intent, maybe trying to do too much, there’s a gap or a hole as you take successive sniffs. Light to medium-bodied, here in the mouth it does act with more clear intent. Smoky stones, lime, touches of jalapeño, willing to toss a grenade into the town square. Wiry fruit of apricot, apple, pear, pineapple, so-so length. Acidity shows good muscle. Left it out to warm with minimal change. Whipped cream notes cushion the finish. I can see this becoming even more reticent with age. My money would be on the 2017 for longer term rewards.
2018 Domaine de Villaine Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise La Digoine. Extremely dark purple core of full opacity, the thin rims barely shift into a violet darkened magenta. Plump nose, very primary and dependent on blackberry, black cherry to even plum for effect, light spiciness with potpourri accents, has the texture of wet cotton balls in the nostrils. In the mouth it creates an odd sensation of heaviness on the palate roof and lightness on the tongue. The black fruits are jammy but sour enough to speed up release and dissolve. Notes of tangerine to mandarin orange. Not all that much to say here. It may be just too young judge but I’d just as soon put my money on average wine.
2002 Château de la Roche-Aux-Moines (Nicolas Joly) Savennières Clos de la Coulée de Serrant. The orange amber coloration at times frankly takes on a brown tint, dullish surface, not much to look at. Inert nose, mild swipes of lanolin, fried orange peel, maybe dried out black licorice, echoes of peach and apricot fruit which do gain some traction with air time, the smokiness a bit player. In the mouth it’s medium-bodied but sets itself quite firmly. This with more of a “broadsword” acidity than rapier blade. Clove, orange peel, tea leaf. Mixed white and pink grapefruit waxes and wanes throughout. Not getting excessive doughiness. The apricot, peach, apple to pineapple fruit sadly lacking thrust. Finds its sea legs to some extent after an hour or so but not what it was in its youth.
2007 Vacheron Sancerre. Deepened gold coloration but does fall way short of amber, actually has a really nice shine to it and arguably doesn’t look its age. Nose dominated by yeasty and doughy notes with some bubblegum for good luck, moments of savory garden herbs, fruit cocktail textural consistency to the apricot, peach scents but not the sugary suggestion, maybe orange peel, as it wakes up sheds some yeasty flatness. Medium-bodied, the acidity more like a slap than a pinch but it doesn’t feel sluggish. The fruit mostly shot yet as I drink more aged Sancerre (in large part on the recommendation of those who came before me) I become more convinced that fruit more or less is the tradeoff. Rose petals, orange spice, herbs and some briny smoke or smoky brine, who the hell can tell. It is unusual and very much now a “cerebral” wine. Ten times better than the 2004 Vacheron sampled about two months ago.
1997 Baumard Savennières Clos du Papillon. Full amber coloration but washed out enough to diminish how old it looks, loss of hue at the rims. The nose somehow retains a strong smoky if not tarry quality, suggestive of baked ham now and then, underneath is the expected doughiness, methinks I find this less with aged Chenin Blanc than aged Riesling, nothing “pretty” about it, not registering any fruit scents. Medium-bodied, softer and arguably sweeter than expected based on the nose. Nothing wrong with the acidity level, don’t feel it softened much. Adequate vestigial pineapple, star fruit, peach fruit through the attack, dried out by the finish. Oil slicked stone more than smoke here. Its austerity is offputting, leaves me with little interest in finishing the bottle.
2001 Karthäuserhof Riesling Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Auslese Trocken “S” AP #12. Fully matured golden color, close to amber but not there yet, pools into the glass more than shines, the pour left the liquid filled with tiny bubbles and there was considerable crystal accumulation present. The nose at first was quite doughy and leesy, found this offputting, with time firms up as pineapple, kumquat fruit, lemon citrus, stone smoke notes appear, touch of rosemary, preferred the crispness presented on release. Medium to full-bodied, round contours but the acidic spine still provides plenty of sizzle. Grapefruit to lemon citrus most prominent, good smokiness along with lively garden herb notes. Cherry, peach to pineapple fruit, softened by age. That doughiness persists, something I don’t mind with sweeter aged Riesling but finding unattractive with aged dry Riesling. Opened well enough but much preferred it right out of the chute.
2018 Domaine Tatsis Macedonia (100% Limnio). Transparent ruby-violet with a faint gauziness, noticeably washed out rims. Semi-dusty and crinkly nose, pulverized stone and ash, minor citrus spark, sour punch to the red berry, cherry scents, smells like it could a ringer for a Beaujolais. Light-bodied, dry and dusty here as well, tannic to the point where you could say it makes latent enthusiasm of the primary material. Citrus veers between tangerine and white grapefruit. The strawberry, raspberry flavors lose delicacy due to the aforementioned structure. Not sensing any greenness nor underripeness. Length is adequate given general lack of heft. Basically neutral profile. Leaves behind an attractive enough floral mist. (Composite Cork)
2017 Sclavos Estate Mavrodaphne Cephalonia Slopes of Aenos “Orgion”. Purple core has nice warmth to it, surrounded by wide scarlet hues, deeply colored. The nose smells like tire rubber set on fire with a side helping of merde, odd that you get buttered popcorn next, seems to have mostly black fruit scents, initial impression does not warrant lingering with it. Medium-bodied, on the soft side, moments of recognizable acidic or tannin but nothing consistent. Blueberry, blackberry fruit, even a touch of peach. Damp potpourri and more creamy oak, then licorice at the finish. Went into this with zero expectations, clearly not my cup of tea. And even if it were, $25 would be pushing it. (Composite Cork: Diam10)
2019 Ettore Germano Langhe Nebbiolo. Very light violet to watermelon pink in color, fully transparent, shiny enough you’d think someone just washed it off with Windex. Big initial floral lift to the nose, followed on by strawberry, raspberry fruit, quite pretty, hints of leather and dusty stone but very primary. Light-bodied with an equally bodacious floral dewiness here too. However, the wine feels “flat” rather than imbued with lift. Hard candy/Jolly Rancher character to the strawberry, green apple, cherry fruit. Good bit of anise. Not overtly tannic yet enough so to shorten the finish some. A young wine, like it, wife likes it, would like to think it might put on some weight in the bottle which would definitely help. (Screwcap: Stelvin Lux)
2019 Vincent Wine Company Gamay Noir Willamette Valley. Bright ruby-violet throughout, maybe pinker at the outermost edge, transparent but not visually insubstantial. The nose has more of a feral profile than I normally associate with the bottling, doesn’t evoke dampness but still an animal to leafy quality, very slow to release notes of lavender and lilac, same for the generally red berry fruit scents. Light-bodied with a grip like that a claw more than a fist, the structure feels uneven in its presentation. Good stoniness with dry brown dirt, however, to me still can’t shake that borderline foxy quality, moments of bandaid. Anise, orange to grapefruit citrus, suggestion of mint, the acidity gives it a nice shove forward through the finish. On the fence about it but do have three more bottles to check in on going forward. (Composite Cork)
2015 Becker Vineyards Cabernet Franc Texas High Plains Reserve. Normal purple core washing into rust red and brick red hues, clean if dull. The bell pepper rings out clear as a bell in the nose, the oak makeup isn’t overwrought, more cream than toast and heavy on the coffee accents, florality expands as it opens, basic plum, currant to cherry fruit, certainly enjoyable enough. Close to full-bodied, soft and supple in texture. In a perfect world would display more acidic spine. Coffee, vanilla, crème fraîche spread wide to balance out the bell pepper, all but identical to the nose. Floral here as well, minty with a touch of anise. Syrupy blackberry, cherry fruit, reddish blue complexion. Typically I’d say this isn’t in my wheelhouse but it is a simple pleasure and that’s what I needed when the cork was popped.