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 one of the wine world’s most consistent values, the Soave Classico from Pieropan, which is perhaps one of the best $20 white wines anywhere in the world, in my opinion. Raised on the volcanic soils of the Soave region, it has fruit, it has minerality, and it’s crisp and delicious.
You could say the same thing of Enfield Wine Company‘s Watson Ranch Chardonnay, which is a perfect bottle to give anyone who thinks they don’t like Napa Chardonnay. Of course most Chards in Napa aren’t picked for 12.7% alcohol, and therefore don’t have the nervy, saline, tastiness that this one does.
When was the last time you had Cabernet Sauvignon from the far western Sonoma Coast? That’s right. You never have. Want to blow your mind (and maybe have some scary thoughts about global warming)? Try Enfield’s Waterhorse Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon. Better yet, put it in a blind lineup with some Pomerol and see where your Bordeaux-loving friends end up. It’s remarkable, and will likely age beautifully.
Speaking of remarkable Cabernet Sauvignon, I’ve recently written about the glories of Cathy Corison’s Kronos Vineyard Cabernet, but she also makes several other bottlings, and this week I opened her 2021 Sunbasket Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, which is, predictably gorgeous. If you’re in the market for slightly spendy, ageworthy Napa Cab, this is one for you to check out.
The Italians sent me some wines this week as well, all of which suffer from heavy bottle syndrome in varying degrees, but all of which are worth drinking. The Masseria Li Veli Primitivo from Puglia has a typical Zinfandel character and a good dose of new oak. The Aia Vecchia Bordeaux-style blend from Bolgheri is a bit more refined and ageworthy, with very nice notes of dried herbs. And the La Valentina Bellovedere offers a nice berry and leather character that turns earthy in the best way.
We’ll finish this week with three selections from the folks at Yalumba in Australia’s Barossa Valley. Their Octavius Shiraz is their flagship old-vine bottling, and it’s good if you’re a lover of Australian Shiraz, but I find myself gravitating towards the cooler tones of their Cabernet blends, including the beautiful aged tones of their library release (which they call “Museum Release”) wine the Signature Cabernet-Shiraz. For fresher tones, you can’t beat their Menzies Cabernet from Coonawarra, which has just a hint of that mintiness that some (myself included) love from Australian Cabernet.
Notes on all these below.
Tasting Notes
2023 Pieropan Soave Classico, Veneto, Italy
Light greenish gold in the glass, this wine smells of struck match, green apple, lime zest, and guava. Bright guava and green apple flavors are juicy and faintly saline, with a nice silky texture and a hint of wet chalkboard minerality. Excellent acidity. 100% Garganega. 12% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $20. click to buy.
2022 Enfield Wine Co. “Watson Ranch” Chardonnay, Napa Valley, Napa, California
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of lemon pith and lemon zest. Lean and stony flavors of lemon peel, white flowers, wet chalkboard, and a hint of orange blossom are crisp and bright thanks to excellent acidity. 12.7% alcohol. 135 cases made. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $50. click to buy.
2022 Enfield Wine Co. “Waterhorse Ridge” Cabernet Sauvignon, Fort Ross-Seaview, Sonoma, California
Dark garnet in the glass with purple highlights, this wine smells of black cherry, blackcurrant, and flowers. Surprisingly floral, with blackcurrant, black cherry, violet, and plum flavors. A tangy plum skin brightness melds nicely with flavors of oak. Very fine tannins hang gauzily in the mouth, as brilliant acidity keeps things fresh and juicy. There’s something still quite primary about this wine, to the point that it feels like a younger vintage. Give it a couple of years more in the bottle and watch it soar. 13.9% alcohol. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $55. click to buy.
2021 Corison Winery “Sunbasket Vineyard” Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Helena, Napa, California
Very dark garnet in the glass with purple highlights, this wine smells of black cherry, black plum, licorice, and a hint of flowers. The wine has a gorgeous seamlessness on the palate, as dark cherry, blackcurrant, and licorice flavors are wrapped in a fleecy blanket of tannins that sits weightless on the palate. Beautifully integrated notes of oak (mostly scents of vanilla) hang above the fruit, as a faint graphite note lingers below. Fantastic acidity and a sort of coiled-spring sense of power. Lovely. 14% alcohol. Score: around 9.5. Cost: $225. click to buy.
2020 Masseria Li Veli “MLV” Primitivo, Salento, Puglia, Italy
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of blackberries, dried herbs, and licorice root. Muscular tannins coat the mouth and put the squeeze on flavors of blackberry, licorice root, dried herbs, and dried flowers. Decent acidity keeps things fresh, but the tannins are quite thick and slightly drying. 15% alcohol. Comes in an offensively heavy bottle weighing 1.79 kg when full. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $66. click to buy.
2021 Aia Vecchia “Sor Ugo” Red Blend, Bolgheri Superiore, Tuscany, Italy
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of cherry, crushed and roasted nuts, and fennel seeds. Notes of crushed dried fennel and dried herbs pervade bright cherry and plum flavors wrapped in a lightly fleecy blanket of tannins. Excellent acidity keeps everything bright, fresh, and juicy as notes of dried fennel, dried orange peel, and herbs linger in the finish. A blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, and 7% Petit Verdot aged for 18 months in 50% new oak. 15% alcohol. Comes in an overly heavy bottle weighing 1.51 kg when full. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $43. click to buy.
2019 Fattoria La Valentina “Bellovedere” Terre dei Vestini Riserva, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Abruzzo, Italy
Dark garnet in color with ruby highlights, this wine smells of smoked meat, cherry, and strawberries. Juicy acidity makes flavors of cherry, strawberry, and leather quite bright and mouthwatering as notes of dried herbs, orange peel, and dusty earth linger in the finish. Quite fresh on the palate, with thick fleecy tannins that flex their muscles over time. 14.5% alcohol. Comes in a nasty heavy bottle weighing 1.68 kg when full. Score: around 9. Cost: $66. click to buy.
2019 Yalumba “The Octavius” Shiraz, Barossa, South Australia, Australia
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of black cherry, blackberry, and oak. Black cherry and blackberry mix with cocoa powder, saline black olive, and licorice as fleecy tannins coat the mouth. Very good acidity keeps things from feeling too heavy on the palate. An earthy note lingers in the finish. Aged for 19 months in 100-liter “octaves.” 14.5% alcohol. Comes in an overly heavy bottle, weighing 1.52 kg when full. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $130. click to buy.
2012 Yalumba “Signature – Museum Collection Limited Release” Red Blend, Barossa, South Australia, Australia
Dark ruby in the glass with some coffee highlights, this wine smells of wet earth, dried flowers, and forest floor. Gorgeously bright flavors of red apple skin, dried cherries, flowers, and herbs have a juicy zing thanks to excellent acidity. Powdery, dusty tannins coat the mouth and settle on the palate like flannel as notes of citrus peel, potpourri, and forest floor linger in the finish. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, aged for 22 months in a combination of Hungarian and American oak barrels. 13.5% alcohol. Comes in an overly heavy bottle weighing 1.52 kg when full. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $55. click to buy.
2019 Yalumba “The Menzies” Cabernet Sauvignon, Coonawarra, South Australia, Australia
Very dark garnet in color, this wine smells of minty forest floor and black cherry. Chopped green herbs, including mint, mix with cherry and black cherry fruit with a hint of cola nut. Juicy bright acidity keeps things feeling very fresh, accentuated by that scent of mint. Faint fleecy tannins offer some nice texture and stay supple throughout. Long finish. Vines planted in 1985. Aged for 18 months in a combination of French and Hungarian oak. 14% alcohol. Comes in an overly heavy bottle, weighing 1.52 kg when full. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $61. click to buy.
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