Bollinger Champagne Brut Rosé NV
Bollinger’s NV Brut Rosé is unfettered elegance, with a shimmering salmon robe and ultra-fine mousse, the nose displays freshly macerated strawberries and raspberries, rose petals and spice. It’s all neatly corseted modest toast, with creaminess at the mid-palate lending depth and weight, softening an otherwise be a bony spine. There is minerality here too, but […]
Domaine Comte Abbatucci Faustine Vieilles Vignes 2012
A Kermit Lynch import, Faustine is a biodynamically-farmed Corsian blend of 70% Sciaccarellu and 30% Niellucciu. Shimmering translucent garnet, it’s lighter in hue and body than Pinot Noir with refined, perfumy aromas of decaying rose petal, white hand soap, forest floor, dried mint, and a hint of spice. In the mouth, it’s taught, red-fruited and […]
Les Vignerons d’Estézargues Côtes du Rhône Villages Domaine d’Andézon 2013
Domain d’Andezon Côtes du Rhône is crafted from a blend of 40 year-old Syrah vines and 60 year-old Grenache vines grown in the arid and galet-laden Southern Rhône. Unfiltered, it’s inky and hunkered with slightly rustic notes of black olive tapenade, dried pen ink, and loamy soil overlaid by juicy boysenberries. In the mouth, there […]
Millésima 2016 Wine Blog Awards
Last Tuesday I received notification that I’d been selected as a finalist in Millésima’s prestigious Wine Blog Awards—a huge honor, since this is the first time I’ve entered my writing into any sort of competition. I’m also incredibly flattered to have been chosen, because the other finalists are writers I’ve long admired, including Pamela Heiligenthal’s […]
Louis Jadot Meursault 2008
This Louis Jadot Meursault was sampled last March, at JoJo Madrid’s aka Burgnut’s beautifully appointed wine shop in Metro Manila, Premium Wine Exchange (if this note tells you anything, it tells you how far behind I am in posting my tasting notes!). Back to the Jadot, the 2008 is fairly brimming over with luscious, ripe, tropical mango […]
Catherine et Pierre Breton Bourgueil Franc de Pied 2013
Not the best vintage of Breton I’ve tasted, the 2013 Catherine et Pierre Breton Bourgueil Franc de Pied offers dusky aromatics of decomposing roses, earthy funk, red forest berries, iron ore and green wood. As is typical of Cabernet Franc grown in this region, it’s acidic, but in this case, in this vintage, too acidic, […]
Domaine Jean David Côtes du Rhône Villages Séguret Les Levants 2012
As memory serves, this is one of my acquisitions from Garagiste, as is typical of Garagiste selections, Jean David is a very small producer, a husband and wife team from the village of Séguret who are committed to what Nicki refers to as “hyper- organic “farming. The vines are very old, though I can not […]
Herb Roasted Rack of Lamb with Fingerling Potatoes and Léoville Las Cases
I love simplicity—in cooking and in maintaining a garden, there is something about a recipe that combines simple flavors, with few ingredients, but does so in a way that the dish has absolute balance and harmony. Such is the case with a rack of lamb, which from a home cook’s standpoint is very simple to […]
Château Léoville Las Cases 1989
The 1989 Léoville Las Cases possesses a deep inner perfume of red currant, rose petals, balsam, graphite and sandalwood. Elegant and weightless, with fine tannins that spread evenly across the palate, like damask silk. There is a wonderful, regal and almost undefinable quality to this second growth. It exhibits both fantastic purity and balance, and […]
Domaine Saint-Remy Crémant d’Alsace Cuvée Prestige NV
The color of sun-bleached straw, the Crémant D Alsace Cuvée Prestige from Domaine Saint-Remy is crafted from 100% biodynamically farmed Chardonnay that is grown in granite-rich soil, in the lieu-dit of St. Gregoir. It emits fresh, lively aromas of biscuit, Meyer lemon zest, granulated honey and trail dust. The palate is light and nimble, with […]