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).

2013 Clos Pepe Estate Pinot Noir, Sta Rita Hills, CA: Retail $50. Heavy Bottle (625g; 22.0oz). Even a dozen years out, this still has impressive cherry fruit, with hints of earth and wood, and just a touch of anise. Yowza. The palate is bright, juicy, and full, with plenty of fruit, a zingy acidity, and an absolute killer finish. Yowza. Can a decade-old Pinot improve this much in the bottle? Evidently. Outstanding. 96 Points.

NV Fluteau Champagne 100% Pinot Noir Coeur de Cuvée Vieilles Vignes, Champagne, France: Magnum. Retail $100. Extremely Heavy Bottle (1700g; 59.8oz). While I have had a few 750ml bottles of this wine, this is the first (I think) magnum. Many people say that the magnum is the optimal size bottle for most wines (including champagne) since there is a lower air/liquid ratio. I guess I buy into that assertion, but in this case? I see little to know difference between the wine from this magnum and the 750s I tasted. This is, at best, an average champagne. Some decent fruit and good acidity, with a touch of that yeasty component one loves in champagne, but those should all be a given, right? Very Good. 87 Points.

NV Gardet Champagne Dosage Zéro, Champagne, France: Pale straw in color with a fairly active sparkle, with apricot, peach, and a touch of green apple. The palate is fruity, but also extremely dry (as one would expect with a Brut Zero) with loads of green apple and under-ripe pear. I typically love zero-dosage wines, and this is no exception. Fantastically dry and fruity with an active sparkle and tremendous verve. Excellent. 92 Points.

NV Philippe Gonet Champagne Brut Grande Réserve, Champagne, France: Retail $50. Extremely Heavy bottle (836g; 1lb 13.3oz). 60% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Meunier. It has been a year (plus) since we popped a bottle of this Champers and, well, it has improved, maybe a lot. While the previous iteration was Excellent (92 Points), this bottle seems clearly older, with some slight oxidative notes and a heightened yeasty presence; tons of fresh-baked croissant and apple pie here. Yowza. Yeah, bumping it up a notch, two, in fact. Outstanding. 94 Points.

NV Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Brut, Champagne, France: Retail $45. Extremely Heavy Bottle (837g; 29.5oz). 50-55% Pinot Noir, 20-25% Pinot Meunier, 15-20% Chardonnay, with 10-20% Reserve wines. We can get this now for about $36, and I am not sure that there is a better champagne out there at that price. Yeasty, citrusy, lovely on the nose, with a straw color with a slightly golden hue, there are delicate, yet persistent streams of bubbles, looking to escape after their years of captivity. The palate is crisp, fresh, fruity, yeasty, and delicious. It is also a tad drier than previous iterations I have consumed with utter glee. I wonder if (relatively) new chef de cave Émilien Boutillat, when he replaced the legend Régis Camus in 2019, dialed back the dosage just a bit?. Excellent. 92 Points.

2003 Weingut Robert Weil Kiedricher Gräfenberg Riesling Spätlese, Rheingau, Germany: Retail $40. Very Responsible Bottle (476g; 16.7oz). Under cork. I bought this way back in 2009, long before I became a “wine writer”, but did not decide to open it until now. What was the occasion? I have no idea. Monday?? The natural cork was quite moist and soft, but it came out fairly easily with my trusty Durand opener. Golden, even close to “dark” in the glass with honeycomb, caramel apple, candied apple, and a slight petrol note on the nose. The palate is alive and vibrant with a zingy, gripping acidity, followed by bruised, tart apple, a hint of that petrol, and a touch of a botrytis-like mold that is completely enticing (but I realize it sounds pretty disgusting). In all, this is likely well on its way on the downward slope, but it is still quite compelling with all that acidity. Outstanding. 93 Points.

WINE OF THE WEEK: Normally, in this space, I select the “best” wine I tried during the week for the Wine of the Week, and if I were doing that again, then the 2013 Clos Pepe would be the obvious choice. But I’ve lost count of how many times Clos Pepe has garnered the top spot here. So instead, I am actually selecting the Fluteau Champagne 100% Pinot Noir Coeur de Cuvée Vieilles Vignes as my Wine of the Week this go around, not because of what was in the bottle, but because of the bottle itself. Any time you open a magnum of wine, it is a commitment, a statement asserting that “we have some work to do”, and it just makes the event that much more special.

What was your Wine of the Week?