It’s that hustle and bustle time of the year.\u00a0 People are busy and don’t necessarily have the time to read long, involved pieces on wines.\u00a0 We get it. But we also don’t want you to miss out on anything.\u00a0 So here are some quick notes on a number of different things that we haven’t had the opportunity to explore in depth with the understanding that there might be something more extensive on some of these later on…<\/p>\n
**<\/strong>Chardonnay fans might want to take a quick look at some of the key reloads we got back in.\u00a0 We sold out the De Wetshof Chardonnay Lesca 2017<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 on our email at the beginning of December.\u00a0 The argument is pretty compelling here.\u00a0 This one, raised in rare limestone soils, is the only under $25 Chardonnay to get a 93 point score from Wine Spectator<\/strong>.\u00a0 Bright, driven, full of energy, South Africa can make exceptional Chardonnay and this one is a consistent bargain for the genre.<\/p>\n **<\/strong>Nobody is creating more drama for Chardonnay than Charles Smith (also of K Vintners and Wines of Substance).\u00a0 His Sixto<\/strong> wines, all the result of finding some mature gem vineyards that were off the radar, are racking up big reviews.\u00a0 We took serious hits to the\u00a0Sixto Wines Chardonnay Frenchman Hills Vineyard 2015<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Sixto Wines Chardonnay Moxee Vineyard 2015<\/strong><\/a>, and Sixto Wines Chardonnay Roza Hills 2015<\/strong><\/a> but were able to scrounge up a little more juice.\u00a0 Given the premium quality and level of performance, the prices are quite attractive as well.\u00a0 If you missed them before, here’s a reprieve.\u00a0 If you haven’t tried them yet, it’s high time you did!<\/p>\n **<\/strong>We didn’t have the time, or the stock, to do a big offer on this breakthrough wine, but Lavinea<\/strong> is an important name to know.\u00a0 Isabelle Meunier<\/strong> has worked at prestigious addresses such as Domaine de la Vougeraie in Burgundy and Felton Road in New Zealand, and is now committed to elevating the stature of Oregon Chardonnay on the world stage.\u00a0 With a total production of 231 cases, the impact of their\u00a0Lavinea Chardonnay Lazy River Vineyard 2015<\/a> on the broad market will obviously be limited, but it will make quite an impression on those fortunate enough to latch onto some.\u00a0 It’s a James Suckling 93 and an ‘enthusiastic’ 97 from Wine Enthusiast<\/strong>.<\/p>\n **Yeah we know we said we were done buying Champagne for the season.\u00a0 But when we had a chance to re-taste the Paul Dethune Grand Cru Brut<\/a><\/strong>, a favorite from years past, we had to squeeze in one more.\u00a0 Just…too…good. Featuring 70% Pinot Noir from Ambonnay (Pinot Noir country), and 30% Chardonnay, it has the broad, mouthfilling, authoritative palate that reminds us of another favorite, Billiot, but with a bit finer, yeastier impression on the edges.\u00a0 Exciting, engaging bubbles as always.<\/p>\n **<\/strong>We have seen very few examples from this respected vineyard over the years, but what we have seen has been impressive (St. Urbans Hof examples come to mind). The Carl Loewen Riesling Laurentiuslay Spatlese 2017<\/strong> <\/a>is a great, old-school, kick- your- tail spatlese, packed with dense fruit and stones. The grapes come from 80-100 year old ungrafted vines.<\/em><\/strong> Nothing else can make a wine like this but really old vines. Importer Terry Theise\u2019s take, \u201cIn essence this is weighty, extravagant fruit anchored to profound and almost chewy earthiness. like a cr\u00e8me-brul\u00e9e of Laurentiuslay, earth, apricots and butterscotch.\u201d JamesSuckling.com\u2019s call, \u201cA breathtaking Sp\u00e4tlese! Succulent and vibrant with a bright acidity, carrying the long and super clean finish. Better from 2020, but it shows enormous aging potential…96 points.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 A spectacular traditional sp\u00e4tlese.<\/p>\n **Bodegas Riojanas<\/strong> is a grand old label that ages gracefully like a fine Burgundy, and we have had some stellar experiences with bottles dating back to the ’50s and ’60s.\u00a0 This year slipped by before we got the chance to talk these up, but long time followers know we have sold past examples of their Monte Real<\/em> series and drank many bottles ourselves with gusto.\u00a0 They never disappoint, always delivering seamless, elegant, supple and complex fruit supported by slightly dusty, ripe tannins.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Monte Real Gran Reserva 1998<\/a>, now age 20, shows the more earthy, complex, aromatic side of Rioja while the more direct\u00a0Bodegas Riojanas Rioja Monte Real Gran Reserva 2004<\/a>\u00a0has a plumper middle thanks to the riper fruit from the vintage.\u00a0 If you came in and asked us for something to impress that you could take home and enjoy tonight, there’s a good chance we would hand you one of these.\u00a0 Once again, nothing delivers value like Rioja.<\/p>\n **<\/strong>With the remarkable parade this year of great wine\u00a0 from the Southern Rhone’s 2016 vintage, it was simply a matter of so many great wines and a finite amount of opportunities.\u00a0 It was a given that we wouldn’t be able to get to everything.\u00a0 The\u00a0Mordoree Chateauneuf du Pape La Dame Voyageuse 2016<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>is billed as something of a ‘second wine’ and a more approachable version of their flagship Reine de Bois Chateauneuf.<\/p>\n This is only the third version that we know of but it is the best Voyageuse of the series.\u00a0 It didn’t finish far behind its vaunted sibling in the reviews and higher than a lot of other top Chateauneufs, and you can get the better part of two bottles of this for the price of one of the Reine de Bois.\u00a0 Jeb Dunnuck 95, Advocate 94<\/strong>, this is a big, lush, lusty mouthful of 90% Grenache with bits of Syrah, Mourvedre, Counoise, and Vaccarese, all lifted and tempered by this one-of-a-kind vintage.\u00a0 Very user-friendly, seriously good.<\/p>\n **<\/strong>There’s a bit of history here that can be confusing.\u00a0 Briefly, Pax was a hot label a few years back and the recipient of numerous impressive kudos, followed by a period where there were some internal issues and Pax, the label, was ‘Pax free’, whereby winemaker Pax Mahle founded the Wind Gap label.\u00a0 Long story short, Pax is back at Pax, and doing some fine work.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Pax Cellars Syrah Sonoma Hillsides 2017 <\/strong><\/a>to us marks a new level of sophistication in the house style.\u00a0 We recall a lot of those early Pax Syrah hits to be firmly planted in the power camp which was definitely the style of the moment.\u00a0 But while the ‘Hillsides’ doesn’t lack punch, it stops short of being over done, shows a more focused and controlled rein on the fruit, and teases with whiffs of meat, smoke, and maybe even a little bacon.<\/p>\n By the winery’s own admission, this wine is the assemblage of juice from various higher, cooler sites made with a direct eye to the northern Rhone.\u00a0 This is something that most of the acknowledged Rhone Ranger superstars have yet to do.\u00a0 Syrah is still something of a work in progress in California, but this reaches a high level with a clear stylistic objective.\u00a0 Bravo.<\/p>\n It’s that hustle and bustle time of the year.\u00a0 People are busy and don’t necessarily have the time to read long, involved pieces on wines.\u00a0 We get it. But we also don’t want you to miss out on anything.\u00a0 So here are some quick notes on a number of different things that we haven’t had … Continue reading “BRIEFS****”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[38],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3001"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3001"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3053,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3001\/revisions\/3053"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winex.com\/stockreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}