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).

2015 Château Bonnet (Pierre-Yves Perrachon) Saint-Amour Vieilles Vignes, Beaujolais, France: Retail $30 (?). 100% Gamay. Under cork. Another two years on this beauty and it seems to be wearing it quite well. Fairly dark in the glass, with tons of fruit on the nose (black cherry, raspberry, even cassis), and touches of flint and earth, this is a real delight. The palate is tart, fruity, earthy, and still has some soft (but noticeable) tannins on the finish. Fantastic. It was not until I read my previous notes that I realized that I  usually open a bottle of this wine on or near Valentine’s Day which is easily Saint-Amour’s biggest celebration. That is only a coincidence, however, since I think Valentine’s Day is stupid. But that does not render this wine any less Fantastic. Excellent. 91 Points.

2007 Cargasacchi Pinot Noir Cargasacchi-Jalama Vineyard, Santa Barbara County, CA: Retail $50. I have never met Peter Cargasacchi, although I had hoped for a meeting for some time. I have only had a few of his eponymous wines, but I have had several Pinots from his vineyard(s). And they have all been gorgeous. I am unsure to what extent he is still involved in the wine business; I am pretty sure he is no longer producing wine, but is he still growing grapes? I have no idea, but I would love to find out. He is at the top of Sta Rita Hills figures that I would like to meet. Peter, Brian (x2), Rick, and many more are on my list. But Peter is at the top. The wine? Fantastic. Really dark for a Pinot, more Syrah or Cabernet-like in color, with really dark fruit aromas: blackberry, plum, and even cassis. Again, not very Pinot-esque. Then there was the spice and herbs: cardamom, cumin, thyme, basil Again, very un-Pinot. The palate is equally intriguing and compelling. Dark fruit, for sure, but there is also the tartness, spice, and a whole lot of verve. This might be a step below the last bottle I opened, but only a half-step–this is fantastic. Outstanding. 94 Points.

2011 Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir, Sta Rita Hills, CA: Retail $50. Agglomerated stopper. Over my notes that cross a dozen vintages and at least as many years, I have repeated my adoration for both the Clos Pepe Estate Winery and the vineyard itself. I have also expressed my dismay over the demise of the former which occurred almost a decade ago. I realize with every bottle I open, I am a step closer to never having the opportunity to savor the wine again, but allowing the wine to expire without being admired is certainly the bigger crime. Based on my notes, I loved the last bottle of this 2011, but this iteration might even be better. Lovely, albeit delicately subtle, cherry with just a hint of earth and a touch of red rose petal on the nose. The palate is pure Clos Pepe: rich yet sublime, tart yet sweet, complex yet joyous. To me, Clos Pepe will always be at or near the apex of Central Coast Pinot and this only confirms that stance. Outstanding. 95 Points.

2004 Domaine du Coulet (Matthieu Barret) Cornas Les Terrasses du Serre, Rhône Valley, France: Retail $65. Big. Ass. Bottle. 100% Syrah. I last popped a bottle of this wine back in November, and this is what I wrote at the time: “It has been an amazing (at least for me) five years since I have tried this wine, and holy cow. While there is a touch of stewed fruit, this is really amazing (and I am not talking about the fact that my thumb disappears in the punt of the bottle as I pour. Dark, on the verge of brooding, with intense black fruit (blackberry, plum)., with intense spice notes (black pepper and cumin). The palate is quite tart, in an old school/old wine kinda way. Whoa. I do not drink a whole lot of Cornas, … but I should. And drink now.”  Those last three words stick out; I should have popped this last cork sooner than eight months later. Sure, it is still Excellent, but the tide has shifted for sure and this is on a downward trajectory. But this was my last bottle, so there is that. Excellent. 92 Points.

2011 Domaine Mazilly Pere & Fils Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Les Castets Blanc, Burgundy, France: Retail $65. 100% Chardonnay. Under cork. From the moment I poured this and saw the golden color, and sniffed the nutty, yet still a tad fruity, oxidized nose, I was ready to write this off. For years now, I have experienced bottle after bottle of prematurely oxidized white wines from Burgundy. There was a time, a couple of decades ago, that I could open one of wine’s greatest pleasures, a white Burgundy, aged for at least a decade. There was nothing like it in the wine world, its own sort of Ambrosia. White Burgundy is, in fact, what hooked me on wine, however many years ago. So once I poured this into the glass, I knew it was another casualty, no, a tragedy. But I was determined to keep drinking it, and I did. All the way to the bottom and a funny thing happened as it warmed ever so slightly: that nutty, oxidized character, though still present, subsided and I got a hint of what this wine was and could have been. Unctuous and layered with an alluring viscosity, a balancing acidity, and hints of that same character that lured me into a lifelong obsession with wine. Listen, I have no idea why these once near-eternal wines started to oxidize just a handful of years after their creation, there are theories, but it has yet to be remedied. Unless it is, it is truly one of the great misfortunes in wine. Unrated. 

WINE OF THE WEEK: I did it again. I went through the whole week without taking any photos of the wines that we consumed. I must be the worst wine blogger/writer on the planet. But. Seeing that I have been doing this for quite some time now (I am quickly narrowing in on my 3000th post), I figured I had to have taken a picture of at least a couple of these bottles before. And there it was, the 2007 Cargasacchi Pinot Noir Cargasacchi-Jalama Vineyard, Santa Barbara County, this week’s Wine of the Week, already loaded up in WordPress, ready to insert into this post. As it turns out the bottle pictured was actually the bottle that I drank this week since back in January 2022, I took the photo of my last remaining bottle of the wine since that week, too, I had neglected to take any photos either. One day I will learn from my mistakes. At least that is what I keep telling myself.

What was/were your Wine(s) of the Week?