| Wine Type | Vintage Name Variety Locale | Date Posted Score Helpful Comments Comment Date Community Score More... |
|---|---|---|
| Red |
2009 Glenelly Estate Grand VinStellenbosch Red Blend more |
11/15/2015 - mjwstickings Likes this wine: 91 pointsAs much as a blend of French varietals, this is a blend of two distinct French styles -- elegant, Cab-based Bordeaux meeting rustic, Syrah-based Midi -- and in that blend it achieves remarkable balance and complexity. Cassis, blackberry, raspberry, tobacco, graphite, smoke, black pepper, roast meat... the aromatic and flavour notes are many, and each sip brings new rewards, supported by impressive structure and enlivening acidity, the intensity building throughout. Depth and length are impressive too, with loads of potential development even six years on. This walks a fine line, to be sure, a tightrope blend that could easily fall apart, but instead it all holds together, far surpassing even the impressive sum of its parts. |
| Red |
2014 Château RecougneBordeaux Supérieur Red Bordeaux Blend more |
3/8/2018 - mjwstickings Likes this wine: 87 pointsAromas of plum, raspberry, cherry, smoke, green pepper, brown spice, and minerals drive this nice, value-oriented ($16 in Ontario) blend of 90% Merlot, 2% Carménère, and 8% Cabernet Franc from the generic Bordeaux Supérieur appellation, specifically a right-bank expression in this case, from a producer located directly north of Libourne. As with so much inexpensive Bordeaux, the flavours don't live up to the aromas, but there's still decent red fruit and various earthy, spicy notes on the palate (including a licorice-tarragon herbal quality), with just enough uplifting acidity and grounding tannins to maintain structure. It doesn't really hold up, thinning and drying out through the second day, with more and more acidity taking over -- perhaps a couple of years could help, though it doesn't seem to have a ton of substance behind what's already at the fore. In any event, it's unabashedly, and refreshingly, old-fashioned, a savoury match for everyday cuisine, the sort of wine you imagine flowing freely at every Bordeaux table.
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| Red |
2014 Rui Roboredo Madeira BeyraBeira Interior Red Blend more |
1/27/2017 - mjwstickings Likes this wine: 87 pointsA blend of Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo) and Jaen (Mencía) aged 12 months in stainless-steel vats, from high-altitude Beira Interior (vineyards averaging ~700 m), this presents aromas of blackberry, grape, crushed rock, and leather within a nebula of smokiness, leading to a fruity combination of dark berries and tart cherry on the palate, with a sweaty, animalistic quality adding complexity in a way that's better than it sounds. It's lean, rough, and discombobulated, and there isn't all that much depth or length, but the star here turns out to be the saltiness at the end of each sip, straight from the soil, riding a streak of electric acidity, building off the mineral aromatics. This isn't "entry-level," some lesser version of the Reserva, but rather a different expression of the blend altogether, a purer version without the oaky coating, muddled but unadorned, even if it lacks the Reserva's weight and complex richness (due in large part to the oak aging). Like the Reserva, though, it's a super value (just $13 in Ontario) from a winemaker, Rui Madeira, who cares deeply about his terroir, and that very much comes through here. (It's an 87-88 for me, a notch below the Reserva.)
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| White - Sweet/Dessert |
NV Alvear Pedro Ximénez Montilla-Moriles Solera 1927more |
12/24/2016 - mjwstickings Likes this wine: 94 pointsThis must surely be one of the world's greatest drinks. It is certainly one of the greatest things I have ever tasted. From the Montilla-Moriles DO in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia, inland and northeast of famed Spanish sherry-producing region Jerez (and east of Sevilla), this 100% Pedro Ximénez from Alvear offers utterly incredible concentration and intensity, perhaps not surprising given that it's made from a Solera system that dates back to 1927 -- so there are traces of extremely old product in this sherry. And the aromas and flavours are deep and rich, with notes of raisin, prune, dried fig, roasted nuts, baking spices, molasses, buckwheat honey, vanilla, and butterscotch, with faint minerality and oodles of underlying umami character, notably reduced soy sauce / tamari and aged balsamic vinegar. The unctuous texture turns to honey as it warms in the mouth, then it just melts and oozes down. Of course it's very sweet and syrupy, as such a PX must be, but just when it might start cloying a burst of acidity rushes in for balance and refreshment, even if it never loses its richness, like pomegranate molasses. What else is there to say? The length is utterly exceptional -- it seems to go on and on, forever. It's all truly stunning, and such a glorious pleasure to experience, this transformation of grapes in south-central Spain into a luxury of sensuousness and contemplation. (This is also where scores seem to mean little. I would say it's in the 93-94 range, but really it's in a broader 93-97 range. It's not perfect, and nothing is, but it's up there.)
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| Red |
2001 Baron de Ley Rioja ReservaTempranillo more |
7/20/2014 - mjwstickings Likes this wine: 89 pointsThirteen years old, but still a lot of life in this brilliantly well-balanced Rioja; bold aromas of olive, leather, and cedar, but also a joyful kick of red currant tang and deeper red fruits, then pleasantly rich on the palette with good, if not great, length; sophisticated without being brooding, old-fashioned with admirable modern touches.
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| White |
2015 Domaine du Tariquet Côtes de Gascogne ClassicWhite Blend more |
8/27/2016 - mjwstickings Likes this wine: 88 pointsIt's hard to find a better value than this, a lovely, refreshing, complex, food-friendly white for less than $15 (in Canada). It's from the rarely seen Cotes de Gascogne, and it's a blend of Sauvignon Blanc with two lesser known (if regionally distinct) varietals, Ugni Blanc and Colombard, and that must explain the value, but good is good. And this is, with SB aromas of passion fruit, guava, and freshly cut grass complemented by pear, nectarine, lemon, and white pepper, nicely replayed on the palate (until, with time, the fruit recedes and is replaced by an overriding nuttiness). With some substantial spritziness and plenty of acidic tartness, it's certainly palate-cleansing, yet it also has a lush mouthfeel, suggesting depth, and there's nice length with a bit of bitterness lurking on the dry finish. This isn't anything profound, to be sure, and it needs to be drunk well-chilled and right away, but it's proof that there's not just great value but also immense quality well off the beaten track.
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| Red |
2013 Espelt Garnacha Empordà Old Vinesmore |
8/22/2015 - mjwstickings Likes this wine: 90 pointsYou don't see many wines from Empordà in Ontario, but this fabulous old vines Garnacha seems to be very much a product of its Catalonian terroir in northeastern Spain, at the very northeastern tip of the country south of the French border, a union of French Grenache and Spanish Garnacha, the region's moderating Mediterranean climate helping it achieve balance and complexity that are simply astounding at this price ($15). It opens with olives, capers, and brine, adding a sense of herbs growing out of rocks, all quite meaty and minerally. But then the soft Garnacha fruit appears, darker at first, blueberries, plums, and ripe cherries, then lighter and sweeter, raspberry and strawberry, with licorice, cranberry, vanilla, and pepper as well. The flavours are bold, but there isn't the thick soupiness and cloying sweetness you often find in overdone Spanish Garnacha, and the length is excellent. Just a fantastic single-varietal expression, and even better given the value.
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| Red |
2013 Niepoort Dão RótuloRed Blend more |
10/29/2016 - mjwstickings Likes this wine: 88 pointsIt's always nice when you find a more value-oriented wine from a famed producer whose wines are generally rather expensive, and this is certainly that, a high-value ($19 in Ontario) blend of three indigenous Portuguese varietals (Touriga Nacional, Jaen, and Alfrocheiro) from Niepoort, most famous for its ports and Douro wines (Niepoort, led by Dirk, is one of the so-called "Douro Boys," a group of five wineries that has sought to elevate dry Douro wine to the level of the more reputed ports of the region). The Rótulo is from Dão, reflecting Niepoort's expansion to other regions in Portugal, and the 2013 is just the second vintage. And while it's not great wine, to be sure, it nonetheless offers a marriage of the rustic and the elegant that points to the loftier possibilities of dry Portuguese wine, with well-integrated notes of blackberry, raspberry, dark cherry, black pepper, pomegranate, earth / forest floor, crushed-rock minerality, and balsamic vinegar (and there is a slight acetic note that detracts from the aromatic complexity). It's also surprisingly juicy at first but then thins out on the palate and turns somewhat severe, driven by ample acidity and a dry, mildly tannic finish, both of which suggest a need for additional aging (it was aged for 22 months in cement vats and so has no distracting oak). Solidly in the 88-89 range, this is certainly great value but also fine quality in its own right.
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| Red |
2013 Viña Falernia Syrah ReservaElqui Valley more |
9/5/2016 - mjwstickings Likes this wine: 88 pointsFrom Elqui Valley in northern Chile's Coquimbo region, a valley in the south of the Atacama Desert with high temperatures and low rainfall but benefitting from moderating winds from the Pacific, this reserve Syrah from Viña Falernia, which states that it is the country's "nothernmost winery estate," offers two complementary layers. The first is the lean, rustic, savoury Syrah one finds in southern France, with characteristic meaty (roasted and smoked), earthy, and black peppery notes. The second is the softer, more pillowy, more outwardly fruity Syrah one finds elsewhere in Chile, with blackberry, blueberry, and dark cherry notes. And these work well in harmony, along with electric acidity that cuts through the density and richness and that seems to reflect the intensity of this remote region. It's rough, to be sure, but it's also great value (less than $16 in Ontario), and very much an intriguing expression of Chilean Syrah from one of the country's more extreme regions.
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| Red |
2010 Bodegas Piqueras Almansa Castillo de Almansa SelecciónRed Blend more |
9/2/2016 - mjwstickings Likes this wine: 88 pointsI have long been a fan of the Castillo de Almansa range from Bodegas Piqueras. Year after year, the Reserva is a great value, a deep, rich, complex wine that shows just what this lesser-known appellation can offer. And the old vines "Selección," a blend of Monastrell, Tempranillo, Garnacha Tintorera, and Syrah, is better still. There's plenty of oak, to be sure, but it isn't overused, and the vanilla and brown spice notes (from 12-15 months in French oak) mingle nicely with the blackberry, raspberry, and prune, as well as the additionally savoury black pepper and earth, all wrapped up in a smoky frame. There's certainly some sweetness to it, floating along the satisfyingly rich and luxurious texture, but even at this point in its maturity, where it's drinking so well, there's impressive acidity counter-balancing it (and hence some additional aging potential). For all that, it's still quite rustic, befitting Almansa, and it's both too rough and too meaty/bretty (perhaps from the Syrah), but it's both complex and concentrated, while avoiding the pitfalls of excessive extraction and aging, and the value ($17 in Ontario) is exceptional. Very nicely done.
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Comment posted by mjwstickings:
10/12/2019 2:00:00 PM - Thank you. That's very kind of you to say. It is indeed an excellent wine.