Frescobaldi, Brunello di Montalcino, 'Castelgiocondo', 1997
A nice Brunello with some age on it. Light, old-cherry red colored with a faded rose rim. Lovely aromatic nose of cedar, tobacco, cherry fruit and leather, repeated in the mouth, all balanced by a sweet astringency. B+/A-
Stefan Gerhard, Hattenheimer Hassel, Riesling-S, feinherb, 2007
Slight greenish light gold.A sullen nose of old navel orange skins and pineapple mash, which shows up on the palate along with orange-washed melon balls. There's a bit of pinot gris like neutralness to this wine, but I like this better than the kabinett of the same year, which felt overly sweet and lacking in structure. This is merely innocuous, but pleasant. A 'Mr Jones' wine. B
Frederic Mugnier, Nuits Saint Gerorges, 'Clos de la Maréchale', 2004
Light, pale cherry color. Crunchy strawberry and cherry-cola spice aromatics. Strawberry plants kept too close to a farmer's dirt road, dusty, dried mud tannins, and a slight sourness of raspberry juice on the finish. Good, if not overly complex. Very light in weight, feels minimally made. The weight and etheralness is what I most admire here. Could go on for a few more years. 13% B+/A-
Schäfer-Fröhlich, Bockenauer Felseneck, Riesling-S, 2006
Muted nose upon opening, but cajeta comes through along with mixed yellow fruits. Ginger gold apples removed from cold storage, pineapple come out on the palate. This is ripe and solid, not as lively as it could be. A little too creamy for me, in that popular Nahe way. Decent for the price, but not for full tarrif. B+
Dehesa de Rubiales, Castilla y Leon, 'Prieto Picudo', 2005
Deeply dark cola cherry colored. Deep briary fruit on the nose, dark berries and fragrant wood, herbal note (almost sandalwood-like). Ripe mourvedre-like fruit with blackberries and marzipan, very thick and almost too big to drink 2 glasses. New worldish and juicy, but does have good balancing acidity and although jammy, is not flabby. B+ 14.5%
