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 Argyle Pinot Noir Spirithouse, Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, OR: Retail $65. Under screw cap. It has been another couple of years since the last bottle we had of this wine, and even though the previous bottle was stellar, I was a bit worried pulling this bottle. Why? My luck has not been great with older Pinots recently, but once I cracked this one, I knew there was no reason to fret. Rich berry fruit on both the nose and the palate with intense tartness and layers of intrigue. Whoa. Outstanding. 94 Points.

NV Champagne Louis Armand Champagne Premier Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut, France: Retail $50. 100% Chardonnay. I picked up a case of this wine from Vivino for $30/bottle and now several bottles in? This was a stellar choice. Good to great tree fruit on the nose with a healthy dose of freshly-baked croissant goodness. The palate is well-balanced with fruit, tartness, yeastiness, and a bunch of verve. Excellent. 91 Points.

NV Paul Berthelot Champagne Blason d’Or Brut, France: Retail $65. 50% Pinot Noir, 50% Chardonnay all from the Grand Cru Village of Aÿ. I bought this a little over a year ago from Last Bottle for the rather modest sum of $35. Why did I only buy four? It has been a minute since I had the first bottle, and this wine is singing. There is plenty of the autolytic aspect that characterizes good champagne, along with caramel and citrus. Yeah, this is good stuff. Outstanding, even. 93 Points.

NV Paul Dethune Champagne Grand Cru Nature, Ambonnay, Champagne, France: Retail $60. 70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay. Well, we are getting to the end of the case of this wine I bought from Last Bottle Wines and they have all been stellar. I have kept looking for it to pop up again and when it does, I will buy another case (or three). The nose is rich and layered with yeasty and oaky notes along with hints of citrus. Wow. The palate is equally enticing with an austere baked bread goodness, more than ample acidity, and a lengthy finish. Excellent. 92 Points.

2002 Louis Jadot Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru La Dominode, Burgundy, France: Retail $70. 100% Pinot Noir. From the Southern half of the Côte d’Or, I had high hopes for this Savigny-les-Beaune as I paid under $30, a now unheard of price for a Premier Cru. Well. My wife always criticizes me for holding onto a wine (much) longer than needed, and this is a case in point. Some fruit, but mostly stewed on the nose as this clearly gives off the “Be gentle, I am old” kinda vibe. While the palate shows more signs of life, it is clear that this is solidly on the downward slope and I need to get to that last bottle of this right away (which means I probably won’t). Very Good. 88 Points.

2012 Weingut Knoll Riesling Smaragd Loibenberg, Wachau, Austria: Retail $50(?). Under cork. I visited the winery nearly a decade ago (April 2014) with my lovely wife and we tasted wines in the Knoll family kitchen with Anja Knoll, the lovely wife of legend Emmerich Knoll. It was a crazy (?) bizarre (?) tasting with Anja’s kids running all over the place, but the wines were absolutely stellar. We bought three of the Riesling, the Chardonnay, and the Grüner, all Smaragd, all outstanding. A bit golden in color, with tons of citrus fruit and petrol notes on the nose and the palate is glorious with ample fruit, intense tartness, and a finish that will top most. Outstanding. 95 Points.

WINE OF THE WEEK: I have been sitting on several bottles of wine that I brought back from Weingut Knoll almost a decade ago now. I convinced my wife that instead of visiting Vienna, a city she had always wanted to visit but never had, we should rent a car and drive through the Danube River Valley and tour the Wachau wine region instead. Well, just about every winery was closed, as they were preparing for the weekend’s wine festival or some such nonsense. Weingut Knoll was one of the few that we could find that actually would let us in for a tasting. As I mentioned in the note, it was a memorable tasting and the wines were gorgeous. They still are. This 2012 Weingut Knoll Riesling Smaragd Loibenberg, was absolutely stellar and is this week’s Wine of the Week.

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