Stuff from the past week:
2013 Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos Chardonnay
Seems overly ripe at first but things come into better balance with about two hours decanted. Still clearly not a cool vintage but eventually complimented by classic Chablis flint. Long finish, should age from here beautifully.
2013 Chad Pinot Noir Reserve Carneros
Five years out and it's apparent now it's got the stuffing for a ten-year wine. Terrific flavors show good in-bottle development but no maturity, and there's ample fruit to keep up with the tannins. Major ROI. (I paid $20.)
2013 Knot Wines Halyard Brut Sonoma Valley White Blend
Seems a little more average now than just a few months ago. Pleasant but certainly wouldn't mistake it for French champagne at this point.
2015 Casa Smith Primitivo Northridge Vineyard Wahluke Slope
Concentrated black fruit, bramble and spice with a little Jolly Rancher watermelon candy showing as it opens up. Made for popularity, and it will succeed.
2012 Domaine des Ouled Thaleb Ait Souala Vin Vieux Grande Reserve Zenata, Morrocco
Just terrific for the price. Aging well with sturdy dark fruits, iron-rich minerality and some leathery notes just beginning to develop. Made of 25% each Malbec and Tannat and 50% Arinornoa, a 50's era cab-tannat cross and named fort the 1931 Ait Souala estate, once Africa's largest winery.
2011 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard Yamhill-Carlton
Perhaps the richest and most age-worthy of the 2011 St. Innocent line-up. Impressive fruit and palate presence, still young.
2013 J.L. Chave Sélection St. Joseph Circa Roussanne
Deep golden yellow, looks and tastes older than it is. Heavy on the palate with ripe stone fruit, and very waxy. Decant for an hour--comes into better balance with time. Not a sipping wine, but will show well if paired well--a rosette of rich lox, for instance, nested in soft greens, or a French onion soup with rich cheese raft.
2010 Chateau Ste. Michelle Austral Limited Release Wahluke Slope Red Rhone Blend
From a passively stored bottle, this Australian GSM copy hasn't aged well. The original intent is still obvious, but it's tired and turning into soy sauce instead of gaining interesting secondary development.
2017 Honig Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley
Lots of nerve and attitude here--white grapefruit, freshly cut grass, tarragon and dandelion green.
2016 Pine Ridge Vineyards Chenin Blanc Viognier Clarksburg White Blend
Struck me as a little hotter and sweeter than I remember in long ago vintages, and this one was served extremely cold. Warmer, might have been cloying.
2016 Inama Soave Classico Garganega
I buy a bottle or two nearly every year. Vintages differ from light with screechy acids to almost overly ripe--this one's nicely in the middle. Good balance and flavor--shows garganega well.
2010 Tenuta Vitalonga Terra di Confine Umbria IGT Red Blend
This wine hasn't budged in two years. What I described in 2016 remains true today: All earthy red fruit, rust and leather. Fantastic evolution for a $15 wine. Should have bought more.