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Les Domaines Paul Mas Vin de Pays d’Oc Côté Mas Aurore Rosé 2017

Les Domaines Paul Mas Vin de Pays d'Oc Côté Mas Aurore Rosé 2017

Like a favorite pair of worn-in jeans, this is the rosé to turn to in a pinch and on a budget, and priced to please, the 2017 Côté Mas Aurore Rosé is pale salmon in the glass and hits all the right notes for a South of France pink. Summer berries, melon, white peach and […]

Château de Berne Inspiration Rosé 2017

Château de Berne Inspiration Rosé

A Grenache-dominant blend, the Château de Berne Inspiration Rosé unfurls to reveal fragrant notes of white flowers, golden raspberries, peach, and crisp alpine air. The palate is awash in tart cherries and pomegranate. Light and vivid, with the delicacy of a ballerina, it pirouettes to a graceful, meandering finish. 12.5% ABV | Sample Château de […]

Château Suduiraut 1982

Château Suduiraut

A contribution from my Cascadia Fine Wines colleague Jack Madrid at a recent dinner with Force Majeure Vineyards‘ winemaker and his wife—this luscious amber-hued bottle of 1982 Château Suduiraut proved to be the perfect end to an evening of lively conversation. It opens with penetrating aromas of orange marmalade, apricot, orange spice market tea, flan, forest honey, and […]

Urban Provence 2017

Urban Provence 2017

Pale salmon in the glass with gossamer rose gold inflections, the 2017 Urban Provence Rosé is a blend of 45% Grenache Noir, 35% Cinsault, 15% Syrah, and Rolle, all sourced from vineyard blocks planted around the commune of La Garde Freinet, bordering St. Tropez. Classic Provençal aromas of tart pie cherry, golden raspberry, peach, line-dried […]

Château Grange Cochard Morgon ‘Côte du Py’ 2013

Château Grange Cochard Morgon 'Côte du Py' 2013

A delicious Cru Beaujolais, the 2013 Château Grange Cochard Morgon ‘Côte du Py’ is crafted from sustainably-farmed vines grown in granitic schist soil. It opens with brooding aromas of loamy tilth, freshly turned soil, and underbrush that gives way, perhaps grudgingly to red and black berries, dried orange peel, and a whiff of black tea. Darker tones […]

In search of the hidden harmonies between Rhône Valley wines and Asian Cuisine

Manila Lion

Like any great operatic singer, Rhône wines have range. They can be muscular and profound with a black-fruited core that ripples through a percussion background of pitch-perfect tannins, acidity, and that earthy, smokey feralness that lets you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you’re drinking something Old World—something with history and roots thrust […]

Baron Edmond de Rothschild Les Lauriers Rosé 2017

Baron Edmond de Rothschild Les Lauriers Rosé 2017

An offshoot of the Barons de Rothschild house, the 2017 Baron Edmond de Rothschild ‘Les Lauriers’ Saint-Émilion Rosé is all strawberries, raspberries, crème patisserie, and wild buttercups. Medium-bodied and round, acidity spreads across the palate like a freshly ironed linen tablecloth unfurled and smoothed across the dining table in anticipation of a special occasion. Bright […]

Paul Blanck Pinot Blanc Alsace 2016

Paul Blanck Pinot Blanc Alsace 2016

A wonderful value, Paul Blanck’s 2016 Pinot Blanc is a limpid, slightly burnished gold in the glass. Crafted from 100% Pinot Blanc grown in gravel, sand and clay-limestone soils on south-facing slopes, it is a terroir-driven, elegant wine replete with notes of yellow apple, d’Anjou pear, underripe pineapple, line dried-linen, and catmint. There’s weight on […]

Albert Boxler Pinot Blanc Reserve 2014

Albert Boxler Pinot Blanc Reserve 2014

From 50+-year-old vines grown in low-fertility, highly weathered granitic soils, Albert Boxler’s Pinot Blanc Reserve is a treasure trove of ripe pear, apricot kernel and those jarred spiced apple rings that make their appearance during the holidays. Heady spice notes lead into a wine with a story to tell—a vein of quartz wending through a […]

Locations F-5 NV

Locations F-5 NV

Locations F-5 NV offers up a deeply perfumed nose of black cherry, black raspberry, plum, earth, purple lilac, dark chocolate shavings, and vanilla bean paste. In the mouth, it’s medium bodied, with finely sueded tannins. Dark fruit is bolstered by a lively vein of acidity—all in all, this is a beautifully crafted wine from winemaker […]

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR

christine@christine-havens.com