I’m glad I followed this over two days, as it improved dramatically from day one to day two.
As I’m diving in to more OR wines these days, I realized I hadn’t enjoyed any Arterberry Pinot (even though I’ve had Maresh vineyard wines). 12.8ABV and totally sports they crunchy, lean profile while retaining balanced weight.
Pale ruby in the glass. Little bit of reduction on the nose which blew off quickly. Day one was extremely timid…faint underripe red and black fruits, cedar, herbal twang, and black tea aromatics. Day two showed this open up to reveal more dark floral notes. Stemmy/green on the palate but not overly so. Dried cranberry, black cherry skin, earth, bitter herbs. Definitely sports a Burgundian flair to it, and at this point needs either an extended decant or years to sleep. Nice bottle once it came around. — 3 years ago
Medium ruby , garnet rim, touch of terracotta rim . Slightly dusty , animal touch , with leather , spicy and herbal , soy , iodine . On the palate quite strict , grafite , slightly more red fruit , cranberry , then blackcurrant and grafite . Slightly dusty dry tannins , balanced acidity . Slightly spicy , mineral , grafite tinged finish . This needs a bit of time to open but shows quite well , slightly herbal , and perhaps lacks a little charm , but is quite classic in style if not a great 1985. From now and over the next 10 years . On the night this was probably only ahead of the 1977 , and my least favourite of the 1980s vintages . — 6 months ago
2019 | Pinot Noir
Enderle & Moll; Liaison
Rhine Valley; Baden, Germany
(92-93; drink 2024-29, 2H decant)
Paired to duck confit & green lentils, a favorite meal for cats and humans in our humble abode.
After a mere ~13 month wait after receiving into the cellar, we're finally pulling a cork today. This really wants another year to unfurl for my palate. All the hallmarks of this wine are here; ripe black cherry, tree moss, dehydrated strawberry, damp cedar, past season rose, orange zest, slight VA but unobtrusive, medium finish, dried cranberry.
A very special/unique vintage for Liaison based on this commentary from the winemakers:
"Unfortunately, we had quite heavy frost in some of our best red sandstone vineyards last year and additional problems with hail and high fungus pressure, which is the reason why we ultimately decided to only bottle our "Basis", the "Liaison" and our "Muschelkalk" (shell limestone) this year. The barrels from the other top vineyards ended up in our "Liaison", which is ultimately reflected in the quality of this years "Liaison"..."
With the best of luck, this situation will not be repeated; so 2019 drink happily knowing it's a blend of the best grapes. — 2 years ago
Chewy tannins. Inky. Black fruits. Dried black raspberry. Cooked cranberry. Touch of mint on finish. — a year ago
13% a classic. And a cult wine. E&M is unbeatable at this level@and price. Raspberries, cranberry, lime and herbs. Don’t let the color put you off. This is complex. Give it 30 min and you will be blown away. This is their most basic cuvée. At Anza Borrego in the desert camping. In Feb. — 3 years ago
Theress Bricker
Very smooth and easy drinking. With raspberry and cranberry, Clove and dark spices. — 4 months ago