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Calera Pinot Noir Jensen Vineyard 2005

Calera Pinot Noir Jensen Vineyard 2005

I had the pleasure of sampling the 2004 vintage of the Calera Jensen Vineyard Pinot Noir in 2014. The 2005 is one that I slightly prefer over the 2004—this bottle has developed beautifully and is within its drinking window. The nose, a symphony of leather, earth, spiced apple rings, Rainier cherries, raspberry, and dried lavender. […]

Sine Qua Non The Monkey 2010

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

hateau Ste. Michelle & Dr. Loosen Riesling Eroica

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

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 […]

Inglenook Reunion Reserve Cask Cabernet Sauvignon 1986

Inglenook Reunion Reserve Cask Cabernet Sauvignon 1986

A wine that’s aged gracefully, Inglenook’s 1986 Reunion Cabernet Sauvignon is line with other Napa Valley Cabs I’ve tasted from that era. Poured from a magnum, the nose is reveals dried rose petal, dust, leather and dried black currants. It’s seems like it’s reaching the end of its drinking window, though there is still plenty […]

Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Silex 2007

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 […]

Domaine de la Mordorée Plume du Peintre Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2014

Domaine de la Mordorée Plume du Peintre Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2014

Brooding, serious and bordering on high-octane, the 2014 Domaine de la Mordorée Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Belle Voyageuse-du-Pape opens with notes of blackberry reduction, freshly turned soil, graphite and violets. A faint topnote of barnyard eventually blows off revealing a wine with lots of power and verve, firm tannins and close of Garrigue and spice. Lots to […]

Château Musar Musar Jeune Rosé 2013

Château Musar Musar Jeune Rosé 2013

Perhaps little bit past its best as we would say in the WSET, I would have liked to have tried Château Musar’s Jeune Rosé 2013 on release (which left me wondering why, exactly, I’d held on to the bottle for so long). Aromatics were very subdued on opening, but after some time pie cherry and, […]

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 […]

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR

christine@christine-havens.com