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Taylor’s Chip Dry White Port NV

Taylor's Chip Dry White Port NV

Tasted at Taylor’s visitor’s center in Porto, the Chip Dry White carries a bit more discernible sweetness than the other dry white Ports I’d sampled that day. It’s aged for several years in casks, giving it an oxidative style and subtle nuttiness. Fresh and crisp on the palate, and laden with citrusy, notes, lemon oil […]

San Alejandro Las Rocas Garnacha Calatayud 2014

San Alejandro Las Rocas Garnacha Calatayud 2014

Nice value in this Calatayud Garnacha—loaded with plums, savory red cherries, and violets couched in earth. The 2014 San Alejandro Las Rocas Garnacha is a food wine through and through, with a shock of acidity that ricochet’s through it’s red and black fruited core. If there is any oak here, it’s not evident. Tart red […]

Emiliana Natura Rosé 2016

Emiliana Natura Rosé 2016

Heavily laden in musk melon, Queen Anne’s cherries and white peach, the most alluring thing about the Emiliana Natura Rosé 2016—there is a perception of sweetness on entry but that sensation quickly fades to peach pit and pink grapefruit skin that hits the sides of the tongue, leaving a pleasant bitterness that just goes on […]

Brooks Estate Vineyard Pinot Gris 2016

Brooks Estate Vineyard Pinot Gris 2016

From Brooks’ estate vineyard, this is old vine Oregon Pinot Gris at its best. Aromatically, minerality that dominates this nose with wet stones co-mingling with white peach and tender spring blossoms. In the mouth, a lithe ribbon of chalk and talc course through it, along with bright lemon pith. Very nice. Sample Brooks 8.9 Points

Bridlewood Monterey County Pinot Noir 2014

Bridlewood Monterey County Pinot Noir 2014

A nice value with a distinctive underbrush and red cherry note I attribute to Monterey Pinot Noir, particularly the acidity and what it does in the mouth—a bright burst, even though this is a more delicate, fully translucent example from the region. In addition, wafting cherry blossoms, leaves crackling underfoot, instant coffee, a touch of […]

Mistinguett Cava Brut Nature NV

Mistinguett Cava Brut Nature NV

Another winery visited on a recent press trip to Catalunya, Mistinguett is one of the larger Cava producers in the region, turning out values like this Brut Nature. The arrow of their marketing is squarely aimed at youth and celebration, indeed, it was hard to glean anything about the technical aspects of this wine since […]

Ruffino Lumina Pinot Grigio 2015

Ruffino Lumina Pinot Grigio 2015

Ruffino’s Lumina Pinot Grigio firmly falls in the great values category. The 2015 vintage is softly textured and crisp. Notes of Bosc pear and Golden Delicious apple are complicated by white flowers and lilting minerality. Easy drinking and bright, it’s a wine that offers versatility in spades—I paired this bottle with pappardelle with sauteed rapini […]

Notable Unoaked Chardonnay 2016

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

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 […]

Ferraton Pere & Fils Côtes du Rhône Samorëns Rosè 2016

Ferraton Pere & Fils Côtes du Rhône Samorëns Rosè 2016

Like the perfect accessory, Ferraton Pere & Fils’ 2016 Samorëns Rosé matches my reading glasses. I sit here in my studio, pondering this Provencal pink, I am reminded of how much I love these wines despite a long, chilly spring in the Willamette Valley. It’s a wine that manages to be energetic and delicate all […]

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR

christine@christine-havens.com