Good old Austria… a land with white wines as steely, reserved, and imposingly austere as the (often slightly oversized) architectural wonders that grace its cities and towns.
Let’s wrap up the coverage of my Austrian media jaunt (yes, from back in May 2019… screw you, punky, I’ve been busy!) with a look back in time at how those steely, reserved, and imposingly austere wines get a little bit less steely, reserved, and imposingly austere given some time of repose in the botltle.
Austrian white wine spirit animal
C’mon, don’t you want to know what happens to high-end examples of Austria’s signature Grüner Veltliner over time? Don’t you want to know if they’re worth the time, expense, and patience? Don’t you want to read several extremely similar tasting notes about a single grape variety?
Of course you do, you wine nerd!…
Read the rest of this stuff »
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 Weingut Schmelz Pichl Point Gruner Veltliner Smaragd (Wachau): This Point is on point, and focused almost to a fault – almost! $NA B+
- 2017 Weingut Brandl Ried Zobringer Heiligenstein “1OTW” Riesling Reserve (Kamptal): Flinty with flair, appealing with apples, piquant with pear. $NA A-
- 2017 Weingut Ludwig Ehn Zobinger Heiligenstein Reserve Riesling Erste OTW Lage (Kamptal): Limes, served about 200 different ways. $NA B+
- 2015 Weszeli Ried Langenloiser Steinmassel “1OTW” Riesling (Kamptal): A little sugar can’t shake off this kind of pure, steely austerity. $NA A-
- 2013 Weingut Fred Loimer Steinmassl Riesling Reserve Erste OTW Lage (Kamptal): Prickly, perky, pithy, petrol-y, and nearly perfect. $50 A-
- 2013 Weingut Rabl Vinum Optimum Kaferberg Reserve Gruner Veltliner (Kamptal): Un-apologetically classic; pass the peas, please! $NA B+
- 2016 Chalk Hill Estate Chardonnay (Chalk Hill): Big on toast, big on oak, big on body, and big on flavor. $40 B+
- 2018 Sosie Bare Necessity Sparkling Rose (Bennett Valley): You’ll barely be able to stop drinking its tastiness. $30 B+
- 2016 Dueling Pistols Cellars Zinfandel – Syrah (Dry Creek Valley): Less of a duel, and more of a fun-loving friendship circle. $45 B+
- 2017 Flora Springs Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley): Ok, so… they very clearly know what the heck they’re doing with this vintage. $50 A-
“I think… we’re now more precise.”
According to manager Vincent Bache-Gabrielsen, that’s the secret behind the revitalization of Saint-Estèphe’s Château Lilian Ladouys.
If Bache-Gabrielsen’s name feels familiar, it’s because he also manages Château Pédesclaux, the Pauillac property that the Lorenzetti family purchased just one year after picking up Lilian Ladouys, and which their team also revitalized. If you’re sensing a theme here, don’t congratulate yourself, because, bluntly stated, the theme is pretty friggin’ obvious. And – spoiler alert! – the results are basically the same: an ailing Bordeaux producer weaned off of life support, and now celebrated as doing the rarest of all Bordeaux wine tricks: over-delivering for its price point (you can find their main red for well under $40/bottle).
Backtracking for a bit of history: the Château Lilian Ladouys property dats back to the 1560s, and was revitalized once before in the late 1980s. Like skinny ties and jams shorts, that `80s endeavor was ill-fated, as Ladouys found few buyers for its at-the-time much-elevated prices. Periods of what Bache-Gabrielsen called “irregular quality” followed, until the Lorenzettis saw potential in Ladouys’ Saint-Estèphe terroir and decided to buy it, with the understanding that to turn things around “we have to work!”
While 2009 saw immediate improvements that Bache-Gabrielsen termed “interesting,” it wasn’t until the soils began to really improve in 2010 that the team felt that Ladouys was turning the corner. They’ve since been engaged in the selling an acquisition of various plots in the region, replanting to maximize proper rootstock usage, and favoring gravelly soils over limestone in an effort to significantly up the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in their blend. About 2/3 of their property has since been exchanged in some form or another, and as of 2018 they now have about 80 hectares of vineyards from which to draw, with half of it devoted to Cabernet Sauvignon (the rest being Merlot, Petit Verdot, and a tiny portion of Cabernet Franc), and 80% of it on gravelly soils.
“It’s really different from Pauillac,” Bache-Gabrielsen told me during a live video tasting, “the subsoil is the same, but you have more clay here, and the limestone is much deeper in Pauillac.” This suits their new house style, which is focused on taming extraction and emphasizing aging potential. “We tend to make epicurean wines,” he explained, ” approachable young but that cab age well. We try to balance the power of Saint-Estèphe with freshness….”
Read the rest of this stuff »
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 Domaine Mouton Clos Jus Rouge (Givry Premier Cru): Multiple flavors of earthy cherries doing the funky dance. $52 B+
- 2016 Pere Ventura Tresor Brut Reserva Cava (Catalonia): Green apples, served with elegance and… more green apples! $15 B
- 2017 Weingut Prager Achleiten Riesling Smaragd (Wachau): A veritable clinic in depth, length, and ass-kicking stone-fruited awesomeness. $70 A
- 2017 Weingut Johann Donabaum Setzberg Riesling Smaragd (Wachau): Grab your Snickers, ‘cuz this pretty, pithy puppy ain’t goin’ anywhere for a good, long while. $32 A-
- 2018 Two Hands Wines Angel’s Share Shiraz (McLaren Vale): Those angels come from juicy blackberry heaven, I think. $33 B+
- 2017 Casa Bianchi ‘Enzo Bianchi’ (San Rafael): Bordeaux red-styled goodness that’s tangy, tobacco-y, and totally get-down spicy. $60 A-
- 2016 Dueling Pistols Cellars Petite Sirah – Cabernet Sauvignon (Paso Robles): One pistol is silky, the other burly, and they’re actually getting along really well. $49 A-
- 2017 Dutton-Goldfield Dutton Ranch Emerald Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir (Green Valley): Ah, to be so young and so full of future promise… $68 A-
- 2017 Wente Vineyards Riva Ranch Pinot Noir (Arroyo Seco): BIg personality, but walking with delicate, light footsteps. $28 B+
- 2016 Herzog Wine Cellars Late Harvest White Riesling (Monterey County): C’mon, what’s a little harmless, cloying fun among friends, after all? $25 B
