Hello and welcome to my weekly dig through the pile of wine samples that show up asking to be tasted. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of Vinography Unboxed, where I highlight some of the better bottles that have crossed my doorstep recently.
This past week included a pretty interpretation of Roussanne from Troon Vineyard in Oregon that does a nice job of balancing its fruity and savory character, making for a tasty glass of wine that would be a great way to add a little variation to a white wine habit.
The bulk of this week’s tasting was a bunch of wines from the venerable Rhys Vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Rhys continues to be one of California’s most impressive wine producers, turning out exceptional Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, Syrahs, and more recently, Sparkling Wines. The 2021 vintage yielded lean and focused Chardonnays and pure, gleaming Pinot Noirs that will likely age beautifully.
Of the three Rhys Chardonnays I’m recommending this week, my favorite was the Mt. Pajaro bottling, which comes from the Corralitos area of the Santa Cruz Mountains. It’s a densely planted vineyard that sits at about 900 feet of elevation, roughly 7 miles from the coast, with shallow topsoils over black and brown shale. The 2021 Pajaro Chardonnay is lean and bright and juicy with a hint of salinity that makes it mouthwatering. The Horseshoe Vineyard Chardonnay, and their Anderson Valley bottling are also worth checking out as well.
The three Rhys Pinot Noirs are each delicious, but, as usual, the black-labeled hillside bottling was the shining star. From the estate’s Alpine Vineyard, which sits between 1200 and 1490 feet in elevation and in places has a 40% slope, the Hillside bottling comes from the steepest, rockiest, lowest-yielding part of the vineyard. As usual, the 2021 vintage of this wine has a remarkable perfume and a lovely combination of delicacy and power. It remains quite distinct from the (also very good) standard Alpine Vineyard bottling. The non-vineyard-designate Anderson Valley bottling of Pinot Noir is also excellent.
Jumping a bit farther north, let’s look at the two latest releases from the Appassionata project, started by German winemaker Ernie Loosen in conjunction with J. Christopher wines. Loosen bought 40 acres of land in the Willamette Valley and decided to make Pinot Noirs (and Riesling) that he planned to age both in barrel and bottle for a significant length of time before release. His latest releases are the 2017 and 2019 vintage, kept for 5 and 3 years in the bottle respectively before their sale this year. They’re both admirable, delicious wines, but at this point I prefer the bright exuberance of the 2017 bottling.
Ending as usual with some darker reds, I can wholeheartedly recommend the 2021 vintage of Larkmead‘s “Firebelle” red blend of Cabernet and Merlot. It’s a study in elegance and beautifully managed tannins that will satisfy anyone who likes their Napa Cabernet with poise equal to its power.
I also have two wines from Baldacci Family to recommend, or rather, one to recommend and the other to lambast. The family’s Bordeaux-style red blend is brawny and chewy, with bright fruit and good acid, but needs a couple years to let the wood better integrate to the wine, as it sticks out a bit at the moment. That’s the recommendation. The family also produces a Cabernet Sauvignon they call The Thomas Collection, which they sell in sets of three bottles in a wooden box. This wine is decent—made in the style of ostentatious Napa Cabernet, with a surfeit of oak, extraction, and polish—but it is packaged in the most horrendously heavy, ostentatious bottle. A full bottle weighs nearly 4.4 pounds (2 kg)! Lowering glass weight is the single easiest thing a winery can do to reduce their carbon footprint, and bottles like this clearly demonstrate that a winery’s ego is more important to them than the environment. Shame on you Thomas Baldacci!
Tasting Notes
2022 Troon Vineyard Roussanne, Applegate Valley, Southern Oregon
Bright yellow gold in the glass with a faint haze, this wine smells of lemon pith, chamomile, and a hint of dried hay. In the mouth, a faint chalky sensation covers the mouth, as flavors of lemon peel, lemon pith, chamomile, and other yellow herbs offer a nice balance between fruit and savoriness. Very good acidity. Regenerative Organic Certified. Demeter-certified Biodynamic wine. 11.5% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $45. click to buy.
2021 Rhys Vineyards Chardonnay, Anderson Valley, California
Palest greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon peel and lemon pith. In the mouth, lemon pith and grapefruit pith have a chalky, brisk brightness to them, with excellent acidity that leans slightly saline. Notes of white flowers and kumquat linger in the finish. 12.8% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $40. click to buy.
2021 Rhys Vineyards “Mt. Pajaro Vineyard” Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains, California
Palest gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon oil, unripe apples, and wet chalkboard. In the mouth, lemon oil and lemon pith have a bright saline quality to them and fantastic acidity. Chalky minerality lingers through a long finish along with a lemon pith quality that lingers for a long time. Lean and stony.13.4% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $75. click to buy.
2021 Rhys Vineyards “Horseshoe Vineyard” Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains, California
Palest greenish gold in color, this wine smells of wet chalkboard and lemon oil. In the mouth, brisk lemon and lemon pith flavors are lean and stony with excellent minerality. Notes of winter melon and grapefruit pith linger in the finish with a hint of salinity. 13.3% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $75. click to buy.
2021 Rhys Vineyards Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley, California
Light garnet in the glass with ruby highlights, this wine smells of raspberry and cherry fruit. In the mouth, crystalline cherry and cranberry flavors mix with raspberry and raspberry leaf as gauzy tannins coat the mouth. Notes of herbs and cranberry linger in the finish with a hint of oak. 13.6% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $60. click to buy.
2021 Rhys Vineyards “Alpine Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains, California
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of earthy black raspberry and cherry fruit. In the mouth, bright cherry and cranberry fruit is wrapped in a lightly muscular sheaf of tannins. Excellent acidity, with bits of oak peeking through — frankly more than I would like. There’s a citrus peel quality to the finish. I suggest aging this wine for a few years before opening. 13.4% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $130. click to buy.
2021 Rhys Vineyards “Alpine Hillside” Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains, California
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of flowers, ripe cherries, and raspberries all shot through with wet stones. In the mouth, stony flavors of raspberry and cherry are wrapped in a cottony cloud of tannins that stiffen with time. Beautifully aromatic and stony, with well-integrated oak, this wine needs 3-5 years to truly blossom into its potential. But it will age wonderfully thanks in part to its excellent acidity. 13.8% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $150. click to buy.
2017 Appassionata “Andante” Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Medium ruby in the glass with garnet highlights, this wine smells of sweet raspberry and cherry fruit. In the mouth, gorgeously silky raspberry, cherry, and cranberry flavors are bright with juicy acidity and shot through with hints of citrus peel and dried herbs. Supple, faintly gauzy tannins linger around the edges of the mouth. Regal and poised. Bottle-aged for 5 years before release. 13.5% alcohol. Score: around 9.5. Cost: $135. click to buy.
2019 Appassionata “Allegro” Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Light garnet in the glass, this wine smells of raspberry, redcurrant, and a hint of something meaty. In the mouth, bright raspberry, and raspberry leaf flavors mix with a hint of dashi and dried aromatic herbs. Excellent acidity and well-integrated oak. Bottle aged for 3 years before release. 13.5% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $80. click to buy.
2021 Larkmead Family Estate “Firebelle” Red Blend, Napa Valley, California
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of bright cherry and green herbs. In the mouth, beautiful cherry, plum, and herb flavors have a seamless quality, surrounded by suede-like supple tannins. Fantastic acidity and length, with well-integrated oak that only shows itself in a touch of woody flavor in the finish. A stunner of a wine that is only going to get better for the next 6-8 years. A blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon and 43% Merlot. 14.7% alcohol. Score: around 9.5. Cost: $90. click to buy.
2021 Baldacci Family Vineyards Red Blend, Napa Valley, Napa, California
Very dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of sweet oak, cherry, and blackberries. In the mouth, fleecy tannins wrap around a core of black cherry and blackberry fruit, as bright acidity keeps things fresh and brisk in the mouth. The tannins gain weight and stiffness through the finish and leave the mouth slightly dried at the end. Hints of dried herbs linger with the black cherry and licorice in the finish. A blend of 30% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, and the balance made up of Malbec and Petit Verdot. 14.5% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $70. click to buy.
2018 Baldacci Family Vineyards “The Thomas Collection” Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California
Inky, opaque garnet in the glass, this wine smells of sweet oak and black fruits. In the mouth, silky flavors of black cherry, black plum, and blackberry are shot through with strong notes of sweet oak. Muscular tannins coat the mouth and then parch it, drying things out as the sweet fruit and vanilla of oak linger in the finish. This would have been lovely fruit if it didn’t have to compete with wood for attention. Wait 5 years. Ages for 22 months in French oak. 250 cases made. 14.5% alcohol. Comes in an offensively heavy bottle weighing 1.98 kg when full. It’s a big glassy “F-you” to the planet. Score: around 8.5-9. Cost: $333. Sold in a set of three.
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