Wine impressions 1-17-22
2017 Tatomer, Pinot Noir - Santa Barbara Pinot with sous bois from the get go and plenty of fruit following. At $20 a likely re-buy.
2018 Alvear, 3 Miradas - 100% PX, part direct press, part skin-fermented and finished under flor for 8 months. While this was complex and unique it’s a bit too aldehydic for me. Less than $20 but not a re-buy.
2012 Cowan Cellars, Isa - 100% skin-fermented Sauvignon Blanc aged in very old barrels for 28 months; burnished copper color, complex and savory nose with the impression of fruit but without varietal signature, honey, hay, broth - the nose alone is worth opening the bottle; similar in the mouth but again, an echo of unidentifiable fruit with lots of savory notes and middle weight textures all showing together and in balance. As attractive and distinctive an “orange” wine as I have tasted from anywhere. Yeah me!
2019 Louis Michel, Forets - sure it’s young but so precise and classic it just knocks me out. With swordfish in lemon sauce, oh yes!
2019 Vincent, Pinot Noir Armstrong Vnyd. - slightly displeased with being opened now but came around quickly. This wine is clearly from the Ribbon Ridge AVA but it’s not as hard as many RR Pinots can be to start with. Elegant, measured and complex with years ahead of it. Perfect with grilled Scottish salmon.
2018 Vissoux, Fleurie - starting to close a bit but still the Fleurie shines thru; light weight, feminine but intense. Needs a year or so but was great with roast chicken.
N/V Tarlant, Champagne Zero Brut Nature - a blast of fresh lemon at first but morphing beautifully into a wine that shows it’s three grape cepage. A bubbly with fruit but also all the cut one could ask. Big future, fine present.
2014 Piedrassasi, Red Wine Harrison-Clarke Vnyd. - 50/50 Mourvèdre and Syrah; gamey, complex, bright and evolving in the glass. I was fortunate to have tried the barrels prior to blending and both were outstanding, especially the Mourvèdre. The finished wine is glorious.
2019 Louis Michel, Les Clos - this is deep, sappy, flint tinted concentrate of Chablis with a grand and nuanced nose, broad spectrum minerality and a long - make that looong - finish. Another exceptional wine from this house. Years to go.
(Aside: Over the years, I have isolated producers who create wines that show well at all stages of development. Moreover, they do develop. So Michel, Vincent, Donnhoff and a few others are now my “buy by the case” go to wines each vintage. Make it good, make it so it doesn’t shut down and make it so it ages into something exceptional. That’s my kind of wine.)
Best, Jim