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Juvé & Camps Cava Pinot Noir Rosé Brut

Juvé & Camps Cava Pinot Noir Rosé Brut

Sporting a brilliant robe of vermillion red, Juvé & Camps NV Pinot Noir Rosé Brut opens with red-fruited aromas pie cherries, watermelon, strawberry, pomegranate, and a pinch of spice. Crisp and fresh on the palate, with a degree of softness, this Cava is crafted with 100% Pinot Noir from the winery’s Espiells estate, and goes […]

Blason-Louis Bandol Rosé 2015 (Flacon)

Blason-Louis Bandol Rosé 2015 (Flacon)

Blason Louis offers these novel glass flacons for by-the-glass tasting as part of their wine club, though really, polishing off a bottle of rosé has never been a problem in this household. Their 2015 Bandol Rosé is salmon-hued with aromas of iced coffee, fleshy melon, mandarin orange, and pie cherry. It’s surprisingly full-bodied with lots […]

Laurent-Perrier Champagne Brut NV

Laurent-Perrier Champagne Brut

Pale lemon yellow, Laurent-Perrier’s classically-styled non-vintage brut opens with a cheerful torrent of cascading, brisk bubbles. It’s a clean champagne, full of luscious pear, baked apple, whipped butter, and dusted in granulated honey. Palate cleansing without too much sapidity from the dosage, it closes with a slight mineral edge, and a touch of chamomile flower. […]

Galicia Mare Tămâioasă Românească 2016

Galicia Mare Tămâioasă Românească 2016

On the day we visited Galicia Mare, the winery still under construction, it was frigidly cold-wind whipped, we huddled around a table just inside the barrel aging room, the doors left open the afternoon sunlight to filter in. It was difficult to taste at these temperatures, this bottle-Tămâioasă Românească or Romanian Muscatel, glinted pale gold […]

Juvé & Camps Reserva Essential Xarello Brut 2014

Juvé & Camps Reserva Essential Xarello Brut 2014

The winemaker at Juvé & Camps attributes this Cava’s round, rich mouthfeel to the presence of polysaccharides released during fermentation, as well as during the process of maturation on the lees. Indeed, all of the wines in this lineup display autolytic features to a greater or lesser degree. The 2014 Reserva Essential Xarello Brut also […]

Juvé & Camps Cava Gran Reserva Brut 2012

Juvé & Camps Cava Gran Reserva Brut 2012

The color of onion skin, Juvé & Camps Cava Gran Reserva Brut 2012 unfurls at a leisurely pace. Smoky, autolytic notes rise above decadently layered aromas of dried fruit, molasses, baked apple, forest honey, and almond skins. As fine, cascading bubbles dart to and fro, springing forth from a core that is softly textured and […]

Juvé & Camps Cava Gran Reserva Brut Nature Reserva de la Familia 2013

Juvé & Camps Cava Gran Reserva Brut Nature Reserva de la Familia 2012

Another Cava from my visit to the region last year—according to the winemaker, 2013 was a cooler, wetter vintage in the region—in the lineup we tasted, this bottle, the Reserva Brut Nature Reserva de la Familia 2013 was appreciably leaner, but also fresher in its comportment. Fennel, white peach, lime, and grapefruit pith dominate the […]

Juvé & Camps Penedès Gregal d’Espiells 2015

Juvé & Camps Penedès Gregal d'Espiells 2015

The only still wine I tasted on the day we visited Juvé & Camps. It was late spring and this blossomy white—the 2015 Penedès Gregal d’Espiells-is made from organically-grown Muscat Alexandria. It’s surprisingly light and fresh with vivid tones of rose tea, chamomile crushed underfoot, mango and yellow peach. In the mouth, it’s tarter than […]

Juvé & Camps Cava Gran Reserva La Capella 2006

Juvé & Camps Cava Gran Reserva La Capella 2006

My visit to Catalonia last spring proved to be an eye-opening experience. There, I would learn that some Cavas, with this monovarietal Xarel·lo, have the potential to age. The Cava Gran Reserva The Capella Brut Nature 2006 matured on its lees for 108 months, gracing it with enormous complexity and depth, as only the passage […]

Ferraton Pere & Fils Côtes du Rhône Samorëns Blanc 2016

Ferraton Pere & Fils Côtes du Rhône Samorëns Blanc 2016

A winsome blend of 60% White Grenache and 40% Clairette grown in clay lime soils, the 2016 Ferraton Pere & Fils Côtes du Rhône Samorëns Blanc has a subtle nose of pear and dried yellow apple, followed by a lilting top note of jasmine. It’s soft on entry, with flavors that match the nose, save […]

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR

christine@christine-havens.com