Tom Casagrande

9.3

This was tricky to decant as it has a lot of super-floaty sediment that swirled around like crazy. Once decanted though, it’s excellent. Great nose of deep earthy notes (just a hint, and no more, of barnyard), deep ripe fruit. In the mouth it’s soft, deeply flavored, and buoyed along by zesty acids. Finish is lip smacking and ends on a slightly, pleasantly bitter note that balances the ripe fruit. — 2 days ago

Tom Casagrande

8.6

So here was an interesting spur of the moment comparison. I’d popped a bottle of J.C. Somers “La Revanche” Willamette Valley Chardonnay for dinner, and I’d braised the chicken in a Clos Du Bois California Chardonnay that someone had brought to a dinner at our house. My wife and I actually liked the Clos du Bois supermarket Chardonnay better. It’s basically old school Cali Chard form the 70s and 80s. Butterscotch and ripe apple and some wet stones from a stream in the nose. A whack of pineapple/apple fruit up front. Not complex at all but a balanced mouthful. Nice pleasant finish. Sure, there’s a bit of residual sugar, but that’s what the American masses want. Not bad at all. — 4 days ago

Tom Casagrande

9.1

Always well made and always a great value. Nose needs some air to coax it out. But then there’s gorgeously pure black cherry and crushed stone powder. Mouthfilling flavors of dark, ripe fruit and minerality. Fairly long finish. Seems very tight, and there’s good acidity and some noticeable tannin, so this looks like a sure bet for improvement over the next few years at least. 9.1 for now but I’m pretty sure there’s upside. — 7 days ago

Tom Casagrande

9.3

This is really nice. According to the winery website, they do an early harvest of grapes that ripen before the main bunches, and dry those until the regular harvest a couple of weeks later. It’s grown in the eastern part of the Valtellina valley, where it turns northeast toward Switzerland near Tirano. The nose jumps out of the glass with bright chokecherry, rose petals, and crushed stone. Intense and bright flavors in the mouth. Expands on the palate with earthy cherries. Great acids and a fair level of fine grained tannins. Lengthy and with god flavor persistence. This is top shelf Valtellina. — 3 days ago

Tom Casagrande

8.4

This is the J.C. Sommers Vintner “La Revanche” Willamette Valley Chardonnay. Popped it for dinner and had it alongside the cooking wine. We preferred the cooking wine! This wine is consciously made in a lean and restrained style, and went a bit too far with that concept, in my view. Light intensity nose reluctantly gives up underripe peach and citrusy fruit and some bright, limestone like minerality. Not a helluva lot going on on the palate. Nice acids, but little fruit or any other kind of flavors. Meh. — 4 days ago

Tom Casagrande

9.3

This is the Heritage Zinfandel blend. Nose has deep Zin blackberry fruit, lots of dry crumbly sun-warmed gravel too. On the palate, it’s so balanced. Deep flavors. Remarkable acids for a fairly full-framed Zin. Some tannin too, a fair amount. This will age well for a Zin, but is so nice now. — 9 days ago

Tom Casagrande

9.3

Notes from (foggy) memory. What was remarkable about this wine was the juxtaposition of the light color, slightly shy nose, and elegant “floatiness” of texture and weight (it almost hovered in the mouth) and the explosive flavor density. How they achieve this with Grenache is remarkable. 9.3+ — 10 days ago

with Dan

Tom Casagrande

9.1

This is the Aloxe-Corton Blanc. (@Delectable Wine has misidentified 3 of the last 4 wines I’ve posted, and doesn’t have the actual wine listed when I search. 😠). Entirely from the lieu-dit Les Caillettes. Notes to follow.

OK, I was cooking when I opened it, so let it sit until I was finished stirring the risotto. Good thing I let it sit, because it was giving nothing away initially. As it warms and airs, there are subtle and enticing scents of crushed limestone, straw, apple and almost ripe peach. Silky soft textured, the palate is subtle with light buttery notes, gravel and crushed stone. Some very subtle orchard fruit. Very distinctive. — 3 days ago

Tom Casagrande

9.3

This is the Mettenheimer Loss Riesling from the Rheinhessen. Screwcap. Nose explodes with crushed rock and a note of green herbs. Also bright green apple fruit. Big palate is dense with ripe fruit and mineral notes. Feinherb level sweetness. This does not skimp on character. Not sure how long it will age but very nice and deep and satisfying right now. — 6 days ago

Tom Casagrande

8.9

375ml. Nose has crunchy black cherry fruit, and the characteristic earthiness of the region has taken on a slightly animal, feral quality in this iteration. Savory and relatively full in the mouth. A little drying and bitter at the end of the finish. — 10 days ago