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Angela Estate ‘Abbott Claim’ Pinot Noir 2012

Angela Estate 'Abbott Claim' Pinot Noir 2012

A blend of Pommard and clones 777 and 115, all rooted in ancient marine sedimentary soils that form the foundation and consequently the backbone of the 2012 Angela Abbott Claim Vineyard. Textbook growing conditions combined with this stellar site have yielded a wine with heady, rapturous aromas of hibiscus, musky black tea, mushrooms, truffles, smokey […]

Lingua Franca Mimi’s Mind Pinot Noir 2015

Lingua Franca Mimi's Mind Pinot Noir 2015

Mimi’s Mind, so named to honor the work of Mimi Casteel, and her east-facing vineyard site of Woodburn, Nekia, and Jory type soils planted in the 1970s. I am told that the vines are own-rooted and phylloxera-free, making them a rarity in the Eola-Amity Hills. The 2015, dressed in a translucent ruby robe, is poised […]

Cristom Mt. Jefferson Cuvée Pinot Noir 2015

Cristom Mt. Jefferson Cuvée Pinot Noir 2015

Cristom’s 2015 Mount Jefferson Cuvée Pinot Noir combines all five of the winery’s estate vineyards, and fruit from a few, select neighboring sites. The palate is both seamless and precise in its acid balance, truly, this is where this silken cuvée shows its pedigree. Fine, sueded tannins gather and fade—a slow, amaranthine unfolding of white […]

Ledger David Rogue Valley Southern Oregon Sangiovese 2014

Ledger David Rouge Valley Southern Oregon Sangiovese 2014

A well-made Sangiovese from Southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley—an appellation that shows great promise, turning out Spanish and Italian varieties of focus and depth. The 2014 Ledger David Sangiovese offers up a sumptuous bouquet of black plums, and blackberries, all resting beneath a garland of violets. In the mouth, it’s plush and open knit with black […]

Tendril Wine Cellars Extrovert Pinot Noir 2014

Tendril Wine Cellars Extrovert Pinot Noir 2014

Winemaker Tony Rynders 2014 ‘Extrovert’ is so named because it is the most fruit forward label in Tendril’s portfolio. On the nose, the subtle interplay of blackberry, black cherry, cola, underbrush and decaying rose petal sets the stage for this focused Pinot Noir. In it, one can find concentration and balance, fine tannins, and admirable […]

Alain Jaume & Fils Rasteau Les Valats 2015

Alain Jaume & Fils Rasteau Les Valats 2015

Soft, plummy and plush, the 2015 Alain Jaume & Fils Rasteau Les Valats offers ample drinking pleasure. On opening, black cherries, ripe Damson plums, cedar, sweet tobacco and menthol. The palate takes its cues from the nose, with a uniform profile—juicy black fruit cozened in velvety, ripe tannins and tempered acidity. This is a wine […]

Adega da Cartuxa Évora Colheita Tinto 2013

Adega da Cartuxa Évora Colheita Tinto 2013

Ruby hued, the 2013 Cartuxa Évora Colheita Tinto is, at least for this writer, more expressive on the second day, and is deeply perfumed with notes of Japanese plums, blueberries, balsam wood, and exotic spice. Softly textured on the palate with lovely purity of fruit, couched in black tea tannins, this traditional Alentejo blend of […]

Château des Fougères Graves Clos Montesquieu 2014

Château des Fougères Graves Clos Montesquieu 2014

An excellent Bordeaux value that will offer drinking pleasure over the next decade or so—this opaque beauty, the 2014 Château des Fougères Graves Clos Montesquieu, is richly perfumed with blackcurrants, blackberry jelly, cedar, juniper berry, crushed lavender, and dried mint. Grippy tannins gather at the fore-palate like storm clouds on the horizon, then dissipate, neatly […]

Domaine Amido Lirac 2014

Domaine Amido Lirac 2014

A splendidly perfumed nose that is so classic of Grenache: raspberry pastis, market strawberries, forest floor, black licorice candy, violets, and warm spice. The 2014 Domaine Amido Lirac is fresh and vibrant on the palate, with a sweet-fruited raspberry turnover core supported by ultra-fine tannins. The finish, while not lengthy, offers bay leaf and spice. […]

Alain Voge Les Vieilles Vignes Cornas 2014

Alain Voge Les Vieilles Vignes Cornas 2014

Crafted from 60 year-old biodynamically farmed Syrah, Alain Vogue’s Les Vieilles Vignes Cornas 2014 is expressive, yet restrained. Blueberries and blackberries wind ’round earth, black olive, and pink peppercorn. As its opens, secondary aromas emerge: clove, cinnamon bark, cardamom, lanolin, spice, violets, incense. It’s poised, with all of the power Syrah commands, but there is […]

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR

christine@christine-havens.com