We gave the wines three weeks in the cellar to settle down after their cross-country journey, and then began our investigation with the two selections of the pink persuasion.

2016 Tablas Creek Vineyard Patelin de Tablas Rosé Paso Robles, 73% Grenache, 17% Mourvedre, 6% Counoise, 4% Syrah, 13.0% alc., $25.00: Pale peachy pink in color, with mineral-laden watermelon and strawberry flavors and aromas, more in the French style than Californian; medium bodied, with racy acidity and good length. The minerality is what strikes me most about this wine, as it may be more upfront than any TC rosé I can remember, and that’s a good thing in my book.

TC: The bulk of the Patelin de Tablas Rosé is Grenache, picked and direct-pressed into stainless steel tanks with minimum skin contact. The small Syrah component was treated similarly. These were supplemented with saignée lots (bleedings) from Mourvèdre and Counoise in the cellar to provide some color and structure. Only native yeasts were used in the fermentation. After fermentation, the wines were blended and cold-stabilized, and bottled in February 2017. Find this wine

34% Grenache and Tablas-clone Mourvèdre from Hollyhock (El Pomar)
18% Grenache from KamRidge (Creston)
12% Greanche from Starr Ranch (Adelaida District)
11% Syrah and Mourvedre from Derby (Templeton Gap)
8% Grenache from Beckwith (Adelaida District)
7% Grenache from Cass (El Pomar)
6% Counoise from Clautiere (Geneseo District)
4% Grenache from the Tablas Creek certified organic estate vineyard

2016 Tablas Creek Vineyard Dianthus Paso Robles, 49% Mourvedre, 37% Grenache, 14% Counoise, 14.4% alc., $30.00: Raspberry-strawberry pink; as with previous vintages, considerably more fruit forward than the Patelin, dishing out rich strawberry and raspberry, with some underlying mineral and even a hint something like milk chocolate. More dense than most rosés, with very active acids and good length on the finish, where the mineral shows the most. According to the TC website, this is sold out already.

TC: We take the grapes for our Dianthus from the oldest section of French-source vines at Tablas Creek. In 1994, two years after our French vines had been released from their USDA-mandated quarantine, we had propagated just enough to plant a few rows of each varietal on a hill overlooking our vine nursery. Over the next few years, we used cuttings from these plants to plant the rest of our vineyard. These few rows of high-quality vines ripen later than the rest of the vineyard, so we harvest the Mourvèdre, Grenache, and Counoise together and co-ferment them (on their skins) in a single stainless steel fermenter. After 48 hours, we draw about 800 gallons of juice off the blend, and ferment it dry away from the skins. These lots are then supplemented with saignées (bleedings) from other Mourvèdre and Grenache lots in the cellar. Find this wine

Both of these are very food friendly. Tablas Creek suggests pairing them with salmon, sushi, anchovies, sausages, fried chicken and Mediterranean tapas.

From there, we moved from the pink to white spectrum.

2016 Tablas Creek Vineyard Vermentino Paso Robles, 100% Vermentino, 12.9% alc., $27.00: Clean, medium color, with citrus and green apple flavors and aromas, underscored with some nice mineral. Good intensity and length here, with lively acids, on a medium bodied frame. A quintessential kind o’ seafood wine, this opens and gets even better with a little air. I’d love to try it with some torched mackerel a la Johnny Noodle King. TC suggests enjoying it with nearly any fresh seafood, oysters on the half shell, aioli or pestos, linguine with clam sauce and stir fried green vegetables.

TC: The Vermentino grapes were whole cluster pressed, and fermented using native yeasts in stainless steel to emphasize the minerality of the grapes. The wine was bottled in February 2017. Find this wine

2015 Tablas Creek Vineyard Roussanne Paso Robles, 100% Roussanne, 13.4% alc., $35.00: Pale gold in color, with a pretty white peach nose that carries over onto the palate, shaded with underlying minerality. (Are you sensing a pattern here?) Rich, moderately ripe, thick and a bit oily, with excellent acidity and a fairly long finish. A fine, big, young Roussanne that invites more sips now, but will certainly benefit from 5 years or more in the cellar. This will stand up to rich food; TC recommends trying it with lobster and crab, sea bass, mildly spicy foods such as curries and gumbo, stir-fries in garlic and olive oil and salmon.

TC: The Roussanne grapes were whole cluster pressed, and fermented using native yeasts in neutral 1200-gallon French oak foudres (55%), neutral 132-gallon French oak puncheons (35%) and new 60-gallon barriques (10%). The lots were left on their lees for 6 months, and allowed to complete malolactic fermentation. After fermentation the lots were blended, and bottled in December 2016. The wine underwent only a light cold stabilization before bottling. Find this wine

Finally, we transitioned to the big reds.

2015 Tablas Creek Vineyard Patelin de Tablas Paso Robles, 51% Syrah, 31% Grenache, 14% Mourvedre, 4% Counoise, 14.2% alc., $25.00: Perhaps a little lighter in color than past vintages, with an attractive bouquet very much in the house style; lovely dark plum and berry aromas follow through on the palate with a solid earthy base, and the structure to make its way at least 5 years down the road. Full bodied and balanced; you can drink this now and get much pleasure, especially with grilled red meats, or you can give it some time in the cellar to resolve some of the tannins and evolve into something even better. Another delightful Patelin Rouge, and who’d expect anything less? I tend to like red Rhône blends with something in the grilled lamb universe, and TC likes it with a variety of grilled meats, pastas with meat sauces, roast pork loin, beef stews and beef or pork stir fries.

TC: All varietals for the Patelin de Tablas were destemmed and fermented in open-top and closed stainless steel fermenters as well as 1500-gallon oak upright casks. Only native yeasts were used. After fermentation, the wines were racked and blended, aged in 1500-gallon oak upright casks, and bottled in July 2016. Find this wine

34% Syrah from Estrella Farms (Estrella District)
28% Mourvedre and Grenache from Hollyhock Vineyard (Templeton Gap)
10% Grenache and Syrah from Self Family Vineyard (Templeton Gap)
8% Syrah and Grenache from Starr Ranch (Adelaida District)
5% Grenache from Paso de Record (Estrella District)
4% Counoise from Clautiere (Geneseo District)
3% Syrah from Doce Robles (Templeton Gap)
3% Syrah from Velo (Templeton Gap)
2% Mourvedre and Syrah from the Tablas Creek certified organic estate vineyard
2% Syrah from Derby (Templeton Gap)
1% Syrah from Fralich (El Pomar)

2014 Tablas Creek Vineyard Esprit de Tablas Paso Robles, 40% Mourvedre, 35% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 5% Counoise, 14.5% alc., $55.00: Clean dark garnet color, fading to pink at the rim, with a big, rich dark plum and berry nose. Thick, rich and intense in the mouth, with a luscious texture that vies with some significant acid/tannin structure. Big black earthy plum and blackberry flavors show no winemaker’s “adornments of any kind; the pure, beautiful blend is allowed to “speak” for itself, and does so deliciously. Give this a little air and you’ll love it now, but give it some time in the cellar, and you’ll love it even more. It’s got all the goods to go 10 years and beyond. Try it with TC’s suggestions of game, dark fowl (i.e., duck), richly flavored stews, lamb and Asian preparation of red meats (i.e., beef stir fry).

TC: The grapes were fermented using native yeasts in open and closed stainless steel fermenters. After pressing, the wines were moved into barrel, blended, and aged in 1200-gallon French oak foudres before being bottled in June 2016. Find this wine

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Guess what? It has!

1997 Ridge Geyserville Sonoma; 74 % Zinfandel, 15 % Carignane, 10 % Petite Sirah, 1 % Mataro, 14.9% alc.: The cork broke while I attempted to pry it from the bottle, so we had to excavate it and carefully decant through a strainer. Once we got past that, it was all good. There’s more than a hint of brick to the otherwise clean, dark color, and it’s slightly funky on the nose at first, but leather, berry and plum shine through with some swirlatude. Big, rich, luscious and silky smooth in the mouth; there’s definitely some secondary action going on here, mostly leather with a hint of mahogany, and the big core of fruit wears it so well, all with a nice, earthy base underneath. You can certainly tell that this is a Ridge, but I wouldn’t characterize it as having what we often refer to as “Draper perfume.” That’s a descriptor I usually reserve for younger wines. Utterly delicious; this is why you lay these babies down with confidence for 20 years, because they usually evolve into things of beauty. This one is in no danger of fading anytime soon, so you can leave it alone for five-to-ten years or more, but it’s so good now, I’d have a hard time keeping hands off, if we had more. Sadly, this was the last one. Find this wine

I stated at the beginning of this blog entry that we didn’t want to do anything special on this 4th of July, but now that I look back, this amazing wine was something very special indeed. If you have any of this in your cellar, chances are very good that yours will be very special too.

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We kept things simple. I ran for a couple of pizzas, some meatballs and a roasted beet and arugula salad, and after enjoying a bottle of the 2008 Cantina Sociale Cooperativa Copertino Riserva that I reported on most recently, Alan pulled this little beauty out of his bag of tricks. I’ve had plenty of Bandol in my day, but very little from Domaines Ott, those being a red and a rosé. Nevertheless, I had the feeling that we might be in for a treat, and I wasn’t wrong.

1999 Domaines Ott Bandol, 13% alc.: Clean, dark color, with little, if any, bricking to speak of at this point; aromatics reminiscent of leather, tobacco and a bit of the barnyard carry over onto the palate, where they grace a huge core of big, earthy black plum. This is a big red, still substantially structured and not close to its peak, but it’s already delivering ample pleasure at 19 years of age, and it works well with Bigalora Bacco Sausage and White Anchovies Pizzas. CZ added, “The tannins are nice and silky.” Find this wine

It was a great way to start another extended wild weekend in the Forest, and the last wine I would drink until the following Monday.

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2008 Cantina Sociale Cooperativa Copertino Riserva, 95% Negroamaro, 5% Malvasia Nera, 13% alc., $40 restaurant, $20 take out: Clean and dark in color, with a lovely nose of mahogany, tobacco, dried cherries and leather; rich, earthy and intense, the flavors echo and expand beautifully. Full bodied, but not “heavy,” and still structured for several more years of aging and development, this is drinking very well right now, which is why we order another bottle every time we dine at Otus Supply, where it pairs so well with the Wagyu Beef Tartar, Filthy Animal Pizza (pesto, pine nuts and guanciale) and Rigatoni Alla Norcina. Find this wine

Imported by Banville Wine Merchants, North Bergen, NJ

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I was quite excited to find out recently that our friends at Bonny Doon Vineyard had a Pinot Meunier in their book, and even more excited when our friends at Western Market in Ferndale started stocking it on their shelves. Needless to say, we were the first kids on our block to try this one, and we liked it so well, we had to go back for more.

2015 Bonny Doon Vineyard Pinot Meunier Yountville, 13% alc., $25.99: Smoky ruby garnet color; throws a very pretty nose that’s like a blend of cranberry and cherry, with hints of rhubarb lurking here and there and a subtle perfume a little reminiscent of Foillard and Breton Morgons tasted a while back. There’s plenty more of the same on the smooth, rich, almost creamy palate; luscious in the mouth, this gives immediate, and for me, immense pleasure. Still, it’s deceptively well-structured, on a medium-to-medium-full bodied frame to develop over at least the next five years. The wine offers excellent value for the Western Market price, especially considering that Bonny Doon sells it for $30. Most definitely a turkey/duck kind o’ wine, and I’m betting that it’ll work pretty well with smoked grilled chicken as well. Find this wine

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Furthermore, when I do attend one of these events, after a certain point, something like “palate fatigue” sets in. It’s not that my buds stop working, exactly, it’s more a case of simply getting tired of tasting multiple selections on the fly over a period of a few hours, so more often than not, I simply say “No thanks,” stay home and play music.

Every once in a while, however, something comes along that’s just too good to miss, kind of like when one of my very favorite bands, Elephant Revival, blew in to play Otus Supply in Ferndale a few months ago. If these folks come anywhere near where we live, I’m there to hear them, because they’re just so good.

Such was the case last week, when the Terry Theise Estate Selections 2017 Fall Offering was held at, how about that, Otus Supply in Ferndale! Theise is a wine author and a leading importer of high quality wines from Germany, Austria and Champagne. In previous years, one had to travel to Chicago for this event, so a lot of his local fans and followers were really pleased to have this opportunity to try the latest offerings much closer to home. I heard about this tasting from my friends Kimberly Hartnett Bricker of Imperial Beverage and Western Market’s Jarred Gild, and after giving it just a little consideration, I decided this was one that was not to be missed. I’ve had just enough experience with wines from the Theise portfolio to have a good idea of what was going to be poured, and the venue offered a great setting for this walk-around.

(As a brief aside, I should mention that Otus Supply has become our new favorite restaurant in the greater Day-twah area. We’ve been there four times for dinner in the past few months, and the food is always top-notch. The wine list is small, but focused, the excellent craft beer selection is rather larger, rotating on a regular basis, and while I don’t do cocktails, I have it on good authority that they have that area covered really well too. They also have the very cool ongoing music series that brought in the aforementioned Elephant Revival, so these folks are doing a lot of things right.)

My intention was to not even try and taste through everything being poured, but rather, to try some very specific selections from certain producers and look for a few surprises as well. As it turned out, that was the perfect plan for my two-hour investment, and yes, I spit everything I tasted. Pretty much…

All prices given are based on presale listings, with standard markup from my retail days. Your mileage may vary. I’ve also taken the liberty of using Theise’s own comments about producers and individual wines to flesh out this report. (I love his use of musical analogies to describe some of the wines.) I decided to start with a German sparkler, then move on to some Austrian wines. My notes and impressions are necessarily brief, because of time limitations and the number of selections tasted.

2013 Eugen Müller Sekt, Forster Pechstein Riesling Brut, $28.99: Crisp, rich and lively; nice depth and good underlying mineral. I could drink this on a regular basis. Find this wine

TT: Müller is an old-school German estate selling mostly to a base of private customers, and to local taverns and restaurants. They aren’t “trendy.” But the current proprietor Stefan Müller’s father, Kurt, was also cellar master at a venerable Forst estate, long out of business (but whose wines I sold in my early days) called Wilhelm Spindler, and when the old gentleman died his widow leased the best vineyards to Kurt as a reward for his service and loyalty.

It helps to have truly exceptional land. And when you find a grower like this, you can score terroir-saturated wines of impeccable aristocracy, yet the prices are most gentle and the folks are super down to earth.

We are familiar with HuM Hofer thanks to a delightful Grüner Veltliner sold here in liter bottles, so I jumped at the opportunity to try this one, which Theise describes as “the best wine Hofer has ever made.”

2015 HuM Hofer Grüner Veltliner Kirchlissen, $25.99: Mineral and citrus on the nose; rich, round and fairly ripe in the mouth, with green apple, citrus and mineral flavors. Good acids and length. Find this wine

TT: Auersthal is just barely beyond Vienna’s northern suburbs, in a dead-still little wine village. It’s rather odd to drive there and see lots of wee little oil derricks, but such little oil as Austria produces comes from these parts, deep below the löss. I had either forgotten or had never known the estate was organic; they belong to a group called Bio-Ernte which has standards above the EU guidelines. In speech, by the way, “bio” is pronounced to rhyme with “B.O.” which can lead to some drollery as you hear references to “B.O. wine” unless, unlike me, you have left behind your adolescence.

The vineyards lie in a rain-shadow and have to endure hot summers. In fact Hofer plants his Riesling in a fog-pocket as he gets so little rain. The wines are pressed conventionally (no whole-cluster) with skin contact, and all whites are done in stainless steel.

I’ve tried a few wines from Ott with Jarred Gild in the past, and while I liked them, I wasn’t in note-taking mode at that time.

2016 Ott Gemischter Satz, $26.99: More than subtle floral hints on the nose; “yummy,” according to the taster across the table from me. Crisp, with pretty fruit dosed with underlying mineral, making for a perfect summer wine.
TT: …mostly Ott’s own fruit plus some (organic) fruit he buys from colleagues whose vineyards are worked and harvested by Ott’s team. Find this wine

2016 Ott Grüner Veltliner “Am Berg,” $21.00: More floral than mineral on the nose, but the mineral takes over on the palate, with plenty of fruit filling it all out. Very nice, with balanced acids, good length and excellent QPR (quality/price ratio).
TT: As before it’s mostly Ott’s own fruit plus some (organic) fruit he buys from colleagues whose vineyards are worked and harvested by Ott’s team. Find this wine

2016 Ott Grüner Veltliner “Fass 4,” $28.99: Mineral-driven nose leads to more of the same in the mouth, with a solid core of green apple and citrus fruit; an obvious big step up from the “Am Berg.”
TT: This is considered by Ott to be his first “serious” GV for the table, and it is masterly in 2016. Find this wine

TT: Bernhard Ott’s wines join the wines of Heidi Schröck, Ludwig Hiedler and Nikolaihof (in this portfolio at least) as being what I call “analog,” that is, marked by a certain warmth in contrast to the chiseled surgical clarity of other kinds of wines. Analog wines take longer to understand because they’re not explaining everything to you. They articulate in different ways. You need to let them build up over several years before they accumulate into a narrative you can repeat. In the interim you call them “rich” or creamy” or, in Ott’s case, corpulent, capacious and generous. Dionysian, not Apollonian.

Being with Bernhard at his estate in Feuersbrunn is a little like being with the Saahs’ at Nikolaihof, in that it isn’t just another “winery-visit,” but rather an immersion into an entire environment that has a larger context than you expected, seeming to encompass not only the human world, but all of the world. You’re invited to participate, not only to observe, and certainly not only to act as an audience. Instead you walk into a family’s vision of life, a microcosm of the world they desire and have made for themselves.

Having had some experience with three of Willi Bründlmayer’s entry level wines, I wasn’t about to miss trying some of his better stuff, starting with two excellent sparklers.

Bründlmayer Sekt Brut, N.V., $46.99: Crisp and intense, with lots of fine, bubbly action; bone dry and decidedly dee-lish.
TT: 2013 base, it’s CH-PBlanc-PGris-GV; the closest to a “Champagne aroma” among these. Find this wine

Bründlmayer Sekt Brut Rosé, N.V., $46.99: Even more impressive than the Brut, but then, I am a sucker for rosé, with the Pinot Noir component being very apparent.
TT: Deg. 12/2016, base vintage 2014. Find this wine

2016 Bründlmayer Grüner Veltliner Ried Berg Vogelsang, $32.99: Crisp, intense and bone dry; very mineral-driven and really tasty.
TT: This ’16 is as fine a wine as I’ve ever tasted from Vogelsang. Find this wine

2015 Bründlmayer Grüner Veltliner “Vincent’s Spiegel,” $76.99: Almost flinty on the nose, an impression which follows through on the palate with great intensity, zippy acids and very good length. Serious stuff here, made from reserve late harvest grapes that see some French oak, according to the member of the winemaking team who was pouring these. Not exactly what I’d call good QPR, but then, it isn’t meant to be.
TT: The flat vineyard is basically gravels over a loess bedrock, tending to give solid stony wines. Find this wine

2016 Bründlmayer Riesling Ried Zöbinger Heiligenstein, $41.99: Mineral-driven nose, with big, rich, stony Riesling character. Lively acids and very good length.
TT: The entry to a lofty world of greatness, this “basic” wine from a truly great Riesling vineyard. (It’s sort of like going to the best concert ever but sitting in the back…) In any case, I buy it for my own cellar and find all that I need for rejoicing. Find this wine

2016 Bründlmayer Riesling Ried Zöbinger Heiligenstein “Lyra,” price not listed.: Not quite as expressive on the nose as the Ried Zöbinger Heiligenstein, but the flavors are another matter entirely. A little less mineral-driven, but offering a rich core of pure Riesling fruit. Damned good!
TT: A special cuvée from only lyre-trained vines, showing in Willi’s words that “You don’t need old vines to give great Riesling.” He adds, “The greater leaf surface gives increased photosynthesis, protects the grapes, and besides, it looks like the vine is throwing its arms up toward the sun. Find this wine

TT: I often talk about things like “class” and “timbre” when I write about Bründlmayer.

Class is indefinable. It bears upon a certain simplicity, but it isn’t simple. It feels effortless but it isn’t. It’s richly satisfying but it’s hard to say why. It may seem to have little to do with the reasons you buy this wine and not the other one, or with what you choose to drink, but at last you stumble upon it and find you can’t resist any more. Class will give you pleasure deeper than joy or amusement.

Timbre is the way an instrument sounds, or more accurately, the way a given player makes it sound. The great players seem to release an almost fluid sonorousness from an instrument. It purrs for them. I often receive this image spontaneously when I taste Willi’s wines. And I think if you put these things together you arrive at elegance, which is another wine-word you can’t deconstruct. When you taste them, you’ll find you respond from the richest aspect of your temperament, or else you’ll barely respond at all. These wines won’t put on a show for you, but they will deliver a calm grace and a genial loveliness.

I had never heard of Setzer previous to this, but since I was trying a bunch of Grüner Veltliner…

2016 Setzer Grüner Veltliner “Ausstich” (DAC), $19.99: One of the paler wines poured on this occasion, but by no means lacking in distinctive character, all green apple, citrus and white pepper; ample acidity here, but round in the mouth, and not too “sharp,” for lack of a better term. Very harmonious.
TT: This for me is Setzer at their best. Not, mind you, invariably the “best” wine, but the one that best expresses the welcoming charming spirit of the domain. And again, if I (or anyone) wanted to use just one wine to demonstrate why Grüner Veltliner belongs among the classics of the wine world, I’d take this one and say—“Here is the variety in a normal, unexceptional form; medium weight, nothing too showy, just pure flavor and typicity. Find this wine

2016 Setzer Grüner Veltliner “Die Lage,” $36.99: Fruit, mineral and floral notes play off each other nicely on the nose, with the fruit stepping it up in the flavors. Delightful stuff.
TT: In most years this is Setzer’s best GV. Hans will not agree, because he is faithful to his big-boy the “8000,” but I find that wine, not always but often, to be too musclebound, whereas this one is always intense but graceful and balanced. It is also the most mineral wine in the collection. Find this wine

2016 Setzer Grüner Veltliner “Vesper,” $17.99: Stony on the nose, and all river rocks and citrus in the mouth, with lively acids and excellent length. Perhaps inexplicably, I’m reminded of a fast moving river; great QPR! Find this wine

TT: Hans and Uli Setzer are a husband-wife team of wine-school grads maintaining a winery imbued with intelligence and purpose.
Though Setzer was a discovery for me, the estate is conspicuously successful, exporting to three continents and showing up on many of the top wine lists inside Austria, not to mention being a sort of house-estate for the Vienna Symphoniker orchestra.

At this point, I was almost “tasted out,” but wanted to try a few German wines before taking my leave. My old partner-in-crime, Putnam Weekley, suggested the following small producer.

2016 A.J. Adam Riesling Trocken, $$23.99: Dry, but full of rich Riesling fruit, with not-too-subtle mineral underneath.
TT: All steel, just 10.5% alc (yay!) without chaptalization; dark slate and marjoram; it’s good and juicy but still a wine for real drydrinkers, albeit there’s intricacy and balance in its particular frequency. Find this wine

2016 A.J. Adam Dhroner Riesling Trocken, $33.99: Floral hints on the attractive nose; richer and a little riper than I might have expected, and happily so.
TT: 50-50 steel-cask; a fine classic ’16, nice fluff of cask, and (yet) again what was brash and vulgar in the Zalto was creamier in the Riedel—simply nicer to drink. The wine has verve and zip but is still companionable. Find this wine

2016 A.J. Adam Hofberg Riesling Trocken, $64.99: The floral herbaceous nose follows through to accent rich green apple, lime and mineral flavors. Lovely wine, but at this price, it’s just too expensive, in my not-so-humble opinion.
TT: …whatever is the opposite of “supple,” this is it. Find this wine

2016 A.J. Adam “Im Pfarrgarten” Riesling Feinherb, $21.99: The mineral with a hint o’ flint nose echoes in the semi-dry flavors; nice, but not as nice as the Trockens.
TT: Now the 3rd vintage from a 52-year old vineyard planted in a flat-ish site by the stream; it means “the garden of the rectory” and suggests a contemplative temperament. Find this wine

2016 A.J. Adam Dhron Hofberg Riesling Kabinett, $29.99: The stony nose leads into semi-sweet character that really wants a spicy plate of Kim’s saag paneer.
TT: It’s the sexiest among three Kabs (one of which I didn’t select) and there’s more visible acidity than in any ’16 I’ve seen. The incipient aromas are tantalizing, but it’s too early to unpack the adjective sack. Find this wine

2016 A.J. Adam Dhron Hofberg Riesling Spätlese, $44.99: A hint of sulfur on the nose carries over onto the palate, marring slightly the sweet Riesling personality; I’m guessing this will resolve itself with some time in the cellar.
TT: More juice here, but like the Kab this has a tense rope linking acidity and fruit… This was the most backward and reticent of any ‘16s I’d tasted, but the texture made me optimistic. Find this wine

2016 A.J. Adam Dhron Hofberg Riesling Auslese, $126.99: Rich, sweet and luscious, with a somewhat oily texture, lively acids and a long finish. I understand why late harvest wines like this are so expensive, but this one is, sadly, priced beyond my willingness to purchase. Find this wine

TT: The place is a true idyll, sitting along the reedy shushing Dhronbach, and I am poignantly aware it’s a peace not easily won. Andreas started nearly from scratch, was a hair away from packing it in on more than one occasion, and has prevailed by determination and sheer talent.

The man is a master of dry and almost dry Mosel Riesling. That is to say, a master at a genre that was barely tolerable until not very long ago. To do this, you have to have an excellent palate, plus the know-how to enact your vision. Mosel Trockens will never have the generous bodies and amenable acids of, say, Pfalz wines, and they have to locate a fullness and a mid-palate buoyancy that’s not so often found. Johannes Selbach is the only other vintner I know who seems to have The Touch with dry Mosels.

Afterword: Another one of the reasons that I don’t do many trade tastings any more is the preponderance of the same old “usual suspects” that are being poured. That’s not to say that a lot of them aren’t of high quality, but they just leave me with a “so what” kind o’ feeling. There was none of that going on here, however; just about everything I tasted was exceptional, the kind of stuff I want to drink all the time. This tasting gave ample evidence to what I already knew intellectually (and from a few things enjoyed previously); the Terry Theise portfolio is chock full of amazing wines. Maybe next time, I can see my way to taste a few of the reds being poured!

Terry Theise wines are imported by Michael Skurnick Wines, Syosset, NY.

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LFC’s Island View Vineyard Pinot Blanc has been one of our two or three favorite Michigan wines since we first tasted the ‘06 from tank back in 2007, and we bought every vintage in quantities until 2015. That was when Ulbrich was unable to bottle from this site exclusively, because of seriously lower yields, due to the brutal winter of 2013-14. His solution was to combine what could be harvested from Island View with two adjacent Pinot Blanc plots and come up with a very good 2014 “Island View Corner” bottling that would seem to have given him the idea that there might be enough good fruit to be had from other vineyards to create a second LFC Pinot Blanc, once the original plot had recovered to once again make the single vineyard bottling. That time has come, and here’s what he came up with.

2016 Left Foot Charley Pinot Blanc Old Mission Peninsula, 13% alc., $17.99: Clean, medium color, with a pleasantly inviting nose of green apple and citrus; flavors echo, being a little tart on the tongue, with some underlying mineral and a very subtle herbaceous quality. Medium body, with great acids and good length, this is the kind of dry white that I like to drink, and really has me itching to try the soon-to-be-released 2016 LFC Island View Pinot Blanc.
LFC: “This Pinot Blanc is a blend of three excellent young vineyard sites on Old Mission Peninsula. We fermented each lot independently to get a feel for their respective terroir contributions. Each was fermented in stainless steel. The three work very well to bring a complement of fresh apple and pear qualities with a firm but well layered palate. We expect this Pinot Blanc to develop more complexity in the bottle over the next two years.” Find this wine

Bryan Ulbrich LOVES Riesling, and it shows in each and every bottling his urban winery has produced since its inception. My personal favorite is the Seventh Hill Farm.

2013 Left Foot Charley Seventh Hill Farm Riesling Old Mission Peninsula, 11.3% alc., $19.99: Pale in color, with no floaties of any kind; the pleasant, if not overly effusive nose offers not-quite-equal parts citrus mineral and petrol. Things pick up nicely on the palate with rich medium-dry Riesling character, and the slightly oily texture makes this seem a little more than medium bodied, with racy acids and good length on the finish. I was wondering how this might compare with the brilliant 2012 Seventh Hill Farm Riesling, but that one set a mighty high bar, so this one will have to settle for being “merely” really tasty, and cellar time is likely to allow it to evolve into something even better.
LFC: “We took a very relaxed approach with this Riesling in 2013 and it has been aging in our cellar for two years in the bottle. The vintage delivered an edge that needed to be softened. We let this part of the vineyard ride a very slow fermentation throughout the stillness of winter and spring. The long aging with the yeast gave the wine a rounded counterpart to the fruity acid. It’s different than any Riesling we have made from this site. Rather like nectarine jam over a soft English muffin – no butter of course.”
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I’ll be going back for more of these little lovelies, both of which are very food friendly, and a delight to serve as both aperitifs and back deck sippers.

Reporting from Day-twah,

Bastardo

We arrived to find Greg holding court behind the bar, which was lined with bottles of the selections we’d be tasting. Christina was interacting with guests in the room, with more-than-able assistance from Great Lakes Wines and Spirits super-reps Monica Wilde and Rebecca Poling. We were greeted with glasses of Chardonnay and I pulled out my trusty pen and note pad and started tasting and scribbling.

2015 Ridge Santa Cruz Mountains Estate Chardonnay Monte Bello Vineyard, 14.5% alc., $54: This exudes a ripe apple-pear and sweet oak bouquet that’s a bit toasty, and I like that. Rich, fairly ripe flavors echo and expand on the promise of the nose so nicely; the wine is full bodied, with great depth, balance and acidity and very good length. Christina says that the oak, mostly neutral American, with some French, has been toned down some over the past few years, and it shows. This is as fine a Ridge Estate Chardonnay as I can remember tasting, and a delight to sip on as the event gets started. Find this wine

Monica pulled the following selection from her “wine closet” and brought it along to contrast and compare with the 2015.

2007 Ridge Santa Cruz Mountains Estate Chardonnay Monte Bello Vineyard, 14.7% alc.: The clean, medium color gives no telltale signs of its age, and while the nose is not nearly as exuberant as that on the ’15, it does give just a hint of something like caramel. Surprisingly fresh on the palate, super silky, and showing no secondary characteristics, it’s all lovely apple-pear laced with a little mineral. Full bodied; the acids are still racy and there’s nice length on the finish. Find this wine

I reported on this next one last fall, but it’s always nice to get another taste, especially since this bottle was opened almost 8 hours earlier.

2014 Ridge Sonoma Three Valleys, 65% Zinfandel, 17% Petite Sirah, 14% Carignane, 4% Grenache, 14.5% alc., $27.00: This offers notes of rhubarb and mineral on the nose. Earthy and ripe (but not too ripe) on the palate, with black raspberry and blackberry flavors; full bodied, beautifully balanced and drinking quite well now, yet structured for at least a few more years in the cellar. Find this wine

I reviewed the 2014 versions of the following three after Christina’s last visit, a little over a year ago.

2015 Ridge Paso Robles Zinfandel, 14.8%, $35: There’s something like sea air-aquarium (really!) on the nose here; with great balance and perfect ripeness, this is quintessential Paso Robles Zin and eminently drinkable already, but structured for at least 10 years of aging and development. Find this wine

2015 Ridge Dry Creek Valley East Bench Zinfandel, 14.7%, $33: Rich and ripe on the nose, with more of the same on the palate; beautiful Zin with that distinctive Ridge character and some earth underneath it all. Structured for several years in the cellar, but drinking well now, especially with air and/or some grilled red meats. Find this wine

There were two bottles of the new Geezer, one freshly opened and one that had gotten lots of air.

2015 Ridge Geyserville Alexander Valley, 70% Zinfandel, 15% Carignane, 12% Petite Sirah, 3% Alicante Bouschet, 14.5% alc., $40.00: Opened at 11 AM, 8 hours earlier: Big, rich and impressive; great power and intensity, with classic Geyserville character and obviously enjoying the extended aeration, being more than approachable.
Opened at the tasting: Less generous than the bottle opened 8 hours earlier, and showing more wood, though not “oaky,” per se. The side-by-side really demonstrates the benefits of giving this plenty of air at this juncture, so give it at least an hour in a decanter if you’re going to open one now, and enjoy with grilled lamb-sickles a la Canadian Zinfan. Your best option, however, will be to tuck it safely away in the cellar for 10 years or longer. Find this wine

Christina (above left, with Rebecca Poling and Monica Wilde) had the following selection and the ’05 Monte Bello flown in for the tasting.

2009 Ridge Lytton Springs Dry Creek Valley, 74% Zinfandel, 23% Petite Sirah, 6% Carignane, 14.5% alc.: Surprisingly stingy on the nose, but big, deep and dark on the palate, and the earthiest red tasted so far on this occasion. Not as ripe as the Three Valleys, Paso or East Bench, being much more “claret-like” in style, this will likely resemble mature Bordeaux with extended age, as these often do. Find this wine

This next wine was generously donated by another of Monica’s accounts to compare with the previous vintage.

2010 Ridge Lytton Springs Dry Creek Valley, 67% Zinfandel, 23% Petite Sirah, 7% Carignane, 3% Mataro, 14.4% alc.: A bit lighter and more approachable than the ’09, but still big, rich and ripe; a great demonstration of how different one vintage can be from the next in an iconic vineyard. Open this now and give it some air, if you want (or put it down for 5-10 years or more), but leave the ’09 alone for several more years. Find this wine

2005 Ridge Monte Bello Santa Cruz Mountains, 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 13.4% alc.: “Draper perfume” mingles with sea air on the nose; this is obviously a big change of pace from the Zins, all black currant, blackberry and leather, with some well-integrated oak lurking in the wings. Silky tannins allow for pleasurable drinking now (it was also opened at 11 AM), so much so that I’m wishing I had some thinly sliced, medium rare filet mignon in front of me while tasting it. A lovely wine that will continue to evolve over the next 8-15 years and beyond. Find this wine

What a great way to spend an evening, tasting Ridge wines with some very cool friends in an old school Corktown barroom. Next time you’re in that venerable Detroit neighborhood, stop in for some good food and wine (or beer, or cocktails) and tell ‘em Gang of Pour sent you.

Reporting from Day-twah,

Bastardo

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For the uninitiated, orange wines are white varieties that are produced in the same manner as red wines. Whereas the vast majority of whites are made by removing skins and other solids early on in the winemaking process, those same skins and solids are left in contact throughout maceration and into the aging process. Troon Vineyard General Manager Craig Camp describes the process used for this particular wine thusly: “Produced essentially the same way as our red wines, this fruit was first crushed by foot, destemmed, then it was transferred to one-ton fermenters. The native yeast fermentation started after fourty-eight hours and completed in ten days. The fermenters were punched down by hand once a day. It was then pressed into neutral French Oak barrels for three months. That’s it.”

To be honest, the few orange wines I’ve tried previously did nothing whatsoever for me, but our impressions of Troon’s offerings have been mostly very favorable, so I was more than a little curious as to how I’d react to sipping this one over a few hours.

2016 Troon Riesling, Whole Grape Ferment, Applegate Valley, 12% alc., SRP $20.00: Yes, this has something of an orange-gold color; it’s not terribly expressive on the nose, but what’s here, while a little hard to describe, is not unpleasant. It shows good intensity on the palate, and is unlike any Riesling I can remember tasting, offering a good dose of mineral, with zippy acids on a medium bodied frame. The closest I can come to describing the fruit here is something like star fruit with hints of orange and cinnamon. Despite its unusual character, this fairly rich, completely dry wine grows on me with each sip, and by the second glass, I find it to be quite pleasant, and very food friendly. Kim disagrees, and doesn’t care for it at all. It’s not for everyone, to be sure, but it’s certainly not one of your “usual suspects,” either. Find this wine

Camp recommends pairing this with tapas, “as it literally can be matched with almost any food as it’s the white grape version of rosé combining a bright fruitiness with some structure.” He also states that Troon will be adding a Vermentino to its “orange wine” program in 2017, so I’ll be interested in seeing (tasting) what that one’s all about.

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Bastardo

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Boo!

I kept an eye out for more of it during my explorations over the next few weeks, and found the following three instead. I brought them home to see if they are as good as the Pinot Blanc, and I’m pleased to report that they mostly are.

“All of The Furst… wines are made by Cave Vinicole de Kietzenheim-Kaysersberg. The Cave is a small consortium of wine growers located on the foothills of the Vosges mountains. Participating growers generally own small vineyards, averaging 3 to 5 acres in size. Such small holdings would not permit each grower to produce enough wine to be commercially viable and certainly not to have enough quantities to export wines. Therefore, the “Cave Vinicole de Kietzenheim-Kayserberg” was created.

The group limits the number of participating growers as well as Cave employees – there is only one wine maker and an agronomist on staff who make all of the necessary decisions in order to guarantee quality and consistency in production.” ~ Eagle Eye Brands Website

2014 The Furst… Riesling Alsace, 13% alc., $11.99: Clean, medium color, with an expressive nose of slightly herbaceous green apple and mineral; the pungent flavors echo and expand, with wet stone minerality. Medium bodied, with some of that characteristic Alsatian oiliness, brisk acids and good length on the finish. This wine has quickly become my go-to QPR white, period. I’ve already gone through half a case, I like it that much. Find this wine

2012 The Furst… Pinot Gris Alsace, 13% alc., $14.97: Clean, pale gold color; rich, fairly intense and showing a bit of residual sugar. A friend described this as “flabby,” but there’s deceptive nervosity present, perhaps disguised a little by the oily texture. Lots of apricot and some ripe golden delicious apple dominate the wine’s character; medium bodied and more, with the aforementioned acids and good length on the finish, where some mineral makes itself known. Not too complex, but pleasant and enjoyable for what it is. Find this wine

2014 The Furst… Gewürztraminer Alsace, 13.5% alc., $14.99: Medium straw-pale gold in color, and unmistakably gewurz in both flavor and aroma, all litchi shaded with rose water. Rich and flavorful, medium-to-medium-full bodied, and a little oily, with ample acids and good length. Good value for what’s in the bottle; I’ve already had a couple of bottles, and will be procuring more of both this and the Riesling. Find this wine

I like the fact that there are still a few quality Alsatians out there that can be had for relatively few dollars, though they are precious few to be sure, and the four that I’ve recently encountered from The Furst… all fit that bill. (I also like the artsy labels and easy-to-open STELVIN® closures.) Now, if I could only find more of that Pinot Blanc…

The Furst… imported by Eagle Eye Brands, Chicago, IL

Reporting from Day-twah,

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