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 what I consider to be a pitch-perfect rendition of Sauvignon Blanc from one of the world’s top cooperative wineries, Kurtasch in Italy’s Alto Adige region. Beautifully green and crisp, this is a wine that over-delivers for its modest price.
I’ve got two Chardonnays to recommend this week, one from Lavinea up in Oregon which is very much on the leaner side of Chardonnay, with little apparent wood influence. The other, from Merry Edwards is a bit fuller-bodied, but still holds an edge of brightness that helps keep things refreshing instead of unctuous. The folks at Merry Edwards also sent along their flagship Meredith Estate Pinot bottling with its nasty heavy bottle. I hope the new owners, Maison Louis Roederer get rid of those bottles soon.
There aren’t a lot of very good rosé wines made in Napa Valley, mostly because people don’t want to pick their red grapes early enough to make what I consider to be a “proper” rosé. Instead, if they make them at all, most people simply bleed off a little juice from their red fermentations (known as saignée) as they are getting started and call it a day. If not done carefully, this can yield a bitter, angular wine without enough acidity. I’m not clear whether the rosé I tasted this week from Hoope’s Vineyard in Napa is made from a saignée or not, but if it was, winemaker Aaron Pott did it quite deftly, resulting in a very tasty pink wine, and one of the better Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated rosés I’ve had in a long while.
I’ve got a few Pinots to recommend to you this week, ranging from the super-lean, lots-of-stems version from Darling Wines that will appeal to those seeking lower-alcohol, high-acid, savory incarnations of Pinot Noir, to the richer, plusher version of the grape in the Covenant Landsman bottling from Carneros that, like all the winery’s products, is kosher for Passover. The single-vineyard Pinot Noir bottling from the Elton Vineyard by Lavinea sits somewhere in between these two wines, though it leans more to the cooler, zippier side of Pinot Noir.
Speaking of cool and zippy, I really enjoyed the rendition of Sangiovese I tried this week from Broc Cellars that tastes like it might have been partially carbonically macerated, so bright and boisterous is its fruit. It was clearly picked early with the intention of making a more fun and less ageworthy version of the grape, but the results are quite delicious.
While we’re still in the lower alcohol zone of cool-climate wines, Darling also sent along their Syrah from the same Sonoma Coast site as their Pinot Noir, and it’s a beautifully perfumed wine that has a nice balance between fruitier and stonier qualities.
To wrap up, I’ve got two more substantial red wines to recommend. The first is a Tannat-based red blend from Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley by Jump Mountain Winery. Despite calling it a more substantial wine, it’s actually quite modest in alcohol level, and the wood that has been used on it is pretty well integrated.
When it’s made well, Montelpulciano can be a real winner, as the 2019 Marina Cvetic Riserva from Masciarelli proves. Perfectly ripe but not over-ripe and nicely aged, this wine delivers dark juicy fruit that has this great citric kick to it that lasts for a very long time in the finish. It’s a wine with great poise and class.
Notes on all these below.
Tasting Notes
2022 Kellerei Kurtatsch Sauvignon Blanc, Südtirol-Alto Adige, Italy
Pale straw in color, this wine smells of green apples and gooseberries. In the mouth, wonderfully bright and juicy green apple, gooseberry, and kiwi flavors have an electric zippiness thanks to excellent acidity and a lovely silky texture. Fresh and tasty. 13.5% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $26. click to buy.
2022 Lavinea Chardonnay, Eola-Amity Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Palest greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon pith and wet pavement. In the mouth, lean flavors of lemon pith and grapefruit juice mix with a hint of dried herbs and wet chalkboard. Very good acidity. Crisp and clean with very little apparent oak influence. There’s a light grip in the finish. 12.8% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $40. click to buy.
2021 Merry Edwards “Olivet Lane” Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, Sonoma, California
Pale gold in the glass this wine smells of pineapple and lemon curd. In the mouth, pastry cream and pineapple have a bright juiciness thanks to very good acidity. Notes of lemon zest linger in the finish. A rich but not overpowering wine with well-integrated oak. 14.3% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $68. click to buy.
2021 Hoopes Family Vineyard Rosé, Napa Valley, Napa, California
A light baby pink in the glass, this wine smells of strawberries and cranberries. In the mouth, bright strawberry and watermelon flavors have a hint of fresh herbaceous quality to them and a silky texture. Decent acidity. A blend of the various red grapes on the estate: 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Malbec, 5% Petit Verdot, 5% Syrah, and 2% Merlot. 12.5% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $38. click to buy.
2021 Covenant Wines “Landsman” Pinot Noir, Carneros, Sonoma, California
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of sweet cherry fruit. In the mouth, sweetish cherry and herb notes have a nice silky texture. On the richer, riper side, with faint tannins that hang at the edge of perceptibility. Hints of herbs and black cherry in the finish. 14% alcohol. Kosher for Passover. Non-mevushal. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $45. click to buy.
2021 Merry Edwards “Meredith Estate” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, Sonoma, California
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of raspberry and black cherry. In the mouth, rich black cherry and black raspberry flavors are wrapped in fleecy tannins and shot through with a touch of dried herbs and earth. A richer and darker expression of Pinot Noir. Good acidity. 14.5% alcohol. Packaged in a nasty, heavy bottle weighing 1.62 kg when full. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $109. click to buy.
2021 Lavinea “Elton Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Light garnet in the glass, this wine smells of cherry, brown sugar, and a hint of mossy earth. In the mouth, juicy cherry and cranberry flavors are wrapped in a gauzy blanket of tannins that stiffen slightly as the wine finishes. Excellent acidity leaves orange peel notes in the finish along with herbs and berries. 13.5% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $75. click to buy.
2022 Broc Cellars “Fox Hill Vineyard” Sangiovese, Mendocino County, California
Light garnet in the glass, this wine smells of wonderfully floral bright cherry and strawberry fruit. In the mouth, crunchy acidity makes cherry and strawberry flavors bright and zingy, with a stony backdrop and faintly athletic tannins. Made in a glou-glou style, begging for a slight chill. Very tasty. 12.8% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $30. click to buy.
2022 Darling Wines “Den Chòsta” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Light ruby in the glass with garnet highlights, this wine smells of green herbs, raspberries, and wet earth. In the mouth, herbal and woody notes suggest a lot of whole cluster fermentation as earth and raspberry flavors are wrapped in lightly grippy tannins. Very lean, on the austere, stony side of Pinot Noir. 11.8% alcohol. 75 cases made. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $48. click to buy.
2022 Darling Wines “Den Chòsta” Syrah, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma, California
Dark garnet in the glass with purple highlights, this wine smells of flowers and ripe blackberries. In the mouth, blackberry and blueberry fruit flavors are wrapped in powdery, muscular tannins that stiffen as the wine moves across the palate. Excellent acidity and stony minerality run counterpoint to floral and fruity perfume. Very pretty. 12.7% alcohol. 175 cases made. Score: around 9. Cost: $48. click to buy.
2019 Jump Mountain Vineyard “Borderland” Red Blend, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of cherry, earth, and sawdust. In the mouth, flavors of cherry, licorice, sawdust, and herbs have a bright juiciness thanks to excellent acidity. Hints of orange peel linger in the finish along with notes of wood. A blend of 50% Tannat and 25% each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. 13.5% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $26.
2019 Masciarelli “Marina Cvetic – Riserva” Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Abruzzo, Italy
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of black cherry, blackcurrant, snuffed candle, and blackberries. In the mouth, powdery tannins wrap around a core of black cherry and blackberry fruit that is wonderfully juicy thanks to excellent acidity. The tannins coat the mouth and stiffen over time, as the wine finishes with licorice, dried herbs, and this fantastic orange peel flavor that just lasts for minutes in the mouth. Excellent.14.5% alcohol. Score: around 9. Cost: $27. click to buy.
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