I taste a bunch-o-wine (technical term for more than most people). So each week, I share some of my wine reviews (mostly from samples) and tasting notes in a “mini-review” format.
 
They are meant to be quirky, fun, and (mostly) easily-digestible reviews of (mostly) currently available wines (click here for the skinny on how to read them), and are presented links to help you find them, so that you can try them out for yourself. Cheers!

• NV Taylor Fladgate 325th Anniversary Reserve Tawny Port (Portugal): Going totally, sweetly nuts for sweet caramel and nuts. $50 A-
• 2015 Escalada do Sil (Valdeorras): A bit like a Cru Beaujolais speaking with a heavy, sultry Spanish accent. $40 A-
• 2016 Weingut Dr. Nagler Rudesheimer Bischofsberg Riesling Kabinett Feinherb (Rheingau): Quince missile homing in on the nearest salty food. $20 B+
• 2016 Dutton-Goldfield Azaya Ranch Vineyard Pinot Noir (Petaluma Gap): Cinnamon-topped raspberry-and-black-cherry cookies. $62 A-
• 2015 Cline Cellars Ancient Vines Zinfandel (Contra Costa County): About as much spice – oak and otherwise – as you can reasonably handle. $15 B
• 2014 Bonterra Vineyards The Butler Single Vineyard Cuvee (Mendocino): Grippy and gritty, then settles in and proceeds to get very, very generous. $55 A-
• 2016 Vinchio-Vaglio Serra Vigne Vecchie (Barbera d’Asti): Cloves and blackberries, neatly arranged and fresh as the morning dew. $NA B+
• 2016 Michele Chiarlo ‘Le Orme 16 Mesi’ (Barbera d’Asti): Kind of like sinking your teeth right into a perfectly ripe red plum. $NA B+
• 2016 Il Fachetto Bricco Paradiso (Barbera d’Asti Superiore): And you thought that Barbera wasn’t meant for the steakhouse, you silly boy. $41 A-
• 2016 Bersano Cremosina (Barbera d’Asti Superiore): Leather, licorice, and a love of perky red fruits. $NA B+

Speaking of Moscato d’Asti (see last week’s article for a deep dive into that topic, including a look at how stupid I can be), I thought it worth mentioning a topic that came up during that same media trip to the rolling hills of Piedmonte’s Moscato bianco growing region: Asti is unleashing two brand new DOCG wines onto the market.

Being DOCGs, these are to be just as regulated as the strictly mandated Moscato d’Asti DOCG, which is good news for Moscato lovers looking for something different (and, presumably, for the Italians looking for work enforcing the regulations!). Like Moscato d’Asti, the new DOCGs are made from 100 percent Moscato Bianco grapes grown in the region, but don’t require Moscato dAsti’s vintage declaration. Confusingly (for me, anyway), neither mentions the grape in its DOCG name. Anyway, here’s the run-down of the new categories, both of which offer a broader stylistic range of Asti Moscato…

I taste a bunch-o-wine (technical term for more than most people). So each week, I share some of my wine reviews (mostly from samples) and tasting notes in a “mini-review” format.
 
They are meant to be quirky, fun, and (mostly) easily-digestible reviews of (mostly) currently available wines (click here for the skinny on how to read them), and are presented links to help you find them, so that you can try them out for yourself. Cheers!

• 2015 Ferraton Pere & Fils Saint-Joseph La Source (Rhone): Bacon, raspberries, pepper, and silk. And yeah, those work out just fine together. $32 B+
• NV Besserat de Bellefon Cuvee des Moines Brut Rose (Champagne): Carrying a rather serious demeanor, considering how downright adorable those cherries and roses are. $50 A-
• 2017 Tasca d’Almerita Tenuta Regaleali Catarratto Antisa (Sicily): Kinda nuts – as in, the kind of nuts that you Cannot. Stop. EATING! $22 B+
• 2010 La Antigua Classico Reserva (Rioja): A well-tended garden – earthy, full of floral action, and simply lovely to take in. $25 B+
• 2016 Vega Sicilia Oremus ‘Mandolas’ Tokaj Dry (Tokaj-Hegyalja): Consider yourself a thief for being able to nab this kind of depth, vibrancy, & sexiness for this kind of cash outlay. 28 A-
• 2015 Hickinbotham ‘The Peake’ Cabernet Sauvignon (McLaren Vale): Masterful brushstrokes warning – you’ll lose track of time just taking in the violets, spice, and eucalyptus of this impeccable little painting. $150 A
• 2015 The Hess Collection Allomi Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley): Wellllllll, hellllooooooo there, you sexy beast you! $27 B+
• 2011 Qupe Maxtap Cuvee Red (Central Coast): Still performing, and while the sound is a bit cacophonous, it’s all joyous noise. $26 B+
• 2015 Windvane Pinot Noir (Carneros): That time when Carneros Pinot decided to get all Large-and-In-Charge on us. $45 A-
• 2014 Gundlach-Bundschu Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (Sonoma Valley): As usual, showing nary a wrinkle on its gorgeous face. $45 A-

About ten minutes or so into Walter Speller‘s presentation on Moscato d’Asti, I realized that I was some kind of idiot.

Speller’s masterclass was part of a presentation given to media guests gathered at the bucolic Castello Gancia, smack dab in the heart of Asti and a focal point of the area’s recent UNESCO designation. It’s the kind of place that you imagine in your dreams of what Piemonte would be like (17th century architecture sitting atop gorgeous rolling hills… that sort of thing).

Anyway, it only took me about ten minutes into that masterclass for the cold water of facts to jolt me out of any residual dreamlike morning Piemonte trance into the realization that just about everything that I thought I’d known about Asti’s boisterous vinous calling card was, basically, absolute wrong. I’m betting that most of you reading this have gotten it wrong, too; the simple truth is that the simple pleasures of Moscato d’Asti – hands-down one of the dead easiest wines to enjoy – belie complexities that are pretty friggin’ serious.

I’m not talking about Moscato’s complexity in the nose, either; though a good argument could be made that, in terms of volume of aromatic compounds, Moscato Bianco is one of the most aromatically complex grape varieties in the world. But I am talking about… well, just about everything else that goes into making a finished, drinkable Moscato d’Asti product…