Over the weekend wines:
The 2011 Virage was the WoTW (wine of the weekend) for me; the Viberti Papalot was WotW for my bride. I knew it — I had this first at a Voix de la Terre Barolo evening in Manhattan and I knew it was squarely in the Mrs’s wheelhouse.
This is not to say the Aisana disappointed. Far from it — it was a learning experience about how to serve it more than anything else.
2022 Osvaldo Viberti Nascetta Langhe Papalot
Citrus, lily-like florals, sage on the nose. Lovely mix of pear, lemon, rosemary/sage on the palate. Was a bit reticent on first opening, reflecting excessive chilling. A slight warm up and air really helped let this wine sing.
Addendum a day later. The acidity is more noticeable but a new sea brine/seaweed scent has been added to the mix.
2011 Virage Vineyards Bordeaux Blend
Sorry for the fuzzy photo - that’s what I get when I try to mix the steak porn thread with this one….
Followed the advice of some posters on CT and just popped and poured. The right choice — this started singing after only a couple of minutes in the glass. This was a medium bodied, classic CA meritage. Delightful mix of red berries and cherries, light vanilla, a little spice all in beautiful harmony. This wine really set itself apart by giving me a rare spatial idea of the fruit flavors in particular— like they were all scattered evenly around a target. Weird, but a very particular image, like a Star Wars sequence where the lasers lock on target and all the crosshairs line up and flash.
The winery’s notes on the 2011 vintage are instructive btw: they go into detail about how 2011 was not everywhere the bad weather challenge that critics’ summaries relate. This 2011 is a knockout. A great BD purchase.
2022 Kinsman Eades Aisana Sauvignon Blanc.
Great anticipation on this one and it is a fine Sauv Blanc.
Well this was interesting. Made the mistake of serving it too cold - typical Sancerre cold — and this came across as a little too acidic and brusque at that temp. A little warmer — slight chill — and this opens up nicely. Lots of lemon and grapefruit zest, a strong pebbly minerality — it tastes a little like a Graves but, eh, a little too emphatic for that. What it is however is amazingly versatile: it’s a wine for food. In our case that meant charcoal grilled BBQ pork chops with roasted Brussels sprouts. Went great. I can also see this — at a little below room temp — with cheese.
I think I have read some TNs suggesting this is not age worthy. I disagree — I think this has plenty of stuffing to develop extra complexity with several years in the dark.