2017 Stereophonic Wines Paso Robles “No Chains Can Hold You”. The purple cores yields to a crimson to scarlet 
, dark and fully hued without any undue saturation. The nose is the proverbial slug to the jaw, big burst of black fruits, tea leaf, tar and a stripe of menthol, pleasing cleansing sensations and you can almost smell the tannin, not all that nuanced but displays utmost confidence. Based off the nose surprisingly medium-bodied and compact, the sweet plum, currant, boysenberry fruit channeled by the tannin rather than opposed. Here the oak cream more evident and likely contributes to softening the overall texture. Rose water, naval orange pulp, and some leather. Every time it tries to speak up, the Aglianico smacks the Cabernet around like a little brother. Air time didn’t change it appreciably. Probably at its peak in 3-4 more years. 77% Aglianico, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petite Sirah, 1% Syrah. (Composite Cork: Diam5)
2020 Clos de la Roilette Fleurie. Ruby-magenta to violet in hue, glows and shines at once, flushed rims with full transparency. While there’s a jamminess to the raspberry, blueberry, strawberry scents the nose manages to stay fairly high-toned with stone dust, paper ash, sandy earth components chiming in, hint of leavening grassiness, as you get used to it more dusty than jammy. Medium-bodied and lighter towards the end, the acidity does a good job of slimming it down as it moves forward. Tart juiciness to the mixed berry fruit with a citrus tingle. Campfire smoke and earth. Anise and violets. User friendly enough that you might underestimate the underlying complexity. Rolling finish. Expect age to bring even more clarity and purpose to it.
2020 Les Vins Contés (Olivier Lemasson) Vin du France, Loire “Cheville de Fer” (Malbec). Gentle gauziness to the violet, cranberry red hues, almost pinkish rims. Peppery and floral nose, minerally in a dusty way, tart and sinewy raspberry, cherry scents, strong cleansing lift, enjoyable equally for aromas and sensory textures. Light-bodied with credible tannic webbing so it doesn’t feel wimpy at all. Very dependent on a stony, minerally element for effect which emphasizes cleanliness. Flowers and lighter lemon zest bring in some prettiness. Good snap in the red berry, cherry fruit, ripeness with no excess sweetness. Finishes on a dime, palate prepped for the next sip. Not sure where it would go but certainly has the structure to age.
2020 Les Vins Contés (Olivier Lemasson) Vin du France, Loire “Poivre et Sel” Violet to garnet, good darkness without impairing the shine, very pretty. The nose is dominated by stone dust and sand along with equally dusty white pepper, high-toned and shows an herbaceous streak, mix of raspberry, blackberry fruit scents, touch of apple. Medium-bodied, firm tannic skeleton shapes more than impedes. The sap in the mixed berry fruit prevents the natural inclination to dustiness from gaining sway. The grassiness here too ratchets up the treble. Never fully develops the citrus dimension. The white pepper consistent throughout, a solid organizing principle. High energy wine that could prove cellarable but there’s a good argument to drink them all up now. 90% Pineau d’Aunis, 10% Gamay Noir.
2020 Coudert Fleurie “Cuvée Christie”. Richly hued from the purple through the pinkish magenta, lively glow in the glass. The nose rife with mixed berry fruit and accents of cinnamon and ginger, orange peel, to sage, more moderate leather presence, showing quite primary. Medium-bodied, fairly firm tannins, perhaps why it sheds weight as it progresses. Spicy before sweet, the raspberry, blackberry, blueberry flavors crest in the middle while turning tart. Touch more leathery here with a stony, sandy sort of earthiness. Hints at a florality it never really delivers on. Has an edge to it which makes it more of a food pairing candidate than casual sipper. (Synthetic Cork: Nomacorc Select Green 500)
2015 Olga Raffault Chinon “Les Picasses”. The purple core yields easily to more brick red hues, much lighter rims, perfect clarity throughout. There’s some funk to the nose at first, dissipates with minimal air, leather, wood spice, tar, tree bark and twigs, seems to be entering an intermediate stage as the cherry, currant fruit still holds the upper hand, to me no trace of bell pepper. Light-bodied in a velvety way, what’s there clings to the palate. Leather, stony, slightly muddy earth yet it does possess good cleanliness. Touch surprised by how fruit dominant it is. Tobacco laden finish as well as retronasally. Dry not drying finish. Given the pedigree of this bottling really had to think about it but I am going to go with medium term ager, not going to be one of those all but immortal vintages. Can see it getting more pungent over time with the fruit fading making it tough to find the sweet spot between the two.
2020 Filliatreau Saumur-Champigny “La Grande Vignolle”. Purple to red magenta, super saturated and glowing, very good clarity. The nose has a textural plumpness to it, moment of tobacco ash and black pepper then a wave of cassis, cherry, plum scents, finding the bell pepper to be a bit player. Medium-bodied, plenty of flesh on it while managing a compact presentation. Tannin a touch below average, made more perceptibly so by that abundance of fruit. Quite floral here, adds to an expansive inner mouth perfume. Even a note of gingerbread spice. That ash element submerged until the finish, same for the bell pepper. Pleasingly long finish. Would deem it a medium term ager while open for business today. (Synthetic Cork: Nomacorc of vegetable origin)
2020 Damien Bureau Vin de France, Loire “La Poivrotte” (Pineau d’Aunis). Mainly watermelon red to pink, barely deepens into purple at the core, transparent with a slight gauziness, did show some fizz during the pour. There’s some barnyard funk and cow pattie to the nose, pleasant strawberry, raspberry scents, not getting any pepperiness nor stoniness. Light-bodied with a velvety texture so what’s there clings decently. Perhaps overly tannic for the level of fruit, starts drying out prematurely prior to the finish. A burst of lemon zest now or then, here there is a certain pebble, sand aspect, however, it tends to make the wine feel more inert. The palate doesn’t feel “reset” for the next sip. Lacks the snap and zip to meet expectations. (Composite Cork)
2002 Nicolas Potel Volnay Pitures. From a distance takes on a purple core but up close it’s a mixture of dried blood red, sunset orange and a rim of yellow, good clarity, overall looks its age. At first the nose brings serious shoe polish and sous bois, if you are patient enough it segues into pressed flowers, roof tar, leather and fennel, the blackberry, cherry scents cruising along at half their age. Medium-bodied, has a firm tannic skeleton but when it touches the palate there is a gentle reserve. Sometimes it seems to apologize for its more clumsy moments, like it hasn’t grown into itself yet. The cherry, blackberry, blueberry fruit mentholated into a streamlined lift. That said, there’s no doubt it has faded from its youth. Leather, loamy earth, fennel and sage. Its genial awkwardness prevents you from reaching a definitive conclusion. It’s the protagonist of a John Waters coming of age film.
1999 Château Lagrange Saint-Julien. Credible amount of purple left in the core, beyond that it’s sunset red with an orange aura, good clarity. The nose gets a little poopy at first before stabilizing into blood iron, pressed flowers, sweet cedar, and still yet a kiss of creamy vanillin oak, mild paucity of fruit which seems to run reddish in nature. Medium-bodied, trimmed down into a more dapper silhouette even as the tannin consistently percolates under the surface. Taut currant, cherry fruit stretches as far as it can across the palate. There remains a floral, citrusy, lavender aspect. Oak most evident as wood tannin rather than flavor. The “classic” elements are present yet lacking in resonance. To its credit in keeping with my most recent assessment of August 2015 that it had peaked because at least it didn’t fall off a cliff. 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot.
1995 Château Le Boscq Saint-Estèphe. Retains a decent enough purple core, otherwise it’s full-on bricking with a close to orange aura. The nose is full of stones and pebbles, close to backward, cracked leather, dried cigar leaf, maybe dried bell pepper too, not much fruit left but enough going on not that much missed. Medium-bodied, much more inner mouth perfume than flavors per se, swirls around. Vanilla and oak toast, bell pepper, tarry earth, pebbles, orange peel. Tannin still packing some punch and based on this combined with the paucity of mixed black fruits it’s past peak but not by a whole lot. Finishes a bit surly. Needed it the steak it got as accompaniment. Unspecified percentages of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, etc.
2003 Domaine du Closel Savennières Clos du Papillon “Moëlleux”. Okay, the color has definitely moved into amber orange territory even if not excessively so, clarity level is fine, a bit shimmering, rims run watery. The nose at first comes off as waxy before moving onto candied orange peel, poached peach, apricot fruit, honey, and brown sugar, never gets that smoky but maybe to be expected with the vintage (which may be why a Moëlleux bottling even exists). Medium-bodied, firm if not that acidic, you can sense that time has tightened the skin some. Still, at least through attack to the mid-palate lots of peach, apricot, pear fruit with a nice adornment of orange, lemon citrus. Here that brown sugar or molasses does take on a smoky patina. Nothing all that complex and to its credit expected the residual sugar to have diminished much more than it has. A gift bottle from LDM as part of a mixed case. I used to take vacation days from “real” work to work the LDM fall tastings in a venue space above their office. Full day of emptying spit buckets, cleaning glasses, pouring samples, and watching Joe give the “Heisman” to people at the door. Good times.
2001 Domaine de l’Ecu Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie “Expression de Granit”. While it’s on the way to amber there’s a solid golden base left to the coloration, rims close to hueless. The nose is smoky but there’s also a surfeit of yeasty, doughy notes, something about it smells like a spirit, smattering of peach to apricot remains, no real citrus nor stone presence, there is some lift so it’s not flat and dead. Medium-bodied, here there is some flatness to the palate. However, the acidity shows life and there are some citrus notes. Touch of baked ham which sort of fits with the biscuit, bready component. Opens up and gains breadth as it warms. I am still dipping into the pool of aged Muscadet I have and this is one of the better examples of the well aged ones.
2005 La Pépière Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine “Granite de Clisson”. The lighter gold coloration has finally given up in the face of encroaching darker gold to incipient amber shades, maintains fine clarity and pools well into the glass. The nose is offputtingly flat, yeasty in spite of the wine not being “sur lie” and there’s something akin to plastic going on, beynd this there’s a more pleasant anise element plus apricot pit but frankly didn’t enjoy sniffing it. Flat in the mouth too but shows a lot more life, medium-bodied, wouldn’t call it svelte but there’s clear lines to it. The yeastiness balanced out by richer apple, pear, apricot fruit flavors. Plus that anise, licorice thing. Otherwise, no real citrus presence nor really noticeable stoniness or such. Air but more so warming helped it fill out even if it wasn’t with much. To be fair, I wasn’t crazy about this on release but figured others knew better than I.
2019 Tenuta delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso “Guardiola Vecchie Vigna” (Nerello Mascalese). Crystal clear and sparkling ruby to rose red, fades some along the rims. Reticent nose of sand, ash and leather, high-toned enough to dampen resonance, the white grapefruit fares better than any mixed berry, cherry fruit scents. Light-bodied, tannic but not excessively so, the dryness just slows down palate progression to a crawl. Tarry and leathery in a fresh manner, never gets clumpy nor funky. The red cherry, strawberry fruit verges on Jolly Rancher concentration, has a green apple note or two as well. Tried to give it extra air but this didn’t change the impression. Just not enough flesh on its bones to hit my pleasure zone.
2017 Chris James Cellars Yamhill-Carlton District Estate Vineyard Lagrein. The deep purple core allows for only thin scarlet to crimson rims, fine level of clarity as well as surface shine. Pleasing leather and earth aspect to the nose, clean overall, touches of citrus and tobacco, unadorned, plenty of tautness in the dark berry to Italian plum fruit scents. Medium-bodied, shows equal amounts of polish and tannic bite, the latter in the final stages of quieting down. Spicy attack enlivened further by white grapefruit. The blackberry, blueberry to red currant fruit full of snap, crackle, and pop, aided by insistent acidity. The leather and tobacco more muted but comes across as more minerally. Fresh and energetic, presentation stays consistent from first opening to an hour or two into the bottle. Well done. (Synthetic Cork)
2019 Vincent Wine Company Willamette Valley Pinot Blanc “Tardive”. Worn gold color, while faint there’s a glow to it which helps fill the glass, somewhat block-like. Nice citrusy aspect to the nose, still its fullness strikes you most, minty at first then goes to melon, pear, apricot fruit, gets a bit more vanillin or whipped cream approaching room temperature, the weight doesn’t impair freshness. Medium-bodied, firm without seeming muscular. Acidity seems good plus but hard to gauge as the flesh lasts well into the finish. More peach and apricot here than melon. By the same token the mint transmutes into licorice. It is insistent in its relaxed nature. Turns the neat trick of gaining clarity warmer rather than colder. Enough so you could argue to just serve at cellar temperature. Have a bottle in said cellar and interested to see what a few years brings to it. (Composite Cork)
2018 Mas Martinet Priorat “Menut”. Simple ruby violet color, well endowed but not flashy, nice clarity. The nose at first features candied red berry fruit which quickly gets swallowed up in stone and sand, swiftly floral, does evoke the sun drenched hard terrain from which it comes. Medium-bodied, same effect here where the fruit is all sweet and gregarious upfront to then get pushed aside by tannin and dusty earth. Then the next sip repeats it and so on. So it’s a jekyll and hyde experience, airtime does little to resolve the tension. As a result, I’d say it demands food to bridge the gap and harmonize things. That said, sturdy and shows care in its crafting. 40% Grenache, 20% Carignan, 30% Syrah, 10% Merlot.