2022 Domaine Huet Vouray Le Mont Moelleux

 

Way too young... significant wine with lots of potential ... bury it..

2023 Deiss Engelgarten and 2023 Deiss Rotenberg

 Based on these two wines, I think the 2023 vintage for Deiss is pretty top notch.

The 2023 Deiss Engelgarten is a field blend of Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Muscat from alluvial gravels mixed with clay and marl in Bergheim. It drinks young now, obviously, but does open up providing a glimpse of a beautifully balanced citrus tropical palate with the fruit positively vibrating. A stunning wine, IMO, that will very much benefit from aging.  Paired with fried pickles, and mango bango fried shrimp..I think a maple Manhattan snuck into the early line up, too. 
I think this may be the best Deiss Engelgarten I've ever had. Just a stunningly crisp audacious palate that smooths out over a couple of hours...really a pleasurable bottle of wine, but then I am partial to Deiss wines.

The 2023 Deiss Rotenberg is a field blend of Pinot Gris and Riesling grown on south facing , red-tinged Jurassic limestone. This is an earthier wine than the bright Engelgarten but as impressive nonetheless. Drank this after dinner at home paired gouda and asiago cheeses and some water crackers.

It was a great learning experience drinking these two heroic wines.... so powerful yet lithe... these wines should be on everyone's buy list....

Sonoma Coast and Côte de Beaune

 

2012 Kutch Pinot Noir MacDougall Ranch Sonoma Coast
Double decanted back into bottle. 
Wow!!!!!
This is an elegant, yet showy mouthful of briary sous bois, whole cluster, impeccably grown black fruit. Reminds me a of a Dugat-Py cru hitting on all cylinders. This wine could easily be cellared another five to ten years and the tertiary development would be fascinating on the palate. 

2012 Kanzler Vineyard Pinot Noir Estate 
Goodness from Sonoma Coast, absolutely beautiful right now.
Comprised of clones 667, 115 and Pommard-4 on Goldridge soils. 

2005 Vincent Girardin Volnay 1er Cru Les Santenots 
One of the best bottles I've ever had of this wine. In a beautiful peak zone of development. The nose, the fruit, the acidity,   The elegance and balance of Les Santenots on full display. WOTN. A favorite pairing with blackened catfish étouffée.

Celebration Wine Dinner

 Celebrating being pretty well recovered from full knee replacement surgery (avoid ar all costs, by the way), we dipped into delicious wines and cuisine....

Creole bbq oysters chargrilled in the shell
Octopus confit
Scallop toast
Paired with 2009 Alexandre Le Brun Révélation Blanc de Meunier Extra Brut
Showing beautifully,  it was very bracing upon uncorking it. Intense yellow orchard fruit, quince and apricot... a big wine.... this will age for years longer... nose of brioche and baking spices.... I don't get a chance to drink much 100% Pinot Meunier wines.... this was a treat. 

Fresh picked heirloom tomato sandwich with homemade mayonnaise 
Vermouth Bianco

Segue to....
2005 G D Vajra Barolo Albe
2017 G D Vajra Barolo Bricco Delle Viole 
Paired with
Chargrilled whole Branzino
Pan-roasted scallops over rock shrimp risotto 

The 2005 Albe is a blend of grapes from Fossati, Coste di Vergne and La Volte (all in the Barolo commune) , and it was showing spectacularly. Tannins have fully integrated to support beautiful red fruit, tar and roses accented Nebbiolo.  Long complex and satisfying finish. 

The 2017 Bricco delle Viole is clearly young ... actually opened it a couple of days early to breathe a bit and then vacuum sealed it till the dinner. Wow, beautiful high toned fruit supported by such a finely chiseled structure of filigreed tannins and acidity. Ideally hold another ten years but it was a delight to check in on now.

Later on, a 2007 Mt. Veeder Winery Cabernet Sauvignon was uncorked.  Ricotta cheesecake and Peaberry Kona espresso was served with it. The 2007 Mt. Veeder Cab was a blast of deliciously mature Napa fruit, black cherry,  cassis, hints of mellow cacao nibs. Wow... scrumptious. 

2020 Marcel Deiss Grasberg

 

Showing beautifully tonite with a spicy fried Bahamian conch dish. 

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"...The 2020 Grasberg is from the plateau of Jurassic imestone of the Altenberg, sloping slightly north at 350m, a late: ripening site. The field blend is Riesling and Gewurztraminer fermented and aged in foudre. The nose has golden, juicy glints of peach compote edged with lemon. It has the inherent coolness of imestone and vivid freshness, but there is a kiss of honeyed potrytis without it masking the fresh fruit, lending a subtle sweetness (35g/L), rounded and peachy. (Medium)..."
Anne Krebiehl MW, April 2023
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Producer background...

"...Today, Mathieu Deiss, born in 1984, runs Marcel Deiss. The Deiss family has been in Alsace since the 17th century, always making wine a part of farming. In the 1950s, Mathieu Deiss’ great-grandfather and grandfather, Marcel and André Deiss, respectively, decided to focus on wine. Marcel Deiss’ wife Maria Milan ran the local restaurant Le Tilleuil, so wine was made both for the inn and to sell, helping the domaine to grow slowly. Mathieu Deiss’ father, son of André, Jean-Michel, took over in 1976. Jean-Michel Deiss started to plant field blends in 1990, and he made his first, and at the time groundbreaking, Grand Vin de l’Altenberg in 1994. In 2004, this grand cru’s cahier des charges were exceptionally changed to allow field blends. The seed for the idea of field blends, or complantation, was sown in Jean-Michel Deiss’ mind in 1984 when he bought a big parcel of the Schoenenbourg Grand Cru, planted on one side to Riesling, on the other to an almost century-old field blend. “My father vinified these parcels separately and let critics taste them blind. People could identify Schoenenbourg, but people could not necessarily tell which was the field blend and which was the Riesling. This is what convinced him that that site was stronger and that compelled him to also plant field blends in other locations,” recounts Mathieu Deiss. There has been a lot of expansion. They moved from 24 hectares/59 acres in 2014 to 39 hectares/96.4 acres today. “Over the past six to seven years, we continued to find new terroirs. We also had the opportunity to reorganize the vineyard we had historically. We had parcels on the plains and the foothills, vulnerable to frost and drought, which we exchanged for plots on hillsides,” Mathieu Deiss says. “That was a key point for me for the future.” Mathieu Deiss joined the domaine in 2007. He followed a chemistry and physics degree in Strasbourg with a viticulture and oenology degree from Toulouse. He worked one harvest at home, then for Geoffrey Grosset in the Clare Valley in Australia, then for Brian Croser at Petaluma in the Adelaide Hills. He also interned with the consultancy team of Stéphane Derenoncourt for six months before spending three months in the US with an importer to learn about distribution. Mathieu Deiss and his wife Emmanuelle Milan also run Vignoble du Rêveur in Bennheim. The domaine is based on 8 hectares/19.77 acres of vines belonging to Mathieu Deiss’ mother, which his uncle farmed until his retirement. Both estate’s wines are vinified in Bergheim, but the domaines are kept separate. Vignoble de Rêveur makes more alternative styles using skin maceration. “We are taking more risks, but some terroirs are simpler than here at Deiss, and we find that maceration gave a little more density.” The wines are presold on allocation, just like Domaine Deiss. The domaine is certified biodynamic. Today, Mathieu Deiss likes to play with skin maceration for small portions of his wines; he thinks it helps their balance. He has shifted to a drier register than his father and reduced the use of new oak. However, even if the style is now fresher and brighter, the mesmerizing aromatic nature of the wines and their textural richness are still the same..." -- Anne Krebiehl MW, April 2023

2012 San Fereolo Langhe Rosso

This stuff is pretty good... a bit unique... 

Currently,  it's showing delicious aged fruit up front... high toned red berries.. but the finish doesn't really pan out ... it's a bit too sour (?) On the back end... at this stage... let it sit in the cellar and see what develops over the years..

Actually stood up quite well to a spicy rendition of shrimp and grits ...

Importers notes.
"...1593 refers to the date of the first written documentation of Dolcetto in the archives of Dogliani. It’s a fitting title, since Nicoletta Bocca has made it her life’s work to reveal this grape’s profound connection to her special zone and its proud status among the most expressive and age-worthy wines in the Piedmonte. Made from her best and oldest parcels only in the best vintages, this wine results from grapes sourced from “Cerri Sottani”, a sub-zone of Valdibà. Bocca utilizes long aging to maximum effect, letting the wine rest for 6 years in 15HL and 10HL barrels before being racked into stainless steel for further aging. After time in bottle, this wine is released more than 10 years after the harvest..."

2022 Huet Le Mont Demi-Sec

 Way too young... a bit disjointed upon pop and pour...

...gives a peek at the goodness to come after an hour or so of air... sometimes it's instructive to crack open obviously young stuff... 
Hold for at minimum another 3 to 5 years ...

I'll crack open some younger Deiss next..👍



Paired extremely well with this 1972 recording from Paris where Jarrett played piano, alto sax, flute and even tambourine.... no other recorded performance in Jarrett's 50 plus year history had him playing all of those in a show ... the alto sax laid down a template for the collaboration with Jan Garbarek a few years later... 

Jarrett - piano, alto sax, flute, tambourine.

Paul Motian - drums 

Charlie Haden - bass

Tracking the development of the 2017 Bodegas Cota 45 UBE Maina La Charanga

 Update.... this is absolutely hitting on all cylinders right now. Now you can taste this brilliance of this effort .... paired with soft shell crab and roasted Brussels sprouts with a dash of balsamic...yummy cuisine...100% dry Palomino...

Notes from 2021

http://lestastevinsdulac.blogspot.com/2021/08/2017-bodegas-cota-45-ube-maina-la.html

Notes from 2023

http://lestastevinsdulac.blogspot.com/2023/05/bodegas-cota-45-ube-maina-la-charanga.html

2011 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Silver Eagle Vineyard (Sonoma Coast)

 I've found Rivers-Marie pinot noir to be a bit over-the-top for my tastes and this bottle has done nothing to change that. This is a massive wine that is still early in the drinking window. I'd recommend holding for at least another five years. It's a very well made wine, exceptional fruit with quite an assault (in a good way) on the palate. Complex finish with sous bois notes. It's really not a food wine... more of just a wow statement on its own. 

Silver Eagle Vineyard is owned by the family of the late great Thomas Rivers Brown collaborator and farmer, Ulises Valdez..  

2005 Vincent Girardin Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru Les Breterins

What a treat to try this wine. I've such limited experience with wines from Auxey-Duresses.  
The palate exhibits a finely chiseled framework of elegantly restrained red fruit with beautifully balanced acidity and a lacy savory long finish. Actually quite irresistible. 
Paired deliciously with blackened catfish with shrimp and andouiille sausage étouffée over piping hot locally made grits. 

1999 Turnbull Wine Cellars Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon

 

Absolutely delicious Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon.  Tannins have melted and the fruit has aged perfectly. Plush cassis inflected palate with lengthy hedonistic finish. Sourced from the following vineyards:

• Fortuna Vineyard (Oakville valley floor)

• Leopoldina Vineyard (hillside above Oakville)
• Home Vineyard (near the winery)

These sites span:

- Valley floor alluvial soils (richer, plush fruit)

- Volcanic hillside soils (structure, minerality, tannin)

2020 Zidarich Vitovska Carso

 

A very serviceable Vitovska that is quite young. This actually unfurled on second day and beyond under vacuum seal. 
A moderately skin contact style wine. Really worth trying. An "orange" wine for people who don't like orange wines.
Delicious minerality derived from limestone influenced terroir. 

"...No lover of Italian wine should ever pass up the opportunity to explore Benjamin Zidarich’s wild portfolio. These wines are Carso incarnate, as if Zidarich is culling them from the sheer limestone and red clay soils and placing them directly into bottle. His use of stone aging casks, carved from the limestone surrounding the winery, is expertly done and somehow completely transparent while adding buoyancy and textural heft. The family farms eight hectares of Vitovska, Malvasia Istriana, Merlot and Terrano vines, which are certified biodynamic. The fruit goes through spontaneous fermentations in the winery, often in stone limestone vats, with long macerations spanning two to three weeks. Most of the aging is completed in neutral, large Slavonian oak barrels. There’s no fining or filtering, and sulfur is kept to a minimum. The “Orange” or “Skin Contact” category, as producers these days prefer to call it, is littered with natty, unbalanced and cloying wines. However, in Carso, and especially from Benjamin Zidarich, consumers should have no worries. These are pure interpretations of place, with wild aromatics and seductive textures that only extended skin contact can bring. The whites are excellent but also make sure to check out the Ruje Rosso, a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Terrano that really turned my head...." -- Eric Guido, April 2024

1994 Marcel Deiss Pinot Noir Burlenberg

Pinot noir with small amounts of Beurot, Meunier, Pinot blanc and pinot gris. Deiss states the site's soils resembles that of Close de Beze. Beurot brings elegance to the mix.

In really good shape taste-wise.... superb color..... high toned cherry with nice acidity .... quite elegant fruit supported with gossamer framework of tannins... not much of a nose.... far end of the longevity curve but delicious... what a nice surprise... 

Paired nicely with smoked pork shoulder and grilled Brussels sprouts...
Thanks to Nelson Lemmond for introducing me to the wines of Deiss many years ago...yummy stuff ... I've got to pay more attention to Alsatian Pinot Noir. 

2007 Brovia Barolo Garblèt Sue’

This may be my first taste of Brovia's Garblèt Sue’. This particular bottle is a high toned fillie of a thoroughbred.  Lots of pucker power and acidity for a more voluptuous (?) vintage... Definitely early on the pouring curve IMO. Certainly a food wine. This should be very interesting in five and even ten years. 
Trying to find this vineyard for the uninitiated is fun ... it's a tiny parcel in the Altenasso subzone of the Fiasco cru in Castiglione Falletto. The vines, planted in 1970 and 1979, are located on south/southeast-facing slopes with sand and clay-limestone marl soils. 

Quinta de Baixo VV Vinhas Velhas Branco Bairrada 2020

 First time trying this white wine from Barraida appellation in Portugal on the coast north of Lisbon. I'd buy more. Blind, I'd guess a beautifully balanced Albariño. It's quite early in the drinking curve.  Although this does go through malo.... so it's pretty crisp at first but the ln mellows with air.....it seems quite early in the drinking curve.

A 50/50 blend of Bical and María Gomes grapes from an old plot Vinha da Alagoa, and it matured for 22 months in a 1,000-liter Mosel foudre. 

Paired scrumptiously with Bienville oysters, pan roasted scallops and grilled lobster tails.

2017 Clos Cibonne Rosé Château Cibonne Cuvée Hommage à Marius

May 1st follow-up notes.

An aha moment!

"The Cuvee Marius is aged under a veil of yeast in the manner of a Fino Sherry, and as such is supposed to be oxidative with a savory, nutty character that is not at all like a regular rosé (almost like an extreme version of the rosado from Lopez de Heredia)"

So I believe the wine was sound. It just presents very differently than a standard rose.

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April 30th notes

Wow! This was not anything like I expected. It seemed very oxidized to me .... like a sherry at first but then maybe more similar to a Jura wine... 
90% Tibouren, 10% Grenache

Does anyone have any recent experience with this wine? (The Marius Cuvee)

2018 Castellare Chianti Classico

 90% Sangioveto, 10% Canaiolo

Absolutely classic blend.
This is very structured dark red cherry. 
Too young based on pop and pour.
But a beautiful wine. 
Plenty left for day two assessment. 
Enjoyed solo. 
Seems robust enough to complement braised beef short ribs...

2018 Marcel Deiss Grasberg

Companion planting of Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer in Alsace.

Always enjoyable. This bottle showed more broadly and less succinctly than other vintages I've had. 

Paired scrumptiously with crab and chorizo croquettes with pepperjam garnish.

2008 Léon Beyer Riesling Comtes d'Eguisheim

 

This was fun and showed quite well. More about nicely aged tropical oriented fruit.... light in acidity...paired nicely with a really tasty marinated tuna poke. 
First time trying this Alsatian producer. I sort of prefer the complexity of palate that Deiss provides with his field blend methodology. 

Even though the wine doesn't indicate Grand Cru on the label, the fruit was sourced from Pfersigberg and Eichberg Grand Cru sites..

2007 Rochioli Pint Noir Little Hill Vineyard

 2.8 acre parcel Russian River Valley, Sonoma County 

Little Hill Vineyard is planted to Rochioli West Block selection, Pommard, and a small amount of RC selection.(see accompanying map)

Double decanted back into clean bottle. Minimal amount of very very fine grained sediment. Drank over the course of a couple of nights. The first go round was closed with a shy nose. More savory character than fruit character.... gives the impression of maybe being a bit past prime drinking window. Not a lot of complexity on the finish, but well balanced with no heat.

The next day or two saw it open up and become more generous with its charms. Still primarily savory in character but tasty red/blue fruit filling it out. ...

Eventually paired well with lobster and filet mignon surf and turf dinner. ... 

I've ALWAYS enjoyed these wines...