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!
- 2016 Jermann Pinot Grigio (Venezia Giulia): Behold the thinking wine-lover’s Pinot Grigio, replete with, well, almost everything that’s lacking in most domestic US PGs… $25 B+
- 2015 Inama Carmenere Piu (Veneto Rosso): For when only something different – and something with accessible sophistication – will do. $20 B+
- NV Cleto Chiarli Brut de Noir Rose Lambrusco (Emilia-Romagna): That time when cherries had a killer party, and they invited more cherries, and then even more cherries showed up. $15 B
- 2017 Andreola ‘Mas de Fer’ Rive di Soligo (Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Superiore): The melodies are slightly sweet, and the main chorus is mellifluously harmonious. $25 B+
- 2016 Pieropan Soave Classico (Veneto): Soaaaaveeee gettin’ its sexaaaaahhhhh swerrrrrveeeeehhhh onnnnnnn… $20 B+
- 2015 Hickinbotham Brooks Road Shiraz (McLaren Vale): This is a long road, in a good way, and one where the path is lined with dried herb and ripe plummy goodness. $75 A-
- 2015 Montes Alpha Carmenere (Colchagua Valley): Castles will be stormed, no prisoners will be taken, and all larders will be raided. $25 B+
- 2017 Left Coast Cellars The Orchards Pinot Gris (Willamette Valley): In these orchards, everything is peachy – both literally, and figuratively – keen. $19 B+
- 2015 Miro Cellars Ponzo Vineyard old Vines Reserve Zinfandel (Russian River Valley): They’re on to something special here, folks; just bring your penchant for intensity, spiciness, and juiciness. $35 A-
- 2012 Petroni Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (Sonoma Valley): That debonair formal attire suits this one right on down to the T. $75 A-
This might be one of the earliest monthly wine product samples roundups here on 1WD, but I’m tending to a sick kiddo at the moment, and figured that I’d use the limited available writing window give you the lowdown on a couple of rather not-so-inexpensive wine products (no book reviews this month!) before I accidentally kill the brain cells housing my thoughts on them while they were still fresh in my memory.
Image: richardbrendon.com
First up is “The Wine Glass” ($112 for a set of 2), part of the 1 Collection, a collaboration between British Master of Wine (and friend of 1WD) Jancis Robinson and Notting Hill native designer Richard Brendon. The idea behind the glass, as per its creators, was to create a drinking vessel that can be used “for every wine, whatever its colour, including sparkling wine, port, sherry, sweet wines and anything else you want to savour and enjoy to the fullest… specially designed to maximise your enjoyment of all wines’ aromas, flavours and textures in the most practical way possible.”
That’s a lofty goal, and one that, in my testing experience, the glass mostly achieves. While I found it a bit large for dessert and fortified wines, it does a fair job on those, and an exceptional job on anything bubbly or still. Robinson describes the style as “gossamer-thin” and she’s right – The Wine Glass is so light that you might forget that you’re holding anything at all when it’s in your hand. This comes with the anxiety that it might break easily, but for its lack of thickness it is surprisingly durable, and handles stints in the dishwasher with ease.
It’s also a stylish item, and for that you are paying a dear farthing, my friends, at about $56 per stem. Is it worth it? I have serious reservations about answering that question in the affirmative; while The Wine Glass is superior in almost any measurable way to most of the stemware available designed for everyday use, it’s simply too luxurious an item to fit into such a category. This is especially pertinent considering that you can get nearly the same durability, style, and all-in-one applicability from Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson‘s The One stemware line, which currently goes for under $30 a pair. And lest you think $15/stem suggests an experience fit for inferior sipping, when I sat for the 2010 Romanée-Conti vintage tasting in NYC, they used Andrea’s glasses…
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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 Zocker Paragon Vineyard Gruner Veltliner (Edna Valley): It’s perennially a fascinatingly good time to watch what this one is up to. $19 B+
- 2011 Oso Libre “Quixotic” (Paso Robles): There’s nothing unrealistic about how enjoyable – and abundant – the tangy red fruit flavors still are. $62 A-
- 2016 Dutton Estate La Familia Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley): Sure, it might be young, but with all of that brooding darkness, it’s also deadly freakin’ serious. $70 A-
- 2015 Grgich Hills Estate Paris Tasting Commemorative Chardonnay (Napa Valley): For those times when refinement, texture, and contemplation are meant to trump bombast, weight, and raw concentration. $95 A
- 2015 Georges Duboeuf Pouilly-Fuisse (Maconnais): The white figs have come to party, and they will not be denied, my friends! $32 B+
- 2017 Chateau Ferry Lacombe “Haedus” Rose (Cotes de Provence): Red flowers, red berries, and very likely a red face and nose from drinking so much of it. $18 B+
- 2013 Cartuxa Evora Colheita Tinto (Alentejo): Dark, floral, and like a dreamscape, it’s at once exotic but also eerily familiar. $21 B+
- 2013 Gaja Dagromis (Barolo): Yet an energetic pup at this stage, with all signs pointing to it growing into a fine example worthy of its prestigious pedigree. $90 A-
- 2017 Saint Clair Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough): So, you think that you know pungent? Well, this is here to tell you that you don’t really know pungent yet, bro. $28 B+
- 2015 Hickinbotham The Revivalist Merlot (McLaren Vale): What this will revive is a) your faith in high-end Aussie wares, and b) your love of Merlot done right. $75 A-
We can surely file this one in the I-still-can’t-believe-that-I’ve-fooled-everyone-for-so-long pile: I’ve been asked to judge yet another wine competition. This time, it’s the 2018 incarnation of The Oregon Wine Competition, part of the more comprehensive Oregon Wine Experience, taking place August 20-26, 2018 in Jacksonville, OR, and benefiting Asante Foundation and Asante’s Children’s Miracle Network.
Historically, 100+ Oregon wineries have participated in this event, which makes it one of the (if not the) best ways to get a deep dive into the state (see what I did there?) of the entire OR wine scene.
I’m looking forward to getting my mouth (and the rest of me) back in OR, and to putting the competition’s 100% Oregon AVA wines under the palate microscope (palmiscope?). In that latter regard, I’ll be joining five distinguished members of the wine biz who are also judging, and most of whom have much more impressive initials after their surnames than I do.
For those of you reading this who have OR wine that they’d like to enter, here are the pertinent details. (note that only wines composed of 100% grapes grown in officially-recognized Oregon AVAs, with TTB-approved labels, and produced by Oregon-licensed wineries are eligible).
The rest of you lushes who are thinking of getting in on the action can purchase tickets to this everything-Oregon event, and maybe come and heckle me while I’m working.
Cheers!
