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Domaine Saint AIX Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence Rosé 2015

Domaine Saint Aix Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence Rosé 2015

Consistently good, the Saint Aix AIX Rosé 2015 is pale peach in the glass. Aromatically expressive, it’s a kaleidoscope of white peach, melon, golden raspberries and line dried linen. In the mouth, it’s refreshing. It’s light, but layered too—here, minerality emerges and signs against a backdrop of ever-changing fruit. A great entertaining wine. 13.0% ABV […]

Château Marjosse Bordeaux Blanc 2014

Château Marjosse Bordeaux Blanc 2014

Slightly smoky, flinty notes precede underripe pineapple, canned pear, gooseberry and grass. The 2014 Château Marjosse Bordeaux Blanc is inexpensive, moderate in weight, expressive in temperament—fleshy tropical and orchard fruit give way to leaner tones of white grapefruit. The oak component serves as more or less a backdrop, and the finish tapers off without fanfare. […]

Château Auney l’Hermitage Graves Blanc 2015

Château Auney l'Hermitage Graves Blanc 2015

Château Auney’s Graves Blanc 2015 is an elegant composition of 65% Semillon, 20% Muscadelle, and 15% Sauvignon Blanc harvested from small, organically farmed two-hectare parcel planted in gravel, clay and limestone soil. Barrel aging has graced it with softer tones of lemon curd, golden apple, and pear layered with a pinch of forest honey and […]

Domaines Schlumberger Les Princes Abbés Pinot Noir Alsace 2014

Domaines Schlumberger Les Princes Abbés Pinot Noir Alsace 2014

From Pinot Noir vines grown in limestone and marl, the initial impression is somewhat vegetative—dried moss and damp tilth, with a daub of iron ore. It’s a quality that burns off like morning fog. With time and air, a different suite of aromas surface, classic notes of alpine strawberries and sour cherries. It’s sweet, round […]

Clos du Joncuas Côtes du Rhône Villages Séguret Domaine de la Garancière 2015

Clos du Joncuas Côtes du Rhône Villages Séguret Domaine de la Garancière 2015

From organically farmed old-vine Grenache, with a smidge of Carignan and Cinsault. The 2015 Domaine la Garancière Seguret radiates black fruit on the nose—a bit deceptive because the true red-fruited character of Grenache comes through on the palate. Layered flavors of raspberry turnover, roasted strawberries, and a suggestion of black blackstrap molasses dissolves into chewy […]

Laurent Perrachon Juliénas Les Vignes Centenaires 2015

Laurent Perrachon Juliénas Les Vignes Centenaires

A bright, angular wine with an acid core that serves as the fulcrum around which other aspects of this wine flows. The 2015 Laurent Perrachon Juliénas Vieilles Vigne Centenaires displays slightly chewy tannins encasing bright cranberries and rose hips that merge with crushed watercress and chervil followed by stratified, rock strewn soil. 13.0% ABV | […]

Bollig-Lehnert Trittenheimer Apotheke Riesling Kabinett 2014

Bollig-Lehnert Trittenheimer Apotheke Riesling Kabinett 2014

Perhaps the most thrilling aspect of the 2014 Bollig-Lehnert Trittenheimer Apotheke Kabinett Riesling is the mouth-tingling interplay of salinity and acid set against a backdrop of unctuous yellow peach and apricot. It delivers the palate tension that just goes on and on, with a mouthwatering burst of lime zest and green tea. An outstanding Mosel […]

Blason-Louis Sancerre 2012 (Flacon)

Blason-Louis Sancerre 2012 (Flacon)

A new and novel offering from Blason Lewis—these flacons are the equivalent of a 3.5 oz glass. Robed in bright translucent ruby, the 2012 Blason Lewis Sancerre is fresh and vibrant, boasting aromas of red currants, raspberries, pie cherries, and damp earth. In the mouth, fine tannins and bright acidity add lift and structure to […]

Jean-Luc Colombo Les Pins Couchés Rosé 2016

Jean-Luc Colombo Les Pins Couchés Rosé 2016

Conch shell pink, Jean-Luc Colombo’s Les Pins Couchés Rosé is a pretty blend of 67% Syrah and 33% Mourvedre sourced from Cape Bleue, a maritime-influenced site just outside Marseille. The 2016 delivers white peaches, raspberries, cherries, and line-dried linen, but what I’m most excited about what this wine does on the palate. The influence of […]

Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Silex 2007

Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Silex 2007

The best Pouilly-Fumé I’ve tasted in a long while—the 2007 Silex was indeed a special bottle, the last vintage Dagueneau crafted before a crash in an ultralight plane cut his life and career short. Full and nuanced without being weighty, ever changing and evolving in the glass. Lemon curd, apple blossom, dried honey, and dried […]

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR

christine@christine-havens.com