by Jenise » Mon Dec 17, 2018 7:21 pm
A few wines from the past week:
2010 Reynvaan Family Vineyards Syrah In the Rocks Walla Walla Valley
97 points is probably too low a score for this utterly perfect new world syrah with old world influences as there's nothing about it that's less than perfect. Co-fermented, with viognier I believe, it's earthy, concentrated and elegant. Huckleberry and black raspberry fruit, smokehouse meats, and a touch of cactus pear on the long finish. Texturally magnificent. I own a lot of Reynvaan and this is probably the best bottle so far.
2015 Two Vintners Syrah Some Days are Stones Stoney Vine Vineyard Walla Walla Valley
Earth, black pepper, black fruit, Rocks funk. Very much a junior version of the heftier 2010 Reynvaan ITR drunk immediately before it.
2015 Sebastiani Vineyards & Winery Gravel Bed Red Sonoma Valley Red Bordeaux Blend
Juicy and fruit forward in all the good ways with reasonable depth. Tasty and fun--would appeal to almost any level of experience.
2017 Rombauer Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley
BTG at The Vault. Can't believe I'm calling a Rombauer wine 'crisp', but indeed this had plenty of acidity to boost the guava and white grapefruit notes. Surprising.
2015 Abeja Chardonnay Washington
Clean, complex new world chardonnay flavors; nice concentration. Exceptional value for $40/bottle served at The Vault--that's pretty close to retail cost.
2016 Bow and Arrow Sauvignon Blanc Union School Willamette Valley
Big ripe orchard fruit, some dill from (I presume) American oak. More acidity (and therefore enjoyable) than the last bottle I had--tons of bottle variation in the six pack I bought. I'm glad this is the last.
2012 C. Donatiello Winery Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
Last December's lackluster bottle must have been asleep, because the bottle we opened last weekend quite good. Brooding RR fruit and spice, plenty of body and a good finish. Might keep for another 2-3 years but for my tastes it's at peak now.
2015 Bodegas Príncipe de Viana Graciano Navarra Roble
If someone were to turn grape soda into wine, it would taste like this. A novel experience.
2014 Culmina Family Estate Winery Merlot Okanagan Valley VQA
A big wine in structure and body with massive, green tannins. A bottle corked and retasted five days later was, if anything, even more awkward. Otherwise, cassis and other black fruit and some coffee. Needs at least another year to integrate and optimum's probably several years further out. $38 retail.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov