Remini

Seresin 2005 Pinot Noir “Leah” (Marlborough) – A multi-vineyard blend done with wild yeast and new wood. Earthy beet, dark plums and berries, lightness and intensity paired; this is a fine pinot. It lacks that final layer of complex sophistication that would send it into the pinot stratosphere (the pinotsphere?), but it’s nicely formed, structured, balanced, and ready to drink both now and in five-plus years. I’d lean towards the latter, because the dark moodiness of the wood could use some time to integrate. (5/08)

Parks

Villa Rosa 2004 Chianti Classico (Tuscany) – It’s been a long time since I’ve smelled a Chianti like this: strawberry, game, a touch of herb and a little bit of earth. There’s plenty of dense structure, but it’s all nicely balanced with crisp yet persistent fruit. To drink now with the right food, perhaps, but I really think this wine would prefer a little time in the cellar. Classic Chianti, and immensely appealing to those of us who have almost forgotten what that’s like. (5/08)

Minervois mouse

Julien “Château Villerambert Julien” 2001 Minervois (Languedoc) – While it smells authentic enough (leather-wrapped meat, just a bare hint of blackberry), the palate just sort of sits there, reflecting the nose but adding nothing other than a vague shrug in the direction of tannin. Maybe age will help, but this lacks the out-of-the-gate complexity and interest of the region’s better producers. (4/08)

Semi-human resources?

Montevina “Terra d’Oro” 2001 Zinfandel “SHR Field Blend” (Amador County) – 15%. The initial burst is oak, followed by over-toasted vanilla and then some tortured, mangled, and blackened fruit residue. Eventually, it calms down enough to be unpleasantly drinkable, but the damage remains clear on the face. This just isn’t very good. (4/08)

Thulon to wait

JM Burgaud “Château de Thulon” 2006 Beaujolais-Villages (Beaujolais) – More biting than previous vintages, with a sharp zing to the zippy, underripe cherry, raspberry, and cranberry fruit that carries just a hint of floral complexity. It’s unmistakably Beaujolais, but it needs food to tame it; no cocktail wine, this. (5/08)

And we'd sing, sing, sing!

Torbreck 2006 “Woodcutter’s” Shiraz (Barossa Valley) – Demiglace of syrah, turned piney and pruney. There’s actually some acidity, but it flails around helplessly in the face of the dull-razor hacking and slashing of the slightly burnt fruit. While the worst sins of the Barossa are absent here, the wine’s still up to precious little good. (5/08)

Pic it up

Durand & Valentin “Château de Lancyre” 2006 Pic Saint-Loup Rosé (Languedoc) – Roses and old blood orange, lavender, perhaps a faded sachet from your grandmother’s drawer. This is an appealingly aromatic rosé – and yes, there’s that ubiquitous pulse of excess heat so common to southern French rosés – that comes alive with food. Nicely done. (5/08)

Rosier-colored glasses

Rosier “Château du Chatelard” 2006 Beaujolais Blanc (Beaujolais) – More melon than citrus, though both are present (and stone fruit sticks its weightier head in there for a moment). The primary characteristic of this wine, however, is juiciness…a clean, refreshing, almost thirst-quenching appeal, especially at cooler temperatures. Simplistic at first and last glance, but enjoyable nonetheless. (4/08)

Willi or won't he?

Willi Schaefer 2004 Riesling 01 05 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Still direct, clean, metal-flecked and basic. A good summer quaffer…and at these alcohol levels, you can quaff all by yourself, if necessary. (4/08)

Knights need huggs too

Marcel Hugg 2005 Gewurztraminer “Réserve des Chevaliers” (Alsace) – Solid, varietally correct gewürztraminer with a little added flash of crystalline lightboxing. Good, especially if viewed uncritically. (4/08)

A: a newspaper

Dogfish Head “Red & White” (Delaware) – Brewed with coriander and orange peel, pinot noir juice concentrate added, then aged with a mix of oak barrels and staves. I enjoy Dogfish Head’s adventurousness, and some of their experiments work, but this just seems directionless. Here, 2+2=1, at best. (4/08)

Vergeleggin' it

Vergelegen 2006 Sauvignon Blanc (Western Cape) – Excellent varietal character. Green grass, green apple, and intense but balanced precision. Very, very good. (2/08)

Elgin Woods

Oak Valley 2007 Sauvignon Blanc (Elgin) – Green grass and green leaves. Varietally pure, and if it doesn’t say much besides that, it doesn’t seem to affect the enjoyment. (2/08)

Oh, chenin, d'oh!

Sizanani 2006 Chenin Blanc (Western Cape) – Sour melon, leaves, and aspirin. Concentrated and thick, with a lack of light and a proportionally sludgy finish. This is a winery with an valuable mission for which winemaking is the venue, and I respect that…but you just can’t do this to chenin. (2/08)

The young man's fear

Groote Post 2006 “The Old Man’s Blend” White (West Coast) – Salty green and yellow fruit, with clean apple streaks. Light but short. (2/08)

Sorry, neither

Bellingham 2007 “Fair Maiden” (Coastal Region) – Chenin blanc, chardonnay, viognier, grenache blanc, roussanne, and verdelho. Bright, green, leafy, and smoky – quite a combination – with intensity and vibration on the palate. The finish brings forth red cherries and zippy tartness. This is a wine with a lot of interesting elements, but that hasn’t quite figured out what it wants to be when it grown up. (2/08)

Rocky path

Bellingham 2006 Chardonnay “Stone Trail” (Coastal Region) – Sour strawberry, plum, and other intense, but clearly red, fruit over stones (which is, I guess, appropriate). Solid but short, with a moderate application of wood and a smoky, thick texture. Decently balanced. I’d like it with a little less wood, or perhaps a little more age, but the finish will always be short. (2/08)

Dishwasher doll

Boschendal 2006 Chardonnay (Coastal Region) – Plum, peach, fig, and flowers. Long, with good structure, but somewhat distracting tannin on the finish. Not bad. (2/08)

Mary Decker-Slaley

Slaley 2004 Chardonnay (Stellenbosch) – Smoky and thick, with stone fruit and way too much wood. (2/08)

Diabolo Cody

Juno 2007 Rosé (South Africa) – Sweet, blush-style strawberry and red cherry. Nice enough, but I could do without the residual sugar. (2/08)

Don't shoot the dog!

Bellingham 2005 Shiraz “The Old Cellar” (Coastal Region) – Dense and barky, fullish but pruned fruit, wood, and asphalt. Finishes as pure fermented wood. Yuck. (2/08)

Erebor

Bellingham 2005 “Dragon’s Lair” (Coastal Region) – Shiraz, mourvèdre, viognier. Plum, boysenberry, olallieberry, spice, seed pepper, and smoke – quite a combination – with only a green edge to the tannin marring the complexity. Not bad. (2/08)

Dishwasher

Slaley 2003 Shiraz (Stellenbosch) – Weedy, tannic, and hard. (2/08)

Let's go Duke

Allée Bleue 2005 Shiraz (Western Cape) – Incredibly dense, to the point of organoleptic opacity. Balanced and structured, with blueberry and chocolate dominating. This will permanently ruin your teeth. It’s all too much, really, yet I’m sure many will find it appealing. (2/08)

French fries, Franschhoek

Stony Brook 2004 Shiraz (Franschhoek) – Shy yet plush, with tar and sour candy, especially on the finish. A bit caramelized. No good. (2/08)

Stony the stiger

Stony Brook 2003 Syrah (Coastal Region) – Fuller-bodied and better than the 04. I’m not sure of the reasons for the nomenclature change. Blueberry and beet, tangled roots, and spice. The finish is a bit hot, and there’s a plastic note throughout. (2/08)

Jar-Jar Binks

Stony Brook 2004 “Camissa” (Coastal Region) – Merlot, cabernet sauvignon, shiraz. Full-bodied and structured, with tooth-staining dark fruit, chocolate, and lots of thick wood. Very New World. (2/08)

Headroom

Stony Brook 2004 “The Max” (Franschhoek) – Peppers, leaves, and chocolate…a strange combination…with far too much peppery, bitter tannin. (2/08)

Zinedine Zidane

Allée Bleue 2005 Cabernet Sauvigon/Merlot (Western Cape) – Big, chewy fruit with chalky minerality. Structured. Obvious wood on the finish. Still very primary. There are gaps and voids in this wine that I don’t think time will fill. (2/08)

John Stuart running

Vergelegen 2004 “Mill Race” Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon (Stellenbosch) – Classic cabernet peppers, leaves, cedar, and ground-up pencil. There’s a bit of oak soup on the long finish, though. Nicely structured, clean, and promising. (2/08)

Nouveau Riche

Le Riche 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon (Stellenbosch) – Concentrated and round, showing plum, blueberry, and some herbality. Eucalyptus is also present. Long and dense, especially on the finish. Nicely formed, with good aging potential. (2/08)

Sizzler

Sizanani 2006 Pinotage (Bottelary) – Good, fruity aromatics, mixed chocolates, some drying paint. Spice, with a highly milky, lactic note, form the finish. Makeup has been applied, but the bad old pinotage characteristics remain. (2/08)

Today or Tumara

Bellevue Estate “Tumara” 2004 Pinotage (Stellenbosch) – Chocolate, big fruit, smoked chocolate, and thick, sludgy structure. OK, if you like tar. (2/08)

Clash

Bellevue Estate “Tumara” 2002 “Titan” (Stellenbosch) – Chocolate, bitter leaves, black dirt, and endless green lines. No good. (2/08)

Just one vineyard, growing in the darkness...

Small & Smith “Fairhall Downs” 2007 Sauvignon Blanc “Single Vineyard” (Marlborough) – Notice they don’t actually name the vineyard. Grapefruit with a tinge of red. Full-bodied and dry-tasting, though it carries 3.1 grams of residual sugar. Nicely executed. (2/08)

Wairau when you can swim?

Wairau River 2007 Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough) – Chile and grass. Old-style, and not in a good way. (2/08)

Vava brother, vava sister

Vavasour 2007 Sauvignon Blanc Awatere Valley (Marlborough) – Gooseberry and chalk. Dry and intense. Very, very good. (2/08)

Patutahi your shoelaces

Brancott 2005 Gewürztraminer Patutahi (Gisborne) – Vibrant fruit, flowers, spice, peach, and nuts, with a dry finish. It’s a little lighter than I’d like; gewürz of this intensity should have a little more heft. (2/08)

Arthur Jackson

Two Paddocks 2006 “Picnic” Pinot Noir (Central Otago) – Clean, with good earthiness, stones, and soil underlying dark plums. Simple (as is it’s intent), and good. (2/08)

1 if by Landt, 2 if by Scea

Staete Landt 2005 Pinot Noir (Marlborough) – Green and pink, with spiky acidity. Other than the brief foray into blended peppercorns, however, this is an absent wine. (2/08)

sqrt(Mahi-Mahi)

Mahi 2006 Pinot Noir (Marlborough) – Sweet earth, orange and golden beets, and a lot of – perhaps too much – structure. It’s a bit hard. (2/08)

Amis & Andy

Amisfield 2006 Pinot Noir (Central Otago) – Hard, tannic, and no good. (2/08)

Charlton Heston

Swan “Mad House” 2006 Pinot Noir Clearview (Bendigo) – Finally, we get a wine carrying the appellation of the ocean of vineyards that make up the Central Otago’s “secret” supply. It’s structured and mineralistic, but lacks generosity. (2/08)

Boundary conditions (& the coriolis force)

Te Awa 2004 “Boundary” (Hawke’s Bay) – Blueberry soup with caramelization, yet oddly the dominant feature on the finish is the underripeness. There’s good structure despite the stew, but the wine is over-concentrated, gelatinous, and far too sticky. (2/08)

Regards with to

Penfolds 2004 “RWT” Shiraz (Barossa Valley) – Smoky blueberry, blackberry, and chocolate. Dense and clumsy, stumbling through a long but unbelievably dull finish. Bottled boredom. (2/08)

Denver

Santa Vitória 2007 Alentejano Branco (Portugal) – Dry, clean, dry, skin-toned, dry, seedy, and dry. I’ve never tasted such a parched wine. It makes me thirsty for something liquid. (2/08)

Santa Vitória 2006 Alentejano Branco (Portugal) – Fuller than the 2007, showing crisp melon and apple, but with layer upon layer of skin-dominated desiccation. Very interesting. (2/08)

Santa Vitória 2006 Alentejano Branco “Reserva” (Portugal) – Peach, apricot, and thick orange cream with good acidity. Big and full-fruited. Very tasty. (2/08)

Versatility

Santa Vitória “Versátil” 2005 Alentejano Tinto (Portugal) – Dirty and angular, showing sharp-edged blackberries. Eh. (2/08)

Roriz

Santa Vitória 2005 Alentejano Tinto (Portugal) – Blackberry, black cherry, and strawberry seeds. Tough tannins. I don’t see how this resolves into anything useful. (2/08)

Santa Vitória 2004 Alentejano Tinto “Reserva” (Portugal) – Lusher than its brethren, and more full-bodied, with blueberry and plum, a complexing rindy note, and a good deal of structure. Still, it’s just average. (2/08)

Inevitability

Santa Vitória “Inevitável” 2005 Alentejano Tinto (Portugal) – Big and dense, with chewy, chocolate-covered blackberries. Sophisticated but quite tannic at the moment; it will age, but I think the tannin will always be somewhat of a topnote. (2/08)

How many miles?

Los Quimiles 2006 Torrontés (Salta) – Streaky lime, sweet lime, and skin tones. Clean. It lacks brightness; call it a sunset torrontés. (2/08)

M, Q, 007

Montes Alpha 2004 “M” (Santa Cruz) – Melon and maraschino cherry, plus a spectrum of fruit desiccation that runs from plum, to prune, to raising. Big and dark. Oaky, with solid tannin and lots of chocolate on the finish. Well put-together in the blindingly obvious New World style, and – of course – thoroughly anonymous. (2/08)

Lapostolle service

Casa Lapostolle 2004 “Clos Apalta” (Colchagua) – Dense and thick, with an unpleasant mélange of bell peppers and chocolaty oak, which clamps down and arrests the finish. Not very good. (2/08)

Burmester, can you spare a dime?

Burmester White Porto (Douro) – Leafy – mostly mint – with strawberry and sweet blended sugars. Very, very simple. (2/08)

Kitaen

Burmester Tawny Porto (Douro) – More oxidized than I’d like, showing little other than stale nuts and an acrid sharpness. (2/08)

Burmester “Jockey Club” Porto “Reserva” (Douro) – Brown sugar and maple syrup. OK. (2/08)

Burmester “10 Year” Tawny Porto (Douro) – Complex at the outset, sugary sweetness, with stale fruit but good length. Actually fairly tasty, though it seems older than its constituent parts. (2/08)

Burmester “20 Year” Tawny Porto (Douro) – Spiced brandy but pleasantly mild overall, with complex sugars and a long, creamy finish. (2/08)

Burmester 1985 Colheita Porto (Douro) – Cigar and old Armagnac, very spicy, with balanced sweetness but a touch of heat on the finish. Impressive length. (2/08)

Ruby Dee

Burmester Ruby Porto (Douro) – Simple dark cherry syrup with dual burning sensations of acidity and alcohol. (2/08)

Burmester “Sotto Voce” Porto “Reserve” (Douro) – Spiced walnut and good, dark fruit. Nice. (2/08)

Burmester 2001 “Late Bottled Vintage” Porto (Douro) – Balanced and structured, full-fruited (black cherry, blueberry, boysenberry), with a long, spicy finish. Very nice. (2/08)

Burmester 2005 Porto (Douro) – Tannin and tarragon-dominated, with spiky acidity, stale nut skins, and an odd finish. Weird. (2/08)

Alexander Bell

Graham’s 1994 Porto (Douro) – Pure sweetness, mixed cherries. The finish is decent. It appears to be open, but it’s not showing much, so maybe it’s all an illusion. (2/08)

Selection bias

Kaimira Estate 2004 Pinot Noir (Nelson) – Bright cranberry with a touch of fennel. It’s like pinot noir juice more than wine, and though it’s a touch screechy, it’s fun and crisp, and undoubtedly benefits from a good chill. Nice enough in its style, though I wouldn’t trot it out for fine dining. (3/05)

Kaimira Estate 2004 “Vintner’s Selection” Pinot Noir (Nelson) – Just bottled, and still tight…maybe even a little bit volatile. There’s mint and other herbs, and then an explosion of full-bodied red berries. This wash of summery fruit is clean and lustrous, while in the background a keening wail of minerality grows. Very, very young at the moment, but seemingly excellent. (3/05)

Brightwater rafting

Kaimira Estate 2004 Riesling (Brightwater) – Almost smoky, with a foundation of quartz, dust, and gravel over which are laid the wine’s varietal aspects: lime rind, Granny Smith apple skin, and a light touch of lemongrass. Intense and ultimately stone-dominated, with a long and drying finish that brings fine balance to the wine’s residual sugar (somewhere in the eight to nine gram range). Quite good. (3/05)

No OaKed

Kaimira Estate 2004 “Unoaked” Chardonnay (Nelson) – Slightly reductive. Pine forest fog, salted lemon-lime, and crisp, raw apple juice that’s especially prominent on the finish. Very salty throughout. Fun, if a little fierce, with great acidic intensity. As unwooded chardonnays go, this is a pretty good one. (3/05)

We, a gris, then?

Kaimira Estate 2004 Pinot Gris (Brightwater) – Pear skin, lemon, and ripe fennel that shades towards anise later on. There’s also grapefruit, apricot, and pear juice. All this produce is presented cleanly and with fine acidic crispness, which helps open a window through which a little underlying minerality can be sensed. 3.5 to 4 grams residual sugar. Very promising, and one of the better pinot gris I’ve tasted on this trip. (3/05)

Brightwater scandal

Kaimira Estate 2004 Gewürztraminer (Brightwater) – Fun. Lychee, nut oil, peach and pear, and dried rose petal – pretty classic – though the nose is a bit hot. Honeysuckle on the finish is aided by six grams of residual sugar. Despite the hint of heat, it’s a fairly elegant and lighter-styled version, and while it’s nice now, I wouldn’t hold it very long. (3/05)

Admiral

Kaimira Estate 2004 Sauvignon Blanc (Nelson) – Slightly reduced, with a layer of dust and (non-TCA) must that somewhat mutes its gooseberry, lime, lemongrass, and grapefruit aromas. There’s a soda water aspect to this wine, as well. Iffy. (3/05)

Rectorie ball

Parcé Frères “La Rectorie” 1998 Banyuls “Cuvée Léon Parcé” (Roussillon) – Long, opaque sheets of cocoa-dusted raspberry fruit paste baking in the Catalan sun. Only mildly sweet, with most of its structure faded, leaving an easygoing core of fruit-derived blackness bracketed by softness. Quite good, but needs to be consumed. (It must be noted that the provenance of this bottle was questionable; perfectly-stored bottles may be fresher.) (4/08)

A gris to disagree

Hugel 1990 Pinot Gris “Vendange Tardive” (Alsace) – Thick and soupy. Spiced pear, of course, but little else of note. There’s nothing refreshing about this wine, which is rather leaden up front, then thins, then re-hefts for a big, dull finish. (4/08)

2 pints

Baumard 1995 Quarts de Chaume (Loire) – 375 ml. Oxidized. (4/08)

My zinger

Emrich-Schönleber 1999 Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Auslese 24 00 (Nahe) – Sweet and trying to be crisp, but somehow muted and gauzy. Closed? I’m not quite sure what’s going on here. (4/08)

Ferris von Buhl's day off

von Buhl 1996 Forster Ungeheuer Riesling Auslese 35 97 (Pfalz) – Massive, roboticized apple in a sheath of brilliant metallicism, firing laser-beam acidity at all who approach. Shiny and terrific. (4/08)

York town

Ridge 1996 Petite Sirah York Creek (Spring Mountain) – Tannic and huge. Gosh, what a surprise. There’s a massive burst of soil within, but this – like so many other petite sirahs done in the “traditional” California style, remains aggravatingly primary despite an appealing, hulkish drinkability. (4/08)

Draperlate

Ridge 1995 Zinfandel Pagani Ranch “Late Picked” (Sonoma Valley) – Concentrated blackberry that narrows to a thin beam of acidity. Ridge’s late-picked wines are rarely my favorites, but for reasons (volatile acidity, mostly) not on display here. Rather, this is a wine that seems to be thinking about coming apart. It’s quite approachable, but it’s pretty much all approach, and no follow-through. (4/08)

Old unfaithful

Ridge 1995 Geyserville (Sonoma County) – Corked. (4/08)

Picasses-a

Olga Raffault 1997 Chinon Les Picasses (Loire) – Bludgeoning. All structure and herb-infused soil; thickness and density without any letup. In no way, shape, or form should this be uncorked now. (4/08)

Dansk macabre

Nordlund 2006 “Lillelund” (Denmark) – Yes, Danish wine. Apparently, the grapes are rondo, regent, leon millot and castel; I've only ever heard of one of those. The nose has a promising, cheap Bordeaux sort of dark fruit/cedar quality to it. The palate, however, tastes like various paints, stale Hershey’s chocolate, and garage-scented cheesecloth sodden with distilled water. Plus, some noticeable volatile acidity. I’m happy to report that after about 72 hours in bottle (no, really), the palate calms down a little bit, retaining a little bit of that black fruit in a fairly acrid, wan way; it’s now only actively unpleasant, rather than abjectly horrifying. (4/08)

Fay Wray

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon Fay (Napa Valley) – Eucalyptus and thyme, with a dark residue of blackcurrant. Mostly, it’s structure right now, with massive tannin dominating. Appealingly authentic, though there’s very little that’s actually appealing about the wine right now. Let it rest. (4/08)

MM MM good

Signal Hill 2000 “Old Vines” Cabernet Sauvignon “Antica MM” (Western Cape) – Strikingly raw, with zings and abraded cuts of acidity. This tastes like it’s actually made from true wild vines, with a feral sort of black-hearted, untamed fruit and exotic herbs and spices. There’s a bit of chalky-textured chocolate as well, with a bitter, twisted, yet not actually unpleasant finish of somewhat insufficient length. An utterly fascinating wine. I can’t decide if I like it or not. Worth special mention: the label, which is…well, it depicts what appears, at first glance, to be a man in affectionate congress with the hindquarters of a swine. Is that what it actually is? I have no idea, and I’m not sure I want to know. (4/08)

rBGH

Bianchi “Castello di Monsanto” 1995 “Tinscvil” (Tuscany) – Dull fruit, obvious and thick-headed with no discernable individuality; a sort of white noise of Tuscan wine. It could easily just be too young, but it’s not saying anything of interest at the moment. 24 hours of air don’t help. Nor do 48, after which the wine starts to oxidize. (4/08)

Pen-Ambra

Ambra 1996 Carmignano “Riserva Elzana” (Tuscany) – Corked. (4/08)

Sue, ho

Souhaut 2005 St-Joseph “Sainte Epine” (Rhône) – Gorgeous. Smooth waves of graphitic tannin, dark, smoky fruit, and fine acidity. Flawlessly poised, and prepared for future greatness. (4/08)

O, G, yay!

Ogier 2000 Côte-Rôtie (Rhône) – Corked. (4/08)

The Cosmic muffin

Clos du Paradis “Domaine Viret” 2000 Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages Saint-Maurice “Cosmic” (Rhône) – This seems to be thinning faster than the ’99 did, but it’s still hanging on to tastefulness. All the components are there – strawberry, a touch of blueberry, some sunny, rough-hewn sandstone – with just a touch of dilution, and a tailing off on the finish. (4/08)

Welcome back Côtto

Champalimaud “Côtto” 2000 Douro “Grande Escolba” (Portugal) – Corked. (4/08)

Barca-lounger

Casa Ferreirinha 1991 Douro “Barca-Velha” (Portugal) – Elegant, perhaps overly so, with lightly sweet fruit in a faded box of antique clothing. The finish is lengthy, but there’s a hint of caramelization at the fringe, and the wine promises a bit more than it delivers. It’s owner, while praising the wine, insists that it’s performing below norm. (4/08)

George Brezza

Brezza 1996 Barolo Castellero (Piedmont) – Caramelized and dead. (4/08)

The Roederer less traveled

Roederer Estate 1998 Pinot Noir (Anderson Valley) – Strawberry, tarragon, and tin with wood ear mushrooms. The slightly sickly fruit-sweetness of New World pinot is partially in evidence here, though the wine is pleasantly small-boned, with a pretty face and a surprisingly long finish. Though just a bit of tannin remains, I think this is probably as long as you’d want to hold this wine. (4/08)

Witters don't use drugs

Edmunds St. John 2006 “Bone-Jolly” Gamay Noir Rosé Witters (El Dorado County) – Bright and ripe; strawberries tarted up with just a bit of cranberry. Pure fun, but there’s a foundational hum of some sort of vaguely-expressed minerality as well; it’s hard to get to because the wine’s tasted in the context of dozens of others. It could probably benefit from some isolation. (4/08)

Chardonnlais

Brun 2001 Beaujolais Blanc (Beaujolais) – Pretty. Moves from peach, to apricot, to tangelo, to grapefruit; as the initially creamy sweetness brings forth its supporting chorus of structure, the wine rounds into fine form. This is drinking nicely now, but perhaps not at peak. 24 hours later, more minerality is on show, with a more restrained overall character. (4/08)

Silex is golden

Didier Dagueneau 1997 Pouilly-Fumé “Silex” (Loire) – Milky-sweet, though perhaps not from actual residual sugar. There’s no life here, though there’s the residue of endless effort. I kinda hate it. (4/08)

Damned if you do

François Cotat 2006 Sancerre Les Monts Damnés (Loire) – All minerality in crystal form. Big and fat – perhaps it has a bit of a weight problem – but with sufficient skeletal fortitude to support the extra heft. I think it should, as usual, age well; it’s pretty primary now. (4/08)

François Cotat 2001 Sancerre Les Monts Damnés (Loire) – Gorgeous, like light through a prism. This brings all the concentrated facets of the young wine into focus, displaying them with remarkable purity and gentle ease, yet there’s excitement and complexity to be had as well. I’d say this is ready to go, though I don’t suppose there’s a huge hurry. (4/08)

Knees, chin

von Kesselstatt 1997 Kaseler Nies’chen Riesling Spätlese 5 98 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Back up the diesel truck. Open all the valves. Let it run free over the ground. (4/08)

Do you Graach it?

JJ Prüm 1990 Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spätlese 13 91 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Pretty much dead to the world, though seemingly not “dead” in the sense of being over the hill. Corked? If so, no one’s picking it up. Could be anything, really. (4/08)

Sister, sister

Monastero Suore Cistercensi S.O. Trappiste 2006 “Coenobium” (Lazio) – Precise and yet full of dancing flavor; perhaps it’s most accurate to say that it starts with purer intentions than it eventually reveals. Pine and rosemary dominate up front, but then matters broaden to waxier, more exotic floral/spicy aromas. A lovely wine. (4/08)

Monastero Suore Cistercensi S.O. Trappiste 2005 “Coenobium” (Lazio) – The exoticism of this wine here extends to the texture, which is decidedly silky but aggravatingly elusive. There’s more fruit than in the 2006, with lots of minerality, but the overall effect is somewhat less exciting. Still, it’s a very good wine, at a very good price. (4/08)

Rare form

Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin 1988 Champagne Brut “Rare” (Champagne) – Sweet and fruity, dominated by strawberry and lemon. It’s ripe but simple. Not much more to say, really; Veuve remains, for me, a disappointing house. All the more so for their popularity. (4/08)

Heid and sieck

Charles Heidsieck 1990 Champagne Brut (Champagne) – Corked. (4/08)

What's good for the gueuze is good for the gander

Girardin “1882” Gueuze Lambic (Belgium) – Really good, with sharp acidity and a minor baritone of brett, yet balanced (for the style), retaining a pure core of tart cherry dust. (4/08)

BBQ beer

Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier (Germany) – Crisper and more refreshing, and though the smoke dominates (naturally), there’s actual beer present as well; a feat of balance rarely achieved in this style. Overall, despite the char, it’s a fairly light brew. (4/08)