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. — 5 days ago

Daniel Bloom

9.0

On a really hot day, full of Canadian smoke( Export A’s, anyone), thunderstorms and possible tornadoes, this vino zaps you into focus. Strawberries and vaguely Italian like Cherries on the nose mingled with earth, feet, and some umami on the palate. At first, the acidity is bracing. But with food a unified whole emerges.Perfect with Bacon & Lemon roasted Trout.Cuts right through the fats without overpowering your buds. Very glou glou at 11.5°.Raise a glass to Portugal!
With Randy.
Thanks @chambersstreetwiseInes. — 12 days ago

Daniel Bloom

9.5

A hot day and Cambodian modern at@Mawn restaurant, so natch. Not the greatest glasses but serviceable enough.
Mouth filling orchard fruit with a decidedly underripe peach quality, white flowers and a refreshing peppery, stony wash of a finish. This was an accompaniment wine, no studying, swishing ( well, a bit), or developing in the glass. Got along perfectly with roasted Dorade, Sweet/Sour/Chili Head on Soft Shell Shrimp, begging for another glug.Texturally interesting as the entry was round, flattened out and finished with a snap. Our waitress was very curious and highly approved of her portion. No rough edges here. Happiness all around.
@fassselections
With Randy — 20 days ago

Daniel Bloom

9.3

Barbadillo tried to make a direct from the boot/butt/barrel unfiltered organic manzanilla. This is it , 3500 btls. Drink ‘em young. Delicious, as if your head were in a yeast covered barrel. All from Albariza soils which are chalky white. I’m guessing there may be some relationship between these and the soils under Chablis.
This smells like this weird combo of chalk, lime peels,seawater, yeast and old wood. I could smell it for ages.
The entry is gentle , broad and mouthfilling, giving seashore, something ancient that’s unquantifiable, and lots of yeasty goodness as if one’s head were stuck into a butt. Amazing stuff. Sherry freaks rejoice.
With Randy. — a month 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. — 5 days ago

Daniel Bloom

9.2

Sea water, brackishness , there’s this interesting quality of toffee that teases because your mind-bud relationship waits for sweet…and there is none. Smelling this evokes boats, docks, shells, an amazing transportive sensory adventure that recalls something way beyond us…as in older. How one tiny place, Sanlucar de Barrameda can provide this is still mind boggling.
In the mouth it’s very saline, crisp, refreshing,but lingers on the palate, as if it’s waiting for something fatty & salty to wipe clean. With Sherry, it’s like Ken Kesey said”, you’re either on the bus or off the bus”.
With Randy — 11 days ago

Daniel Bloom

9.4

By far my favorite Valpolicella. See previous reviews. The downside is it used to be affordable easy. Now it’s close to $60 a btl.
Earth, smoke, forest,Black tea,tarry yet light ( ish). As far as i remember, made from leased vines 500 M above lake Garda.At least the first vintage. Aged in 2nd pass Amarone Botti.All in all, a highly idiosyncratic winemaker with some hits across the board and a meh here and there. I return to this particular wine however to fill my Valpolicella jones.
With Randy. — 17 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
— 7 days ago

Daniel Bloom

9.2

Upon opening and initial pour, this is severe in its dryness and austerity. Brings to mind ( well, my warped mind), very pale tanned blonde leather upholstery,Saddle leather.,Baguettes. With the sea and salt marsh hanging back. Let it sit and air for a bit while I prepared chicken breasts salmoriglio with lots of lemon, come back and it sings with matching acidity and on the finish, an interesting broad dried orange peel that is perfectly there. On day two, the dried orange peel comes to the nose, and a sweet, malty character makes itself known in the mid palate.
A weirdo let’s make Manzanilla with no fortification by Navazos and Niepoort. Rewards aging. Definitely a “table wine” for Sherry freaks. I count myself as one.
With Randy
Thanks @winesolutions — 11 days ago

Daniel Bloom

9.2

This is one interesting beastie. From way up north…St. Moritz not so far away. All, as I understand it, done by one Renato Motalli. 80 years of age now, no one to pass the winery on to. So…get ‘em while you may.
I aired this for 3 hrs then decanted for 90 mins…this may not have been enough, as with air the complexity keeps evolving.
On the nose, there is an aged Barolo kind of pressed, half dried Cherry mixed with damp woods kind of thing. Evolving into sweet tobacco and kirsch. At first, this wine presents much more Burgundian than northern Italian. But with time and air, a northern Italian identity comes to the fore. Chestnut Botti, huh? There’s no vanilla or wood tannin, but the man has found a way to create a living, changing wine. With a thrown together ragú , tomato, beef, blanched bacon, and lots of mushrooms it coats the palate and begs for more.
As time goes on post dinner, it’s more intriguing, soft but sharp as well.
Glad to have some more to experiment with and see if prolonged time makes a difference.
Very interesting.
@Coturier
With Randy
— 21 days ago