Great article. I had a Rosenthal selection last night - the 2007 Cru dāArche Pugneau [Sauternes] which was solid enough. I actually find most of his choices to be more cloying than my tastes are, but thatās of course over a limited sampling. I have always felt he gets more attention that he should based on his friendship with Eric Asimov, so his portfolio is always getting chatted up in mass media.
Cloying??? Hard to think of a portfolio thatās more the opposite.
He gets attention because heās the guy who brought Lignier, Fourrier, Barthod, Levet, Ferrando, and too many other legends to count.
Thanks for flagging. Trying out something new from Rosenthal is always one of the more exciting importers to trust blindly for me, and by extension we really enjoy his specialty foods. Olive oils are the best.
Iām always curious as to early indicators of who will be the under 40ish? equivalent to be a big name for the next / my generation. If thats even possible in the future.
Rob Panzer is bringing in good and interesting Burgs, German Riesling plus some RhƓne and Bubblies from unheralded appellations and up-and-coming winemakers.
Thinking here of Lafouge, Audoin, Mallard, H. Magnien to name a few in Burgundy.
Sorrel, Clusel-Roch in the RhƓne. Richter (and more) in Germany.
I donāt follow Bubbly so much as others do but I see nice offerings there too.
I think the guys at Source Material wines are bringing in unique and undiscovered German gems, and I find their offer emails to be instructive and interesting in a Thiese-y way. TMTC (too many to count) producers and grapes to name.
Not an importer, but Wm. Kellyās clear and helpful Burgundy reviews often highlight unheralded areas and winemakers too. It makes him a strong contender for the mantle of ānext Alan Meadows/Burghoundā in my opinion.
Yep. Iāve yet to have a disappointing wine from his Italian selection and really love how he seeks out traditional, family growers. The bios and information on his website are always excellent.
Over a couple of days, Iāve been half heartedly sipping on the 2021 Ch. Valcombe āLes Hauts Valcombeā rouge [Ventoux] which is a lean, taut grenache/syrah blend. Itās the second wine from the property, coming from high (1000 ft) North facing plots, so it a different version of a ācountry Frenchā red, versus a coarse grapey typecast. The fruit is organic and only lightly sulfured, with concrete fermentation & elevage, so in theory it should be transmitting its region without interference. Despite all that great background, itās underwhelming for my tastes. Iāll certainly finish^ - and enjoy - the bottle, but compared to other Ventoux that make it stateside, like Argiles or Pesquie, it has a saline/savory/rhubarb aspect rather than the (expected) spicy Rhone fruit. Perhaps this blend might appeal to the AFWE palate looking for a bright / lithe value red; the 13% abv is low for our modern era / climate. No sediment, closed with DIAM3.
For my tastes, Iād slot this Rosenthal selection into the B or B- zone.
^ I tried, but failed. [added later]
Neal Rosenthal sold a majority interest in his company to Equity Incline Partners a few years back. That firm created Vieux Vins Group which is made up of Rosenthalās wines and the Rare Wine Co portfolio. Not sure how much Neal is still involved or Manny Berk, founder of Rare Wine?