More updates to come. Over the holiday period I drank a lot of incredible wines for which I will post reviews shortly. I also received a number of wines for review since the new year that I will also be posting here in the coming weeks. Given the amount of wine I had over the holidays I figured a short break was in order :)
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Drank this over a day in the decanter (it was very tight) and left some for tomorrow (will report back). As is to be expected, this wine was very tight when opened. Basically, there was nothing there. However, after about 2-3 hours in the decanter the wine started to develop some nice aromatics which kept getting better and better throughout the day. Both on the nose and on the palate there is some blackcurrant, smoke, ripe plum, dark cherry, some charcoal, earth, and some nice floral notes. There are notes of oak that are apparent but they seem to blend well to offer good balance in the wine. I do not think that the oak is overdone here. This wine can take it!
There is good acidity with round and soft tannins. This wine has medium body and a finish that goes on and on. This is certainly not as dense and profound as the Smith Haut Lafite in this vintage but it certainly holds its own. Also, given the price difference between the SHL and this it certainly is something to consider if you enjoy Pessac-Leognan wine. This also has loads of potential to age. I would not touch these for at least another 3-4 years but will easily age gracefully for another 10-15 years. Due to the success that I had with the 2007 vintage of this bottle, I decided to give the newest vintage, the 2013, a try. Unfortunately, this bottle was corked. Hopefully, I will be able to get my hands on another bottle so that I may have a proper tasting note to report.
I thoroughly enjoyed this Champagne. This has some green apple, yeast, lemon, as well as some notes of oak. There are also some hints of toasted nuttiness. This needs a little air to show its full potential. It also has high acidity, medium body, and it is quite long. Overall, I liked this quite a bit and I think that it would benefit from a couple of years in the cellar (which is the way I often enjoy my NV Champagne).
I have an unopened case of the first wine so I felt like this might give me an idea of how the bigger wine is doing. Upon opening this did not show very well on the palate. The aromatics are nice right off the bat but the palate was very closed (dominated by oak). After about an hour in the decanter the fruit starts to shine through. There was some blackcurrant, maybe slight plum, dark cherry and maybe a touch of greenness. On the palate there is also some sweetness but otherwise it is very similar to what you get on the nose. The tannins are integrated nicely and this wine has good acidity and is very fresh. Overall, this is a great bottle while we wait for the first wine to develop further. Based on this bottle I suspect that the Cantemerle is not in a good drinking window (which is confirmed by the recent tasting notes). I would drink these over the next few years.
I have been drinking Tua Rita Rosso Dei Notri for quite a long time. This, in my opinion, is probably one of the best vintages that I have tasted in recent memory. Don't get me wrong, it is still a relatively simple/straightforward wine but for the price (~18$), this is a great wine! Both on the nose and on the palate this had some darker fruits such as blackberry, dark cherry, and plums. There are also hints of cocoa and some herbs. Tannins are smooth with medium (maybe low-medium) acidity with a long finish. This is not meant for the long haul but would certainly age another couple of years.
This, to me, was a very delicate wine. Much more delicate than what I have grown accustomed to from other Cote Rotie producers that I have tried. Drank this (from the decanter) over several hours but I do not think that that is necessary. I think that you will get the most of this wine from decanting for maybe 30-60 minutes. On the nose I got some nice meaty aromas, some pepper, some red fruits (strawberry and raspberry), I also get a bit of funk on the nose. I am not getting as much flower aromas as I would have expected given that this was cofermented with 10% Viognier. There are some flower aromas but maybe not as much as I would have liked or expected. I had similar notes on the palate, this is unmistakable Syrah from Cote Rotie. On the palate I got some meaty components, some mushroom, savory herbs, a little sweetness with maybe a tad of dark chocolate (not brooding chocolate just slight and nice), smoke, minerality, and some red fruits. This is not an overly heavy wine. It does lack some complexity and length but other than that this is a very enjoyable wine.
I would not hold onto this for too long as I do not think that it was built for the long haul. Maybe another few years at most. Overall, a very enjoyable wine that should be enjoyed soon. I agree with a lot of the comments about this Cava. However, I do not agree that it is good. Yes, it is quite cheap. However, I would rather pay a little more to get something a lot better. There are fine bubbles but they dissipate quickly. The nose is interesting. Slight apples, maybe some slate, toasted almonds, with maybe a little bit of lemon. On the palate, this wine is quite bitter. There is good acidity. Some apples, some underripe lemon, yeasty flavors, and maybe a hint of stone fruits. It is a quite simple wine despite the descriptors. Nothing really stands out. Kind of boring. Pass for me.
Tasted this at the release party.
This wine is quite appealing right now. I usually like to wait a couple of years before I start popping my Kerloo wines but this one was definitely singing at the party (maybe it was opened early?). Both aromatically and on the palate, I could tell that this wine had been cofermented with Viognier (the insert with the wine states that this is 100% Syrah but I am confident that this is not the case). There is just something different about Syrah that has cofermented with Viognier (to me it adds a kind of flower component to the wine). Anyways, the nose had some ripe blackberry fruit (compote maybe?), some warm spices, blueberries, and black pepper. The palate had a similar profile with some minerality, some warm spices again, some red fruits (cherries mostly), and some herbs that I could not put my finger on. There was good fresh acidity with a long finish. Overall, I really enjoyed this wine (I am not usually a huge fan of the Va Piano vineyard)! Tasted this at the release party.
My first impression was that this wine was muted. That being said, I have been known to have difficulty properly assessing wines in very crowded areas with a lot of wind blowing, people moving, and food cooking. Both on the nose and on the palate you could tell that this wine was from Les Collines. This wine also gets some new oak (guessing 30-50% here...compared to the Va Piano from the same release which was concrete and very little to no new oak). So on the nose I got some cherry, some herbs, minerality, and maybe some red currant. The palate was very similar to the nose with the exception that I got some white pepper (I often get this with Les Collines) and some warm spices. I do not believe that this wine is ready. I think that it needs a couple of years in the cellar and it will be beautiful. |
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January 2016
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