Domaine Lafond Roc-Epine Lirac 2014
Generous, layered black fruit on opening: black cherries and blackberries held aloft by underbrush, anise and baking spice aromas. Composed of 70% Grenache and 30% Syrah, Domaine Lafond’s 2014 Lirac Roc-Epine is softly textured, a deep plunge into black fruit and velvety tannins—it’s entirely voluptuous, with no-hard edges, save for spice notes on the finish, […]
Domaine de Boède Les Grès 2009
Succulent notes of smoky plums, marionberries, figs, and camphor with perhaps more ethereal notes of incense, iron, and game. Given the nose, one expects this Langedoc blend of Mourvedre, Grenache, Syrah, and Carignan to be big-boned and brawny on the palate—it comes across as mid-weight, a good thing, I think, tempered by a healthy of […]
Seed Red Wine 2014
Pronounced, layered aromas of blackberries, plums, lavender and lilac, the 2014 Red is Seed Wine’s inaugural release and is composed of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Malbec and 10% Cabernet Franc. Aged for 16 months on new French oak, this polished Argentine red exhibits fabulous purity of fruit at the core, cradled in fine, velvety tannins. […]
Domaine de la Sangliere Côtes De Provence Rosé 2015
Domaine de la Sanglière’s basic Côtes De Provence Rosé is all nervy mineral verve, with the merest touch of tantalizing underripe melon and raspberry shining through. Fruit is nearly absent on the palate, as though it has been brushed clean, or is a layer that has been artfully peeled away. What remains in its place […]
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-St.-Vivant 1999
Breathtaking, transcendant and pure, the 1999 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanée-St.-Vivant is a woven tapestry of raspberries, cinnamon bark and fresh pastry, along with subtle touches of earth, underbrush, and lilting minerality. More diaphanous than the ’99 La Tâche or Richebourg, the words that this wine conjures are vibrant, ethereal, fine-boned and mineral-edged. This is […]
Château de Roquefort Corail Côtes de Provence Rosé 2015
Château de Roquefort Corail Côtes de Provence 2015″ width=”200″ height=”200″ /></a>An old-school blend of 35% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 25% Cinsault, 5% Carignan, 5% Rolle, and 5% Clairette, Château de Roquefort’s 2015 Corail Rosé dances and shimmers in the glass with abundantly pretty notes of Queen Anne’s Cherries, market strawberries, and fine mineral nuance. It’s quite […]
Château de Berne Pur Côtes De Provence Rosé 2015
The Berne Pur Côtes De Provence 2015 is quite possibly the palest Provençal rosé I’ve seen on the market, clear at the rim with a very pale salmon hue visible at the widest part of the glass, my dinner companions and I wondered if this is because of heightened demand for very pale rosé, it’s […]
Herdade do Esporão Esporão Reserva 2013
A brawny, if slightly gamey and wild blend of Alicante Bouschet, Aragonez, Trincadeira, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2013 Esporão Reserva Tinto is all plums, spice, vanilla and earthiness. In the mouth, it really shows it’s heft, with equal doses of tart sour cherry and raw cranberry-esqe acidity dowsed in firm tannins and a bit of […]
Falesco Montiano Lazio IGT 2012
Subtle but not subdued, the 2012 Falesco Montiano is crafted from 100% single-vineyard Merlot. Sweet Italian plums, black cherries, underbrush, dust, worn leather, decaying rose petals and sandalwood lead into a wine that is fuller and a touch lusher than one might expect for an Old World Merlot. Fine, polished tannins aptly frame red and […]
Alamos Red Blend 2014
The parent company of widely-distributed Alamos is Catena, a winery that is one of the foremost in Mendoza. Alamos is easy and very drinkable considering it’s price point. The 2014 Red Blend has a nose that is bursting with dark Hudson cherries, juicy plums and a playful whiff of wild underbrush. The attack is equally […]