Over the course of every week, I style a bunch of wine, normally with mates, and nearly all the time with my spouse. Listed here are among the wines we tasted over the previous few weeks. These are wines that had been not despatched as samples—typically, I really paid for these wines (though a number of have been given as presents).
2008 Amelle Pinot Noir Keefer Ranch Winery, Russian River Valley, CA: Retail $45. Accountable Bottle (579g; 20.4oz). Underneath cork. I’m now beneath a case whole left of Amelle wines and that is my final 2008 Keefer Pinot. Within the final be aware, I opined that whereas the wine was nonetheless “wonderful” it was displaying its age with some stewed fruit. I mentioned it was “drained”. And whereas I stand by that evaluation at the moment, this bottle is a totally totally different ball of wax. Whoa. Loads of fruit, even, as loopy because it sounds, shut to too fruity. Yeah, insane. Loads of acidity to go along with all of that fruit, nevertheless, rendering this wine fairly near mind-blowing. Eric Buffington stays on my Mount Rushmore of Pinot winemakers. Excellent. 95 Factors.
2003 Weingut Ernst Bretz Riesling Eiswein, Rheinhessen, Germany: Retail $25 (375ml). Heavy Bottle (424g; 14.9oz). Underneath cork. So, I purchased 4 bottles of this wine again in 2009 (from the abhorrent PLCB) and that is now the final bottle of these 4. It’s legitimately past Amber and effectively into brown in shade with a nutty, caramel nostril that definitely is attractive. Candy, even actually candy with a little bit of raisinization occurring., We don’t drink a lot dessert wine lately, however that is utterly nice (much more so) with nice acid and tons of character. Wonderful. 90 Factors.
NV Charles de Cazanove Champagne Vieille France, France: Retail $40? Costco worth: $24. Stupidly Heavy Bottle (999g, 2lbs 3.4oz). Varietal composition? I don’t know by any means and I looked for some time on the inter webs. Now we have been shopping for this wine from Costco for some time now and at $24-ish? It’s a steal, for positive. However the bottle is silly. It’s heavy and a ridiculous form that can by no means slot in any wine rack, fridge, cellar, barrel. It’s simply dumb. So once I was doing stock and located this bottle? I needed to drink it and get it out of the cellar. Having mentioned all of that? That is fairly good: yeasty, wealthy fruit, loads of acidity, and greater than an oz of depth. Wonderful. 90 Factors.
2002 Marcel Deiss Altenberg de Bergheim, Alsace, France: Retail $75. Very Heavy Bottle (793g; 27.9oz). “All the standard styles of Alsace.” I purchased three bottles of this wine waaay again in 2010 from the PLCB and that is the primary that I’ve popped. And I probably waited too lengthy. Amber, even near “brown” within the glass with some citrus, sure, but in addition a nuttiness that’s not in any respect off-putting, in actual fact, it was inviting. The palate is reasonably harmonious, in actual fact, however additionally it is off-dry, even near candy, however it appears to work. I’m coming round on this wine (are you able to inform?). Yeah, I waited too lengthy, however that is nonetheless fairly implausible. So the right way to price it? I don’t know. I’ll go along with Wonderful 91 Factors.
NV Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Cuvée Brut, France: Retail $45. Extraordinarily Heavy Bottle (834g; 29.3oz). 50-55% Pinot Noir, 20-25% Pinot Meunier, 15-20% Chardonnay with 10-20% Reserve wines. I used to be doing a little bit of stock and rearranging of my cellar and I got here throughout this bottle. It was not in my stock, however so far as I can inform, I received this bottle again in 2018 when Terlato was nonetheless the importer. So it has a little bit of age on it and I can inform; it’s scrumptious. Richer, deeper, and extra serried than the newer iterations of this wine, this i snot a champagne for these looking for freshness above all else. It’s a bit oaky, a bit nutty, and positively caramelized or sherried on its nostril and palate. And me likey. Excellent. 94 Factors.
2008 Skewis Pinot Noir Lingenfelder, Russian River Valley, CA: Retail $50. Heavy Bottle (663g; 23.3oz). Underneath cork. Whoa, it has been a stable 5 years since I popped the final bottle of this wine and now, that is, certainly, the final bottle (however not that Final Bottle). And Whoa. Unbelievable fruit, surprisingly, with greater than ample to intense acidity and a end that lasts effectively into the evening. Sadly, that is my final of this classic, however additionally it is clearly the perfect. Magnifique! Excellent. 95 Factors.
2023 Ken Wright Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, OR: Retail $30. Very Heavy Bottle (705g; 24.8oz). Underneath artificial stopper. The place to start out? This has been on the wine record of our favourite native restaurant for a while, however I by no means made the decision. Till tonight. Heavy bottle, even actually heavy was a right away turnoff. Then there was the artificial stopper. Oy vey. They’re actually making an attempt arduous to make me hate this wine even earlier than I take the primary sip. Ugh. As soon as I lastly was in a position to deal with the wine? It was OK. Perhaps greater than that. Loads of fruit, largely purple berry, with only a contact of earth, and ample tartness. I style a ton of Pinot. A ton. And whereas that is definitely true to the range, and attractive, it’s not mind-blowing and that’s OK on occasion. Very Good. 88 Factors.
WINE OF THE WEEK: There have been a number of stable candidates for this week’s Wine of the Week. It’s all the time implausible whenever you “discover” a bottle of wine within the cellar that’s not in stock, significantly when it’s a bottle of champagne. We additionally popped two bottles of wine from producers who’re not within the sport, each had some age, and each confirmed fantastically. So how to decide on? I ended up with the 2008 Skewis Pinot Noir Lingenfelder as this week’s prime wine for the easy motive that I tasted it final. Yeah, generally it is so simple as that.
What was your Wine of the Week?
