Tyrrells 1999 Shiraz Reserve (McLaren Vale) Massively acidic. This is exacerbated by the relative daintiness of the fruit, which is tart, red-berried, and overtly crisp; much Beaujolais is actually fuller-bodied than this wine, though it somewhat makes up for its occasional foray into mincing with a sharp blast of intensity. Theres a cloud of pepper dust that lends it varietal character, but otherwise its hard to see this as a shiraz, nor has time led to the development of what Id call tertiary character. Is it good? Itsparticular. Its fun with food. Its an enjoyable quaff. And maybe thats enough. Its best use might be to blind-taste your Australian wine-hating friends; theyll never, ever guess. (4/09)
Wild Rock 2007 Pinot Noir Cupids Arrow (Central Otago) Dense, chewy, meaty, and somewhat blackened; in the pinot-as-syrah sweepstakes, this deserves at least an honorable mention. Theres acidity and a plummy brightness that combine to make the wine other than ponderous, but in the end its defiant scowliness and meaty density are hard to ignore. (4/09)
Amirault 2004 Bourgueil La Coudraye (Loire) Edgy. No, the wines not pushing any envelopes or breaking any taboosI mean that this is a wine with edges, and they havent been filed down. Dark, slightly wild berries with no appreciable fruit-sweetness carry a little infusion of thyme (one of those exotic varieties, heady with aroma), theres a foundation of dark earth hardened by time, and the quite-present tannin is as scraping as it is balanced. Theres no lack of acidity, either. The dominant aromatic characteristic, however, is raw tobacco, and while I quite like its expression in this wine, those reflexively indisposed to cabernet franc will probably interpret it as green. Its nothing of the sort. All these positives thus said, I still wonder if the wine has the cohesiveness for aging, or whether it might not be better to drink it in its explosive adolescence. (4/09)
Voge 2006 Ctes-du-Rhne Les Peyrouses (Rhne) Cornas without all that soft, easygoing gentility. Well, OK, actually not. Its feral and twisted, bent and almost broken, but manages to cling to blacknbluepurple, heavily-bruised fruit around the perimeter, just hanging on as the bottom falls out of the center. Structurally angry. Sadomasochistic wine; theres pleasure to be had, and youll remember it later, but there may be some consequences. (4/09)
Graziano 2004 Zinfandel Eddie Graziano Old Vine (Mendocino) 14.5%. While I suspect that, somewhere deep in the interior of this wine, theres pleasant and approachable wild-vine, dark-berry fruit, its impossible to perceive through the hard screens and blockades of structure. I suspect that the grapes were just not up to being pushed towards such a serious destination. With the right (fatty) food, its a little better. (4/09)
Wild Rock 2007 Pinot Noir Cupids Arrow (Central Otago) Dense, chewy, meaty, and somewhat blackened; in the pinot-as-syrah sweepstakes, this deserves at least an honorable mention. Theres acidity and a plummy brightness that combine to make the wine other than ponderous, but in the end its defiant scowliness and meaty density are hard to ignore. (4/09)
Amirault 2004 Bourgueil La Coudraye (Loire) Edgy. No, the wines not pushing any envelopes or breaking any taboosI mean that this is a wine with edges, and they havent been filed down. Dark, slightly wild berries with no appreciable fruit-sweetness carry a little infusion of thyme (one of those exotic varieties, heady with aroma), theres a foundation of dark earth hardened by time, and the quite-present tannin is as scraping as it is balanced. Theres no lack of acidity, either. The dominant aromatic characteristic, however, is raw tobacco, and while I quite like its expression in this wine, those reflexively indisposed to cabernet franc will probably interpret it as green. Its nothing of the sort. All these positives thus said, I still wonder if the wine has the cohesiveness for aging, or whether it might not be better to drink it in its explosive adolescence. (4/09)
Voge 2006 Ctes-du-Rhne Les Peyrouses (Rhne) Cornas without all that soft, easygoing gentility. Well, OK, actually not. Its feral and twisted, bent and almost broken, but manages to cling to blacknbluepurple, heavily-bruised fruit around the perimeter, just hanging on as the bottom falls out of the center. Structurally angry. Sadomasochistic wine; theres pleasure to be had, and youll remember it later, but there may be some consequences. (4/09)
Graziano 2004 Zinfandel Eddie Graziano Old Vine (Mendocino) 14.5%. While I suspect that, somewhere deep in the interior of this wine, theres pleasant and approachable wild-vine, dark-berry fruit, its impossible to perceive through the hard screens and blockades of structure. I suspect that the grapes were just not up to being pushed towards such a serious destination. With the right (fatty) food, its a little better. (4/09)