
From the cellar: Hands down the best wine we drank in 2020. Wow. Words simply aren’t necessary.
As a tradition, we open a bottle of Vouvray sometime in December, celebratory style. Usually it’s a demi-sec, and more often than not it’s Huet. The Wine Advocate gave this 2015 a comfortable 93 points, and in some semi-effectual way tried to describe its fruit aromas and subtle herbal aromas. Unfortunately, their prose couldn’t match the majesty. This was eloquence, diplomacy, mysterious, a John Le Carre, may he rest in peace. The WA did write “”a very long and grippy, tension-filled finish” to which I would echo and say it’s Escher-esque.
Chenin Blanc is perhaps the most mysterious (or unpredictable?) of white grapes; it can be coarse and edgy, it can be cloyingly sweet, but it can also age into a deliriously good state. Witness this spectacular vintage. I wish we had more. I wish we had more laying down. But be grateful for small mercies I suppose.
Price: In October 2017, $48 from Marquis, and so less than a bottle of Culmina’s Hypothesis. Cin cin.
Market Liquidity: The weft and warp of the finest silk in a bottled beverage.