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 Gratien & Meyer Brut (Cremant de Loire): Bubbles for Now. Which ought to suit most of you gorgeous lushes just fine, right? $20 B
• NV Ruhlmann Harmonie de Rose (Cremant d’Alsace): Usually, balanced mixes of earthy and fruity like this only happen in orchards. $22 B
• 2017 M. Chapoutier Domaine de Bila-Haut ‘L’Esquerda’ (Cotes du Roussillon Villages Lesquerde): Spicy, fun, classy, and HOW THE ACTUAL F*CK do they keep doing this so well for the money?!?? $28 A-
• NV Segura Viudas Brut Cava (Catalonia): Fresh, floral, anda friend to both your mouth, your friends’ mouths, and your bank account. $10 B-
• 2015 Bodegas Virgen del Aguila – Paniza Agoston-Jabali Garnacha – Syrah (Carinena): Capable sipping, ringed by sweet plums and fresh violets. $10 B-
• 2016 Morgadio Legado del Conde (Rias Baixas): Still mineral, still kicking, still delightful, still a little under-priced. $17 B+
• 2014 Rodney Strong Symmetry Meritage (Alexander Valley): Bord’x blend, done big; Big, done right. $50 A-
• 2016 Sidebar Cellars Old Vines Zinfandel (Russian River Valley): Deep, dark, complex, and punching above its weight class. $28 A-
• 2016 Brooks ‘Sweet P’ Riesling (Willamette Valley): Tangerine dream, in bottled format. $25 B+
• 2017 Siduri Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (Oregon): Like a fine steak with the deepest, darkest, earthiest sauce you can muster. $29 B+

Ah, good old, dependable Château Pédesclaux.

Well, for those in the know when it comes to Bordeaux, this Pauillac producer was dependable for decades… in that one could usually depend on it to under-perform.

Established back in 1810 by the wine broker who gave it its name (Pierre Urbain Pédesclaux), Pédesclaux rose to prominence rather quickly by Bordeaux standards, being classified as Fifth Growth in 1855. The 20th Century saw successions of ownership and neglect; at one point in the 1950s, the estate was tagged for demolition.

In 2009, Pédesclaux was picked up by Françoise and Jacky Lorenzetti (owners of Chateau Lilian Ladouys), who, according to current manager Vincent Bache-Gabrielsen (with whom, through the miracles of modern technology, I had a nice remote online chat) set about to “legitimize” the estate. This started with the vineyards, which were replanted, reworked, expanded, and eventually given a treatment so detailed that they are now classified into nineteen different terroirs (ranging from gravel to limestone to clay), vinified into 116 different tank fermentations, and aged in barrels from nine different coopers, all to make about 270,000 bottles of just two wine labels.

The aim now is to surprise with a bit of over-performance, even at the $50/bottle price tag. Bache-Gabrielsen put it this way: “The idea is to have freshness, tannins that are just mature, and to make you salivate and want another glass.” Pédesclaux now puts a borderline-obsessive amount of effort into their Grand Vin’s texture. “We want precision in our tannins,” Bache-Gabrielsen explained. He describes their harvest as “al dente” (now my new favorite term for picking ripeness).

The result? Pretty damned nice…

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!

• 2018 Berryessa Gap Chardonnay (Yolo County): Toasted nut and zesty lemon curd, dancing a bit of an irresistible jig. $27 B+
• 2018 Berryessa Gap Dry Rose (Yolo County): The lively, floral result of some strange grape variety bedfellows. $19 B
• 2018 Berryessa Gap Sauvignon Blanc (Yolo County): Mostly tropical; also, also mostly excellent. $24 B+
• 2018 Youngberg Hill Vineyards Aspen Pinot Gris (Willamette Valley): Grapefruit, flowers, lemongrass… wait, what is this again? $27 B+
• 2015 Iris Vineyards Chalice Estate Chardonnay (Willamette Valley): A few delicious years young, and still wiping the earthy dust from its kid pants. $25 B+
• 2017 Iris Vineyards Pinot Gris (Willamette Valley): Mineral, and refreshingly refreshing for OR PG these days. $16 B+
• 2018 Bodega Colome Torrontes (Salta): Quite happy to be floral, and also quite happy to be in your face about it. $14 B
• 2017 Inama Vigneti di Foscarino Soave Classico (Veneto): A heavy hand, married with a perky, pretty attitude. $24 B+
• 2018 Famille Combard Figuière Première Rosé (Côtes-de-Provence): Wild berries; ecstatic tastiness; tame pleasantness. $23 B+
• 2017 Bodegas Forjas del Salnes Leirana Albarino (Rias Baixas): Lemon zest and wet stones, forging a small path of delightfulness. $29 B+

No one could accuse the Southern Rhône cru Cairanne of rushing into things.

For much of its history, Cairanne seems to have been metaphysically hiding from the fine wine world behind its own rocky outcrops. While technically part of the Côtes du Rhône designation since 1953, it took Cairanne 87 years to reach cru AOC status, the aim that originally brought together several of its local growers to establish a regional Cave Coopérative back in 1929.

In the last three years, however, Cairanne’s best producers have been making up for lost time. In a first for France, their cru regulations specify sulfite maximums, along with banning the use of herbicides, and requiring hand-harvesting of the grapes grown from its garrigue-surrounded, clay-and-stone soils. “Now we are lucky,” noted Domaine Brusset‘s Laurent Brusset when I visited the area on a media tour, “it’s a nice picture for the next generation.”

You probably have yet to hear much about Cairanne, but if you’re a lover of Southern Rhône Grenache-based reds (which must encompass 50% of the blend), or even the occasional Clairette-based white sipper (a mere 3% of the area’s production), you owe to yourself to get more closely acquainted. Cairanne has a defining quality, but it’s something almost ethereally illusive.

“There is something common [about Carianne with respect to the S. Rhône]; different, but common” noted Domaine Roche‘s Romain Roche. Denis Alary of Domaine Alary describes it more succinctly: “Cairanne is elegance and finesse, always.” Generally speaking, I agree, as you’ll see below…