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).

NV Antoine Derigny Champagne Brut Rosé, France: Retail $60. 60% Pinot Noir, 35% Chardonnay, 5% Meunier, colored with 12% Bouzy red Pinot Noir. I have purchased a ton of Derigny from both Last Bottle and now  Last Bubbles and I have been impressed with the wines across the board. But this case of rosé has also shown that the wines can be a tad inconsistent proving the axiom there are no good wines, only good bottles. Well, this was one of the good ones, even great with a gorgeous ruby-pink color with plenty of fresh berry fruit on the nose with just a touch of yeastiness. The palate is equally fantastic with loads of fresh strawberry and cherry, a delicate sparkle, and plenty of tartness and verve. Outstanding. 93 Points.

NV Graveyard Vineyards The Ascender, Paso Robles, CA: Retail $30. French Colombard and Chenin Blanc from the Central Valley in California. Graveyard Vineyard is an interesting winery; they are based in Paso Robles, in the Central Coast region of California, but they also have a tasting room in the heart of Texas Wine Country. And a friend of mine who visited the latter wanted me to try this wine, apparently their most popular bottling. Apparently made with the traditional method, the wine is bursting with fruit, mostly of the tree variety (peach, pear, green apple), there is also a decided sweet aspect, particularly on the finish. I could not find much information on the wine at all, which is always a bit of a red flag for me, but it is pleasant enough. Very Good. 88 Points.

NV Moutard Père et Fils Champagne Cépage Chardonnay Champ Persin, France: Retail $45? 100% Chardonnay. I bought six bottles of this wine from Garagiste.com which took close to six months to receive. Worth the wait. I have stated many times that I prefer my champagnes with Pinot Noir being the dominant (or only) force in the wine. I am slowly coming around, however, to the other side. I am particularly surprised that the fruit for this wine comes from the Côte des Bar, a region that was only recently added to the “official” Champagne production area. A bit golden in the glass with a lovely nose of tart lemon and fresh croissant. Yum. The palate has a fine mousse, a zingy tartness, and wave upon wave of fruit. In fact, more so than other champagnes I have had recently, this wine is really defined by its fruit, and it is fantastic. Excellent. 91 Points.

NV Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne Réserve Exclusive Brut, France: Retail $40. 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Pinot Meunier, 20% Chardonnay. There are a few cooperatives in Champagne and I believe that Nicolas Feuillatte is the largest and most widely available. I have never been much of a fan, which I have told my wife on several occasions, so when she brought this home, I was non-plussed. But I approached it with an open mind, or at least tried. The last bottle I tried of this wine was a few years ago, but there are a lot of similarities. Yellow, almost gold in the glass with a citrus, flinty aspect on the nose with a bit of red berry fruit, and some yeastiness. The citrus comes through first on the palate, along with that flinty aspect and a kiss of sweetness. I have gone through a ton of non-vintage champagnes in my life and while this seems to be better than the last Feuillatte I had, it still is a level below the better champagnes in this class. Very Good. 89 Points.

2021 Vignobles Paradis Feu Follet Rosé, Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence, France: Retail $28. Synthetic stopper. 60% Grenache Noir, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Carignan, 10% Syrah. Well, here we are. I bought three bottles of this wine from WTSO and the first was Very Good (89 pts.) while the second I found marginally better (90). So a lot is riding on this final bottle. A wonderful Provençal rosé with good fruit (melon, grapefruit, strawberry), a vivacious acidity, and a lengthy finish. For $28? Maybe not, but for $12? I’d drink this rosé all day, every day. I am going to have to go with…my first assessment. Very Good. 89 Points.

2017 Wrath Sauvignon Blanc Ex Anima, Monterey, CA: Retail $20. Under cork. I had just returned from Europe, I was still jet-lagged, and my nose was all stuffed up from the trip. So I really couldn’t smell much. Thus, I grabbed this, thinking that it was likely past (I had received two bottles way back when, this being the left-over one) and since I had already reviewed it in 2019, well…. a funny thing happened on the way to the forum, however. We had sushi for dinner and I loaded up on the wasabi, which cleared up my sinuses and, ta da! I could smell. Light yellow in the glass with a classic Sauvignon Blanc nose of bright citrus and a touch of minerality. The palate is also clean and bright, with a bit of body and roundness on the mid-palate. The tart finish is refreshingly enticing, lasting well beyond average. There is a lot of Sauvignon on the market, many of them not worthy of much attention. This is not one of those, very nice. Excellent. 91 Points.

I neglected to take any photos of these wines so here is a picture of our dog, Mailly, who is not too happy about the sudden change to much cooler temperatures in Houston today.

WINE OF THE WEEK: The Wine of the Week, the 2017 Wrath Sauvignon Blanc Ex Anima, is a surprise, which is the main reason it is the top wine this week. That might seem like a tautalogy, but hear me out. I was 100% expecting that I was going to pour this bottle down the drain; I do not particularly “like” the variety and with a solid six years of age on it? I thought I would like it even less, but it turned out to be fantastic and full of life. I could throw in any number of clichés here, but I won’t since that would be the easy way out. Instead, I guess I will just say this is why you should never judge a book by the cover when it comes to wine. Wait…

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