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Satellite of Soif
Chicago, IL
Tasted March 23, 2019 by acyso with 291 views
Flight 1 (37 notes)
White
2016 Koehler-Ruprecht Weißer Burgunder Kabinett trocken
Very pleasant stuff -- a mild bit of peachiness with just a touch of sweetness to round it out. Riper, but nicely balanced.
White
2015 Koehler-Ruprecht Kallstadter Saumagen Riesling Spätlese trocken
Nice heft overall here, with a good amount of ripe fruit. A little drier than I generally like, with a slight hint of smoke.
White - Off-dry
2013 Koehler-Ruprecht Riesling Kabinett halbtrocken
Definitely a bit more sweetness overall here, but generally well-balanced with the acidity and dry extract.
Rosé
2017 Koehler-Ruprecht Pinot Noir Rosé Kabinett trocken
A slight bit of earthy funk and mushroom on the nose, but overall nice juiciness and freshness.
White
2016 Immich-Batterieberg Riesling C.A.I. Kabinett Trocken
A nice lean fruit profile here, but overall quite dry. The fruit here helps to balance out the acidity.
White
2017 Immich-Batterieberg Riesling Detonation
Super cool label and name. From better parcels of the estate wine. Overall, tons of smoky minerality, but not quite enough fruit to balance out the acidity.
White
2017 Immich-Batterieberg Riesling Escheburg
Definitely a step up from the Detonation -- lots of minerality here just like the other wines, but there is a little more fruit to round everything out.
Red
2017 La Senda Vindemiatrix
There's a touch of carbonic on this, but there's a nice juiciness to this wine. Light and quaffable, with a fair bit of tannins.
Red
2017 La Senda Mencía Bierzo 1984
Far more intense than the Vindemiatrix. Lots of chewy minerality and earth here. The tannins are definitely more powerful here as well.
Rosé
2017 Bichi La Rosa
From all sorts of unknown grapes. Juicy and fresh, uncomplicated but generally just quite delicious.
Red
2017 Bichi La Santa
Could come across as some sort of ruche rose -- there's a really nice delicate freshness here, with juicy red fruit and plenty of acidity, but also an unexpectedly high amount of tannin on the back end.
Red
2017 Bichi La Flama Roja
Despite the intense smoke and leather qualities on the nose and palate here, there's some really nice lightness thanks to the acidity here. It's more of a black-fruited wine, but with lovely drinkability.
White
2015 Weingut Clemens Busch Riesling Trocken
For this lower level stuff, this displays a somewhat surprising amount of density and breadth on the palate. A bit fat, but the acidity definitely helps balance this out.
White
2014 Weingut Clemens Busch Riesling trocken vom Roten Schiefer
A bit lighter than the 2015 estate -- might be a bit of a reflection of the vintage. Strong core of minerality here, with more overall complexity.
White
2016 Weingut Clemens Busch Marienburg Riesling Großes Gewächs
Ripe and powerful, though the fruit isn't as expressive as I generally like to see in GGs. It's got a good dose of stony minerality and very clean fruit. Definitely more complex than the preceding wines too.
White
2016 Weingut Clemens Busch Pündericher Marienburg Riesling Kabinett
A little broader and thicker than I would expect from a Kabinett. This is also on the sweeter side of the Praedikat, and there's also a good amount of acidity. Pretty mouthwatering and tasty, if not the most overall complex.
Red - Sparkling
2017 Broc Cellars Valdiguié Petillant Wine
Quite interesting -- there's a really clear note of watermelon on the nose. The palate is juicy and sweet, and to my palate, just a touch candied as well. I preferred the "regular" valdiguie.
Red
2017 Broc Cellars Valdiguié
Juicy and tasty, with a bright red-fruited profile. Only moderate tannins, this is drinkable and delicious.
Red
2017 Broc Cellars Zinfandel Vine Starr Red
As far as zinfandel goes, this is definitely more approachable for my palate. It's light, even given the black fruit and peppercorns. Plenty of acidity and freshness, none of the usual heaviness of zinfandel.
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Red
2018 La Grange aux Belles Vin de France La Chaussée Rouge
More carbonic and glou glou than I like, and with the slight green pepper notes, can't say that I was a massive fan of this.
Red
2018 La Grange aux Belles Vin de France Brise d'Aunis
I suspect this was the right vintage -- forgot to check. Easygoing and fruity, with a really nice freshness. A touch nattier than I would like, but not over the top. Sneaky tannins.
Orange
2017 Costador Macabeo Brisat Metamorphika
Skin-contact white, but without many of the associated off-flavours. Love the salinity and acidity here. Reminds me a bit of a Colares.
Red
2016 Costador Sumoll Metamorphika
Seems to have a slight mild reduction. Earthy and red-fruited with a very pure fruit profile.
Red
2017 Costador Trepat Metamorphika
Very tannic with lots of black fruit and a bit of a peppery note. Reminds me a little bit of zinfandel. Good acidity overall.
Red
2016 Costador Garnatxa Negra Metamorphika
The most normal of the grapes ironically was the least interesting of the wines, at least to me. Again fairly reductive, and a mix of red and black fruit. Moderate tannins.
White
2017 La Clarine Farm One-Eighty
This is a really weird blend (albarino and roussanne) but it works. The albarino gives this the acidity it needs, and the roussanne that aromatic lift. Juicy, with a distinct apricot note. Super fun stuff!
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Rosé
2017 La Clarine Farm Rosé Alors!
From mourvedre, but comes across with slightly more grapey quality than I like. Pleasant, but I much preferred the Cedarville.
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Red
2017 La Clarine Farm Mourvèdre Cedarville
Wow, the nose is a dead ringer for macerated strawberries. It's a super distinctive quality, but the nose is that distinctive. Eminently quaffable and delicious, with that sweet juicy quality really making this a tasty beverage.
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Red
2016 La Clarine Farm Syrah Sumu Kaw Vineyard
As far as syrah goes, this definitely has the right bit of black pepper, but I found the palate a little more juicy and with less depth than I typically like. I think it's my predilection for classic Northern Rhone wines; there's something a little too glou-glou about this one.
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Red
2015 Domaine des Pothiers Côte Roannaise Domaine
The saccharine quality of gamay doesn't seem to manifest as intensely here, and gives way to some really cheerful and sweet red fruit. Juicy and tasty.
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Red
2017 Domaine des Pothiers Côte Roannaise Numero Six
Darker and more intense than the 2015 Domaine. Again, none of the saccharine quality of gamay (I only really picked it up on the pet nat), but some surprising tannin with black fruit.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Domaine des Pothiers Côte Roannaise Eclipse
Still a touch sweet, which is actually quite nice, since it coincides with some reduced alcohol and a general increase in drinkability. Seems almost like slightly fizzy and mildly alcoholic grape juice; there is a little bit of that gamay taste on the back end here though.
White - Sparkling
2017 MicroBio Wines Afinador de Estrellas
Whoa... more like fizzy dead yeast water here... don't get this at all.
White
2017 MicroBio Wines Ser Vivo Diminuto
From verdelho (don't know the natty wine spelling of the grape). Mildly fizzy, super high acid, and tons of dead yeast. Looks a bit like kombucha...
Rosé
2017 MicroBio Wines Correcaminos Rosé
Of the three Correcaminos, this was the only one that was mildly drinkable. A blend of tempranillo and verdelho. Comes across more like a sour beer than as wine, and if you close your eyes to the genre, it's almost ok. There's a touch of sweetness here that's kind of pleasant, but overall, still too much dead yeast for my taste.
Red
2016 MicroBio Wines Correcaminos
Sweet and kind of juicy. There's overall good acidity and freshness here, but there's a slight bit of a natty aftertaste on the back end, at least for me.
Red
2014 MicroBio Wines Tempranillo Sietejuntos
For my palate, too juicy. This seems like it's not quite finished vinifying yet, and there's a sort of bubbly lightness here that doesn't work with the more intense and black fruit of the grape. Tannic and a little confused as to what it should be.