750 mL An independent public journal of tasting notes for wines from around the world--750 mL at a time. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 132 2878

Articles from 750 mL

06 Domaine du Tariquet, Vin de Pays des Cotes de Gascone 2007-08-01 17:07:00 In many ways, these ugni-blanc- and colombard-based wines from the Southwest of France are the new pinot grigio. Or maybe it'd be more apt to call them the old gris. They represent the light, lemony wine--preferred as a house wine by bistros around the world--at a time when pinot grigio itself has gotten too fleshy, ripe, and relaxed. It reminds me of the real northern-Italian bottles that always ...

06 Monkey Bay, New Zealand Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2007-07-26 18:48:00 There's a gully right behind Notre Dame where the markets get started early every summer morning. And they're empty because you woke up late and it's noon and nothing's open but--because the whole city's on its ritual siesta. So you grab your groceries, wind down the road, until you can smell the lavender flowers blowing in from the Tuilieries, and sit--sandwich and cheap sauv blanc in hand--to ...

06 Las Brisas, Rueda White Wine 2007-07-22 10:13:00 Poetry repeats itself. Over and over again, like a liquid incantation, at Las Brisas. This continues to be one of the best young whites on the planet, but you knew I thought that already. I said about as much for the 2004, and this vintage is identical to what I tasted then. I'm still a sucker for this stuff. The tart, grassy grapefuit of its sauvignon blanc. The hints of green apple and melon ...

05 Firesteed, Oregon Pinot Noir 2007-07-17 17:53:00 Like a fruity young barbera, this is a warm-weather wine ideal for warm-weather food--and that means New York-style sausage pizza in the park with a Chicago dog chaser. A wine that restaurants should be scooping up in bushels because of its fruit and because of its staying power (only one of a handful of wines I think reasonable to charge for the day after it's been opened). Dominated by a plummy ...

03 Marques de Gelida, Brut Exclusive Reserva 2007-07-07 18:59:00 This was going to be a review about how cava this old shouldn't still be on the shelves. I was looking forward to it--a fun and rare opportunity to justifiably lambast a megamart or distributor for still collecting dime on such a tired wine. You wouldn't sell months-old lettuce, would you--even if it were hidden in a pretty yellow bottle? That was my line. Then I remembered the 2001, which I ...

05 Valcantara, Grenache Old Vine 2007-07-06 19:49:00 This is a test. But it is more than a test. A test to see if you really like wine, or just names, luxury, and the movie Sideways. The 05 Valcantara grenache is, hands-down, one of the best Spanish grenaches I've ever tried. Wow, this is good. And there's hardly any of that mineral crap I always talk about. Its "sense of place" is mirage-like at best. But it manages to achieve what few wines ever ...

05 Sierra Cantabria, Rioja 2007-07-02 20:03:00 Cantabria tends to get it right--in many ways typifying Rioja for me. Because you can't, on one sip, really figure it out. Is it Old World, is it New World? And who came up with those over-aired, oxidized words? On the open, it's tight and confusing. Too earthy, tough to make out, and really just not all that pleasant. But give it some time and the fruit comes out--a lot like Californian pinot ...

01 LeSec, Chateauneuf du Pape "Chasse-Temps" 2007-06-27 20:37:00 Bitter as a bad loss. Angry. Maybe even sinister. Patrick LeSec's 01 Chateauneuf is like the last runnings of a Halloween candy basket, with little sweetness, but still something you might have at the end of the night when you're high on something else. There's a greenness to this wine that blankets its pleasantries--secondary Rhone flavors of black olive, tar, licorice, and medicinal mint. Funky ...

05 Produttori del Barbaresco, Langhe Nebbiolo 2007-06-26 14:43:00 Funny how those of us who believe in terroir want to make it so limiting. Pommard tastes like this and that's different than Monthelie. Napa is not Carneros. And so on. But sometimes, a wine just tastes like it's from over there--an almost measurably familiar taste that confuses us because we drink too much. The Produttori commune's table wine from Piedmont is this way--ostensibly a few oaky ...

05 Adelsheim, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2007-06-14 22:07:00 We come back to pinot. After all the experiments. We come back to pinot. And Adelsheim's reminds us why coming back to pinot means coming back to the Willamette Valley. The 2005 is surprisingly rich, balanced by powerful acidity. All I taste are ripe, black Bing cherries and raspberry puree. If there's oak, it isn't noticeable except in how rounded and fluid the wine seems. This is hallmark ...

06 Domaine des Cassagnoles, Vin de Pays des Cotes de Gascone 2007-06-12 20:29:00 Gooseberry and grapefruit with a lime twist for everyone who loves the taste of sauvignon blanc--rendered here from Gascony's mass-produced colombard and ugni blanc varietals. It's dry, spicy, and floral. I'm surprised how many that make it to the states (particularly the underknown Domaine de Pouy) taste like this. Bright as can be, mild in alcohol, and not watery. Why point out what's *not* ...

06 CK Mondavi Vineyards, Willow Springs Pinot Grigio 2007-06-11 23:30:00 I wonder which test tube has slate. Or if it's just the faint history of Cesar Mondavi in Italy that gave the family the sensibility to make a simple white wine this decent. Against other Cali pinot grigios that tend to take on strong, sweet melon flavors and aromas far too floral for delicate grapes like this, the Willow Springs at least focuses a bit more on the Old World style. I love the ...

NV Mionetto, Prosecco Valdobbiadene "Sergio" 2007-06-09 00:42:00 Mountain Dew. Maybe Diet Mountain Dew. Mionetto shows off the off-dry/"extra dry" (i.e., slightly sweet) style with the "Sergio," a soda-like sparkling wine probably best with a bit of spicy food or boiled jumbo shrimp cocktail. Poolside sipper. Bellini maker. I'm so tired of wines like this. Is it global warming or the warming of our global palate that makes winemakers distance themselves from ...

06 Cameron Hughes, Lot 26 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2007-05-26 13:10:00 Cameron Hughes is quickly becoming one of the world's leading negociants. He seems to respect terroir, or at least understand that--even if the wines are packed in Frisco Bay--they are born and bred elsewhere. This 12.8% bottling is a humble archetype of New Zealand's best varietal. It's sharp and acidic, sizzling on the tongue. The grapefruit and gooseberry flavors are perfect, classically ...

04 Guigal, Condrieu 2007-05-17 00:09:00 Really a fun wine--at once exceedingly rich aromatically and dry to the point of being transparent on the palate. It's the bain of viognier, especially the northern Rhone's Condrieu--a wine denser than other whites that last years in the bottle, yet one that dies suddenly and soon. Maybe too fast is it's beating heart, too passionate its deciduous perfume of orange Dreamsicle wilted down to white ...