King Estate Limited Edition Blanc de Noirs 2008
Aged Sir Lee for 26 months, King Estate’s 2008 Limited Edition White Black is finely wrought, with a delicate bead that gives rise to baked apples and orchard fruit notes, followed by buckwheat, dried marjoram, and whipped butter. Nice concentration on the palate, with eccentric rings of kumquat, sea foam, and sandstone, which impart a […]
Brooks Sunset View Eola-Amity Hills Riesling 2014
Brooks is one of a handful of Oregon wineries to have mastered Riesling. Every year, they offer small lots of single vineyard Rieslings like this beauty from Sunset View Vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA—the vineyard that sits at a 290′ elevation on a south-facing slope. It’s expressive, deliciously layered in white peach and golden […]
Ponzi Vineyards Pinot Noir Reserve 2013
An utterly breathtaking, seductive nose perfumed in rose water, rhubarb, black cherry, incense, anise, cola, sous bois. The underlying structure is there in Ponzi’s 2013 Pinot Noir Reserve, in the form of ultra-fine tannins framing out a wine of tremendous grace and elegance. Fruit on the palate—a tumble of red and black— is overtaken by […]
Notable Unoaked Chardonnay 2016
Notable’s crisp and fruity version plays opposite it’s oaky-buttery Chardonnay label. It’s softly textured on the nose and palate with undertones of ripe honeydew melon, green apple, and d’Anjou pear. It’s a fairly straightforward wine—I’m perhaps favoring the oaked Chardonnay, simply because there’s more layered complexity and texture with the judicious addition of oak. Regardless, […]
Souverain Merlot 2014
Fruit-lovers rejoice. The 2014 Souverain Merlot is an overturned basket of berries—blueberries, blackberries, black cherries tinged with spice and vanilla. It’s equally expressive on the palate without being heavy, the fruit here is more or less hugged by nimble and fine tannins that express something along the lines of black tea at the close. A […]
Columbia Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
Lavishly perfumed with sumptuous blackberry, black currant, lavender pastille, camphor and, interestingly a dusting of talcum powder. On the palate, this Cab-dominant blend is classic Washington State in expression, medium weight, with a juicy black fruit core. That chalky note reemerges towards the finish, giving the impression that the tannins are slightly powdery and fine. […]
Ellipsis Red Hills Lake County Petite Sirah 2013
A deep plunge, Ellipsis’ 2013 Red Hills Lake County Petite Sirah is subdued on the nose. What it lacks in aromatic intensity, it makes up for on the palate. The effect is enveloping—a surge of black fruit, powerful and baritone in tempo, shot through with swirling embers, dried herbs, cedar, spice and a well-structured acidic […]
Troon Blue Label Longue Carabine 2014
A bit of a kitchen sink blend, reminiscent of some of the complex whites I’ve run across from South Africa—Troon’s Longue Carabine 2014 is composed of 43.81% Marsanne, 27.35% Viognier, 12.65% Vermentino, 8.79% Riesling, 5.0% Roussanne, and 2.4% Sauvignon Blanc, all from the Applegate Valley—offers cadence in its aromatic range. Bruised pear, yellow apple, star […]
Matthiasson Napa Valley Ribolla Gialla 2013
I was fortunate to have spent time with Steve Matthaisson and his wife, Jill Klein last Wednesday. The 2013 Napa Valley Ribolla Gialla had only been bottled that morning, and needs to rest for three to six months before it will be released. I did taste through several of their wines on this visit, including […]
Layer Cake Sauvignon Blanc 2014
Daffodil yellow with notes of lemon budino pudding, yellow apple, and lime zest set against a backdrop of fresh tropical fruit. Layer Cake is lighter in body and lower in acidity than its New Zealand and Loire counterparts, even so, it displays satisfying acidic cut and enough grapefruit-pith tartness to make it a good food […]