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!
- 2013 Celler Ronadelles Cap de Ruc Cuvee Premium (Montsant): Funky, earthy, elegant, meaty, only in magnum – presumably because it feels so big – and, alas, likely difficult to acquire… $NA A-
- 2007 Celler Ronadelles Jaume Giral Gran Reserva Vinyes Velles (Montsant): Iron fist, velvet glove, and hitting much harder than you’d expect from both its age and the age of its centenary vines. $NA A-
- 2016 Cellers Sant Rafel Solpost Blanc (Montsant): Showing off the curvy fleshiness and beguiling flashiness of Garnaxta Blanca in a compelling, stylish one-piece. $NA B+
- 2017 Cellers Sant Rafel ‘Joana’ (Montsant): Blue is the color of its dreams, its fruits, its flowers, and of the feelings that this tasty red can chase away for you. $NA B
- 2015 Cellers Sant Rafel Solpost “S” (Montsant): For those times when you’re demanding that your Carignan be both burly and beautiful. $NA A-
- 2013 Beringer Vineyards Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley): Feel free to thoroughly adore it, because the feeling is mutual and it will almost certainly reciprocate for many years to come. $170 A
- 2017 Pahlmeyer Jayson Sauvignon Blanc (Napa Valley): A lively but ultimately serious séance at a posh CA party, channeling the spirits of Bordeaux Blanc. $30 A-
- 2016 Talbott Vineyards Kali Hart Pinot Noir (Monterey): Does talk of Kali and heart make you conjure up images of dark Indiana Jones movies? Fear not, for this is all the Temple of Pleasantness. $26 B+
- 2016 Niner Wine Estates Jespersen Vineyard Albarino (Edna Valley): Easing you into the realm of the tropically exotic as about as easily as one could hope for outside of booking a private, curated tour. $24 B+
- 2014 Tenute Castelbuono Lampante Montefalco Rosso Reserva (Umbria): Plums, vivacity, funkiness, and scaffolding all being juggled entertainingly, with nary a ball dropped. $NA B+
