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Troon Applegate Valley Zinfandel 2017

Troon Applegate Valley Zinfandel 2017

Translucent garnet in the glass, the 2017 Troon Applegate Valley Zinfandel is a blend of 97% Zinfandel and 3% Petit Syrah. Made from biodynamically farmed estate-grown grapes, it’s a lighter, more delicate expression of the variety—with lively notes of black cherry, brambly red berries, brown spice, and warm wicker—in the mouth it’s round, with silky, […]

Troon Cuvée Côt Applegate Valley Malbec 2016

Troon Cuvée Côt Applegate Valley Malbec 2016

Troon’s 2016 Applegate Valley Cuvée Côt Malbec is awash in mulberries and plums along with hay, sweet tobacco and a slightly ferrous, animal energy. On the palate, it’s bright, fresh, and wonderfully complex green-tea soaked tannins offset by an energetic vein of acidity rippling through the core. The finish flirts with salinity, green peppercorn, and […]

Baileyana Stone Egg Chardonnay 2016

Baileyana Stone Egg Chardonnay 2016

Baileyana’s 2016 Stone Egg Chardonnay is the perfect balance of opulence and restraint. Enveloping aromas of apricot, peach pit, apple blossom, and dried lemon verbena spring from the glass. Luscious and full in the mouth, it’s brimming with stone fruit—fermentation and aging in a concrete egg has further graced this Edna Valley Chardonnay with dimension and a […]

Knudsen Vineyards Pinot Noir 2016

Knudsen Vineyards Pinot Noir 2016

The 2016 vintage was quite warm for the Willamette Valley, here Knudsen’s estate-grown Pinot Noir expresses a touch more black fruit than I have found in previous vintages—black cherry and black raspberry along with more ethereal notes of twiggy underbrush, a touch of iron ore, talc, and nuanced florality. It’s round and silky on the palate, […]

King Estate Backbone Pinot Noir 2013

King Estate Backbone Pinot Noir 2013

There are many things I admire about King Estate—the fact that the great André Tchelistcheff was brought in as a consultant during the winery’s early days, or that the property is the largest contiguous biodynamic estate in the Unites States—there is so much richness to glean from this out-of-the-way producer. The 2013 Backbone Pinot Noir […]

Kangarilla Road Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

Kangarilla Road Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

The 2016 Kangarilla Road Cabernet Sauvignon is aged in both new French and American oak and expresses a vibrant mélange of ripe blackberries, black cherries, black currant, sandalwood, alfalfa hay, menthol, eucalyptus, and bittersweet chocolate shavings. On the palate, supple tannins aplenty combined with moderate weight, and a firm acid backbone that gives lift and […]

Kangarilla Road Shiraz 2016

Kangarilla Road Shiraz 2016

The final wine I’ve sampled in a series from Kangarilla Road, it’s worth pointing out the value for price in the US market—the 2016 Kangarilla Road Shiraz is brimming with aromas of blackberry, mulberry, menthol, and dark chocolate shavings. It’s a muscular wine, but there is refinement, too. In the mouth, bright acid offsets finely […]

Tendril Wine Cellars Child’s Play Pinot – Chardonnay 2017

Tendril Child's Play Pinot - Chardonnay 2017

An offshoot label from Tony Rynder’s Tendril wines, Child’s Play 2017 Pinot Chardonnay is a blend of 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir. The nose grapey nose with intriguing layers of Fig Newton, sultana, white flowers, poached pear, and yellow plum. It’s medium-bodied on the palate with a zesty vein of acidity adding lift, cutting through perceptible […]

Kangarilla Road Chardonnay 2017

Kangarilla Road Chardonnay 2017

Lots of breadth and range in Kangarilla Road’s 2017 Chardonnay. Sourced from a single vineyard within the Adelaide Hills, 50% of this wine was fermented in new French oak Hogsheads, with daily lees stirring. White peach, underripe pineapple, orange pastille, blanched almond, dried mint, and toast leap from the glass—it’s lithe and citrus-driven on the […]

Kangarilla Road The Devil’s Whiskers Shiraz 2016

Kangarilla Road The Devil's Whiskers Shiraz 2016

Whimsically named for the stain the rim of the glass leaves at the corners of your mouth as you sip this wine, the 2016 Kangarilla Road The Devil’s Whiskers Shiraz is an impenetrable shade quinacridone violet in the glass. The nose, a wellspring of mulberries, blackberries, ash, paraffin, and dried violets lead into a wine […]

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR

christine@christine-havens.com