2008 Kingston Family Vineyards SYRAH "Lucero" (Casablanca Valley, Chile)

Eh.  So "international" in style I wouldn't have had a clue what it was or where it was from if I couldn't see the label.  Dark, ripe, very oaky, and with a short finish.  It could be an over-oaked, young vine Cabernet, Merlot, or Syrah from California, France, Italy, Spain, Australia, or South America.

Since drinking a really good Chilean Syrah from Chono, I've been looking for another one of that caliber and have invariably been disappointed.

I don't get the point of making or drinking a wine like this.  It's not flawed or anything, it's just terminally uninteresting.  Was $15 and change on sale from zachys.com, and not worth half that.  C-. 

2011 Christian Lauverjat SANCERRE ROSÉ "Moulin des Vrillères" (Loire, France)

One of the few things I like about hot weather is that it's an excuse to pop a bottle of my favorite type of rosé:  Sancerre.  Pinot Noir, from very chalky soil and a cool climate.  Trifecta for fragrant, vibrant rosé!  This one is really nice.

Absolutely glowingly crystalline light salmon-pink color.  Exuberant nose -- lightly earthy and yeasty, loads of bright stony minerals, fruit conjuring strawberry, golden cherry, and grape.  Bone dry, with bright acids, it comes on minerally, molts into cherry pit and strawberry fruit, and finishes with clean, clingy, intense, slightly bitter minerality.  In other words, lots going on, particularly for a rosé.  A-.  Was $21 at Whole Foods in Arlington (Clarendon).  That's more than basic rosés from the south of France, but it's worth it when looking for something more than just a thirst-slaker.  Imported by Elite Wine Imports, Lorton, VA.

2007 Fattoria Vignavecchia CHIANTI CLASSICO RISERVA (Tuscany, Italy)

Beautiful, textbook Chianti Classico.  Gorgeous, focused fruit, medium-full body, minerality, elegance, and excellent balance.  I can't imagine a Sangiovese I'd like more than this.

Vibrant, stunningly crystalline black ruby color.  Laser-focused fresh and dried cherry fruit, along with schist-strewn fragrant gravel and a hint of new leather.  Fills the mouth with ripe clingy deep cherry fruit and intense minerality, in a soft, dry, and improbably lithe package.  Good acidity too. A barely noticeable amount of very fine-grained tannin provides some texture, and the finish is long and pure.  I like that the fruit and terroir shine through and there's no noticeable oak component.  A.  Was $18.99 from Wines Til Sold Out (wtso.com) making it a great value.  Imported by Superior Wines, Cranford, NJ.

2009 Jean-Marie Arnoux VACQUEYRAS (Rhone Valley, France)

More on the austere than generous side (which is surprising for the vintage), it's a rustic but serviceable Rhone.  It wouldn't faze me if this were an $8 Cotes du Rhone (though even at that price I wouldn't buy it again), but at $20, it's way overpriced.

Dark black ruby.  Fairly intense but rather severe nose of iodine, scorched earth, and blackberry skins.  Dark, low-toned, bitter-tinged flavors of scorched earth and blackberry skin.  Lots of gritty tannin too, though the finish is clingy and long.  Seems to lack energy.  Drink up, because this isn't going to get any better.  C.  Was $19.99 at Total Wine in McLean.  Imported by Wm. Deutsch  & Sons, White Plains, NY.

2008 William Knuttel PINOT NOIR (Sonoma Coast, Cal.)

This is one of the best moderately-priced Pinot Noirs I've encountered.  Flavorful, fragrant, complex, and soft.

Medium ruby with a slight ambering at the rim.  Engaging nose with lots of stuff going on:  Soft, sappy cherries, peat moss, maple syrup, root beer, and crushed stone.  Instantly mouth-filling, with ripe, dried sweet cherry syrup, smoked meat, lots of stony minerals, and a smoky not-quite-as-sharp-as-graphite-but-still-darkish component that clings to the sides of the mouth.  Lengthy finish that you wish would be even longer.  Fairly full body.  A teensy bit of tannin. My only quibble is that the acidity is lower than I'd ideally like.  A-.  So much more enjoyable than 50% of the Burgundy Premier Crus out there at double the price.  Was $22.99 from WineAccess.com.

2009 Vincent Girardin FLEURIE "Domaine de la Chapelle" "Vieilles Vignes" (Beaujolais, France)

I usually go for old-school, traditional-tasting wines.  Particularly with Beaujolais, where the old school has tight, intensely stony, refreshing and linear wines, and the new school (DeBouef and many of the negociants) is, to my taste, muddled, sometimes flabby, and usually uninteresting. This one is not old school, but, dang, it's good!  This is how modern style should be done.

Strikingly deep, pure, violet-tinged ruby.  Wonderfully inviting nose of juicy plums and sweet, dark cherries along with a tangy, powdered stone note.  Bone dry, yet ripe and juicy in the mouth.  Nicely structured, with refreshing acids and a little but of very fine-grained tannin.  Nice purity.  A joy to drink.  Great balance too.  The only thing it lacks is a bit more minerally complexity, but it's Beaujolais, so maybe I'm being too analytically hard on it.  A-.  Imported by Vineyard Brands, I got this for $14.99 from Winex.com.

2009 Martin Schaetzel PINOT BLANC "Cuvee Reserve" (Alsace, France)

A textbook example of this inexpensive Alsace staple.  When done right, an Alsace Pinot Blanc can be (to me, anyway) a lot more fun to drink than its more famous and well-distributed price-point competitors, the inexpensive Chardonnays from Macon.

Light, bright silvery-gold with a nice light green glint.  Inviting nose of orange blosson and honey-inflected golden delicious apples.  Bone dry, ripe, soft, and energetic in the mouth.  Loads of minerally apple and pear-skin fruit fills the mouth, with surprising body.  Finish is very minerally and long, with a little alcoholic heat that is surprising given how fun and casual the nose and initial flavors seem.  B+.  Was $16.99 from Whole Foods in Old Towne Alexandria (I think).  Imported by ViniFrance Imports, Alexandria.

2009 William Knuttel "Musica Vina" ZINFANDEL (Sonoma County, Cal.)

A solid, flavorful, if not elegant, Zin.  Pretty decent value.

Nice, lively, dark ruby color.  Nose shows good blackberry/boysenberry fruit, accompanied by a note of brown sugar and a rustic, slightly scorched earthy/minerally streak.  Mouthfilling and chunky, with good flavor density.  Dusty tannin coats the mouth as low-toned, low acid blackberry skin fruit and a peaty/iodiney/irony component fill the taste buds.  Long and clingy.  It's a rustic style of Zin, and far from elegant, but it was a pretty good value at $12.99 from Wines Til Sold Out (wtso.com).  B.  Would work very well with pasta with red meat sauces or red-sauced pizza.

2009 Jimenez-Landi "Sotorrondero" MENTRIDA (Central Spain)

A wine from an area I'm not familiar with in central Spain, it's composed of Syrah primarily and actually tastes more French then Spanish.

Gorgeous, deeply-tinted dark ruby-violet.  Medium intensity nose of blackberry with a minute, sour twist.  Powdered sandstone is there too, with scorched earth notes and a wisp of high-toned smoke.  Dry, clingy entry, with slightly vegetal dark cherry fruit mixed with dry unsweetened chocolate and lots of powdered stone notes.  Good acids and lots of fine-grained, puckery tannins are the physical characteristics.  It's a unique wine that I probably would have placed as a Carignane-based wine from the Languedoc region of France had I not known what it was.  B.  Imported by Eric Solomon's European Cellars, this was $16.99 from The Wine Exchange (winex.com).

2007 Cavalier Bartolomeo BAROLO "Solanotto Altenasso" (Piemonte, Italy)

This is a very good Barolo that was -- surprisingly for a Barolo -- a good buy.  Big, fairly open, identifiably Nebbiolo, and nicely structured.

Deep, dark ruby color with just the barest hint of amber at the edge of the rim.  Extroverted nose of winey dark cherries, balsamic notes (including a bit of volatile acidity, though not enough to worry about), spiced balsa wood, and loamy earth.  In other words, pretty complex.  Burly and mouthfilling, it's got a boatload of tannin, but is showing lots of flavor right now:  deeply minerally black cherry and loads of dark, schisty earth.  Leaves the mouth reluctantly, with puckery tannins and acid, as well as long-lasting dark minerals.  Very full-bodied.  Kind of like a loud, gregarious 6'5" defensive lineman.  B+.  Got this for $24.99 from Wines Til Sold Out (wtso.com).  Imported by Superior Wines, Crannford, NY.

2008 Sausal "Century Vines" Zinfandel (Alexander Valley, Cal.)

A structured, fully mature Zin.  Not as overtly fruity or massive as one might expect from a Zin from vines that were 131 years old at harvest.  But still very good.  This is a Zin that needs grilled beef or lamb to really shine.

Dark blackish ruby-garnet color.  Not fully saturated.  Medium intensity nose of dark blackberry fruit with a slight wisp of prune, along with a low-toned minerally/graphite note.  Intensely minerally in the mouth, with a clingy, pervasive iodiney/graphite streak that fades into a slight bitterness.  There's fruit there too, in the form of blackberries macerating on their skins.  Bone dry, with a fair amount of tannin and pretty good acids.  The overall impression is that this Zin favors structure over fruit.  Grilled meat will bring the fruit out more than other dishes will.  Drink over the next 12-18 months.  B.  Was $19.99 from Wines Til Sold Out (wtso.com).

(Sorry, 2002 depicted)

2010 Domaine Dupré RÉGNIÉ "Vignes de 1918" (Beaujolais, France)

Fragrant, ripe, fleshy, and eminently quaffable.  Not as crisp and minerally as I would have expected from a traditional producer in this vintage, but it was a very good value at $12.99.

Intensely vivid magenta-tinged ruby.  Ripe cherry, plummy fruit with a very subtle high-toned smoky, rocky note.  Fleshy and a little tannic in the mouth, but with very pleasing ripeness,  it's a tad less tightly-wound and concentrated as I usually look for in a Beaujolais.  But despite its atypical character, I enjoyed it a lot.  Decent acids keep it from being too flat, and it went really well with a hamburger from the local Five Guys.  B.  I got this from Wines Til Sold Out on the web at wtso.com. Imported by Serge Dore Selections.

(Sorry, 2009 depicted).

2009 Three Vineyards CARIGNANE "Lucchesi" (Contra Costa County, Cal.)

This is a remarkable wine.  From 100+ year-old Carignane vines, on their original rootstock, planted in deep, sandy soil.  It's fragrant, rich, balanced, and long.

Dark deep ruby color.  Very fragrant, with scents of ripe blackberry and plum, a sweet light earthy note, and smoky balsa wood.  In the mouth, it's weighty and instantly mouth-filling.  Loads of clingy, minerally, iodiney notes accenting very low-toned deep blackberry juice.  Lots of soft tannin, and a very pure, deep berry-skin finish.  I know I've said that Carignane is a grape that simply cannot achieve greatness, but I was wrong.  This is by far the best Carignane I've ever had.  A.  I got this for $19 from WineAccess.com.  I would love to be able to insert this bottle blind into a tasting of 2009 Chateauneufs, as it would certainly be at the top of the list, and at half the price of most of the better estates.  Readers would be well-advised to sign up for email offerings from these guys because it's hard to find Three Vineyard wines anywhere else.

2009 Fattoria ColSanto "Ruris" (Umbria, Italy)

This is a non-DOC blend of 70% Sangiovese, 20% Merlot, and 10% Sagrantino.  It is a very rustic mouthful of wine, and got more enjoyable over the course of three days after initially being opened. But it's cheap, and not a bad gulper to have with rustic tomato/meat/cheese pasta dishes.
Relatively innocuous dark ruby color.  The first day, the nose seemed sharp and overextracted.  By the third day it was pretty good.  Lots of tart cherry fruit and angular cracked stony scents.   Drying, slightly sour cherry fruit fills the mouth, with some dry earthiness, as well, and it's all transported along on a wave of acidity and some aggressive, not-so-soft tannin.  Finished clean, but leaves the mouth somewhat puckered.  I know these notes don't make this wine sound so good, but I actually kind of enjoyed it (with food -- without food, it's way too taxing).  C+/B-.  I think this was around 9 or 10 bucks at Whole Foods in Clarendon.  Imported by Siema Wines, Springfield, VA.

2009 Chateau de Nages COSTIERES DE NIMES "Vieilles Vignes" (Rhone Valley, France)

This 50/50 Grenache/Syrah is terrific.  Soft-textured, open, but densely-flavored.  Drinking really well now, but should hold for another 2 years or so.

Pure, dark blackish ruby.  Low-toned, deep nose of dark blackberry extract shot-through with smoked meats and shovels-full of sandstone.  Deep, minerally, iodine-infused flavors immediately fill every nook and cranny in the mouth, with a deep, dark slightly bitter fruit component I can only say tastes like fermented, crushed blackberry pomace. Loads of tannin that's neither coarse nor soft, and fairly low acidity, but it doesn't seem over-extracted or out of balance.  Just deep and clingy.  B+, maybe a little more.  $14.99 at Total Wine in McLean, VA.  Imported by Saranty Imports, White Plains, NY.

2008 Beckley Family Vineyards ZINFANDEL Reserve (Napa Valley)

A really nice, structured ripe, balanced Zin.  I am not exactly sure why Napa Valley Zins tend to have a more structured, subdued, "Claret" (i.e., Bordeaux) like feel than their Dry Creek, Mendocino, Sonoma Valley, or Paso Robles counterparts, but they do.  This one has both the typical Napa structure and great Zin character.

Very dark pure, black ruby color.  The first night it was a bit closed on the nose, but two days later (sealed with a Vacu-Vin) it really blossomed.  Deep dark vibrant blackberry fruit, together with a graphite/gravelly note on the nose.  In the mouth, it explodes with flavor, coating the mouth with pure, ripe Zinfandel dark berry fruit, with a terrific sweet iron/iodiney note that expanded as the finish wore on.  Excellent structure, with a lot of fine-grained tannin and decent acidity.  This will hold and maybe even improve for another 2-3 years.  A-.  Was $14.99 from WTSO.com, making it an excellent value.

2009 Domaine Laleure-Piot PERNAND-VERGELESSES PREMIER CRU (White Burgundy)

This was an extreme wine.  So minerally and brothy that it's hard to believe grapes had anything to do with it.  Not my cup of tea, but I know several wine geeks who would love this style.

Medium light, pewter-inflected gold color.  Nose very closed the first day, even with pouring through a Vinturi. Day 2 the nose was more extroverted, smelling like an emulsion of freshly-pulverized limestone dust, chicken broth, and tart green apple/lemon peel.  Quickly attacks the palate with very lean, minerally, straw-tinged earthy and brothy flavors.  The mineraliness clings long in the mouth, and there's good acidity (duh), but where's the fruit?  Mineraliness is great as a complexity-adder, but there's got to be fruit there to add to.  Right now, this is a C-.  But I've experienced white burgundies that blossom from green and closed to real beauties in 2 or 3 years.  I don't know if this is one, but it's probably better to wait and hope than drink now.  Was $22 from WTSO.com.

(Sorry:  2005 shown)

2009 Weber PINOT NOIR "Mishelle" (Santa Rita Hills, Cal.)

I got this for a song ($10) as a close-out, and it's really good!  Loads of pure Pinot fruit in a crisp, almost tart style, but with excellent varietal character, very good concentration, and great balance.

Medium dark ruby with a magenta tinge.  Nose of pure cherry with pomegranate, along with a whisper of root beer and sandstone.  Lively, crisp, penetrating fruit on entry, first filling the mouth and then turning into mineral-laced cherry extract as the finish wore on.  Just a bit of tannin providing physical structure. I would put this up against all but the top Beaune Premier Crus any day.  I'm not sure if they have any left, but you should check out the Winex (a very good Orange County, Cal., retailer) website and find out.  B+.  This could age nicely for a couple of years.

My 1000th post!!! 2009 Busi CHIANTI RUFINA (Tuscany, Italy)

I love Chianti Rufina.  It's a region northeast of both the Chianti Classico region and indeed west of Firenze.  It tends to be a little leaner, lighter in body, and crisper than Chiantis from the Classico region, and this one is true to its type.  They can be extraordinarily food-friendly wines.

Bright color of spectrally-pure ruby.  Fairly animated nose of crisp cherries and cherry liqueur, along with the prototypical Chianti minerally earthiness I refer to as "schisty gravel."  Crisp, aggressive, high-toned flavors of stony minerals and cherries that linger, gradually (and this is unusual) molting from more minerally into more pure cherry as the finish goes on.  Usually, it's the other way around with most wines.  Nice crisp but unobtrusive acids, and some very fine-grained but puckery tannin comprise the physical characteristics.  A very notable value at $9.99.  Got this at The Italian Store on Lee Highway in Arlington.  Imported by Kysela Pere et Fils.  B+.

2009 Domaine des Roy TOURAINE Blanc "Les Silex" Loire Valley, France)

Although it doesn't say, this is certainly a Sauvignon Blanc.  And a really good one.  Better than most Sancerre and Pouilly-Fume out there, and cheaper too.

The first night it was funkily earthy, but on the second night it really blossomed.  Light gold with silver and  brassy glints.  Piercing and intense nose of green apple and lemon/lime fruit, with distinct notes of chicken broth shot-through with crushed limestone.  Big, mouthwatering, crisp flavors aggressively coat the palate, with loads of lemon-drenched green apple and a brothy minerality.  Long, clean, interesting finish with great persistence and vibrant acids.  Would be fantastic with shellfish.  Drink over the next 2 years and enjoy.  A-.  Imported by Thomas Calder Selections, this was $14.99 at Arrowine in Arlington.