Category: Tasting Notes

Pedernales Cellars Texas GSM 2013: Unusual approach to GSM with this effort: 50% mourvedre, 32% syrah, 18% grenache (in a southern Rhône GSM pour, the percentages would be reversed). The mix brings mourvedre’s leathery, spicy, gamey elements to larger play with raspberry, plum, blackberry and cherry from syrah and grenache, touch chocolate comes on at the finish. Pedernales varies the blend percentages each year, probably responding to results from their vineyards in Stonewall, Texas, so vintage will significantly influence wine year-to-year. The winemakers, however, are skillful and committed to sustainability, so variations will likely be an adventure, not a crap shoot. As usual with better Texas wines, this is upper end of value-for-price, but you will enjoy. Decanting significantly helps smooth out this effort. $26

Giesen Marlborough Pinot Gris 2014: Pale straw color; delicate pear-peach, orange blossom nose; lemon, pear, lime, green apple, pinch of pineapple on the palate; off-dry with balancing acidity; smooth, fresh, crisp, clean, fruit-sweetness lingers on finish that includes a hint of honey. Not a complicated wine, but tasty and fairly priced to go with chicken dishes or fruits such as pear and peach. The three Giesen brothers came to New Zealand in 1981, and the evolution and rise of their operation tracks with New Zealand’s emergence as a significant player in the global wine market. Pinto gris is not the first white that leaps to mind from a Marlborough maker—sauv blanc has that honor locked down for as far as humans can imagine—but this effort shows versatility in the northern part of New Zealand’s southern island and is clearly worth a taste. Sip on a summer-day patio paired with a pear and light cheese before you go hard-core with red meat sizzling on summer-night grill; then reflect on how good life can be. $14

Penfolds Bin 8 Cabernet Shiraz 2012: Inky garnet-purple color; reticent nose with black olives, red fruits; red cherry, blackberry, blackcurrant, rhubarb, dark cherry, olive, raspberry, spice, pinch of pepper, plum on the palate; medium body, medium tannin, some acidity; restrained oak, smooth, grainy tannins benefit from exposure to air/decanting. 57% cab, 43% shiraz. Penfolds is iconic Aussie maker, founded in Adelaide in 1844, just eight years after founding of South Australia. Penfolds Bin numbers originated in bin location in Penfolds cellars, but Bin 8 gets its name because it matures in older oak previously used for Bin 128, Bin 28, and Bin 389—some of Penfolds most stellar offerings. Resulting discreet oak is welcomed. Easy drinking pleasure from legendary Aussie source. $22

Kris Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie 2013: Clean, crisp, light, dry; lemon-green color, spring flowers nose; restrained fruit, green apple, peach, nectarine, citrus; cleansing acidity with bit of almond on the finish. Delle Venezie is part of the Tre Venezie wine region on Italy’s northeastern border north of Venice, and ranks with Tuscany and Piedmont as a world class Italian wine region. Della Venezie, Alto Livenza, and Venezia Giulia (the three Venezie) are Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) designations, a mark of quality in Italian wine. The region is famous for white wines, especially pinot grigio; offerings reflect Germanic and Slavic roots. (Tre Venezie was at times part of the Venetian Republic and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.) Pinot grigio is not just Italian name for pinot gris, it also designates a style of wine, and Kris is a delicious and affordable example. $13

Laudun & Chusclan Vignerons Cachette Côtes-du-Rhône Red Blend 2012: Rich, ripe full body; blackcurrant and redcurrant tang, juicy cherry, red and black fruits, strawberry, bit of blackberry and chocolate on the finish; smooth, tasty, with interesting touches of barnyard earthiness and rusticity; grenache 70%, Syrah 10%, Carignan 10%, Cinsault 10%, no mourvèdre. Avoids New World jammy over-fruitiness and high alcohol. This effort demonstrates the magic of buyer-friendly Côtes-du-Rhône—grapes for this wine are grown across the Rhône from vineyards of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, while the bottle price for Cachette is the price of a short-pour glass of an entry-level Châteauneuf. Clear value winner. $14

Sean Minor Carneros Pinot Noir 2012: Cherry, plum, strawberry, sweet oak; big fruity fruit attack on the front end, but stays somewhat one-dimensional after that with short finish; a lot of fruitiness without the etherial finesse pinot noir can achieve; mild tannin, restrained acidity. This comes from Carneros/American Canyon, the southernmost part of Napa Valley, close by San Pablo Bay, and reflects the fleshy, fruity-focused Napa style (a style which reminds me of big-hair Texas women; beautiful, sure, but maybe could be toned down a notch). A lot of people will love this, no doubt, and Sean Minor is a major player in the artful Napa wine world—the grapes are picked at night until first light, then de-stemmed and cold-soaked three days, open-top fermentation, thrice-daily punchdowns of must and pommace, malolactic fermentation, 10 months in French barrels. Medium body, big fruit, tasty treat. $18

Alamos Selección Malbec 2012: Elegant, creamy black fruit, baked plum, cherry, spice on the finish, tinge of redcurrant tang; medium-full body, dry, fresh, smooth, supple tannin, taste of oak, vanilla, pepper; terrifically palate-friendly and delicious with depth and complexity. Alamos calls this the “pinnacle of our portfolio,” and it achieves its mission. The wine sells in nearly 60 countries and is made with attention to quality and priced below what it could command because Alamos wants this to represent Argentinian wines, especially Mendoza malbec, to the world. That means huge value-for-price for us and splendid example of what malbec can achieve with the high-altitude vineyards, snowmelt irrigation, and cool nights of Argentina’s premier wine country in the foothills of the Andes. $20 (often available for $15-17)

Kim Crawford Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2014: Kim Crawford defines affordable, available Marlborough, New Zealand, sauvignon blanc. This checks off every important box in the sauv blanc profile for color, aroma, taste, length. Beautiful pale yellow color; melon, pineapple, citrus, whiff of honeysuckle and blades of grass on the nose; fruit sweetness on the attack; light, crisp, broad, delicious mid-palate; grapefruit, white peach, apricot, green apple, lilt of lemongrass and lime; food-friendly, cutting acidity; long, mouth-watering finish. Kim Crawford sauv blanc is khaki pants of wine—it goes with almost everything. It is virtually impossible to screw up a food pairing, plus, it is almost always available. KC makes more than a half million cases of this each year (well more than six million bottles), and their maintenance of quality amid such quantity is astonishing display of skill. Superb value-price effort. $15-18

Bodega Catena Zapata Malbec Mendoza Alta 2006: Inky dark purple; wild flowers, dark cherry nose; lush, elegant, chewy, vibrant, coats the mouth in flavor waves of dark plum, blackberry, black cherry; gentle, fine-grain tannin, elegant acidity; French oak adds refined pepper, vanilla, mocha. This has depth, length, complexity, and is delicious. Spectator and Enthusiast rated it 92, Parker 93—this clearly is a top-shelf malbec. It also raises one of the great wine questions: compared to the recently reviewed Alamos Selección Malbec, is it worth three times the price? Subjective call made easier if you are able to write checks without glancing at your bank balance. The bottom line is Mendoza wineries produce world-class wines. My wish: you enjoy this level of wine soon, and the Alamos Selección Malbec every week. $55

Justin Central Coast Sauvignon Blanc 2014: Peach-pear-lemon nose; crisp, light with nice cutting acidity bite on the back of the tongue; lemon, green apple, grapefruit, peach, pinch of pineapple on the palate; citrus finish. Almost all sauv blancs play well with food, but this wine’s light body and clean, bright tanginess and even a hint of bubbles may serve better as aperitif or starter wine with hors d’oeuvres or garden salad. When you think Paso Robles you usually do not think sauv blanc, but Justin pulls it off nicely. With wide distribution and good price-quality ratio, this is go-find cool sipper for summer. $14