Bubbles
Vara Silverhead Brut Rosado
From the winemaker: “This wine has an abundance of lively, tiny bubbles against a vibrant pink background. Aromas of raspberries, wild strawberries, hibiscus flowers and earthy green tea notes. On the palette it’s a balanced, dry, traditionally styled sparkling wine that presents a creamy mousse and lively acidity showcases a complex range of flavors: tangerines, ripe strawberries, fresh shortbread cookies, and almonds. The length of flavors is long, the finish crisp and mouthwatering.”
From me: I was hoping this sparkler, which I had never heard of until recently, would prove to be good because I was born in Albuquerque, where the winery is located, and I spent many summers there visiting my grandparents. I assumed it would be good because the winemaker is Laurent Gruet, who began making sparkling wine at the age of 16 at his family’s Gruet winery, New Mexico’s most famous sparkling wine (but no longer owned by the Gruets). The fruit (75 percent syrah and the rest chardonnay) was grown in the Ancient Lakes AVA in Washington State.
$27 at http://varawines.com
Trader Joe’s Brut Rosé
From the winemaker: “Trader Joe’s French Sparkling Brut Rosé was developed as a complement to its best-selling sparkling wine, Trader Joe’s French Brut Blanc de Blancs. We wanted a wine of the same excellent caliber but with its own unique point of view, and we believe this is the one. It’s a rosé made with a proprietary blend of grapes grown on the French coast of the Mediterranean Sea; the blend offers a little more depth, fruit, and body than the Blanc de Blanc, yet maintains those classic, creamy bubbles and that crisp, clean finish for which the Blanc de Blanc is so favored. It’s truly delicious.”
From me: Truly delicious works for me, too. And, at this price . . . Woo hoo!
$6.99 at Trader Joe’s
Whites
2023 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc
From the winemaker: “Enticing and appealing, with notes of honeydew melon, passionfruit, citrus and blackcurrant leaf.
From the Wine Spectator, which awarded a score of 93: “Leaps out of the glass with effusiveness, featuring flavors of apple blossom, Key lime, Honeycrisp, lemon thyme and fresh grated ginger. Notes of passionfruit, pineapple and lemon candy linger on the long, expressive and mouthwatering finish.”
From me: Cloudy Bay has long been the reference standard for New Zealand sauvignon blanc, at least in my book. But I’d forgotten how delightfully refreshing this wine is until I tasted it again recently.
$37.99 at http://wine.com
2021 Vigneti Repetto Piccolo Derthona Timorasso
From the winemaker: “Floral and citrus notes, minerality and freshness. The pairing is with grilled fish dishes, white meats, fried vegetables; ideal as an aperitif.”
From http://thelivingvine.ca: “This timorossa steps up to prove just how beautiful and age-worthy (the varietal) can be Notes of petrol, straw, lemon and white fig, this white is layered and complex, with beautiful acidity and a gorgeous palate.”
From me: Like the arneis grape back in the 1970s, timorasso wasn’t on many wine drinker’s radar screens before a fellow named Walter Massa, whose winery was near Tortona in the Colli Tortonesi about an hour south of Milan, decided back in the 1980s to think outside the box. Barbera was the cash cow in the neighborhood, but Massa thought the terroir was actually better suited for a white grape like timorasso. At the time, there was barely more than an acre of the vines in the ground. Today? More there are more than 400 and it seems like winemakers throughout the Piemonte are at least experimenting with timorasso, which delivers excellent acidity and freshness in the right hands, like the Repettos. Derthrona, by the way, was the ancient name of Tortona.
$26 at http://tuttilili.com
Rosé
2022 Domaine Messier Rose de Pinot Noir Monterey
From the winemaker: “Gives a bouquet of ripe, wild strawberry with subtle savory complexity. The palate gives juicy grapefruit and lemon peel with ripeness balanced by a significant line of acidity.”
From me: I provided a brief summary of the Domaine Messier project in California’s Carmel Valley in my last blog. Luc Messier and Julie Fette seem unlikely vintners, but when you discover the success they enjoyed in their day-job professions — Luc in the business world, Julie as a French professor — it’s no surprise they could figure out wine-making. This is the most elegant, compelling still rosé I’ve tasted of late, and it’s their first release. The Messier chardonnay and pinot noir are also well worth tasting.
$38 at http://shopdomainemessier.com
Reds
2021 OG de Negoce Syrah Terre Siciliane IGT
From the winemaker: “Expressive on the nose with red cherries, plum sauce, and black olive haloed by blueberry and tar. The entry is luscious and earthy with delicate leather and bramble interwoven with cigar box and black cardamom, medium acidity, and swept by polished, grainy, horizontal tannins. The finish is long, barrel-kissed, and resonant with blueberry and plum coulis.”
From me: The de Negoce brand comes to us from Cameron Hughes, who has reinvented what it means to be a negociant. He has a unique knack for finding surplus — but excellent — juice from all over the world. We hardly think of syrah when we think of Sicily, but perhaps we should after tasting this concentrated, reductive red, which spent 12 months in French oak and could pass for an Amarone in a blind tasting.
$12 from http://denegoce.com
2019 C.D. Vajra Albe Barolo
From the winemaker: “Features a classic pigeon blood garnet color, with a very lively core. A rush of red berries, raspberries and red currants is wrapped by a layer of sweet spices. The mouthfeel opens with a gorgeous balance, great energy and refined tannins, and the aftertaste echoes the aromatics with lingering complexity.”
From the Wine Enthusiast, which scored it a 94: “Stunning in its purity, freshness and vibrancy, the Albe Barolo from the venerable Vajra family is a beauty. Aromas of fresh cherries, wild strawberries, rose- buds, wild herbs, underbrush and subtle chalky notes waft from the glass. The generous palate showcases the tart red fruits Nebbiolo is known for, but at a higher gear followed by more savory flavors finishing with well-integrated tannins and vibrant acidity.”
From me: It checks all the Barolo boxes at a price very few, if any, quality Barolos can match. I’ll be buying two or three more bottles when I make my Whole Foods run today.
$39.99 at Whole Foods
2021 Leviathan Red Wine
From the winemaker: “The wine reveals distinct aromas of blackberry bramble, black cherry, and chaparral. Savory spices and star anise meld with mineral, graphite, bay, and laurel reflective of the rocky Northern California terrain. With finely structured tannins, this wine is silky and elegant — yet persistent.”
From Jeb Dunnuck, who scored it a 94: “Always a good value, the 2021 California Red Wine is no exception and has darker berry fruits, some leafy herb, sage, lavender, and chocolate nuances, full-bodied richness, and a lush, round, seamless style that’s already impossible to resist. This is primarily Cabernet Sauvignon (with plenty of other red varieties), and it should shine for 7-8 years, if not a decade, although I would drink this puppy in its youth.”
From me: Like Cameron Hughes, Andy Erickson has also been a rule-breaker, going against the trendy grain of making wines that ostensibly taste of place, instead choosing to make wines that just taste really good — and offer superb value. Since the first vintage of Leviathan in 2004, Erickson has made all of California his appellation. This vintage is a cab-centric blend that includes merlot, petite sirah, petit vergot and cab franc.
$36.99 at http://wine.com
The Sporty Wine Guy 