• 2023 White Walnut Estate Chardonnay
Popped open For Science. I was blown away by the distinctive style; my wife was less impressed. I have a love/hate relationship with reduction and this was decidedly on the love side of the ledger. Complicated aromas of lemon, fresh grass, concrete, brine, bouquet garni. High acidic lift. I’ll probably keep the rest in the cellar because as interesting as this was, it was also clearly infanticide. For me the hype is real.
Been sitting on @Claire_Hill’s bottles for a few years and I’m glad I did. This is great!
I’m dreading the day I have to open my last bottle of Mourvedre… Such a lovely wine.
2007 Cabot Tributary. 2/3 Zin, 1/3 Syrah, a drop of Viognier. I got this as part of the “Aged Zin” pack. My TN from CellarTracker:
Dark purple, dense but not fully opaque. A touch of bricking at the edges.
On the nose: dense red a black fruits- mulberries, blackberries, Concord grapes, and some lavender type florals, cinnamon spice, and licorice. It smells really good.
Medium bodied with a surprisingly high zingy acidity. Tannins are getting sanded though some fine grained tannins are left towards the finish. The flavors have some berry fruit and bright red cherry that is still very fresh along with some dried herbs, dried florals, just a tiny little of bit of Syrah-ish beef jerky.
This is really good stuff that is, to my palate, in the perfect spot. Drink it if you have it.
Yes. Frequently. Baer Ursa. Cabot Confluence. DV8 (my favorite wine name). Riverain, Loring, Sojourn, Tercero, Apollo’s Praise, Jean Edwards, Wesmar, EMH, Stereophonic, The Italian guy who made nebbiolo in California (name forgotten) probably a bunch more that I first founds from Berserkerday. So far, I have had one dud, not listed above, that I will not name because I try not to trash the little guy.
There’s of a lot of good stuff out there.
I think the Italian guy is Castelli.
Pietro at Prima Materia?
I think he’s remembering Emilio Castelli.
-Al
2023 Suzor ‘the wild child’
A skin-contact Pinot Gris from the Willamette. This is a fun wine if you like the style. A nose reminiscent of a fruit kettle sour beer; the brightest of red fruit on the palate with a back end of raspberry syrup, and of course, a good dollop of acidity. We had it with fresh mozzarella and a good olive oil. Perfect on a crisp spring day in Boston. Thanks for the deal @Greg_McClellan
I had one of these in November and it absolutely blew me away.
Pulled this a few days ago and opened tonight. Needed 2 hours but drinking well.
A Cali Neb, but not the one he’s thinking. As mentioned above.
Thanks so much. We use Oregon Amphorae for aging half of the wine. The other half in neutral french oak. The wine ferments on the skins for about 12 days prior to pressing. Such a fun wine!
Currently finishing up the Keller Estates Preciso. The floral rose notes jumped out when I popped it, but the more it opens I get a lot of red fruit. There is this earthy/twigs/branch note that provides a bit of body.The wine seemingly gets lighter from dark berry to raspberry as it opens. There’s good acidity/oak to balance as well.
This was coravined a month or two ago, leaked a bit but ultimately needed a lot more oxygen to show it’s colors.
@JoeL13 thank you!! We just made some brats (no ketchup) and popped that wine. #chicagostyle
• 2022 Sabelli-Frisch Mission Milk Fed 9 Somers Vineyard
This really came together for me this, second, time around. From CT review:
Was it an extra year in the cellar or a different bottle or just a different attitude from me? For whatever reason, a year after my last taste of this the wine was firing on all cylinders. Enjoyable last time, now it had a mix of cranberry/cherry/raspberry, fennel seed, burnt herbs, and had the same intriguing creamy mouthfeel as before. Just terrific.
I was suspicious of this comment, so in an abundance of caution I decided to open this today to see for myself.
Yup, you were right – it is excellent. I wasn’t really suspicious of your comment – until today, I had never tried a red Arabilis, but since the whites I’ve tried have been great, I had been looking for a reason to pop one of the reds. Your post was as good a reason as any, so thanks for that.
Anyway, this has a nice balance between red cherry pit and earthiness. It is very young and lively, and it probably would have a long life ahead of it if I could manage to save a bottle (betting against myself on that one).
Didn’t have any Brats on hand. How was that combo? Oh, yeah – thanks again for the epic BD offer!
Valdiguié? This is interesting:
On opening, this is very fruity and fun. With air, a little sandstone-like minerality mixes in. Maybe some dried herb? Whatever – this is very fresh and lively, like a bowl of red raspberries with some extra things. To say this wine is fun would be an understatement – it is tons of fun – but it also would detract from the fact that is a well made, serious wine. So, when I say this is “fun” wine, I mean “really good.”
Thanks @LauraGabriel !
Thanks Brad!! If you liked this one… hot tip we just released our 2025 vintage on our website and it is slapping! We made less than 100 cases and a wine shop in SF is about to take half of it for their wine club, so if you like it grab some more bottles soon!!! Glad you’re enjoying your mystery case.
We opened a 2015 Baer Ursa for the family yesterday. Solid 92-93 point wine with good dark fruit and well integrated tannins and medium long finish.
2024 EDWCY UFO White blend:
Very unusual white blend that, to me, smells initially like a Bordeaux Blanc on the nose. Definite sauvignon blanc greenness along with some heavier waxy and lemony aromas in the background.
What a palate- as others have mentioned, it is both fruity, immediately pleasing, but with layers of flavors that reward attention. Sweet lemon, yellow flowers, honey dew and cantaloupe, cream, crushed rocks. Light body with medium acidity and a decently long finish. Great stuff and perfect to accompany grilled salmon eaten outside on a humid uncharacteristically hot late spring evening.
@Saul_Mutchnick slaps!
