Wines of March 2023

March, as usual, had its ups and downs with the weather. Hot times and snow, couldn't quite make up it's mind. But we "Marched" right on through it. Let's get to the wines.

NV Bookwalter Notebook Red Blend, Columbia Valley, WA #16

NV Bookwalter Notebook Red Blend, Columbia Valley, WA #16

Another delicious, best buy from Bookwalter. This 16NV Notebook Red is a blend of 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Syrah, 22% Malbec, and Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. It leads with fruit forwardness, smooth and juicy with well-structured tannins. Vibrant ruby and translucent red in color, this wine gives off aromas and flavors of cherry, plum, spice, and soft vanilla and finishes with a touch of savory notes.

This was not as good as I remember the other blends. It seemed to be a bit hollow on the middle palate. Not bad, mind you, but not great. Priced around$ 15 (or down to$ 12 online), I can’t give it a high recommendation.

2018 Enrique Foster IQUE Cabernet Franc, Mendoza, Arg

2018 Enrique Foster IQUE Cabernet Franc, Mendoza, Arg

Intense purplish red. Spiced, reminiscent of fresh cherry with a subtle touch of oak. Young and very fruity with balanced acidity.

Ideal wine to accompany seasoned poultry, veal or fish, red meat and food with creamy and dairy sauces. Excellent with chocolate.

JS91James Suckling

Fleshy, ripe red and dark plums pervade the palate with fresh and balanced style. Delicious.

This is a very good Cab Franc –nice flavors of red and black fruits with a hint of Cab franc style that is common to the grape.  A bottle for about $12, this is one well worth finding and drinking.

2018 Three Petite Sirah, Contra Costa, CA

Three Wine Company is a family winery with a strong focus on sustainable viticulture and hands-on winemaking, helmed by winemaker Matt Cline. This petite sirah comes from a vineyard of 100+ year old vines in Contra Costa county, planted by Portuguese and Italian immigrants. Rustic and robust, it yields big flavors of fig, prune, and blackcurrant, with cozy notes of leather, cocoa nibs, baking spice, and licorice. Dense and spicy, this is a brisket-and-blanket kind of wine!

I have met the winemaker and he really does great work. This wine is a powerful Petite Sirah, but is more than just a fruit bomb. Great dark fruit flavor with dark notes. Really good – priced at $20. Buy several, this would be good in another year or two.

2020 Ver Sacrum Geisha Dragon del Desierts, Uco Valley, Arg

This is a co-fermented blend of mostly Viognier with Marsanne and Criolla Blanca. About 10% of the blend is matured in oak under a veil of flor. The nose shows fresh cut white flowers with lemon, dried apricot, and a touch of fresh baked bread. The palate is crisp with white peach, wax bean, and hints of almond paste from the inside of a croissant. Delicious.

Blend: 70% Viogner, 20% Marsanne, 10% Pedro Ximenez

RP90Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The new white 2020 Geisha Dragon del Desierto was produced with 70% Viognier, 20% Marsanne and 10% Pedro Ximenez from Los Chacayes that fermented together after a cold soak of two days with indigenous yeasts in 5,000-liter concrete eggs. Like the 50/50 blend of Roussanne and Marsanne, this also saw 10% of the volume matured in oak casks for eight months under a veil of flor yeasts, while the rest was kept in concrete. This is still young and fruit-driven with some spice and a restrained character, balanced and dry, not exotic or showy. It finishes dry.

A dry white, unique in many ways. Not flinty but with some restrained  sharp edges, it is crisp with the almond and bready hints. Priced at $15, this is a great spring wine.

2021 Planet Oregon Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon

Classic Oregon Pinot Noir with flavors of ripe dark cherries and Oregon bramble berries. While lithe and versatile, this wine shows a deep core of fruit and has an ample body with substantial richness for a young wine. Firm tannins and notes of spice add to the lingering finish.

JD92Jeb Dunnuck

The 2021 Pinot Noir Planet Oregon is ripe with sweet aromatics of raspberry liqueur, moss-covered earth, and sweet herbs. The palate is generous and fresh with purple flowers, boysenberry, and cedar.

JS91James Suckling

A fresh, juicy wine with dark strawberry and lemon rind, as well as stone. Medium-bodied with firm, integrated tannins and fresh acidity. Nicely balanced. $1 goes to the Oregon environmental council.

From Anthony Soter, a great drinking Pinot from Oregon.  Nice red fruits with a good body and fresh acidity to make it a good food match.  Well balanced with a modest aftertaste – really good Pinot.  Priced at $20, well worth the money.

2021 Scarpetta Cabernet Franc, Friuli, Italy

Cabernet Franc came to Friuli-Venezia Giulia about the time of Napoleon — so it has been there with Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc for hundreds of years. In the right zones like the Colli Orientali, Cabernet Franc has a chance to be wonderfully herbaceous, have delicate tannins and to be an incredibly complex red wine.

This was not a great Cabernet Franc – lighter and less vibrant than one I listed earlier. A bit more herbs in it, less red fruits. Needed food to bring out more flavors, but overall not impressive. Priced at $20, I can’t say I would seek it out. The pig on the label is funny looking, though.

2017 Prieure de Cenac Malbec, Cahors, France

100% Malbec this wine comes from a selection of parcels on the plateau above the Lot river in Cahors. It's rich and firm, with great wood and spice notes as well as exuberant black plum and berry fruit. With its acidity, still-young tannins and firm texture, it will age well. Best served with a grilled duck, juicy steak with mashed potatoes with truffle oil, truffle risotto and a dark fudge chocolate cake.

This French Malbec had dark fruits and hints of leather. Still had tannins, making it a tad drying. Modest aftertaste, all in all, not a bad bottle. Much tamer than most Argentina Malbecs. Priced around $20, nice to have to compare to South America.

2019 Koehler-Rupert Pinot Noir, Pfalz, Germany

James Suckling

A light and fruity pinot noir that does what we expect a Bourgogne rouge to do, that is delight with bright cherry fruit that is married to a supple body and lively but not tart acidity. With a little aeration, nice, rooty complexity develops and some healthy tannin shows its hand. Moderate length, but very good harmony at the finish.

You will never mistake this for a California Pinot –  more earthy, lightly tannic with hints of black cherry. Not a bad bottle, but only for folks that want European Pinot for about $30. BTW, normally, this is called Spatburgunder in Germany.

Time continues to fly past - hope you are doing well. Until next month, keep popping those corks and I'll meet you out behind the grapevines.