Over the course of a week, I taste a bunch of wine, usually with friends, and almost always with my wife. Here are some of the wines we tasted over the past few weeks. These are wines that were not sent as samples—in most cases, I actually paid for these wines (although a few have been given as gifts).
NV Michel Genet Champagne Grand Cru MG BB Brut Nature, Champagne, France: Retail $65? 100% Grand Cru Chardonnay. Disgorged Feb. 2022. To find a Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs for under forty bucks is pretty unheard of, so when I saw this on Garagiste, I jumped (well, my fingers did kind of jump on the keyboard). I wish I had bought more as I think this has some pretty good aging potential. Medium straw in the glass with some golden delicious apple, fresh peach, some Asian pear, and a lovely “biscosity” (see what I did there?). The palate is equally impressive with great tartness and a lengthy finish. Very close to a whoa. I would buy more from Garagiste if it didn’t take so long to get the wines (these took over six months). Excellent. 92 Points.
2010 Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Balcombe Vineyard, Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, OR: Retail $55. Very Heavy Bottle (691g; 24.3oz). Under cork. Wow, it has been more than five years since I last tasted this wine and while I liked it then (92 Points), I dare posit that it is even better now. Medium to even dark in color with oodles of dark fruit (blackberry, cassis), and plenty of spice (black pepper), and an herbal note (sage? basil?) on the nose. The palate is surprisingly fruity, more than fifteen years out, with all of that dark fruit, yes, with a more pronounced herbal quality (more basil than sage), and the spice has morphed into more of an allspice component. Then there is the acidity. Whoa. Pinot is often defined by its tartness, and it is close to off the charts here. Yowza. Outstanding. 94 Points.
2011 Masút Pinot Noir Block 1, Eagle Peak, Mendocino County, CA: Retail $75. Responsible Bottle (563g; 19.8oz). Under cork. I asked my wife to pull a random bottle from the cellar so I could try to guess what it was. She took it easy on me. Pinot? With some age? Yeah, that is my wheelhouse. While I got most of the elements right, I missed on the producer since I really have no clue as to who they are (I bought these bottles on line way back when). After a bit of research, I discovered they are from the Fetzer family, which is a pretty big name in the history of California Wine. As for this bottle? Despite its age it remains quite fruity with oodles of red fruit both on the nose and the palate, which gave away the region. The color has started to fade and there is a bit of bricking on the rim, which revealed its age. But the producer remained a mystery. I eventually got there (since I have a pretty fair recollection of what is in my cellar), but I really need to explore more. As I said, great fruit, and even better acidity, with touches of earth and verve. This has held up particularly well. Outstanding. 93 Points.
2024 Château Miraval Rosé, Côtes de Provence, France: Retail $25. Heavy Bottle (610g; 21.4oz). Cinsault, Grenache, Rolle, Syrah. We are coming to the end of the line for the 2024s in the cellar but it is unlikely that we will buying much more of this wine. The price has gone up $3-5/bottle (tariffs?) and now we can get Whispering Angel and Les Sarrins (when it goes on sale, which is often) for less. The wines, in my opinion, are of similar quality, so there is no reason to stock up on these. Plus the stupid bottle does not fit in any wine rack on the planet. Pale pink with an orange tint to it with plenty of melon, strawberry, and a touch of citrus on the nose while the palate is juicy, tart, and pretty fabulous. Outstanding. 93 Points.
2007 Mongeard-Mugneret, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Narbantons, Burgundy, France:
Retail $45. Heavy Bottle (664g; 23.4oz). Under cork. 100% Pinot Noir. Another year plus has past since I last popped a cork of this wine and, well, it is every bit as good (maybe better?) than the last bottle. Seriously. The nose? Whoa. Sweet Bing cherry with a healthy dose of eucalyptus and more than a modicum of earthy goodness. Whoa. The palate is perhaps even better, with a surprising level of fruit (I would certainly consider it “juicy”) and an acidity level that one would expect from a Premier Cru Burgundy. Yowza. I have numerous older bottles of Burgundy and I am always worried when I pop one. No worries here. At. All. Outstanding. 95 Points.
2007 Joh. Jos. Prüm Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spätlese, Mosel Saar Ruwer, Germany: Retail $35(?). Responsible Bottle (511g; 18.0oz). Under cork. We had guests for dinner and we discovered that they were married in 2007, so I grabbed this. Not everyone’s cup of tea (including my wife), but this is from one of the world’s great wine regions and it should be celebrated. And I did. Yellow, but far from golden with petrol, perhaps, the predominant element on the nose. Sure, there is also ample citrus, but that is not (necessarily?) what people want after holding onto this bottle for close to a decade. Lemon rind and curd also appear in the glass, but this is a petrol show. The palate is still lively and racy, with an acidity that fights to keep up with the sugar. This is delicious, but like I said, not everyone’s cup of tea. Outstanding. 94 Points.
WINE OF THE WEEK: It really wasn’t a fair fight this week. While we opened more than our fair share of great bottles, anytime I open an aged Burgundy, and it isn’t horrible, it is likely to win the Wine of the Week. Why? Well, I love Burgundy (almost as much as Champagne), but the wines from the region have simply become too expensive for a schmuck like me and I have stopped buying them. Thus, every time I open a wine like the 2007 Mongeard-Mugneret, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Narbantons, I both celebrate and mourn. And I also give it Wine of the Week honors.
What was your Wine of the Week?
the drunken cyclist 