Daniel Bloom

9.2

Fab nose! Waxy, Saline, Pears and limes, lemons.
On the palate , More Salinity, oiliness, ( fabulous texture), pears, green apples and limes.
A Dee-licious find. Refreshing as all get out. Crisp!
I fear these will disappear quickly.
With Randy. — 2 days ago

Daniel Bloom

I went through 2 btls.,one had fallen apart. The second was a tart-acid unbalanced lovers dream. Leave it to say this experience was not pleasant. — 10 days ago

Daniel Bloom

9.4

See previous notes.
Crazy one off. I’m still looking for more.
This time, took to friends for lunch with a mushroom frittata. Just PnP. Oh my. Waxy, as many old Viura’s can be, but with a very interesting mid palate ( all the while I’m trying to convey this to my luncheon friends,,who don’t care). This presence there tells you to slow down and roll it around. I can’t recall exactly fruit or other impressions this time. But…without doubt, it was perfect, unctuous, waxy, with enough acidity to balance. You might think you’re drinking something old fashioned and old. @cellartracker has been hard on this wine…beats me.
Look at my previous notes.
@Thanks @Rare Wine Co.
With Bonnie, Bill, Randy. — 21 days ago

Daniel Bloom

9.4

With “Patriot “ Oysters, perfect. Note the spent shells.
The nose brings a big, did I say big?! hit of weirdo dried orange, sea spray, boat lacquer, dry earth, clay. The entry is no joke, acetaldehyde/flor seeks out all those corners and says wake up. The residual long finish is almost tactile. If you hold it on your palate, you get a tease of orange-like fruit mingled with things like toffee, a verticality of acidity and things that challenge our ability to categorise. We might say the “savory “ is predominant. But then we go off towards very old impressions of wood, the sea, boats… and that sense of lacquer.what a strange environment to love.
With Randy
— a month ago

Daniel Bloom

9.3

At first open, this on the nose has a distinct caramel/barrel(botti?),odor that my wife also noted as unique. ( we’ll try to remember exactly) Then i plopped it out for 2 plus hours and with lots of air, this bloomed into a savory, brownish leaning with red underpinnings Barolo cousin. Lighter indeed, but many of the same fruit and secondary notes are there. The tannins are very gentle, and with a meal lighter in heavy proteins it fits well. We had Tortilla Espanola,,Sardines, cheeses, veggies.
There’s something almost brandyesque here…teasing at it but rewarding, especially on the nose that sense of rusty red coming up from below.
Motalli is always very interesting, I’d like more acidity, but that’s trifling.
With Randy.
Thanks, @fassselections — 3 days ago

Daniel Bloom

8.9

Nice summer quaff. Slight frizzante upon opening but dissipates quickly. Melons and green apples, some mineral lick. Sit with this a while in your glass, say after dinner while baseball is on and then it really fleshes out, peaches, stones, roundness but not fat or flabby .Nicely done for southern facing vineyards that across the Danube, the better north facing ones lie. — 11 days ago

Daniel Bloom

9.5

90% Albillo Mayor, 10% Viura, native yeasts, winery coopered both American and French oak. Only select years. Very, very tasty wine, esp. if you dig the older fashioned Rioja Blancos. 40 mins open, slight chill.
Nose of yeast and spice, changeling with sit and swirl. Waxy, mineral, slight citrus( yellow) palate that kept changing and felt at times vertical and with other sips broad and mouth filling. Never big. Really nice with fish and veggies on an 80°+ day alfresco.
I love the old ones from neighboring Rioja like LdH Blanco, but that’s gotten ridiculous in $. This one wasn’t cheap($60 I believe) but a treat. When I recover I may seek more out.
If you’re a label aesthetics freak like me, this one will push those buttons as well.
Thanks@chambersstreetwines.
With, Randy, Sarah, Mike. — a month ago

Daniel Bloom

9.2

They will say “ Burgundian”. An hour of air with a little chill, a nice nose of blood, forest, morello cherries, spices, everything knit together well. The palate , especially against Marcella Hazan’s Bolognese, gives really nice acid/tannin balance and then the fruit.
Or should I say the fruit and tertiary flavors, sense. Nice middling forest floor, cherries(dried), some leather. A lovely BdM. I wouldn’t say for very long holding, but delicious now and the next few years.
Thanks@chambersstreetwines
With Randy. — 9 days ago

Daniel Bloom

9.2

Black, Black, Red.
This wine has always been a go to.
At first it “ pretends “ to grip your inner cheeks, almost mimicking more tannins than it’s got. Especially in the upper palate, very mineral, a bit ferrous. Some Im my company say bloody. The nose is of crushed blackberries, graphite, earth.
But never heavy, as we’ve got Gamay here. As it sits in the glass, it takes on pinotesque qualities, texturally and less dense, more dark reds, some souis-bois.
With a Caramelized onion & Ricotta pizza, it cuts right through the sweetness and fat with bright acidity that asks for another sip. Now to find some Les Impenitents!
With Randy — 19 days ago

Daniel Bloom

9.1

Well, that was interesting. A half Hondarrabi Zuri/ half Hondarrabi Beltza,
Tinto & Blanco. Native yeasts, raised in neutral barrel. With a slight chill, open for 30-40 mins, alongside roasted Dourade and potatoes( homemade Romesco),started as a quite glugable Fluerie like vino. Mostly black fruited, easy tannins, crisp, not lengthy. Nice nose of black fruits, rocks/stones, souis-bois.
After a while out and glasses let sit, much more interesting. Granitic(?) depth, more brambly, demanding of more time in the nose and on the palate.
Quite rewarding.
Thanks@essenciawine.es.
From the recommendation of a wine shopkeeper in San Sebastián SP. April, ‘26.
With Randy, Sarah, Mike. — a month ago