La Cantina
Bodegas Faustino
Gran Reserva Faustino I Rioja Tempranillo Blend 2016
La Rioja Alta
Viña Alberdi Reserva Rioja Tempranillo 2021
Nice with manchego. True Rioja — 15 days ago
Nicolas Joly
Clos de la Coulée de Serrant Savennières Chenin Blanc 2019
Let’s talk about SAVENNIÈRES!!!! 📣📣
Savennières is a small but mighty appellation (AOC), located in the Anjou subregion of the Loire Valley, France and specializes in still, dry Chenin Blanc wines. 🇫🇷
Its growing environment is apt for producing concentrated and ripe fruit, translating into wines with strong aromatic and flavor intensity and higher alcohol potential. 💪🏻 It’s no wonder this appellation is all about Chenin Blanc; Chenin has naturally higher acidity, which can help lend structure and balance to the final wine. ⚖️ 🙌🏻🙌🏻
The combination of these factors sets the stage for winemakers to produce some truly powerful and age-worthy whites that can improve, gaining complexity (and softening) with some time in the bottle. 🤔 🧐 Savennières has a reputation as a more serious, cerebral wine that is meant to be savored, especially when paired with a creamy seafood dish like Coquilles Saint-Jacques! 😋 🥘
🌿This particular wine is the Nicolas Joly, Clos de la Coulée de Serrant AOC (2019) hailing from the prized enclave of Coulée de Serrant AOC (within Savennières AOC), owned exclusively and farmed biodynamically by the renowned Nicolas Joly.
This wine is surely capable of aging for decades but tonight we opted to sip this golden wine during the golden hour with unseasonably warm, summery temperatures here in Minnesota.
🐝 🍯 In the glass, we found concentrated, layered notes of honey, beeswax, yellow apple, ripe apricot, quince, chamomile, dried & crushed white rose petals, toasted almond, hazelnut, cinnamon stick, nutmeg, acrylic paint, wet stones, salted caramel, & butterscotch.
It has texture (and finish) for days and a coating mouthfeel.
🫣 Its alcohol by volume clocks in at 15%!!! But it’s well-integrated and balanced by a crisp acidity and robust aromas and flavors. 👌 — 20 days ago
Paul Jaboulet Aîné
La Chapelle Hermitage Syrah
2016 - Vintage - red rim but still very youthful , boysenberry fruit , savory, cured meats, Stoney , medium to medium plus acidity very balanced - epitomized Hermitage — a month ago
La Rioja Alta
Gran Reserva 904 Rioja Tempranillo Graciano 2015
Quintessential Rioja. Rounded ard the edges. Tertiary notes are out to play — 16 days ago
Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe
La Crau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend 1998
@Doug Powers as promised . Dry leaves and plums on the nose. In the mouth spices, cherry , earth and good acid . Certainly the magnum format kept this alive. However for me it had not become complex and had a very clipped finish. — 16 hours ago
R. López de Heredia
Viña Cubillo Crianza Rioja Tempranillo Blend 2017
R. Lopez de Heredia, Viña Cubillo, Rioja Crianza 2017
This is one of the many bottles we brought back in the trunk of our car from Spain and France after our summer stay over there. The nose shows dark berries, prune, meat juice, autumn forest soil after rain, oak. This is rather complex and layered. The palate is very well made and defined. There is a good acid drive, some nice dark berries and dark cherry notes all along, some width, some spices, a good tannic wall in the rear, disturbing ever so slighlty the mouthfeel by leaving a grippy, drying layer over a long, fruity, spicy finish which goes on for quite a while. The meat juice note that was showing in the nose makes a come back in the very end, adding a savoury, umami touch which is pretty nice, I must say. It's not at the level of the viña tondonia 2011 I tasted a while ago (and it costs only a fraction of the price) but it's very good Rioja Crianza in its own right. Not in-your-face, fresh and balanced winemaking style. Great effort !
90 out of 100 — a month ago
Cantina Bartolo Mascarello
Barolo Nebbiolo 1970
this is very light… Almost rosé colored with a hint of Amber. On the nose, classic Nebiolo, lifted, pure and bright. This is fully mature and pretty light bodied… A touch shrill on the finish. Cherry, dried flowers, and a hint of a tang. Decent, but it’s probably saying better days. — 16 days ago
R. López de Heredia
Viña Bosconia Reserva Rioja Tempranillo Blend 2014
Splash decanted and enjoyed over the course of a couple hours. The 2014 “Viña Bosconia” pours a deep garnet/purple with a near opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with notes of Montmorency cherry, dill, toasted coconut, tobacco, leather and dry earth. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long and elegant. Delicious already in its relative youth and there’s a long, bright future ahead. Drink now with patience through 2044. — 2 months ago
Jakub Kalinowski
You just got to love these! Oxidative, nutty, waxy. And yet, with incredible freshness and precision.
Bruised apples, pears, a touch of citrus peal, nutty notes. So complex, so distinctive.
On the palate this is just so fresh, juicy, pure, with some fruity notes but also with this vibrant salinity. So alive!
Damn, this is so good! — 2 days ago