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).

2007 Alonso del Yerro, Ribera del Duero, Spain: Retail $50. Responsible Bottle (593g; 20.9oz). 100% Tempranillo. My notes say that I bought this wine from “Vintage Paris” in 2011. Well, I have no idea what that means at this point; I was living in Philly at the time which had no independent wine shops, so that’s not it. There is no chance in hell that I would have bought these in Paris and brought them home, I mean come on; buying Spanish wine in Paris? And I doubt I would have ventured into New Jersey to buy this since, well, New Jersey. Wait. I actually think that is it: New Jersey. Go figure. Regardless, I am now in Houston and trying to cull the herd a bit and this wine was surprisingly fantastic: great fruit, brilliant acidity, length, body, intrigue, it is all in there. And no signs of age (until day 2)! Outstanding. 94 Points.

2015 Château Bonnet (Pierre-Yves Perrachon) Confidence de L’Échevin, Chénas, Beaujolais, France: Retail $35. Heavy Bottle (641g; 22.5oz). Under cork. 100% Gamay. I was at the winery back in 2019 with Charlotte Bonet, the heir-apparent winemaker, and we tasted through the house’s range. I landed on this and a couple of others to bring back to the U.S. Quite dark for a Beaujolais with fantastic red fruit and a lovely floral note on the nose. The palate is still, despite being almost a decade old, fruity and rich with a unifying acidity that holds it all together. This is what people are missing when they limit the discussion (or understanding) of wines of the region to Beaujolais Nouveau. Outstanding. 94 Points.

2019 Domaine Carneros Pinot Clair, Carneros, CA: Retail $48. Very Heavy Bottle (704g; 24.8oz). 100% Pinot Noir. Under cork. I first tasted this as part of a Zoom call a few years ago and then had another bottle a bit after that. Both were stellar. This is Excellent, but might have lost a bit of freshness from those earlier bottles, which was certainly a highlight in a stellar wine. So I am going to drop it down a notch. Light straw in color, with largely tropical notes on the nose. Still well within the Chardonnay-like aroma range. The palate though? Yeah. We diverge from the world’s most popular white variety. Fruity, at least initially, before the acidity kicks in right before the mid palate. But there is a viscous, glycerin aspect that few would associate with Pinot. If I were tasting this blind? A Southern France Chard? A Northern Rhone white? A Loire Chenin with some skin contact? A White Pinot from Carneros? Yeah. I cheated on the last one. Excellent. 92 Points.

2018 Couly-Dutheil Chinon Clos de l’Echo, Loire Valley, France: Retail $40. At Library Wine Bar: $60. 100% Cabernet Franc. This is my favorite wine from my favorite producer from my favorite village in one of my favorite regions in France: the Loire Valley. The vineyard is old, even really old as it was once owned by none other than François Rabelais (worthy of a Google). I had no idea that we had three bottles of this in my cellar when we ventured to our favorite Wine Bar here in Houston (the Library Wine Bar, in case that was not clear). Richer than I would have guessed with tons of red and black fruit, a lovely zing, and just a touch of tannins on the finish. Yowza. And yeah. Whoa. Outstanding. 93 Points.

2012 Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir Rosella’s Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands, CA: Retail $45. Very Responsible Bottle (466g; 16.4oz). Under screw cap. I bought these a looong time ago and even though Brian Loring feels that his wines should be consumed upon or shortly after release (he likes his Pinots bold and fruity), I have held onto a number of his wines for over a decade now, and they have all been wonderful (thus far). Fruity and rich, still with oodles of red and dark berry fruit (blackberry, raspberry) with bits of black pepper and sage on the nose. The palate certainly shows signs of age, but there is still tons of fruit, tons. Some of it is dried or even on the verge of “stewed” but there is also tons of acidity. Tons. And it serves to balance out that fruit. Look, Brian Loring never has shied away from making a big wine (at least I think), and this was/is that, but those wines can be made well, too, and this is that. Outstanding. 93 Points.

2018 Rigal Gros Manseng Vin Orange, France: Retail $18. 100% Gros Manseng. Under Nomacorc (Ugh). Yet another example as to why every wine closed with a Nomacorc should be required to divulge it. Sure, I waited too long. Sure, my wife sent me an “I-told-you-so” look. But there is no way that anyone on this earth can convince me that at least part of the deterioration of this wine is not a result of the stopper. Devoid of any meaningful fruit, some acidity, not worth the effort. Meh. 84 Points.

1989 Domaine Rolet Poulsard Arbois, Jura, France: Retail ?? From magnum. 100% Poulsard. Under DIAM30. Clearly, at some point, this was recorked at the winery as DIAM did not exist in 1989. More orangish brown than red for sure with a musty nose and hints of cherry. It’s in no way off or stewed, but let’s face it. It’s old. On the back end of the nose there are some dried herbs: oregano and maybe cardamom. Ok. Whoa. The palate, however, is a completely different animal. Tart, ebullient cherry with oodles and oodles of acidity. Holy cow, this is singing. Whoa again and throw in a yowza. Yes, this bottle has some intense sentimental value for me but I am trying to be objective. It’s amazing. Extraordinary. 97 Points.

WINE OF THE WEEK: A pretty incredible week, I have to say, when it came to our personal consumption, despite the total stinker that was the Gros Manseng. Five of the other six wines we popped I rated at Outstanding or above and the sixth bottle was “that close” to being in that lofty category as well. So one might think that it would be tough to choose a Wine of the Week from such a stellar lineup, but it was shockingly easy. Anytime you open a 35-year-old wine, it has to be on the very short list for the week’s top wine, no matter what it tastes like. Well, the 1989 Domaine Rolet Poulsard Arbois, this week’s Wine of the Week, not only had the requisite age, but it was also a phenomenal wine (and a magnum to boot!).

What was your Wine of the Week?