Recent Tasting Notes

Reds
2007 Barber Cellars, Zinfandel, “Mr. Beast” Dry Creek Valley.  Nose of red fruits, and some nice spice.  There is a slight element of green under-ripeness here that is exacerbated by the dill-lactone element of American oak.  That said, I appreciate that this wine is going for brightness and sappiness rather than power for the sake of power.  Forward, juicy, red fruits are pleasant and toothsome if not particularly concentrated or complex. From fruit grown by Nick Unti.  A perfectly pleasant bottle of $18 Zin.  89/100 for $15-20.
2006 Cecile Chassagne, Cotes du Rhone Villages, Seguret.  Dark red.  Very ripe, almost port-like, brooding black fruits of prune and a slight element of cough syrup.  This is about as ripe as I can bear, as it tends to lack some brightness.  Big and ripe with plenty of dense tannin, hot earth, and notes of licorice with a rather hot finish.  Pretty primal, this reminds me more of a Roussillon wine from Domaine Gauby than a Cotes du Rhone.  Seguret is a village slightly northeast of Gigondas and Sablet lying in the waning shadows of the Dentelles de Montmirail which most famously effect Gigondas and Vacqueyras.  88/100 for $14.
2006 Bricco del Bucco, Dolcetto di Dogliani.  Dark red-purple.  Rather funky nose, seemingly rather high in VA with a touch of bret, some elements of classic dolcetto cherry and almond, but this seems rather funked out.  Bright acid, high-tones, and a rather jarring fruit/acid/tannin ratio here.  Though old-school this lacks the charm I would expect from Dolcetto in such a strong vintage for the varietal in the region.  85/100 for $15 2006 Dolcetto di Dogliani.
2005 Turkey Flat, Butcher’s Block.  About equal parts Shiraz, Grenache, and Mourvedre from a vineyard originally planted in the 1850’s.  Dark red-purple.  Lifted, ripe nose of crème de cassis, blackberry syrup, orange peel, crème brulee and sweet white spice.  Ripe, pure, and rich, with plenty of sweet fruit and verve.  I appreciate this wine’s relative acidity and dryness (in the R.S. sense of that word).  Finishes with spice and lingering fine tannins.  This encapsulates Australian comfort wine for me, all about the purity of fruit with little oak and no RS annoyance.  95/100 for $25 Australian GSM blend
2005 Jaboulet Crozes-Hermitage, Domaine de Thalabert.  Dark, rough red color.  This wine shows initial notes of dark fruits, olive tapenade, and rather rough oak notes.  With air, the nose shows a bit more nuance, but I find this wine struggling between new world and old world.  If properly New World the oaking would be more nuanced and better, if old world the oak would be gone and the excellent density of fruit would shine.  This is a wine with an identity crisis.  Rough.  85/100 for $40 Crozes Hermitage.
2006 J.L. Chaves, Saint-Joseph “Offerus.”  Chaves has done a wonderful job of gradually sourcing vineyards from the original six communes of Saint Joseph (back before the mass expansion of the last twenty years or so).   This wine, sourced from granite around Mauves, features absolutely pitch-perfect and classic aromas of elegant St. Joseph Syrah.—dark olive, dark fruit, and balanced, rich cassis fruit, along with absolutely compelling high tone aromas of pepper and bacon fat smoke.  When I drink Syrah, this is what I want it to taste like.  95/100 for $28 St. Joseph.  Found at K and L.

Whites
Sparkling
Charles Baur, Cremant d’Alsace, Rose’.  Aged 24 months prior to disgorgement.  Pretty pink-copper.  Fine, frothy bead.  Pretty, reticent, aromas of strawberry and red currant with pale dusting of mineral.  A frothy, limpid mouthful of red fruit.  Not the biggest or baddest thing, but this is forward and delicious with some nice sweet spice elements.  Really pretty Cremant rose’.  94/100 for $17 Cremant D’Alsace.  K and L.
Pierre Moncuit, Blanc des Blancs, Les Mesnil, Grand Cru NV.  Green tinged pale yellow.  Penetrating, fresh aromatics of talc, green apple. Meyer lemon and autolysis.  Dense, dry, and rich.  Absolutely lovely and about as good as it gets in the class.  96/100 for $40 Blanc des Blancs champagnes.