Wine Musings Vol#36

Wine of Merit: ***++Schloss Gobelsburg Urgenstein riesling, Weingut, 2005: Another Austrian Riesling winner, this from the young vines of two grand cru vineyards. This wine could probably use some bottle aging, but is still a pleasure to drink in its youth. Bright, zippy acids accompany focused, delineated tropical fruit, lichee, lemon blossom and freshly mown grass elements. Excellent mineral content. The finish is long and spicy. Dynamite wine from an excellent vintage. A lovely wine for now and for later.

***++Brewer Clifton Blanc des blanc, Santa Maria Valley, 1993 (late disgorged): I am a huge fan of this wine and it continues to surprise and delight. Like an effervescent Corton Charlemagne, this wine offers tapioca, lemon curd and linseed notes, adding honey, waxed fruit and tobacco now. Palette is alive if mellowing, with minerals and more citrus notes. In a world awash with average bubbly, this is a great change up. Stately and yet yummy at the same time. Too good.

***++Flowers Sonoma Coast, pinot noir, 2002: This on the other hand is a no brainer. Wonderful, youthful, seamless, not over the top but with plenty of stuffing. I tend to dig the cooler climate of the Sonoma Coast for pinot – and Flowers knows Sonoma Coast pinot. Similar in style to some of the better Williams Selyem, this wine is well endowed without ever coming across as heavy or obvious. Great concentration and depth, with just the right amount of oak nuances to accompany the varietal fruit, cola, cream and tea rose notes. Palette coating integrated front to back. Really an easy wine to enjoy and very worthy of compliment. Nice!

***Rochioli Russian River Valley sauvignon blanc, 2005: Righteous. I have always felt that Rochioli and Peter Michael make the quintessential California sauvignon blanc, though they are very different in style. This wine is all about purity and focus. Bright grapefruit and guava notes zap themselves right at you from the glass, with a touch of grassy lavender. The palate is lively and crisp, adding slightly under ripe honey dew, though this vintage does show some vanilla and almond notes from the wood barrels. Quenching and delicious. P.S. A recent tasting of the 2006 showed everything the 2005 had…just more. It adds a plus for a ***+.

***Nicolas Joly, Clos de la Culee de Sarrant, Savennieres, 1985: The Prestige Chenin Blanc bottling from this Loire valley winery, which has the unusual distinction of having its own appellation. This particular vintage represents the first bottling after the winery converted to biodynamic farming (Moooo!). Vibrant and surprisingly youthful color and clarity. Somewhat restrained nose of honey, clover, wet hay and quince. The palate is round and expansive, offering many of the same fruit elements with the addition of a nice mineral note. The finish was silky but beginning to fade. Elegant.

***Bodega R. Lopez Heredia, Vina Tondia, Gran Riserva, Ribera del duero, 1981: I think this is a wine that either really speaks to you – or doesn’t. I mean, I bet the Brits really dig this wine. It is old and nuanced in kind of more dead than alive ways. But I understand it. Faded garnet to the rim, this sage wine offers red, plumy, spicy fruit, saddle leather, panforte and graphite nose, again all ebbing rather than flowing. The palate is completely resolved but again offers some interesting garden vegetable and mature fruit elements to accompany a lovely mineral signature that is seamless front to back. A wine to appreciate if not enjoy…

Wine Musings Vol#4

From notes taken November, 2005:

Wine of Merit: ****+Brewer Clifton blanc de blanc, 1993: Rocked my world. I am something of a champagne snob too, so I was ready to be unimpressed with a sparkler from Santa Maria. Late disgorged (2000) this wine is mature in color, with hugely expressive notes of lemon custard, marzipan, bread pudding, anise and great citrus zest. Amazingly deep and balanced all the way to the citrus, hazelnut finish. Pound the table good. The kicker – about $25 a bottle if you can find it. I would happily trade some Winston Churchill or Palmes D’Or for this any day. Make it your holy grail and go get some now. Only problem – a silly bottle which makes cellaring a bitch.

***Kim Crawford, Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, 2004: I am not a big NZ sauv blanc guy. This is delicious, screw top and all. Great citrus and some grassiness but well integrated with apple and pear notes. A smoothness that makes me think it spent some time in oak. At $10.97 (that’s right $10 buck chuck!) you cannot beat this with a stick. Best QPR wine, along with the Buehler RRV, I think I have ever had.

???Bedford Road Sauvignon Blanc 2005: Maybe just too young. Secondary fermentation in the bottle, confused flavors of citrus melon and peach, no finish. I’ll let the rest of the case sit until summer.

**+Orin Swift “The Prisoner”, 2004: Quickly becoming a cult wine in Napa – small production though not impossible to find (Park Ave. in the city has it). $35-ish. Cool label and name. The wine makes you think of those crazy, over the top Clarendon Hills Grenache wines or a Colgin Cabernet. Huge, syrupy blackberry and blueberry fruit. Mocha. Intense candied violets. Velvety, full mouth-feel with coating, furry tannins on the finish. Fat (15%+ alch). Drink-up, it won’t last in the cellar, IMHO. I can see why people dig it. Not really my style. Parker will give it a Turley-like 96, his palate is so dead that these are the only kind of wines that break through for him.

**+Orin Swift Sauvignon Blanc, 2004: From the Tofanelli vineyard. Nice enough. Bright, melon, white peach, grassy, wet boxwood, citrus. Very varietal. New Zealand Sauv Blanc from Cali. Drink Cloudy Bay or Goldwater Dog Point from NZ and get the same glass of wine. I’ll stick with Rochioli, Araujo, Long or a decent Cotat Sancerre. Buy More? No.

***+Failla Keefer Vineyard Pinot Noir, 2003. Are you kidding? Fantastic! Color is bright ruby, clarity suggests unfined / unfiltered. Blind I would have said Williams Selyem Allen Vineyard. Laser bright cherry/raspberry, green tea, cinnamon stick, lavender, sage, coffee bean. Perfect integration and great balance which suggests complexity with aging. . EB: “Easy to drink” Ditto! I am told this is a $30 bottle of wine. It is worth $60+. Robert Parker AND Steve Tanzer gave this an 88, insuring that you will find it at a decent price. Everyone who stopped by rated it number one. Buy more? Absolutely.

**++Whetstone Hirsch Vineyard Pinot Noir, 2003. Very typical Hirsch. Darker in color, black cherry/plum, cola, sandalwood incense, more complex, a bit thin on the mid palate, which does not bode well for the long term. Nice, but at close to $50 a pop I pass on more.