Clos Alivu 2013 Patrimonio Rouge (Nielluciù). Totally shut down, nothing but drying tannins. Drank a few sips, recorked the bottle, and put it back in the cellar for 48 hours. Much better: tart cherry fruit and herbs, some nice midpalate roundness, still some grip on the finish but balanced. Good with pasta all'amatriciana. Decent value at $18.50.
BLANKbottle 2015 Western Cape "Familiemoord" (Grenache, Cinsault, and Pinot Noir). Interesting: almost like an intense Gamay, but leaning darker; doesn't seem especially Grenache-driven (but I don't know the proportions). Full-flavored but middle-weight, modest tannin, fruit seems unadulterated by wood. They don't all blow me away, but at a fundamental level, I don't think I've been disappointed by one of Pieter Walser's wines yet.
Yves Leccia 2015 IGP Île de Beauté Rosé (Nielluciù). Tasty middle-weight rosé, long, dry and herbaceous but with a streak of sweet cherry fruit too. Very satisfying.
Kelley Fox 2014 McMinnville Foothills Pinot Noir, Momtazi Vineyard. Elegant and balanced, black cherry fruit up front that pulls you in to what seems like it's going to be fascinating depths, but then sort of peters out disappointingly on the finish; seems like it's probably just going through a phase.
Failla 2014 Fort Ross-Seaview Syrah "Estate." Astonishing. Imagine the whole scale of notes from tarry to violet, with the lowest notes being played on a bone-shaking bass clarinet, and the floral aromas represented by a jangle of wind chimes, and the whole thing driven by a propulsive, playful groove. One of the best bottles of anything we've opened in many months.