In describing this wine, calling it basically an Amarone, is not correct but a pretty close and useful phrase. It is a blend of 70% Corvina and Corvina grossa, 20% Rondinella, 5% Croatina, and 5% Oseleta. Deep garnet in color, mostly opaque and bright.
Great showing for this bottle at age 17. Purple in color with some ruby swirls, mostly opaque and bright. The nose is great with plums, black raspberries, worn leather, slight dried floral note and spice. Full bodied. Tannins mostly resolved. On the palate, this is deep and complex. Flavors of plums, raspberries with some spice. This bottle is clean with just a bare touch of funk. Nice finish. Seemingly at peak, these bottles probably should be consumed in the next five to seven years. Great on its own, this works better with food. Chili or beef stew would be a nice match.
Another top BdM from the consistently top producer. Ruby in color, mostly clear and bright. The nose is nice with cherries, spice, and a bit of tobacco. Medium to full bodied. Light tannins. On the palate, this has a tight complexity that unwinds in the glass. Lots of cherry fruit with some underlying forest floor and slight tea leaves. Good finish. This is a classic pizza wine and in fact, went great with some really creative wood fired pizza. Drink over the next ten years.
This is one of the top wines from Chile. The bottle was decanted prior to tasting. Garnet in color, mostly clear and bright. The nose is nice with cassis, cherry candy, slight bell pepper, cedar and forest floor. Medium to full bodied. Medium tannins. On the palate, this is delicious. Cassis, cherries, and bell pepper. Nice finish. This is lighter in style that say Napa or even Bordeaux, but it is almost seamless. The green bell pepper may be distracting to some, but it drinks more like a Napa Cab from the 70's or 80's. It is drinking well now with a decant, but may improve with
Golden in color with a lot of very small bubbles, clear and bright. The nose is very nice with chalk, toast, and slight marzipan. Full bodied. Good balance. On the palate, this is crisp with a very, very slight sweetness to it. Chalk and slight dried citrus notes. Long finish. This has plenty of depth. Drinking well now, this should drink well for seven to ten more years. It is very food versatile and should go with just about any food. It went very well with a spicy vegetarian pizza.
I’ve long held the belief that it’s pretty hard to mess up Cabernet Sauvignon from Howell Mountain fruit. The vines there are simply exceptional. So in the very capable hands of Duckhorn, the fruit in this 2018 shines. It’s all Cabernet with 8% Merlot added. There’s a lovely elegance to this wine, a steadiness that combines all the elements, oak, fruit, wood and tannin together. Not one element outperforms the other. The soft fruit includes noticeable black cherry, blackberry, blueberry, mocha, huckleberry and the ever-present but limited vanilla and caramel.
For 40 years Calera has been producing terrific wines in a rather unlikely place, in the Gavilan Mountains at the dividing line for San Benito and Monterey counties. This 2021 offers black cherry, blackberry, blueberry, huckleberry, pomegranate, with back notes of strawberry and Bing cherry. There is a rustic quality to this Pinot, hints of sage and earthiness. Aged just 10 months in French oak, a scant 10% of those barrels were new, therefore the fruit expresses itself quite clearly. It has solid acidity and tannic structure, making it an incredible value for the price.
Like most of Beddrock's basic level bottlings this is a tremendous value )in Sauvignon Blanc). Light golden in color with some green hues. The nose is nice with lemon and lime notes, melon, and just a hint of tropical fruits. Medium bodied. Slightly oily texture. Great balance. On the palate, lemon-lime and honey-dew. Good finish. Tasty. This is nice on its own and will work nicely with fish or lighter foods. A nice wine for Sushi. Drink over the next seven to ten years.
The last time I tried this (2018) this was shut down. It was nice to revisit this as it wakes up. It still could use more cellar time. Patience will be rewarded. Light golden in color, clear and bright. The nose has some sulfur but much less than Prum wines of twenty years ago. Aromas of sulfur, smoke, minerals, slight pineapple and lemon. Medium bodied. Slightly viscous texture. Great lively acidity. On the palate, minerals, lemons and slight pineapple. This is sweet but the acidity keeps it from being heavy. Long finish. This needs a few more years in the cellar at this point
You may not know it, but La Crema has been producing wine for over 40 years. This 2022 Sauvignon Blanc is part of that proud heritage. This offers light lemon-lime, quince, honeysuckle, resin, apricot and guava notes. It’s a lighter style wine that makes it inherently better with a diversity of food. The acidity is in check due mainly to the use, predominately, of stainless steel, and just 27% went into neutral oak allowing for a flinty, tactile expression. ORIGIN: Sonoma County. ALCHOL: 13.5%
