2010 Goldeneye Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley
This is Duckhorn Wine Company’s Pinot Noir flagship. In the glass, there is a deep dusty ruby color. The effusive nose pumps lots of jammy raspberry and cranberry fruit, accented by cinnamon and clove spice. Lithe on the palate, the wine shows… Read more
2010 Patz & Hall Pinot Noir, Pisoni Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands
Translucent dark red ruby in hue, this wine’s initial green bean scent soon dissipates, revealing some smoke and light wood shavings. Additional swirling releases black raspberry and black cherry notes. A full ten hours after opening, the wine… Read more
2008 Duckhorn Merlot, Three Palms Vineyard, Napa Valley
Thirty vintages after serving as Wine Lines’ “epiphany wine,” the “Three Palms” Merlot is still going strong. The 2008 vintage is ruby red in hue and enticingly perfumed. The aroma and flavor spectrum includes soft red berry/cherry, mild… Read more
2009 Penley Estate ‘Chertsey,’ Coonawarra, Australia
This Bordeaux-style blend (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc) is translucent ruby in hue, lightening at the edges. When first uncorked, the wine is super tight, with eucalyptus, tar and earth notes dominating the aroma. Sampled again one… Read more
2009 Jefferson Vineyards Chardonnay Reserve, Virginia
It feels silly in a way, always prefacing a positive review about Virginia wine with a kind of pseudo-apology, the same kind that frequently adorns wines from Greece. Fact is, there are SOME wines being produced right now in the state that can… Read more
2004 Domaine Viticole Renouard ‘Scamandre,’ Rhone Valley, France
At least lately, I have opened far too many Rhone Valley wines, only to be a bit underwhelmed by their supposed intense / flavor-forward tendencies. Is green fruit to blame? A string of bad luck? I can’t speak for more current vintages, but… Read more
2010 Clos du Tue-Boeuf Cheverny Rouge, Loire Valley, France
Thierry and Jean-Marie Puzelat aren’t new to natural winemaking, but it’s not for reverence or cultish personality that so many wine caves and restaurants in Paris serve the brothers’ wines. Nor is it for the fact that their estate has some historic… Read more
2011 Serragghia Fanino Catarratto e Pignatello, Pantelleria, Italy
Psst! Hipster wine geeks! Look here! Made from old vines on a virtually unknown island near Sicily? Check. Vinified in clay amphorae, the old way? Check. Entirely natural? Check. Impossibly strange? Check, double check, triple… Read more
2009 Dry Creek Vineyard ‘The Mariner,’ Dry Creek Valley
Nearly opaque dark ruby/crimson color. The nose of this Bordeaux-styled red blend (43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 10% Malbec, 5% Petit Verdot and 5% Cabernet Franc) is immediately engaging, with woodspice notes of cinnamon, toast, vanilla and… Read more
2010 Cantina Girlan Aimé Gewürztraminer, Alto Adige, Italy
Bronzed straw color. Aromas and flavors of litchi nut, honeysuckle, light rosewater, and honeyed fruit. sweet and viscous on the palate. Retail Wine Cost: $20 Wine Lines rating:… Read more
