Wines of November 2018

Another Month - a Few More Wines

I'll get right to it this month

2014 Ogier Dentellis Gigondas, France

APPELLATION    Gigondas

GRAPE VARIETIES

80% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 5% Mourvèdre

WINEMAKERS   Edouard Guerin

TASTING NOTES

Deep red cherry color. On the nose a bouquet of ripe red fruits with hints of leather and mild spices. The palate is complex with mineral characters. Full bodied with fresh aromas. Very elegant, silky and attractive tannins with a long finish on vanilla notes.

This was an excellent wine – bought on sale for around $15. The nose was bright and the flavors on the palate were well blended and smooth. Great example of the wines of this region – pick up some if you can.

2010 D’arenberg D’Arry’s original Shiraz Grenache McLaren Vale, Australia

91 POINTS           Wine Enthusiast               Editors’ Choice

A terrific value, this 50-50 blend displays gentle oaking and a hint of warm asphalt, just enough to highlight the wine's plum and black cherry fruit. It's full bodied and features a long finish, outlined by wonderfully fine, dusty tannins. Drink now–2018.

I bought the last two bottles of this from Matt, my wine guru. It is at a perfect drinking window – the tannins are mostly gone, but the full flavor remains, with good fruit and enough acid to make it do very well with food. Closed out at $10.

2013 Neil Ellis Cabernet Sauvignon, Stellenbosch, South Africa

(14% alcohol; aged for 18 months in new French oak):  Healthy red-ruby.  Lovely lift to the aromas of plum, raspberry and menthol complicated by spicy, cedary oak and floral notes.  Densely packed and ripe, with a very suave texture and distinctly high-pitched red fruit, mint and spice flavors.  Very firmly built, tight wine with a serious spine–but no hard edges–for aging.  Finishes with tongue-dusting tannins and lovely perfumed lift.  Classic, youthfully backward Cabernet with finesse, precision and a light touch but also serious structure.

This was an outstanding South African wine. Refined yet with bold flavors; opened up with our meal and was a good surprise. Should be priced around $24 – 28, very good wine that could age a few years.

2014 Chateau Bel Air Gloria, Haut-Medoc, Bordeaux, France

A generous wine, robust, balanced, with fruit intensity. Featured in the April 2017 edition of Decanter magazine in the tasting of Cru Bourgeois 2014 crop, which appears as highly recommended. According to the magazine, it is a wine with good tannic structure and lots of fruit, which will benefit from one more guard time.

I remember drinking this wine before they added the “Gloria” to indicate where it is located. It was the less expensive Bordeaux you could try and see what the vintage was like. Frankly, this did not hold up compared to other cabernet; it seemed a little “weak” and missed some on the middle of the palate. It was tannic, but it wasn’t seamless – dry yet making the finish a touch bitter. Priced around $25 – I probably wouldn’t recommend it.

2013 Leeuwin Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River, Australia

"Bright ruby. Smoke-accented cherry and raspberry on the nose, plus a hint of cedary oak in the background. Juicy and focused on the palate, showing very good lift to the bitter cherry and red berry flavors. Turns sweeter on the youthfully tannic finish, which hangs on with strong, spicy tenacity."

Josh Raynolds, Vinous, October 2017

A lifted, concentrated and layered nose, consisting of blackcurrants, red cherries and boysenberries. Fragrant violets, clove, anise, cassia bark and black cardamom suitably sit in the background. The palate is vibrant and tightly coiled with blackcurrant, cocoa and finely tuned oak. Subtle spice, underlying char and roasted coffee bean offer delicate complexity. Laced acidity with silky ripe tannins provides both length and balance.

Surprising how good this Aussie Cabernet tastes! Very New World, but not over the top like some Shiraz tends to be from here. Lovely nose with typical Cabernet flavors – dark red fruits and spices. Tannins were smooth yet present; acidity was good to match our meal. Priced around $25, a real good buy. This label makes a more expensive wine, but this would be hard to beat at that price.

2014 Star Lane Cabernet Sauvignon, Happy Canyon, California

94 POINTS           Cellar Selection                 Wine Enthusiast

This vintage is the first that was under complete control of winemaker Tyler Thomas, and his studious touch shows magically. There's a powerful density of ripe but not sweet black fruit on the nose of this bottling, along with hints of violets, turned earth and leather. The structure is firm, dense and chalky but with a vivid acidity, offering ethereal, supple flavors of black currant and cocoa on the finish. Drink 2018–2034.

95 points Vinous

 The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Star Lane Vineyard is bold, pungent and bursting with fruit. Deep and unctuous in texture, but with considerable aromatic lift, the 2014 offers a terrific expression of Happy Canyon. Black cherry, blackberry, grilled herbs, menthol, sage and licorice infuse the rich, inviting finish. (AG) 95+

These folks also own the Hermanoff Winery in Missouri.  A very well made Cabernet – it had power, tannins and acidity, but not quite a Napa Cabernet. Less dark red fruit and more perfumed and a touch of earthiness. None of this made it bad, instead it was surprising how well it went with the meal and after setting and opening up, it drank on its own. Finish was modest, but drinking very well at this time. Could age a number of years. Nice wine – priced around $40 – 45, OK for a minor splurge.

2014 Ondarre Rioja Reserva Rioja, Spain

85% Tempranillo, 5% Mazuelo, 10% Graciano

Tasting notes:  A first-rate example with a bevy of fleshy red fruit flavours of strawberry, cherry, and plum accompanied by spice, a lovely lick of vanilla-peppery oak, and exemplary tannins, which are sufficient for extended cellaring. A benchmark example - fine, supple and harmonious. An excellent wine for gastronomy.

Another bargain from Spain – this wine has excellent balance to drink with food, or on its own.  The fruit is good with a full mouth of the dark red fruits and spices. The finish has smooth tannins and lingers nicely. I think it was only $15 – under $20 for sure. Great bottle to have on hand for any occasion.

2009 Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon Yountville Selection, Napa Valley, California

This ambitious effort stars flavors so ripe and fantastic, they defy description. The wine, with a few drops of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, explodes in blackberries, black cherries, currants, mocha, sweet licorice, plum and new oak flavors. The tannins are magnificent, the oak integration beautiful. The chief criticism is that the alcohol level is high, and gives the wine a burn of heat.

Full-bodied and well balanced, this Cabernet Sauvignon is packed with black cherries, cassis and mocha with a whiff of cardamom. Its supple and smooth mouthfeel lingers with a long, elegant finish. Having the patience to cellar this wine will reward you in the glass years from now. Serve with simply roasted meat dishes or all by itself to fully enjoy the wine’s complex flavors.

Don’t ask the price – my brother got half bottles of this and sent me one for Thanksgiving. The wine was excellent – in a good drinking window. The tannins were smooth; the mouthfeel was very elegant and the finish was lingering. Wonderful bottle of Cabernet from Napa.

2016 Patterson Cellars Alder Ridge Syrah, Washington

Produced using classic Côte-Rôtie techniques, this single vineyard Syrah was co-fermented

with 2% Viognier yielding a Syrah that is both darker in color and lighter on the tongue.

Dark, saturated purple with a nose that opens with intense blackberries, vanilla bean, cedar,

cloves and orange rind. Look for notes of caramel as it sits in the glass. Big flavors of

dark berries fill the mouth, while the Viognier adds just a bit of “lift”, preventing the overall

flavor profile from becoming too heavy. Silky, plush tannins give way to lingering fruits and

a hint of cocoa nibs on the finish.

98% Syrah, 2% Viognier

Another gift from Tony – this is a special offer from Patterson. The color is excellent, and the wine is an example of a great Syrah – styled like great Northern Rhone wines. Wonderful flavors meld into the palate, the finish is medium but very pleasant. This is a great example of what Washington can produce with the Syrah grape.

Another Month and the Holidays are almost here. Keep popping those corks and I’ll meet you out behind the grapevine. Peace.