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Erste+Neue Pinot Grigio 2016

Erste+Neue Pinot Grigio 2016

The color of sun bleached straw, Erste+Neue’s 2016 Pinot Grigio offers up notes of Bosc pear, yellow apple, prairie flowers, and line-dried linen. Aging on fine lees has graced it with plenty of textural appeal, and there is a faint and lovely background note of freshly milled buckwheat that joins in the delicate interplay between […]

Erste+Neue Sauvignon 2016

Erste+Neue Sauvignon 2016

Classic Sauvignon Blanc aromas of boxwood, lime zest, and piney alpine forest in summer. There’s no excess weight on the palate—it’s vibrant and crisp, offering a sophisticated daub of quarry dust on the finish. 13.5% ABV | Sample Erste+Neue 89 Points  

Erste+Neue Kalterersee Leuchtenburg Classico Superiore 2016

Erste+Neue Kalterersee Leuchtenburg Classico Superiore 2016

Limpid, translucent ruby in the glass, the 2016 Erste+Neue Kalterersee Leuchtenburg Classico Superiore is made from 100% pergola-trained schiava, a grape that is indigenous to the Alto Adige/Südtirol winegrowing region. Lilting aromas of red currants, cherry clafoutis, baking spice, and marzipan waft from the glass. It’s round, light, and silky in texture, with ultra-fine tannins […]

Weingut Dr. Heyden Silvaner Qualitätswein Trocken Alte Reben 2015

Weingut Dr. Heyden Silvaner Qualitätswein Trocken Alte Reben 2015

Lemon yellow in the glass, Dr. Heyden’s 2015 Alte Reben Silvaner Trocken is indeed quite dry, as noted on the label. The nose is a heady mélange of pear, musk melon, lemongrass, and lily of the valley. In the mouth, these descriptors orbit around a sturdy acid spine—that citrusy acid note is present from start […]

Isaac Fernandez Mencía Ribeira Sacra Adrás 2015

Isaac Fernandez Mencía Ribeira Sacra Adrás 2015

Magenta in the glass with a clear meniscus, the 2015 Isaac Fernandez Adrás Mencia beckons with aromas of bing cherry, plum, vanilla, and cinnamon bark. It’s medium-bodied on the palate, with plentiful and chewy tannins that create a base layer to a vibrant acid backbone and spice-laden finish. A lovely food wine from a Spanish […]

Schäfer Riesling 2015

Schäfer Riesling 2015

The Schäfer family have been organically farming their vineyard parcels in Mettenheim (Schlossberg) and Bechtheim since 1709, and really, when the wine is good, what more could the savvy wine consumer want for $13.00 per bottle? A kerosene top note leads into weighter expressions of white peach, poached pear, and lemon drop. It’s medium-bodied on […]

Domaine Bousquet Brut Rosé NV

Domaine Jean Bousquet Brut Rosé

Ninety points because I was caught quite off guard by this elegant sparkler from Domaine Bousquet. A blend of 75% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay—all organic fruit grown at high elevation in Argentina’s sparce and arid Tupungato district, it’s fine-boned and as one might expect, graced with high acidity. Aromas of white peach, white flowers, […]

Mont Gravet Côtes de Gascogne Blanc 2016

Mont Gravet Côtes de Gascogne Blanc 2016

Crisp and quaffable, the 2016 Mont Gravet Côtes de Gascogne Blanc is made from 100% Colombard—the offspring of Chenin blanc and Gouais blanc. It is classically found in the Gascony region and here it’s pale lemon yellow in the glass, with wholly amicable aromas of underripe pineapple, yellow apple and pear. In the mouth, linear […]

Mont Gravet Pays d’Oc Rosé 2016

Mont Gravet Pays d'Oc Rosé 2016

Limpid salmon in the glass, 100% Pays d’Oc Counoise offers fresh, lilting aromas of crushed raspberry, white peach, and line-dried linen. In the mouth, limestone minerality shines through, lending texture and continuity, a single suspended note that starts and ends softly, unobtrusively. Mont Gravet has elements in it that are suggestive of a more expensive, […]

Josep Masachs Mas Fi Cava Brut Rosé NV

Josep Masachs Cava Mas Fi Brut Rosé NV

From the Josep Masachs family, the Mas Fi Brut Rosé is a celebratory shade of salmon. Crafted with 100% estate-grown Trepat, delicate aromas of pie cherry, strawberry, apple blossom, and graham cracker are held aloft on a nose tickling net of fine buttles. It’s fresh on the palate, with just a hint of autolysis—no doubt […]

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR

christine@christine-havens.com