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 Grand Cru Brut, Champagne, France: Retail $55. Ridiculously Heavy Bottle (836g; 29.4oz). 100% Chardonnay. Boy, this wine has been all over the place. I have purchased over three cases of this wine and my scores have ranged from a high of 93 and a regrettable 87. A large scale in the wine criticism game. This bottle? It might be the best of the lot; rich, plenty of citrus, oodles of yeastiness, and just a boatload of verve. Yeah. This is a pretty fantastic wine. Excellent. 92 Points.

2024 Donnafugata SurSur, Sicilia, Italy: Retail $21. Very Responsible Bottle (498g; 17.5oz). 100% Grillo. This is what I wrote for the 2018 version: 

“Ok, full disclosure: I love Donnafugata. Everyone I have ever met there is among the nicest people on the planet. Sicily, where they are located, has to be one of the greatest places on earth, and their wines are simply fantastic. Except for this one. It tastes like dirty socks.

Just kidding. It is also fantastic. It’s almost demoralizing, as I struggle to go through my daily routine knowing that out there, on the picturesque Italian island, there is a group of extremely nice people continually producing some of my favorite wines in the world without even, seemingly, the slightest hiccup.

Yeah. It would be disgusting if they were not all so nice.

Grillo is the quintessential Western Sicilian grape and this is a fantastic rendition: fruity, racy, tart, decisive. Ah, Donnafugata, you vixen, you never cease to show that it just might be possible to find paradise here on this earth.”

All of that remains true and so much more. Donnafugata? Yeah. I am a huge fan. Excellent. 92 Points.

2020 Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir Spanish Springs Vineyard, San Luis Obispo County, CA: Retail $40. Responsible Bottle (536g; 18.9oz). Under screw cap. I have a bit of familiarity with Loring, but not a ton. At all. But when I saw these wines on Wine Berserker Day, I did not hesitate. Glad I did. Loring has a reputation of making wines for immediate consumption (but I have recently loved some older Loring wines) and that makes sense as his wines tend to focus on the fruit. And this is a great example. Medium to dark in the glass with darker berry fruit on the nose: blackberry, black raspberry, even cassis. The palate is certainly fruity, but there is also plenty of acidity, which really holds everything together. Sure, the fruit is the driver, but this wine has plenty of longevity with all that acid. Wonderful. Excellent. 92 Points.

NV Lacourte Godbillon Champagne Premier Cru Brut Rosé, Champagne, France: Retail $50? $39 on Garagiste. Really Heavy bottle (837g; 29.5 oz). 100% Pinot Noir. It has been nearly two years since we popped one of these that I bought at Garagiste for $39, and it appears that the additional time has been kind to the wine, at least marginally, as the fruit seems a bit fruitier and the acidity a tad zingier. Both good things in a champagne. Thus, I have bumped it up a notch. Excellent. 91 Points.

2012 Remy Massin & Fils Pinot Noir Champagne “Special Club” Brut Millésime, Champagne, France: Retail $80. Ridiculously Heavy Bottle (900g; 31.7oz). 100% Pinot Noir. I do not drink a ton of Special Club, but I probably should as it is generally fantastic. It is restricted to growers only, and is usually a fraction of what big house tête de cuvées command. I have a few bottles of Massin Special Club in the cellar, but I believe this is the first that I have popped, and it is incredible. Past straw and on its way to golden with a vibrant sparkle and plenty going on in the glass: lemon curd for days, plenty of yeasty yumminess, a touch of white flower, and just a hint of chalky minerality. The palate is still quite fresh and fruity, with a firm vein of acidity omnipresent. The yeasty component, though, is perhaps the most dominant aspect of this impeccably balanced wine, and the finish? One of the lengthier finishes I have experienced in some time. This is simply delightful and Outstanding. 96 Points.

2022 Soter Pinot Noir Estates, Willamette Valley, OR: Retail $65. Heavy Bottle (600g; 21.1oz). My wife invited a couple of her work colleagues for dinner and left the menu to me. I like to think that it worked out well, but this a wine site and this bottle was brought over by one of the guests. I have met Tony Soter a couple of times and he seems like “real people” and this wine is fantastic. Medium to dark color in the glass with a subtle nose of black cherry and a decided herbal aspect (basil? rosemary?). Yum. The palate is understated as well, at least initially, but by the mid palate, the cherry comes through along with plenty of spice. This is the brilliance of Tony Soter’s wines in a glass: subtle but powerful, fruity but tart, elegant but also totally crushable. Outstanding. 94 Points.

2014 Turley Zinfandel Mead Ranch, Atlas Peak, Napa Valley, CA: Retail $70. Heavy Bottle (678g; 23.8oz). 100%(?) Zinfandel. Back in the day, I used to do a wine swap with other members of the blogosphere right around Thanksgiving. I received this bottle from the magnanimous Talk-a-Vino (Anatoli Levine) back in 2017(?!?) and I waited until tonight to pop it. Whoa. Deep down (and maybe secretly), I am a lover of Zinfandel, particularly when it is done well. And this is done well. Dark, even inky dark in color, and almost as equally brutish in aromas: cases, plum, and blackberry, paired with some spice, vanilla, and a hint of oak. Whoa. The palate, while certainly dark and bold, also presents considerable lift and tartness as well, which serves to balance out all the glorious dark fruit. Yeah. this is a big boy. Even really big. And normally I shy away from such muscle, but this is delicious thanks to the acidity. Yeah, I am really digging this wine and I am grateful to my friend Anatoli for being so thoughtful and generous. Maybe it’s time to start up the wine exchange again? Outstanding. 94 Points.

WINE OF THE WEEK: It has been a while since I have chosen a Wine of the Week as I spent most of the month of June on the road. Now, back in Houston for a few weeks at least (and welcomed by the heat and humidity of the Houston summer), it is time to get back at it. Well, this week was a pretty easy choice: the 2012 Remy Massin & Fils Pinot Noir Champagne “Special Club” is this week’s top wine and it underscores the fact that I need to seek out (and drink) more Special Club champagnes. Sure, the bottle is dumb (it won’t fit in any rack) and they are a bit hard to find, but the quality is off the charts. While not necessarily “affordable”, I do think they represent some of the best values in Champagne.

What was your Wine of the Week?