Over the course of a week, I taste a bunch of wine, usually with friends, and almost always with my wife. Here are some of the wines we tasted over the past few weeks. These are wines that were not sent as samples—in most cases, I actually paid for these wines (although a few have been given as gifts).
2009 Belle Glos Pinot Noir Las Alturas Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands, CA: Retail $80. Heavy Bottle (678g; 1lb 7.9oz). A wine that I purchased before I started my blog more than twelve years ago and this is the second of the three bottles that we have popped. As I mentioned before, this is “dark, big, and juicy, which is not a surprise given that the wine was made by the Wagner family, who also make Caymus (I won’t go into my thoughts on that wine here). Dark red fruit, a bit of eucalyptus on the nose, and the palate is fairly big and beefy, thick and rich, a touch of smoke, and a whole lot of dark fruit.” Given the lineage, I really did not want to like this wine. Like a lot. But I do. Like a lot. Sure, there are more ethereal Pinots out there, more wines driven by a sense of place, but if you want a full-throttle, gangbusters Pinot? Yeah, this one works, for sure. Outstanding. 94 Points.
2012 Ken Brown Chardonnay Nielson Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley, CA: Retail $45. Heavy bottle (665g; 1lb 7.5oz). Under cork. My notes from the last bottle, about two years ago (“pineapple and lemon on the nose of this yellow/straw beauty. There is a nice dose of vanilla and a waft of oak, but both seem to be perfectly in place and in no way suggestive of a heavy-handed use of wood. The palate surpasses what I anticipated from the nose with a lovely balanced wine with great weight and a lengthy finish.”), hold true with a couple of notable exceptions: the wine is a bit darker, well into yellow (and on the road to golden). The oak aspect is also much more pronounced than I had perceived with the previous two bottles. While I was not turned off, even finding it appealing, my wife (pretty close to a card-carrying member of ABC), found it cumbersome. Oh well, my blog. Excellent. 92 Points.
2003 Domaine de Fontavin Châteauneuf-du-Pape, France: Retail $50. Heavy Bottle (658g; 1lb 7.2oz). Blend? I have long maintained that 90%+ of wines made today (above, say, ten bucks retail) are “good”; you may not “like” the wine, but they are well-made and probably won’t kill you. That being said, 2003 was a difficult year across France with intense heat and no irrigation. That brings us to this wine. On day one? Intense Brett as I had experienced with the previous bottles so I corked it and returned to it the following day. Big mistake. Over-the-top medicinal with an aggressive, on the verge of rotten but certainly repulsive herbaceousness (and that is being kind). This wine should not have been made. Period. Awful. 67 Points (and that is generous).
NV Jacquesson & Fils Champagne Cuvée No. 739, France: Retail $60. Exceedingly Heavy Bottle (890g; 1lb 15.4oz). 57% Chardonnay, 21% Pinot Noir, 22% Pinot Meunier. 69% based on the 2011 vintage (31% reserve wines). Brilliant straw in the glass with plenty of citrus and loaded with the autolytic element (think freshly risen croissants), this is what one looks for in champagne. Add in some white peach, a bit of spice, and a mineral element and this nose is top-notch. The palate is bright, tart, rich, and layered with plenty of fruit, a nutty component, a flaky croissant component. There is also a tough of greenness here, no doubt a result of the less-than-stellar 2011 vintage. But that is a merely nitpicking; this is fantastic. Excellent. 92 Points.
NV Jean-Noël Haton Champagne Brut Classic, France: Retail $45(?). Exceedingly Heavy Bottle (836g; 1lb 13.5oz). 60% Pinot Meunier, 40% Pinot Noir. Technically a Blanc de Noirs (although not labeled as such), when I saw this for under $30 at the wine superstore Spec’s here in Texas, I bought a case. Good thing. While it has been a few years since I have last tasted this cuvée, this bottle seems to be better than previous iterations: tart, yeast, balanced, plenty of citrus fruit, and a slight herbal note (celery seed). Yum. Yeah, for $27-ish? Maybe I should pick up another case? Excellent. 90 Points.
2018 Maison François Martenot Crémant de Bourgogne Rosé, Burgundy, France: Retail $19. Very Heavy Bottle (789g; 11.8oz). Pinot Noir and Gamay. I picked this up from Spec’s as a possible “house sparkler” (for when my in-laws come over). Fairly pale in the glass with wild strawberry, a mineral element and faint red flower on the nose. The palate is a bit tarter than the nose suggested with more of a citrus (grapefruit) vibe dominating the palate, the lighter and sweeter strawberry comes through on the mid-palate along with touch of yeast (but make no mistake, it is not “yeasty”) and a flinty, mineral note. Quite nice. Very Good. 88 Points.
2018 Parmoleto Montecucco Sangiovese Riserva, Tuscany, Italy: Retail $24. Heavy Bottle (621g; 1lb 5.9oz). 100% Sangiovese. I am not sure how I obtained this bottle, but I am glad I did; it is a solid wine that would work well with many different pairings. Medium to dark in color with largely dark fruit aromas emanating from the glass. I get a bit of raspberry, maybe plum, or even blackberry or cassis. The palate is on the austere side (particularly when compared to New World wines), but there is still ample fruit to juxtapose against the vibrant zinginess that presents itself from the jump. Not a world-beater, but a solid, every day (or better) kinda wine. Very Good. 89 Points.
WINE OF THE WEEK: Looking over the wines we popped this week, there was really only one choice for Wine of the Week, which I will get to in a moment. First, I would like to touch again on the single worst wine I have had in some time, the 2003 Domaine de Fontavin Châteauneuf-du-Pape. I bought a case of this online way back in 2008 for a stupidly low price ($150/case) back then, I was not writing many tasting notes, in fact it was not until the seventh bottle, it seems, that I wrote a note on this wine and I really enjoyed that bottle (91 points). Since then, I have tasted another four bottles and they have been gawd-awful, undrinkable. What has happened? I am really not sure, but I still have a bottle left. Anyone want to try it with me? As for the Wine of the Week? It is indeed the 2009 Belle Glos Pinot Noir Las Alturas Vineyard. While I am no fan of the Wagner Family’s other, more “famous” wine, I do like the Belle Glos line of wines, despite their overly muscular build.
What was/were your Wine(s) of the Week?
the drunken cyclist 