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 Blanc de Noirs, France: Retail $50? Blend? We had been really happy with previous cuvées of Derigny that we had purchased from the sister sites of Last Bottle Wines and Last Bubbles. We have loved those wines, so when this Blanc de Noirs came up on the latter, I jumped and bought a case. Based on this first bottle? I should have bought more. Honeyed pear and peach with plenty of yeasty goodness, the aromas jump out of the glass of this straw-colored wine. The palate is rich and voluptuous with a tartness that really ties it all together. Fantastic. Excellent. 92 Points.

2012 Maison Bouachon Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Tiare du Pape Blanc, France: Retail $45. 60% Grenache Blanc, 20% Roussanne, 15% Bourboulenc and 5% Clairette. Only about 5-7% of the wines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape are white. Since there is no rosé or sparkling, that means 19 out of 20 bottles emblazoned with the appellation are red. On top of that, while I do not have the figures, the amount of white CdP that reaches these shores is even less than 5%. Whoa. So finding a white from the region is slightly easier than discovering a unicorn, it is only by a few percentage points. Slightly golden in the glass with a lovely mélange of lemon rind, golden delicious apple, glycerin, and a touch of white pepper. The palate is initially a bit round with subtle fruit but when the acidity kicks in, it goes into overdrive with the fruit, some spice, and a mouth-coating unctuousness that is characteristic (at least in my limited experience) of the genre. Excellent. 91 Points.

2005 Cosentino Winery The Poet, Napa Valley, CA: Retail: $75. Responsible bottle. Predominantly Cabernet Blend, traditionally, but I could not find the precise blend here. Sadly, this is our last bottle of this wine and it was superb. Dark in both color and aromas, this is, essentially knocks one’s socks off (yes, even if you are one to eschew socks). Rich, fruity, layered, complex, there are not enough adjectives to put this wine into perspective. The aspect I love the most? The green pepper aspect that is so often eschewed in winemaking (particularly in the U.S.). Holy cow, and a whoa. Outstanding. 93 Points.

2014 Doña Maria Vinho Regional Alentejano Amantis Reserva, Alentejo, Portugal: Retail $18. Under cork. 100%(?) Viognier. Well, this is one of those wines that I forgot about and waited just too long. Golden in color, slightly oxidized nose, not much in the way of fruit. Flawed? I guess? Old? For sure.

NV Elouan Pinot Noir, Oregon: Retail $12 (375ml). Under screw cap. I know we got this in a hotel room and I probably should have left it there, but I honestly wanted to taste it. I am no fan of any of Joe Wagner’s wines, but he certainly seems to know how to make a sheet ton of money producing them. So. Elouan. Pretty much ubiquitous: in grocery stores, in drug stores, in hotel lobbies, even in convenience stores. But is it any good? Well, no, not really, unless you like over-extracted, rather soulless wines that are a bit sweet and really, well, more of a “wine-beverage” than an actual wine. Other than that, it’s fine. Ugh. 79 Points.

2021 Saltie Girl Rosé, Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence, France: Retail $16. H-E-B price $12. 41% Grenache, 27% Syrah, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cinsault, 5% Rolle. I was at my H-E-B (I love my H-E-B) and I decided to buy a few random rosés, including this one despite its dumb name and label. More color than your average Provençal rosé with plenty of fruit in the glass with plenty of peach, strawberry, and even a bit of citrus. The palate is fruity, even quite fruity. So fruity, in fact, that it even comes off as a tad sweet (I looked but could not find a residual sugar percentage but I am pretty sure it is completely dry, or close), but it is also tart, even quite tart. A solid effort and a great option at twelve bucks. At $16? Well… Very Good. 88 Points.

WINE OF THE WEEK: It is always a bit melancholic when you crack open the last bottle of a wine that you have held onto for a while, particularly when the wine is no longer made. Well, Cosentino Winery is still making The Poet, but it is not being made by Mitch Cosentino, the winery’s founder and former owner. I will not get into how the winery changed hands here but suffice it to say that the wines now produced by the winery are not nearly as good as they were “back in the day”. That is why I was a bit sad to open this week’s Wine of the Week, the 2005 Cosentino Winery The Poet, but it was time; it was pretty clear that the wine would not get any better. Still, I was sorry to see it go on several levels.

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