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Santa Julia Tintillo Malbec-Bonarda 2016

Santa Julia Tintillo Malbec-Bonarda 2016

The 2016 Santa Julia Tintillo, a blend of both Malbec and Bonarda is awash in plums, black cherries, cedar and bay leaf. For those of you who have yet to try Bonarda, it’s safe to say that this Piedmontese grape is as happy-go-lucky as the average golden retriever. Certainly, this amiable bottle is crammed with […]

Laurent Perrachon Juliénas Les Vignes Centenaires 2015

Laurent Perrachon Juliénas Les Vignes Centenaires

A bright, angular wine with an acid core that serves as the fulcrum around which other aspects of this wine flows. The 2015 Laurent Perrachon Juliénas Vieilles Vigne Centenaires displays slightly chewy tannins encasing bright cranberries and rose hips that merge with crushed watercress and chervil followed by stratified, rock strewn soil. 13.0% ABV | […]

Illahe Project 1899 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2014

Illahe Project 1899 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2014

Illahe’s winemaker Brad Ford is a former English and poetry teacher—tasting his wines it’s impossible to ignore the prose in them. Pinot Noir used in the 1899 is delivered to the winery by a team of horses, and it’s racked by way of a bicycle pump, in short it’s a wine made entirely without electricity. […]

Domaine Nicolas-Jay Pinot Noir 2014

Domaine Nicolas-Jay Pinot Noir

July 07, 2017—I tasted the 2014 Nicolas-Jay Pinot Noir last October and earlier this week with winemaker Tracy Kendall. Since then the tannins are a bit more integrated, it’s softened a bit. As with Jean-Nicolas’ native Côte d’Or Domaine Méo-Camuzet, there is a clear thread of stylistic consistency between the two brands. Both for me […]

Blason-Louis Sancerre 2012 (Flacon)

Blason-Louis Sancerre 2012 (Flacon)

A new and novel offering from Blason Lewis—these flacons are the equivalent of a 3.5 oz glass. Robed in bright translucent ruby, the 2012 Blason Lewis Sancerre is fresh and vibrant, boasting aromas of red currants, raspberries, pie cherries, and damp earth. In the mouth, fine tannins and bright acidity add lift and structure to […]

Reustle Prayer Rock Winemaker’s Reserve Tempranillo 2014

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

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 […]

Chateau Ste. Michelle Artist Series Red 2013

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

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

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 […]

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR

christine@christine-havens.com