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Domaine Naturaliste Discovery Margaret River Chardonnay, 2015
Astonishingly simplistic for a Margaret River white; sort of a taint on the brand. I mean even without a Google what comes to mind? Leeuwin, Cullen, Vasse Felix… Heavyweights all. Think of it; expectations run high. To open something so inconsequential and immediately forgettable is a bit like the difference between a spun sugar dome […]
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Mâcon-Lugny Bouchard Père et Fils Saint-Pierre, 2015
Quintessentially prix fixe lunch “table wine included” French white. No home run, no strike out, more of a walk. Apple, quince, gun barrel dry, sharp, piquant, a most palatable foil to cheese sauce or rich vegetarian, although it held up less with chicken. A pale (as in slight) Chardonnay, as Chards go, but an […]
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Glen Carlou Quartz Stone Chardonnay, 2014
A low score middling wine with the Decanter bunch: I took exception and found it climbed above the measly 87 points they deigned to anoint it with, and still I laud Decanter. It has lovely citrus notes, a spicy nuance, bits of tropical notes like flambeed pineapple–and none of the cloying oak of heavy […]
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Amalaya Malbec, 2015
It’s been a few years since we picked up a bottle of Amalaya. Why? I have no idea. It’s an inexpensive extremely palatable crowd pleaser that even pleases the pointsters. From Salta, Argentina’s version of Atacama, it’s a dark, luscious sipper with a thick, balsamic feel on the tongue, and some charred chocolate and licorice […]
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Vina Eguia Rioja Reserva, 2011
Yeah. So. Not Rioja’s finest hour. It’s a close but no cigar vintage. We did not find it elegant or balanced or rounded, as promised. We found it a bit uneven, with a vanilla that’s at the fore (and not in a good way) and a softness to the fruit that was decent and palatable […]