2006 Luce della Vite Brunello di Montalcino

92 Points

Dark red color and surprisingly muted nose of dry brush, dried cranberry and tobacco. Decanted and let sit for an hour, but still closed on the nose. Even after two hours it still had not opened up fully.

The flavor is quite a contrast.

Plum and more cranberry rush out and then are followed by more traditional Brunello tightness of dirt and slight tannin bite through a long finish. It is a very classic Brunello and drinking quite well now, but I can imagine it lasting several more years quite nicely.

I rate this a 96. James Suckling noted wine writer with a focus on Italian wine gave it the knock out score of 100.

Excellent with a spicy Indian meal. Very nice to enjoy after the meal. 

WR

2006 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Precious Mountain

Lovely nose of berries and cherries with a hint of spice. Reserved flavor of berries in the mouth, some dusty earth and a fine structured finish. This is a very well made wine and I have had enough of the Williams Selyem Pinots over the last year to taste a distinct style. It is more french in style. There is more structure, a bit more acid, but still typically sweet fruit. The wines go well with food, tonight in my case a simple tortilla soup and biscuits. These wines often have an almost perfume like nose of fruit. This one was a bit more forward on the nose and laid back a bit while drinking. Nonetheless, this is a well made and enjoyable Pinot Noir. Pricing on these is a bit of a challenge. They are pretty much all on allocation and so prices are naturally quite high. So for me, this kind of a wine would be for a treat, and it lives up to that challenge comfortably.



Williams Selyem is a noted producer of in particular Russian River Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. The winery tasting notes are here.

WR

2006 Achaval Ferrer Quimera

This wine is a K&L Wine Club wine for February and the buyer who found this gem for this price deserves a raise, a bonus or a couple of cases of this stuff as a reward.

This is a rocking good wine, right now!

It is clear that it will be a rocking good wine that you can enjoy anytime between now and 10 years from now if not more. It is a classic Bordeaux style blend out of Argentina. The nose is chocolate and spice, on the tongue it is bright and invigorating. It shows excellent balance and structure with very smooth and elegant finish. There is a light touch of oak in the flavor that I suspect will melt away, but get a bottle and open it now and enjoy it. You will not be disappointed with this wine.

2006 Pax "Obsidian" Syrah Beltramo's 6 of 6

This was the final wine of the flight. It was a shift to Syrah, so it stood out with more up front fruit and punch in terms of flavor impact from the Cabernet's and blends which were all more complex. It tasted great. Plump blackberry and herb nose, with a dark color. The flavor was very rich and lovely spicy bites flavored a long and velvety finish. Clear to see why Parker liked this wine.

I had not heard of Pax wines previously, so as an introduction it was very positive.

This wine finished 5th of 6 in the group. Now that may sound harsh, but quite frankly I would say that Parker has isolated a group of very nice wines here, and absent the Verite being off its game, any one of these wines served to most anyone would produce a very positive reaction.


WR

2006 Michel Picard Corton Clos des Fietres Beltramo's 8 of 9

This wine was a mystery. The nose was subdued. It really did not give off much of anything. The wine itself started with a burst of tannin and acid, carried along with some big berry fruit. It certainly stuck with you as it literally finished all of the way down my throat. I have some experience with good Burgundy, but not really that much with older wines. Some that I have had have been very good, others just weak and dead. This wine must be built to last. It has the pieces to be very good, but I would have a very difficult time playing the odds on that actually happening. I just really do not see the fruit coming forward, or perhaps the tannins resolving away sufficiently that this will end up a great bottle. And at $90, it would need to be very good to justify its price.

6th place out of 9.

WR

2006 La Pousse d'Or Corton Clos du Roi Beltramo's 9 of 9

Okay, this was the best wine of the group by quite a margin. It was also the most expensive at $115 per bottle.

What made this special? First the nose was a beautiful fragrant blend of sweet strawberry and blackberry. The nose was special. Then it was followed by a wonderful fresh burst of fruit on the tongue, followed by a great slightly tart slightly sweet finish. The finish was lovely. Everything one looks for in a fine pinot from France. The fruit the fine wine making, structure, taste the works.

Definitely and easily 1st of the 9 wines.


North Berkeley Imports has the scoop on the La Pousse the winery.

And that concludes the Beltramo's tasting notes.

WR

2006 La Pousse d'Or Volnay "Clos des 60 Ouvrees" Beltramo's 6 of 9

Nose of berries and a lovely ruby color. Fresh fruit starts off the mouth and opens up with strawberry hints. It is very light, but with excellent structure and balance, making it a very solid wine. Would be great with veal or game hen.

3rd place out of 9.

WR

2006 Mongeard-Mugneret Savigny-les Beaune "Les Narbantons" Beltramo's 4 of 9

This was a very closed wine. Essentially no nose in the glass. Follow that up with the taste of chalky dirt and gravel. Not a revelation. Clearly this wine is not ready for this type of tasting. Even 15 minutes later when you could start to sniff some strawberry hints on the nose, the flavor in the glass was not there. Not really fair to judge a bottle like this, it clearly needs much more time to show its true nature.

8th place out of 9. Just can't rate it well, if it cannot show well.

WR

2006 Simon Bize et Fils Savigny-les Beaune "Les Fournaux" Beltramo's 3 of 9

Berry/cherry nose, lovely color in the glass. Starts with a tight acid bite, but loosens up and has a nice dark fruit, blackberry(?), flavor and a long pleasant softening finish. Nice wine, drinkable now, drinkable in a couple of years I am sure.

4th place out of 9.

WR

2006 Lewis Reserve Cabernet

Went to a K&L tasting of Lewis wines, this will be one of four notes from the tasting.

This was a great fruit forward Cab with a very strong tannin finish. The tannins were very powerful, so there was quite a bit of pucker power, but they also had enough sweetness and following on the lovely fruit, made a nice glass. This Cab is big and bold and I think be a real treat in another 5-7 years, when some of the tannin bite will have smoothed out, but the fruit will still be very vital. The color of this wine is also a marvel, it is inky black, with almost no translucence, and that was the case even with a small one ounce pour.

K&L has tastings in the Redwood City store on Friday evenings and Saturdays. This tasting included the Lewis's, Randy and his wife Debbie, behind the bar pouring. There was a pretty strong crowd and I was there with a friend so did not get much chance to talk to the Lewis's. It was clear the group was enjoying the wines.

WR

2006 Joel Gott 815 Cabernet

This is a very enjoyable Cabernet, even at this very young age. It drinks beautifully. It is a deep ruby, very clear red. The most notable flavor on the nose for me is coffee. It is a lovely subtle flavor blended with berry.

The wine on the tongue is equally delightful. Much bolder than the nose, it has great blackberry tones and the tannins deliver a solid integrated finish. I think it would be very interesting to taste this wine again in three or four years and see what the time has done for it. My instinct is that it will develop very nicely. It is not a wine built for twenty years, but a bit of age would turn it from something that is nice to enjoy now, to something much more special.

The price is under $20 for this wine, but you could do much worse for many more dollars. Great with a grilled steak or steak burger.

You can find out about the entire line of Joel Gott wines here.






WR

2006 Hartley Ostini Hitching Post Generation Red

Wow, the title for this wine is a mouthful. I have been drinking the Hitching Post Pinot Noirs for several years. I tried them the first time a few years back when the California Central Coast was making its break from Napa and creating its own distinctive wines. I know that it was happening long before that, but it was very regional, as most wine is, and so it was a well established region long before it showed up on my radar.

In any case, I would not recommend this wine. However, it is a fine wine, especially for the price. It is a blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Refosco and Syrah. It is a strong blend and has a powerful nose and an in your face flavor from the cork popping on. So why not recommend it, well it is a wine for someone who is willing to try something unique that does not fit the mode. Most people who ask me for a recommendation are looking for something that they can relate to. A cab, or pinot or chardonnay. This wine does not fit. I was a nice journey off the beaten path, but if you have read my reviews, you will note that I tend to enjoy wine. Diversity is my spice. The only real issue I had, and again for the price it is not a big quibble, was the finish. It ended with a very bitter taste. Not sure what gave it that hard bite at the end, but it did certainly diminish the experience.

One last comment. The wine includes Refosco grape. It is one I had never heard of. That is not that shocking, but it is always fun to poke around and learn new lessons on wine. It is a grape from the north of Italy and Slovenia. A dark, thick skinned grape that tends to be tannic. I wonder it I have discovered the "bitter" taste afterall.

WR

2006 Santa Margherita Chianti Classico

Went to a local italian restaurant on Friday night. The food is usually very good, it is close by and the staff are very strong. So, it is a spot we go every now and then. The Santa Margherita Chianti was suggested, and since I have long been a fan of their Pinot Grigio I thought why not.

Pros, the wine is fresh and sturdy. Cons, the wine is fresh and sturdy. What?

This wine is too young. The Italian's used to be pretty tough on bottle age for the chianti classico. It needs some time to mature. It will be good I think, except the whole sturdy part. One of the things that I like about a chianti is the fresh fruit, but lighter style that predominates. This one is a bit more structured. I think it will end up loosening up and turning into a nice pleasant food wine, but it will need some of the structure to fall back.

We shall see.

Link to the Winery.

WR

2006 F Magnien Criots-Batard-Montrachet 6 of 9

Could not really figure this one out. It was a nice sip of wine, but even blind without the price, it was not what I look for in a Burgundy. It started with the nose. Refreshing blend of fruit, but with a flavor of orange. Not what I am used to at all. The taste was very tight. The finish turned floral in nature and was long and satisfying.

Bottle $235.00, taste $20. At that price, I just can't see the attraction.

Back in awhile.

leh

2006 Antonin Guyton Corton-Charlemagne 1 of 9

Nose was a fruit blend with what was a very faint nose of port. Others were said to have thought Cognac. But while an odd flavor smell when you read it, on the nose it very much enhanced the wine. The taste was steel, dry gravel, dusty mineral, but in the good way that fine Burgundies deliver in that way, which explains its ranking at number 1 of the flight. This would be good anywhere at any time.

Bottle $119.99, taste $12.

Back in awhile.

leh

2006 William Fevre Chablis "Les Preuses 2 of 9

Lovely wine. Great nose, of pear, apple and lemon. Wonderful flavors in the mouth with a deep satisfying finish. Very competitive for favorite of the tasting. A great combination of fruit but well balanced with acid and the result was a very satisfying fully integrated wine.

Bottle $79.99, taste $8.

Back in awhile.

leh

2006 William Fevre Chablis "Les Clos" 4 of 9

The nose was very light, a slight wafting of fruit. The initial sip was closed, but it then opened into a very classic style steely, minerally French Chardonnay. Just what you would expect in a well made Chablis.

Bottle $94.99, taste $9.

Back in awhile.

leh

2006 Bernard Morey Chassagne Motrachet "Vide Bourse" 9 of 9

I think this was me. I heard another couple of guys talking and they liked this. To me the nose was closed and the wine was over dry, almost parching on the tongue. The fruit got lost somewhere, but I can't figure out where. One of those things. I did re-taste again at the end to see if it had changed at all, but could not detect anything. By then my taste buds were getting shot. I am not a professional so I start to lose my taste after 7 or 8 wines. The nose holds nicely, but the mouth just shuts down.

Bottle $69.99, taste 7.

Back in awhile.

leh

2006 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Saint-Aubin "En Remilly" 3 of 9

This in many respects was the wine of the tasting for me. The price is 1/3 or less the two wines that finished ahead of it, but it was their equal.

Lovely strong pear-lemon nose, full flavor through the entire sip and classic Burgundy mineral flavors. Rich in flavor, with a bit more oak than the first three, but still bone dry and not at all prevalent oak flavor. Very nice wine. Would be great with a nice white fish.

Bottle $39.99, taste $4.

Back in awhile.

leh

2006 Oliver Leflaie Saint-Aubin "En Remilly" 7 of 9

Started with a nose of fruit, again predominantly apple. The first taste was flat. Cleared my palate again, and waited awhile to try it. The second sip was much more open. Also the nose had added some floral elements, which were nice. I would be interested in what this wine would do over an hour or two.

Bottle $39.99, taste $4.

Back in awhile.

leh