Sine Qua Non The Monkey 2010
Tasted from the dining room of the lovely SS Legacy, thanks to generous passengers who see fit to bring their own favorite bottles along on a wine cruise. Sine Qua Non’s white Rhône-inspired blend dubbed The Monkey 2010 proved to be a honey-hued showstopper. Rife with peach pit, apricot kernel, orange pastille, smoke, buddha’s hand […]
Chateau Ste. Michelle & Dr. Loosen Riesling Eroica 2015
Tasted following an interview with Ted Baseler (for an article on Chateau Ste. Michelle’s 50th Anniversary forthcoming in next month’s Somm Journal), the 2015 Eroica is the result of a long and fruitful partnership with Dr. Ernst Loosen. As such, it sports an endearing touch of petrol on the nose, something I readily attribute to […]
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 […]
Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Silex 2007
The best Pouilly-Fumé I’ve tasted in a long while—the 2007 Silex was indeed a special bottle, the last vintage Dagueneau crafted before a crash in an ultralight plane cut his life and career short. Full and nuanced without being weighty, ever changing and evolving in the glass. Lemon curd, apple blossom, dried honey, and dried […]
Raveneau Chablis Premier Cru Montée de Tonnerre 2011
Sublime sophistication, Raveneau’s 2011 Chablis Premier Cru Montée de Tonnerre shows its pedigree with complex aromas of roasted pear, earth, hazelnut, iodine, and smoke. The influence of Kimmeridgian soils is evident on the palate, one that is both expansive and neatly tailored, swathed in stone fruit and lemon curd tightly bound by a mineral spine. […]
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
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
M. Chapoutier Belleruche Côtes du Rhône 2013
A wine I return to year after year, simply because it’s such a stellar value. Belleruche is one of Chapoutier’s entry-level labels, a tempting and fleshy blend of classic Rhône varietals: Grenache blanc, Roussanne, Viognier, Clairette, and Bourboulenc. It’s rife with pear and stone fruit with the merest twist of lemon peel, fennel and white […]