Jean-Luc Colombo Les Pins Couchés Rosé 2016
Conch shell pink, Jean-Luc Colombo’s Les Pins Couchés Rosé is a pretty blend of 67% Syrah and 33% Mourvedre sourced from Cape Bleue, a maritime-influenced site just outside Marseille. The 2016 delivers white peaches, raspberries, cherries, and line-dried linen, but what I’m most excited about what this wine does on the palate. The influence of […]
Adelaida Cellars HMR Estate Vineyard Chardonnay 2016
Eccentric rings of roasted apple, dried honey, lemon curd, orange blossom, and dried Medajool figs greet the taster. The 2016 Adelaida Cellars HMR Estate Vineyard Chardonnay is flatout sexy, silkily textured, with a center of gravity that’s nicely balanced against a backdrop of light toast. That classic Paso Robles calcareous vein emerges on the finish—one […]
Reustle Prayer Rock Winemaker’s Reserve Tempranillo 2014
Precise as all Stephen Reustle’s wines are—the 2014 Winemaker’s Reserve Tempranillo is opaque quinacridone violet in the glass, with a swirl one can coax from it classic varietal aromas of earthy sun-warmed terra cotta tile, aged leather and dried herbs, all neatly folded into a background of black cherries and plums. It’s softly textured on […]
Rock Wall Wine Co. Jack’s Dry Creek Petite Sirah 2014
Baritone and lush, the 2014 Rock Wall Jack’s Dry Creek Petite Sirah is a spicy melange of juicy black cherries, plums, cedar, and bay leaf. Inky and dark in the glass, this Sonoma County Petite Syrah is equally hedonistic on the palate, a riot of black fruit and ripe tannins pierced by a jaunty vein […]
Brancaia: The Best of Both Worlds
Like so many New World winemakers, Barbara Widmer’s childhood landscape wasn’t shaped by a life amongst the vines. Her parent’s journey into winemaking began, more or less, as a hobby that stemmed from the purchase of an abandoned hillside Castellina named Brancaia. “I grew up in Zurich; I had no ambition or dream to move […]
Chateau Ste. Michelle Artist Series Red 2013
Chateau Ste. Michelle’s 2013 Artist Series Red is an elegant composition of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 3% Malbec, and 3% Cab Franc, with 85% of the fruit sourced from Cold Creek Vineyard. This is also winemaker Bob Bertheau’s favorite wine to blend, one where he’s given free reign. Freshly turned earth, black currants, cassis, […]
W.T. Vintners Stoney Vine Vineyard Syrah 2014
The 2014 W.T. Stony Vine Vineyards Syrah reverberates with abundant blackberry and black cherry notes couched in a complex melange of green hay, black licorice, Chinese 5-Spice, sassafras, roasted meat, and green peppercorn. Medium weight, very Rhône-like in its countenance. Fresh and vivid, nicely balanced, and graced with a minerally vein that suspends itself over […]
Terra Blanca ONYX Red Mountain 2009
Another lovely showing from a lineup of wines sampled at Terra Blanca. The 2009 Onyx is drinking beautifully—an elegant Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec, all from the winery’s Red Mountain estate. Generous, layered aromas of blackberries, cassis, ripe plum, bay leaf, and cedar lead into a wine that […]
Biohof Pratsch Rotenspüllen Grüner Veltliner 2015
I’ve long been a fan of Biohof Pratsch—aside from their commitment to organic farming, their wines are also an outstanding value. Softly textured on the nose and palate, with gently wafting aromas of white peach, honeysuckle, wet stones and lemon curd. Medium-bodied and round, one can expect balanced acidic lift followed by a streak of […]
Chateau Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon 50th Anniversary Special Bottling 2015
Plush with ripe, juicy blueberries, blackberries, black currants, vanilla, and cedar. The 2015 Chateau Ste. Michelle Cabernet was selected as one of the wines to bear a limited edition 50th Anniversary label, a nod to the winery’s past and former name of Ste. Michelle Vineyards. Plump and juicy in the mouth, this is classic Washington […]