Paul & Phillippe Zinck Crémant d’Alsace Brut Rosé NV
This charming Cramant d’Alsace from Domaine Zinck is graced with an abundantly pretty and welcoming nose of pie cherries, wet stones, and cinnamon bark. It’s a delicate salmon pink, with an equally delicate mousse. Subtle blood orange-tinged sweetness is dominated by a profoundly minerally texture—oyster shells, limestone, and chalk lend complexity to a mouthwatering finish. […]
Fonseca Bin 27 Finest Reserve NV
The Fonseca Bin 27 Finest Reserve, was, admittedly a bit of a disappointment, owing to the fact that I cut my teeth on Fonseca’s outstanding 2011. Of course, 2011 Fonseca is now going for around $100 per bottle, a price that is increasing over time as the vintage sells out. Bin 27 is pleasant enough, […]
Bruno Paillard Champagne Première Cuvée Brut
Another standout producer from last week’s tasting in Chicago held by the Champagne Bureau, Bruno Paillard is a new discovery for me, and I find myself wondering how it is I’ve never tasted it before. Stated on their website, “putting together a wine is very like for a painter carefully choosing the origin of colours” as […]
Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne Brut Cuvée Palmes d’Or 2002
Another fabulous sparkler tasted at the Champagne Bureau’s event in Chicago, the 2002 Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Palmes D’Or is exceptional. Captivating smoky-bordering-on-earthy aromas and flavors are woven throughout, endowing this serious Champagne with a perceptible center of gravity. Mineral verve pierces through intense, fleshy layers of wet dough, bruised pear and and walnut skins. I […]
Kindzmarauli Marani Dry Red Saperavi 2013
A country with an ancient wine growing and winemaking heritage, Georgia is little more than a blip on the radar of the American wine scene. I hope that will change with time, as I have been favorably impressed by the wines I’ve sampled thus far. Credited as the birthplace of viticulture and even vitis vinifera itself, the […]
Champagne Drappier Brut Grande Sendrée 2006
The Drappier Brut Grande Sendrée is a refined blend of 55% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay. The house prides itself on minimal use of sulfur and low dosage—the 2006 is voluptuous with layers of dust, walnut shells, and mahogany wood that serve to hem in fleshy, ripe orchard fruits and citrus notes. On the palate, […]
Henri Giraud Champagne Hommage à François Hémart Grand Cru Brut NV
Henri Giraud Champagne Hommage à François Hémart Grand Cru Brut” width=”200″ height=”200″ /></a>I’m a fan of Henri Giraud, perhaps more so after meeting Claude Giraud at the International Pinot Noir Festival last year. The winery has embarked on serious research with respect to revitalizing the Argonne Forest and at the same time, re-establishing a local […]
Bollinger Champagne Brut Rosé NV
Bollinger’s NV Brut Rosé is unfettered elegance, with a shimmering salmon robe and ultra-fine mousse, the nose displays freshly macerated strawberries and raspberries, rose petals and spice. It’s all neatly corseted modest toast, with creaminess at the mid-palate lending depth and weight, softening an otherwise be a bony spine. There is minerality here too, but […]
Domaine Comte Abbatucci Faustine Vieilles Vignes 2012
A Kermit Lynch import, Faustine is a biodynamically-farmed Corsian blend of 70% Sciaccarellu and 30% Niellucciu. Shimmering translucent garnet, it’s lighter in hue and body than Pinot Noir with refined, perfumy aromas of decaying rose petal, white hand soap, forest floor, dried mint, and a hint of spice. In the mouth, it’s taught, red-fruited and […]
Les Vignerons d’Estézargues Côtes du Rhône Villages Domaine d’Andézon 2013
Domain d’Andezon Côtes du Rhône is crafted from a blend of 40 year-old Syrah vines and 60 year-old Grenache vines grown in the arid and galet-laden Southern Rhône. Unfiltered, it’s inky and hunkered with slightly rustic notes of black olive tapenade, dried pen ink, and loamy soil overlaid by juicy boysenberries. In the mouth, there […]