Wine Focus August 2022: Pinot Noir & special guest Albariño

[Jenise]

Us, too. When I met Bob, his pre-dinner cocktail of choice was Dry Sack. Up until then all the sherry I'd ever had was cheap dry sherry my mother bought for cooking--an open bottle would sick in the pantry for a year or two before it got used up. Talk about oxidized. Anyway, I enjoy both of the Lopez whites.

[David M. Bueker]

Pinot Noir indeed!
2017 Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Nuits St. Georges - France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges (8/9/2022)
Sometimes it’s just time for a really fine wine, and tonight was one of those times, albeit still a Tuesday, and definitely not family Sunday. Still relatively open on the nose, with ample fruit and some wild herbal/earthy tones. It has the characteristic Mugneret-Gibourg refinement on the palate, but also a rusticity/wildness that suggests Nuits-Saint-Georges. It’s clearly a member of the M-G family, but the wild one that doesn’t dress for dinner , that grins and flips off grandpa when he tells her to sit down. It’s clearly got breeding, but rides a dirt bike. The spirit and the genes make for an enticing combination.

[Jenise]

Opened last night as a pre-dinner cocktail:

2016 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Vista Verde Vineyard San Benito County
Textbook ripe Cali pinot. Effusive nose of big spicy red fruit with baking spice and just a hint of iodine; palate follows. This is Mae West without a bra--voluptuous but not much structure, will hold but not improve from here. No decanting needed.

[David M. Bueker]

I don’t see the attraction in recent W-S Pinots. They seem so…umm…Californian.

[Jenise]

Honestly, I don't either. I think they're sought after because of a long-ago reputation, however fairly earned at the time, that no longer typifies the brand. Wasn't any iodine in those days! And this 2016 won't live to be what the 2003 from this same vineyard was just three years ago.

[Robin Garr]

Tossing an albariño into the pool of Pinot ...

Bodegas Terras Gauda 2020 Abadía de San Campio Rías Baixas Albariño ($18.99)

Made from 100% Albariño grapes, Abadía de San Campio Albariño shows a clear bright straw color with a golden hue. Fresh apple scents at first open up with time in the glass to pineapple and stone fruit. Fresh and bright on the palate, its white-fruit flavors add distinct citrus notes, tartly acidic lemon and lime, mouth-filling and tart, with a subliminal prickly hint of carbonation in its long finish.

FOOD MATCH: The winery suggests pairing this wine with shellfish, oysters, clam and crab, or with spicy Asian cuisine. We enoyed it with bucatini with blue and yellow oyster mushrooms sauteed in garlicky butter and oil and finished with Pecorino Romano cheese.

WHEN TO DRINK: Its freshness is a virtue. I'd stick with fairly recent vintages and don't try to cellar it.

VALUE:
It's a good value at Wine-Searcher.com's $18 average U.S. retail. Some vendors offer it for a few dollars less.

WEB LINK:
Here's a winery fact sheet in English on the 2020 Abadía San Campio Albariño.

The winery's Facebook page (in Spanish) is very active, with new posts and photos almost daily.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Check prices and find vendors for Abadía de San Campio Albariño on Wine-Searcher.com.

Learn more about the Albariño grape and find more wines and vendors at this Wine-Searcher link.

Follow this Wine-Searcher link to find listings for dozens of other wines from Spain's Ras Baixas region.

[David M. Bueker]

What we really need is a pronunciation guide for Rias Baixas!

[Robin Garr]

Drrrreeee-ahhhsss Bye-shaaasss

Did that come out right?

[Robin Garr]

This guy agrees, I think ...

https://youtu.be/CFCffg36dOg

[Jenise]

Borrowing Robin's spelling, I only heard:

Rrrreeee-ahh Bye-shaaasss

[David M. Bueker]

I did not hear the "d"

[Robin Garr]

The S (both esses) is definitely there, but I didn't hear a D either. Where were you expecting a D, David?

[Robin Garr]

The S (both esses) is definitely there, but I didn't hear a D either. Where were you expecting a D, David?

Oh, wait, the initial D? Maybe it's not there. I was trying to shoot for that not-in-English sound when R starts a word in Spanish. It's really like a Spanish double R when it comes at the start of the word. Too hard for me!

[David M. Bueker]

Rr?

Drink like a pirate!

[Robin Garr]

Arrrrrrr!

I think you just came up with an idea for Wine Focus 2023! Rum month!

[David M. Bueker]

Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of

No pirates in my neck of the woods! It has taken a while to post my Zarata notes as I have had the flu but things seem back to normal.

2020 Zarata Albarino Rias Baixas, Galicia Sp.
The estates range begins with the fresh, balanced and very mineral Zarate Albariño, sourced from estate vineyards averaging over 35 years of age in the parishes of Sisán and Padrenda in Val do Salnes’ central core. With wild-yeast fermentations and aging on the lees, this wine offers a character and vibrancy almost unique to the region.

Good natural cork, $21 Cda. Aromas show lemon, apricot, pear and typical minerality. Yellow green color.
Balanced acidity, very crisp, "expected higher acidity" from across the table. Grapefruit and peach on initial entry, medium bodied. Good length, think I should leave my other bottle a while to see what developes. Terrific wine, Dale has tasted the Balado and Tras da Vina..no chance of finding these up here.

[David M. Bueker]

Welcome to the party Bob! Glad you are feeling better.

[Jenise]

Opened last night to sip while watching TV.

2013 Gran Moraine Pinot Noir Estate Reserve Yamhill-Carlton
Fantastic nose of dark red fruits, baking spice and star anise all of which follow on the palate but not as luxuriously as expected due to surprisingly overt acidity. Not exactly the sipper I imagined when I chose it. If I had another bottle, would be looking at 2025.

[David M. Bueker]

2013 Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir Whistling Ridge Vineyard - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Ribbon Ridge (8/14/2022)
If this had been more tannic I might have guessed Nebbiolo blind. Lots of dried rose petal, along with dusty red fruit. It’s kind of crinkly, like old, brittle paper, which is surprising at only nine years from the vintage. It’s a very pretty wine, but I am shocked at how evolved it is. I have had older Goodfellow Pinots that seemed much younger.

This champagne comes from the Aube département (further south than the most famous villages like Cramant, Le Mesnil, Aÿ, Bouzy....) and is derived 80% from Pinot Noir. The champagnes from this area tend to be more generous but perhaps show less finesse. I wonder if there is not a big future here for still reds as the climate warms up.

NV Drappier Champagne Carte d'Or Brut - France, Champagne (13/08/2022)
I like Drappier's champagne. This one is by no means bone dry (dosage 6%), has a certain generosity of body, is full of fresh juicy fruit with good balancing acidity and more backbone than much bubbly. Good.

Posted from CellarTracker

[David M. Bueker]

I like Drappier as well.

[David M. Bueker]

2016 Sandhi Wines Pinot Noir Sanford & Benedict Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills (8/18/2022)
Opened for International Pinot Noir Day, and did not disappoint. It’s dark in tone for Pinot Noir, but not heavy on the palate. Fruit is sweet, but not candied. It’s just properly ripe. Structurally balanced, and long on the palate. In the overheated California Pinot Noir market this was a good value play from an excellent site, and a fine team.

Drrrreeee-ahhhsss Bye-shaaasss

The 'r' sound in Spanish is made by touching the tongue to the upper palate (so-called "rolled R"). Spanish 'rr' (long R) is made by repeated, fast contact with the upper palate while sounding the consonant. In Spanish 'rr' is considered a separate consonant from 'r' just as 'll' (pronounced as is English 'y', or 'zh' if you're from Argentina) is considered separate from 'l'). 'R' at the start of a word is pronounced the same as 'rr' elsewhere in a word. When I was learning Spanish in junior high school the teacher told us to practice by saying, "kitty kitty kitty..." very fast, to get the muscle memory for the proper palate action on the tongue.

I'd expect the 'x' in 'Baixas' to be the guttural 'gh' sound also used for 'j', as also seen in the Spanish pronunciation of 'Mexico'. Or perhaps 'th' in the Castilian accent. But it's likely a foreign word (Basque or Catalan?) and so 'sh' might be correct.

-Paul W.