2015 Porter Creek Carignane Mendocino Old Vine. Gauzy purple core, not quite opaque, red rust rims keep it deep to the edge. Earthy nose, matted straw and field stone, more hard than dusty, notes of old potpourri, angular cranberry, blueberry, red cherry fruit, good lift as well as staying power. Medium-bodied, great firmness equally driven by tannin and acidity, mouthwatering pucker. Lower level of florality with an elevation in tart white grapefruit citrus. Tart blueberry flavors the majority of the fruit, raspberry as well as strawberry in the rear. More of a powdery texture here, helps it coat the palate. Matured and in a great place. Reminiscent of riper vintages of Les Hérétiques.
2015 Railsback Frères Santa Ynez Valley Red Wine [grape varieties not specified]. Lightly hued and gauzy, crimson to rust red through to yellowish rims. Smoky nose with a bare metallic edge, much more grounded in candied strawberry, red cherry to watermelon scents, the floral musk and any citrus not worth parsing out. Light in body yet sappy enough to cling and extend the finish. Here too it’s on the sweet side, surprisingly high level of citrus tang. Acidity frames things well enough. Cedar, mocha tones play off meadow grasses, grill fat. Leaves a fresh impression on the palate when done, noticeable given its general sweetness. My guess would be it’s a GSM type blend. (Composite Cork: Diam5)
2002 Domaine Le Peu de la Moriette (J.C. Pichot) Vouvray Moelleux. Deeply bronzed color and even that may not do it justice, close to looking like an orange wine, that said quite clean and with a high visible shine. Nose of apricot paste, lactose, lanolin, orange marmalade and a hint of sauna smoke, curiously inert given there’s a good many elements to mix together. Full-bodied, some sugar has been lost but this is not one of those Moelleux that eventually becomes more or less a dry table wine. Waxy and honeyed, less milky and you can feel the acidity try and push through the fat. Heavily layered apricot, nectarine, pineapple, guava fruit, very tropical profile that offers alternating tang and sweetness. The citrus here turns more pink grapefruit to lime, super juicy. Still have to consider this a dessert type of wine and has held up very nicely indeed.
2013 Domaine Comte Abbatucci Sciaccarellu Vin de France Rouge Frais Impérial. Transparent, lightly colored with a metallic sheen, sort of salmon pink to orange, rims a bit washed out. Some initial stink to the nose, then sort of chalky with licorice, rose petal fueled airiness, the mixed red berry fruit scents just part of the general chorus. Light-bodied with the structure to give it deeper presence, highlights its buoyant strawberry, raspberry, rhubarb fruit as well as sweet and sour lemon citrus. Stony with a clean sort of earthiness, no sense of barnyard nor sous bois. Tangy finish. Not horribly complex but it’s a very pleasing one note.
2017 Domaine des Marrans Fleurie Lieu-Dit Champagne. Clear if flat light purple core that gives way with ease to red magenta rims. Big, billowy nose of potpourri, ginger root, witch hazel combined with firm raspberry, cranberry scents, mildly dusty texture in the nostrils. Medium-bodied, round mouth feel, starts out soft but the more you sip the denser it seems. Most of the palate weight upfront through the attack. The lemon to white grapefruit citrus has moderate success in zinging you. Anise, lavender, maybe nutmeg accents. The cherry, raspberry fruit basic and tends to drift off towards the end. No problem drinking it but wouldn’t pay to revisit and can’t imagine it aging all that well.
2012 Château Quintus Saint-Emilion Le Dragon de Quintus. Basic purple with a crimson red infusion, brick red rims. Incredibly oaky nose of vanilla cream, buttered toast, butterscotch, over time this component relents some to allow room for plum, black currant nuances, really not much else going on. Medium-bodied, sappy and sticky, takes one step onto the palate and adheres itself. Butterscotch, caramel ascendant here as well, cedar and spiced orange peel blended in. Same rich dark fruit as in the nose. Lowest common denominator statement wine, lots of “wow” but nothing behind the veil. Allowing for this, intelligently crafted and without flaws, if you brought it to a non-geek dinner party people would want to know where you got it. 79% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc.
2016 Domaine de Terrebrune Vin de Pays du Mont Caume Terre d’Ombre. Brick red to purple, more brooding than bright or saturated, looks right for its age. Animal sweat, barnyard mud, band-aid, wastes no time throwing the whole enchilada at you, makes it hard to get to the generally black fruit scents, slowly segues to mocha crisp, lavender, fallen pine needles, argument could be made that even for a humble wine it could be in an awkward phase. That taken under consideration, offers up a good deal of juicy plum, cherry, blackberry fruit and without undue weight or fat. Mild citrus tones, dark chocolate, garrigues, anise, there’s complexity there, just squeezed into a blockish package. Needs some fatty food to fill in the holes. 80% Mourvèdre, 10% Grenache, 10% Cinsault.
2000 Thomas-Labaille Sancerre Les Monts Damnés Cuvée Buster. Dark gold that falls short of bronzed, its flatness imbues it with a denser presence in the glass. Smoky, stony nose with orange marmalade, mint, vanilla bean, jalapeño accents, wiry enough that the apple, apricot scents have no time to expand, has maintained a youthful erectness. Medium-bodied, softer here with a basic acidic spine, nothing special. That said, drinking freshly with an engaging buoyancy. That jalapeño, brine aspect comes to the fore, brings added tangerine, mandarin orange citrus presence with it. Still, the mint, licorice element equally relentless. Peach, apricot, yellow apple to a glance of pineapple fruit. In full control of itself. From a unheralded vintage, close to revelation status.
2011 Domaine Gilles Berlioz Jacquère Vin de Savoie Chignin. Basic color, washes out some at the rims, more flat than shiny. The nose reaches out to pinch you real quick, spicy and pickled with a neutralizing rubber aspect, drives deeply into your nostrils just for the satisfaction of having done so, waft of honey adds body to the apricot, pear, cherry scents. Full-bodied, bottom heavy and the acidity cannot compensate. In its favor, though, the jalapeño spice explodes so there’s no chance of complacency. Diesel fuel, mint, honey, tangerine rind, a glimpse of asparagus. The kumquat, persimmon, apricot fruit lends it a tropical feel without bite. Steamroller finish for a white wine, just flattens the palate. If this is aged high quality Jacquère sign me up.
2004 Herri Mina Irouléguy Blanc. Matured bronze color, block-like in the glass, nicely reflective surface. Nose of pie dough, cinnamon stick, pickle brine, orange marmalade, green apple to pineapple fruit and street oil slick, matured to full complexity. Full-bodied, the acidity still full of bad intent. Great tackiness and palate grip, you really feel it move through the mouth. Sour pineapple, persimmon, pear to apple fruit with a hint of cherry. Honeyed and here you get some residual smokiness from its youth to pair up with the oily notes. Juicy and tart pink grapefruit to blood orange element. Maybe just past peak but still revving on all cylinders. 55% Gros Manseng, 40% Petit Courbu, 5% Petit Manseng.
2004 Thomas-Labaille Sancerre Les Monts Damnés. Bright bronze to gold in color, vivid presence in the glass. Very yeasty nose, something of a burnt quality, quinine, witch hazel, mixed orchard fruit at best, hard to tease out, brawny and interesting but not satisfying. In the mouth it’s medium-bodied, the acidity continues to kick yet the texture is all tacky and dry so the sense of palate progression gets blunted. Pine sap, coal tar shampoo, raw pie dough. The apricot, peach flavors have a dried fruit character, otherwise it’s sour pineapple. Flatfooted finish. Not horrible but not as interesting as the bottle tried recently during November 2019. Certainly at the age where wide bottle variation should be expected.
2017 Enderle & Moll Baden Weiss & Grau. Filmy yellowish orange with a mild metallic glow, actually kind of pretty in its own way. Pulped orange and grapefruit make up most of the nose, shaved iron flecks, crushed stone, almost tarry as it warms, there’s no distinct fruit scents, overall it’s dense yet manages a cleansing sensation. Medium-bodied, tends to congeal sooner than you’d like, in spite of what feels like above average acidity for such a blend. Here too it comes off as heavy on the citrus accents. A lot tarrier with notes of asphalt and even kind of leathery. Good fluidity and pacing. Apricot, peach, pear fruit with a pineapple veneer. Fits into the “acquired taste” category, I liked it, wife was none for me, thanks. Approximately 60% Weissburgunder, 40% Grauburgunder.
2014 Panther Creek Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills Schindler Vineyard. Transparent, moderately dark purple core gets washed out by scarlet hues which extend through the rims. Crunchy red fruits in the nose, pulped oranges, hint of milk chocolate and vanilla bean, slight dry and dusty meadow grassiness but by no means displaying any greenness, nothing unusual going on. Full-bodied and it tends to throw its weight around so you never consider it soft, perhaps bottom heavy and lurching. Layers of sweet blackberry, boysenberry, blueberry fruit on display, unsettled some by a tannic astringency. Incense, potpourri, licorice, citrus trails off a bit. Truncated finish. It’s okay and you sense that attentive craft went into making it, results are average though.