2003 Martinelli Pinot Noir "Martinelli Vineyard" Reserve

These are sort of historic wines made by Helen Turley back in the day... their longevity (while staying relatively balanced) is impressive. 
A huge wine probably 80% to 85% of the way through it's solid drinking life... 👍🍷
If you know, then you know, what these "Martiinelli Vineyard" Reserve wines are about...

2014 Cristom Pinot Noir Louise Vineyard

Showing perfectly... still has a lot of gas in the tank... beautiful fruit, acidity and sous bois...lovely finish... no heat marring the finish like the 2013 Cristom Louise..
Paired perfectly with turkey and dressing 🍷👍

2013 Cristom Pinot Noir Louise Vineyard

 

https://cristomvineyards.com/vineyards/louise-vineyard/

Tasty wine from a less than heralded vintage. Give it LOTS of air. Fruit is really nice upfront with a lengthy finish that slides into a bit of inexplicable heat for only 13.5% abv. I'm pretty sure I've encountered that heat on the finish of other Cristom pinot noirs... 
Paired nicely with grilled rack of lamb and duck confit sweet potato hash with shallots. 

Barossa, Sonoma, Cote de Beaune, Rioja

 

2004 Branson Coach House Shiraz Single Vineyard Greenock Block
...This an insanely good bottle... WOTN for me... paired very tastily after dinner with Saint Angel cheese and 3 year aged gouda...

2001 Martinelli Pinot Noir Martinelli Vineyard Reserve
... beautifully elegant... mellowed so deliciously through the night ... more finessed than the 2001 Martinelli BSR that we had recently... probably the best bottle of this cuvee with a lot of age on it I've had... silly good paired with chargrilled whole Branzino

1998 Domaine Follin-Arbelet Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru Clos du Chapitre
...Aloxe-Corton is a sentimental favorite for me ... showed really well...

2004 La Rioja Alta Rioja Gran Reserva 904
... lovely stuff... 

2013 Joseph Drouhin Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatières
.... delicious with grilled oysters.. 

Cool variety of dinner wines

 Excellent notes from Tanzer back in the day...

2001 Eilo Altare Barolo Vigneto Arborino....
"...Critics of new-wave Barolos that are fermented quickly in rotofermenters [usually, stainless steel cylindrical vats in which pigeage is done by means of a propeller that rotates inside the vat; in some cases, the entire tank itself slowly revolves] owe it to themselves to taste and follow Altare's rb wines, which provide significant early appeal and have proven to offer at least medium-term aging potential. Altare clearly would prefer to do as little extraction as possible to avoid getting wines whose tannins stand in the way of their early accessibility. As he describes it:"Why carry out longer fermentations, get tougher tannins, and then have to fine the wines to get them back into balance?Is it better to make a wine that will be better after 20 years than one that will be better for its first 20 years?"Altare noted that it's the wine media, through its consistent praise for his wines, that has enabled him to do short fermentations, and he maintains that his wines have aged just fine. He typically does just three days or so of maceration for his Arborina and five or six for Brunate, which he says requires more extraction. The wines are racked for the second time after they finish their malolactic fermentations in stainless steel in March, and then go into barriques, 20% of which are new, for 18 to 20 months of what he describes as "a Burgundian elevage. "During this period, the wines normally are not racked. Instead, Altare uses micro-oxidation if the wines become reduced; on the whole, he prefers "a natural reduction" so that he doesn't have to use SO2. His wines then spend their final several months back in cuve before being bottled. Altare describes the 2000s as elegant wines that are more ready to drink than the '99s. The 2001s, he adds, are sturdier wines that are midway between the fleshier 2000s and more serious, tannic 1999s. (Marc de Grazia; numerous importers, including Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; and Estate Wines Ltd. , San Rafael, CA) -- Stephen Tanzer, November 2004..."

2001 Martinelli Pinot Noir Blue Slide Ridge Vineyard

The genius of Helen Turley...

This is a monster wine! 🍷👍 

2015 Philippe Brand Retenez Son Nom Sous Voile Blanc

 

 

Second time I've enjoyed this wine in the past several months...

Yes, just yes. All Sylvaner aged under flor... almost an orange-ish tasting wine... once it opens up, it's just delightful. Paired with pan roasted scallops on a bed of rock shrimp risotto that is perfectly executed by Chef Johnny Cox and team.




Importer notes...

"...100% Sylvaner that spent 30 months fermenting, with subtle development of voile (flor), and an additional 30 months in bottle before release. The level of oxidation is certainly subtle, with more presence on the nose than on the palate, but it contributes a complexity to the wine, already interesting enough for being a long-aged Sylvaner. It doesn't seem like this wine was 100% intentional, but Philippe became enamored with the wine as it aged and is very happy to release it. This recent drop shows fantastic depth while still seeming as fresh as ever, with a mineral and acid backbone that should carry it long into the future..."

2019 Château Lapuyade Jurançon

 

Sweet Petit Manseng.... delightful wrap up to an evening ...👍

2017 Domaine Huet Le Mont Demi-Sec

 

Spot on! In a better place developmentally than the 2017 Clos du Bourg Sec we recently had...

Paired with spicy grilled shrimp and crab cakes...