Brunello di Montalcino 2020: Captivating, Bright, Succulent
Benvenutto Brunello is one of my favorite wine tasting to attend. If you like Italian wines, Brunello needs no introduction (and if you don’t, I’m not sure we can be friends) – one of the 3 big Bs of Italian winemaking – Barolo, Barbaresco, and Brunello.
Brunello is an epitome of the expression of the best known Italian red grape – Sangiovese. The Sangiovese growing in the Brunello di Montalcino proper is considered a clone – Sangiovese Grosso, but it is a Sangiovese nevertheless.
Brunello de Montalcino appellation is almost square, all located around the hill crowned with the town of Montalcino, with vineyards densely occupying 5,189 acres and located at various altitudes over a range of different soils. Different microclimate conditions, terroirs, guarantee a great diversity of styles among 200 or so producers in Brunello di Montalcino DOCG. Another interesting appellation within Brunello proper is Rosso di Montalcino DOC, occupying 2,124 acres (after expansion in 2020) of dedicated vineyards (Rosso DOC vineyards are only used for production of Rosso di Montalcino DOC). Take a look at this wonderful video providing an excellent overview of the Brunello di Montalcino region:
Gabrielle Gorelli, MW, led our highly informative Brunello Masterclass, providing a detailed overview of the 2020 vintage and the changes in vintage assessment that just went into effect.
The 2020 was a pivotal vintage for Brunello di Montalcino. Not because of the Brunello 2020 wines per se, but because of the fundamental changes made in assessment of the 2020 vintage and all future vintages to come.
Until 2020, Brunello di Montalcino vintages had quality assessment specified with the stars (from 1 to 5 stars) and a short slogan characterizing the vintage. For example, the 2014 vintage had a rating of 3 stars and was called “Grace under pressure”. 2015 had a rating of 5 stars, and it was called “Power and Purity”; the 2016 vintage was also rated 5 stars and called “Finesse and depth”.
The 2020 Brunello vintage marks the end of the star ratings – this is the last vintage awarded a star rating (5 stars, in case you are wondering). Instead, Consorzio Brunello di Montalcino is introducing Brunello Forma, which will only provide a verbal description of the vintage moving forward.
A significant amount of effort went into the creation of the new system. 39 weather stations were installed around the region to collect the microclimate data. Historical data of the past 12 years were collected and a significant number of samples from the past vintages were blind tasted to come up with the set of data which will allow to make vintage assessment more scientific, I guess.
To come up with the vintage verbal assessment, a panel of industry experts (masters of wine, wine distributors, wine writers) ran extensive tasting of the 2020 wines, then collected and processed a large number of descriptors used by the panel members to crystallize the 2020 Brunello vintage description into these three words:
Captivating, Bright, Succulent
As an engineer at heart, I’m not a fan of words. Simple numerical (3 stars, 92) or verbal (fair, good, very good) rating quickly gives me everything I need to know about the vintage in general – captivating or succulent doesn’t set my expectations about a given wine – not now, and especially, not in the future.
However, as it was explained later on during the dinner with Giacomo Bartolommeo, Brunello winemaker at Caprili, the star ratings were hurting the wineries, as wine buyers preferred to ignore wines from 3-star vintages and focus on acquiring better-rated vintages, without much regard to the qualities of the particular wine. Moving to verbal descriptors eliminates the opportunity for a quick rating-based decision. Well, winemakers are in the business of selling their wines, so it is not my place to complain or judge.
Then, of course, there were wines. I have to say that in the traditional Italian style (please take no offence), the tasting order was changed by our presenter, Gabrielle Gorelli, MW, compared to the order written on the notes page. However, I have to say that our tasting order was definitely the right one, showing progression from very tight and lean wines to wines that were softer and more approachable now. I attended both seminars, so below are my notes:
Morning Seminar
Col D’Orcia Brunello di Montalcino 2020
Ruby Color
Interesting nose, sapidity, earthy undertones, leather
Tart is the first sensation; tart cherries, expressive tannins, crisp acidity
Pian Delle Querci Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (36 months in Slavonian oak)
Dark ruby color
Sweet cherries, perfumy, very playful
Not as tart as the previous wine, but has very explicit tannins, good acidity, but lacking fruit, very lean
Carpineto Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (vineyards planted on the oldest soils, 3 years in big oak barrels)
Garnet color
Sweet tobacco, cherries, plums, attractive
Initially showed beautiful cherries, the tartness kicked in, followed by very dry finish with big but well integrated tannins
Marchesi Frescobaldi Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (single vineyard, aged in big casks)
Garnet color
Beautiful nose, elegant, perfumy, with a touch of sweet cherries.
Tart cherries on the palate, herbs, tart finish with well pronounced tannings.
San Polo Podernovi Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (30 months in light-toast 40hl casks)
Garnet color with bright reddish hues
Beautiful nose, elegant, perfumy, sweet cherries, eucalyptus.
Tart cherries, tannins are overwhelming, but the most elegant finish so far.
Probably can be enjoyed now after decanting
La Poderina Brunello di Montalcino 2020
Dark Garnet
Playful, bright red fruit, cherries, herbs, sweet oak.
Palate is a tad bitter, strange, had to swallow the wine instead of spitting to establish that it was not corked. Overall, not bad, but the nose is way better than the palate.
Collematoni Brunello di Montalcino 2020
Dark ruby color, beautiful
Beautiful nose, sweet fruit, cherries, sage, beautiful.
The best palate so far – round, with sweet and tart cherries, elegant, delicious.
8+
2020 Podere Brizio Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (38 months in oak)
Dark garnet
Beautiful, open, sweet fruit, sweet cherries, pencil shavings.
Tart cherries, explicit balsamic notes, succulent, mouthwatering, round, delicious, beautiful, superb.
8+
My favorite two wines of the morning seminar:
Afternoon seminar
Sanlorenzo Brunellodi Montalcino 2020 (aged in oak for about 3 years)
Garnet color
Beautiful, sweet fruit, cherries, dark undertones, earthiness.
Intense fruit quickly dissipates into very tart, very high expression tannins and acidity on the finish. Super-lean.
Mocali Brunello di Montalcino 2020
Dark garnet
Interesting nose, maybe racy is a good descriptor? Garrigue, some cherries show up a bit later.
Lots of sweet cherries which instantly disappear, but the finish is a bit less tart than the previous wine.
La Magia Brunello di Montalcino 2020
Very dark, practically black, darkest of the tasting so far
The nose is restrained, earthy and herbaceous
Sweet cherries, sweet oak, then tart, acidic, and ultra-tannic on the finish, very dry
Sassodisole Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (minimum 24 months in oak)
Dark Garnet
Cherries, sage, perfume, nice and open
Tart cherries, leather, well-integrated tannins
So far, the most approachable wine of the tasting
Camigliano Paesaggio Inatteso Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (30 months in oak barrels, 10 months in cement tanks after)
Bright ruby
Underbrush, a hint of smoke
Tart cherries, fresh cleansing acidity, acidic finish with some tannins, not bad.
Argiano Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (30 months in Slovenian oak casks of different capacities)
Dark garnet
Nice, inviting, round, dark fruit, a touch of crushed rocks.
Sweet cherries, crunchy and succulent, great energy, cherries on the finish, delicious.
8+, the best of the second seminar
Cortonesi Poggiarelli Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (24 months in oak)
Dark garnet, almost black, with bright hues
Amazing nose. Cherries that magically pull you in.
Fish and powerful opening on the palate, but bitter tannins set in.
Best nose of both tastings, 9-/9. Palate is not great right now – 7+
Banfi Poggio Alle Mura Brunello di Montalcino 2020 (24+ months in French oak)
Dark garnet with bright hues
Nice, open nose with lots of fresh herbs – sage, thyme.
Sweet dark fruit on the palate initially, then the palate is quickly shut down in front of the mouth. Again, if you swallow this wine instead of spitting, the wine is a lot more generous. Succulent is a perfect descriptor for such a wine. 8+
Best wines of the second seminar:
In addition to the seminars, there was tasting on the “main floor”. There were more of the excellent 2020 Brunellos, such as San Felice, Caprili, or Corte Pavone. There were also many of the 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva wines, which were simply outstanding. Additionally, 2023 Rosso di Montalcino were presented by almost all participating wineries and were excellent across the board.
My Brunello deep immersion didn’t stop there. After the event was over, we went for dinner with John Fodera and Giacomo Bartolommei, the winemaker at Caprili, to the wonderful Italian New York restaurant Zero Otto Nove, famous not only for genuine Italian food but for the amazing wine list. There, Giacomo found 2001 Cerbaiona Brunello di Montalcino, which we ordered.
Wow, what a pleasure it was. Perfumy nose of succulent cherries, anis, eucalyptus. You can’t stop smelling the wine, you don’t even think of drinking it for a few minutes. Then you take a careful sip and experience an explosion of flavor with succulent cherries, balscami vinegar, iodine, and magic that only an Italian wine with age can offer. The experience was not identical to 1999 Soldera, but it was pretty darn close.
And now my Brunello report is complete. The 2020 vintage offers beautiful aromatics; it is approachable, it is succulent, it is captivating. Let’s raise the glass to the new era in Brunello and more tasty Brunello wines for us. Cheers!
2022 UGCB Vintage Preview – Power and Elegance
About a month ago, I attended the Union de Grand Crus de Bordeaux (UCBG) event introducing the Bordeaux 2022 vintage. UCBG is a marketing organization created in 1973 with the goal of promoting Bordeaux Grand Cru wines around the world. Today, UCBG comprises 132 Grand Cru Châteaux (wineries) in Bordeaux and runs about 80 marketing events per year, attracting more than 40,000 wine professionals.
UCBG vintage introduction event offers a great opportunity to have an early look into the latest vintage, taste lots of great wines and talk to the winemakers.
Speaking with the winemakers, my main question was: So, how was the vintage? Based on what I heard, it seems that 2022 was an excellent vintage with even growing conditions, with rains mostly in the early stages and then reasonably hot and dry conditions all the way through the harvest, delivering powerful, concentrated fruit with ample acidity. Hence, the descriptor I’m using for this vintage is Power and Elegance.
I have to tell you that I enjoyed most of the wines across the board. I didn’t have any OMG moment, but lots of wines showed very consistently, many of them ready to drink even now.
I didn’t take any detailed notes. Instead, I took pictures of the wines I liked, and now I would simply like to share the list of my favorite wines from this 2022 Bordeaux Grand Cru tasting.
Last year, I wrote about the 2021 Bordeaux Grand Cru vintage, so this year, I decided to mark the wines I liked last year with a star. This way, maybe I can identify my “perennial” preferences 🙂 – will see.
Here you are – my favorite 2022 Grand Cru Bordeaux wines, sorted by region:
Pessac-Léognan (the only Grand Cru region in Bordeaux producing both white and red wines).
2022 Château Carbonnieux Rouge Pessac-Léognan
2022 Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion Rouge Pessac-Léognan
2022 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc Pessac-Léognan*
2022 Domaine de Chevalier Rouge Pessac-Léognan*
2022 Château de Fiuzal Blanc Pessac-Léognan*
2022 Château de Fiuzal Rouge Pessac-Léognan
2022 Château Haut-Bailly Rouge Pessac-Léognan
2022 Château Latour-Martillac Blanc Pessac-Léognan
2022 Château La Louvière Blanc Pessac-Léognan
Apparently, Chateau Lascombes went back to the old label – as you can see in this picture
Margaux
2022 Château Lascombes Margaux
2022 Château Malescot St. Exupéry Margaux
2022 Château Desmirail Margaux
2022 Château Brane-Cantenac Margaux*
Pauillac
2022 Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande Pauillac
2022 Château Pichon Baron Pauillac
2022 Château d’Armailhac Pauillac*
2022 Château Clerc Milon Pauillac*
2022 Château Duhart-Milon Pauillac*
2022 Château Grand-Puy Ducasse Pauillac*
2022 Château Lynch-Bages Pauillac*
2022 Château Haut-Batailley Pauillac*
2022 Château Batailley Pauillac*
2022 Château Lynch-Moussas Pauillac
Pomerol
2022 Château Beauregard Pomerol
2022 Château Petit-Village Pomerol*
2022 Château La Cabanne Pomerol
2022 Château Clinet Pomerol
2022 Château Le Gay Pomerol*
Saint-Émilion
2022 Chateau Valandraud Saint-Émilion*
2022 Château Villemaurine Saint-Émilion*
2022 Château Pavie Macquin Saint-Émilion
2022 Château Clos Fourtet Saint-Émilion
2022 Château Dassault Saint-Émilion
Saint-Estèphe
2022 Château Phélan Ségur Saint-Estèphe*
2022 Château Cos Labory Saint-Estèphe
2022 Château De Pez Saint-Estèphe
Saint-Julien
2022 Château Langoa Barton Saint-Julien*
2022 Château Léoville Barton Saint-Julien*
2022 Château Léoville Poyferré Saint-Julien*
2022 Château Gloria Saint-Julien*
2022 Château Gruaud Larose Saint-Julien
Médoc
2022 Château Chase-Spleen Moulis en Médoc
2022 Château Citran Haut-Médoc
Sauternes – most of the producers I spoke with mentioned that they didn’t produce any Sauterns in 2021 – now it makes sense that last year most of the Sauternes producers were presenting different vintages…
2022 Château Guiraud Sauternes* (presented 2016 vintage last year, 2024)
2022 Château Doisy-Vérdines Sauternes* (presented 2018 vintage last year, 2024)
2022 Château Doisy Daëne Barsac Grand Vin de Sauternes
2022 Château Bastor-Lamontagne Sauternes* (presented 2016 vintage last year, 2024)
At the same tasting, I also had an unsanctioned (in many ways) treat. I noticed a winemaker in the corner talking to a few people and pouring wines that clearly didn’t belong to the tasting – 1982 and 1983 Boirceaux. I asked if I can have a taste too, and the wine – albeit grudgingly – made into my glass. The 1983 was quite drinkable – I didn’t catch the label, though. This 1982 Château Ramage La Batisse Haut-Médoc was mostly showing tertiary aromas, but hey, 1982 commands respect, so I can’t complain about having a taste of the Bordeaux from the legendary vintage.
There you are – the 2022 Bordeaux Grand Cru vintage. Well worth your attention. I’m sure it will age very well, but – you really don’t need for it to age. Crack the bottle open and enjoy!
Open That Bottle Night OTBN 2025 – What a Night!
What a Night! The end.
If I say “what a night”, can this serve as a sufficient wine descriptor?
Okay, of course not, but what a night it was.
As a wine lover, I really treasure Open That Bottle Night, or OTBN for short, taking place on the last Saturday in February. OTBN was created by the Wall Street Journal wine writers, Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, back in 1999, to encourage wine lovers around the world to open that long-stashed special bottle that might be long gone while waiting for a special enough day to be opened.
Now, if I describe the experience as “agonizing”, does that portray a happy vibe? I might be unique in my self-directed masochism, but “agonizing” is the best way to describe the days leading up to the OTBN sacred night. Agreeing with oneself on wines worthy to be opened for OTBN can’t be described any other way, as I endlessly circle around the bottles located all over the house (an extra challenge of not having a dedicated wine cellar).
This year’s OTBN accidentally worked better than it could’ve been. We had been trying to arrange a dinner with friends for a while, and February 22nd was not my preferred date as it was my only night home in between two weeklong business trips. But as we tried to push it out to a later date, we came to a realization that it is either now, or it will be pushed far away, and we already had been talking about this get together for about half a year. I was responsible for the wine, and the other two couples for the food. As I started thinking about wines I should bring, it downed on me – ohh, this is the last Saturday of February, which means … OTBN!
Selecting the wines instantly got a lot more interesting and a lot more challenging at the same time. Now I need to bring not just wines, but the wines worthy of OTBN, the wines special for whatever reason, as a bare minimum special at least to me.
Celebrating OTBN in the group has a great advantage – I don’t need to decide what this one special bottle is – we can cover the full proper “wine dinner range” – bubbles, white, red, dessert. This is exactly what I did – and here are the wines I selected, with all the notes and impressions attached.
Bubbles – my selection is typically very limited at home, I have maybe 12 to 15 bottles of sparkling wines on hand, so deciding what is “special enough” is not easy – and the whole idea of OTBN is to work with your own cellar, so I had to really find that bottle inside. In the morning, I pulled out a shelf with sparkling wines from the fridge, and my inner voice said “how about this one”. Grabbed the bottle of 2008 Champagne Philippe Fourrier Brut Cuvée Millesime (12% ABV, I think I got it through WTSO a while back), and while checking the back label, I realized that this was also a vintage champagne, a 2008 – even better! Now the bottle has become a lot more worthwhile to open at OTBN.
What a joy this wine was. Perfectly substantial without going overboard – toasted bread, apples, yeast, fresh and full of energy – an absolute “wow” of the champagne experience, the wine that was very easy to like instead of looking for ways to convince oneself that you like it. Extra bonus – everyone loved the wine, which is never given in the group, especially when it comes to bubbles.
Next, 2016 Salabka La Coquine Chardonnay Czech Republic (12.5% ABV).
This wine was probably the most special in the group. This wine was associated with memories. I brought a few bottles of this same wine back from the Czech Republic in 2017, after tasting the wine at a dinner at Salabka city winery, located and growing their grapes within Prague city proper. This was my last bottle from that trip, and I already pulled it out of the fridge on multiple occasions, and put it back every time deciding “not today”. This time I decided that it was actually the time to pull that cork – but I didn’t have much hope for this 9 years old Chardonnay.
Oh my… what a wow wine it was. Perfectly intact cork with a few crystals. No age showing in the color, still light golden. And the nose and the palate showing apples, pears and vanilla, woven over a firm citrus core. Bristling acidity doesn’t get in the way of enjoying wine. Considering how fresh the wine was, I’m sure this wine had another 20 years of life ahead of it – and now I have a perfect reason, even a strong need to visit Prague again.
Next, time for reds.
In retrospect, the selection of reds was very interesting, I don’t think I would’ve done it better even if I tried. A 2005 Bordeaux and 2012 Washington estate red – sounds reasonably far apart, right? And yet somehow, the wines literally were singing in unison, just imagine 2012 red having a bit of a deeper voice.
Maybe this was due to very similar grape blends – both wines were blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petite Verdot, but the Washington red was simply a continuation of the French Bordeaux.
The 2005 Domaine De l’Île Margaux Cuvée Mer de Garonne Grand Vin Bordeaux Superieur (13.5% ABV, 33% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Petite Verdot)
comes from a unique place, a small island in the middle of the Gironde River, overlooking the great estates of Margaux. The wine opened up as a classic, beautiful Bordeaux, with cassis and eucalyptus on the bright nose, and more of the same on the palate. Perfectly fresh, beautiful layers of fruit, firm structure, impeccable balance. The 20 years of age were unnoticeable. The wine didn’t need decanting, but opened up beautifully in the glass.
The 2012 Figgins Estate Red Wine Walla Walla Valley (14.6% ABV, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Verdot, Merlot) was my only bottle which I got as a present some years back. Similar to Salabka Chardonnay, this wine was pulled out of the fridge on a number of occasions, only to be put back in again. Finally, this was the day. On the nose, it was very similar to the Bordeaux, only a bit more restrained. On the palate, it had the same cassis and eucalyptus, but the appearance was a bit “fattier” – more pronounced berries, juicier layers, a bit darker notes but still perfectly balanced and perfectly delicious.
And then the was time for dessert. Nothing makes me more ecstatic than an opportunity to open a bottle of a dessert wine. During most of the dinners, even when you plan to open the dessert wine, everyone starts complaining about how they don’t want to drink anything else, and the desire not to waste a whole bottle for just a few sips prevails. But this is OTBN, not just some regular wine dinner, so everyone simply has to go with the program.
I don’t know exactly how I got into possession of this 2018 Mazza Vineyards Vidal Blanc Ice Wine Lake Erie Pennsylvania (11.5% ABV, Harvest dates January 11 and 21, 2019) bottle – I guess someone just brought it as a present.
Boy, was this wine just an amazing finish for the evening… stunningly delicious, with ripe apricot on the nose, and ripe, juicy, succulent apricots on the palate enveloped in a perfect amount of acidity. This was the wine of impeccable balance, the balance of sweetness and acidity that makes or breaks dessert wines. This one was superb – we almost had to fight for who would get to finish a bottle – a pure joy to an oenophile’s heart.
I also have to mention another special treat we had for dessert – small pastries that were popular back in Belarus growing up there, called Bouchée. These were specifically made as per the original Russian recipe and were absolutely sublime.
Another OTBN just became a history, a memorable memento. Luck or not, but these were 5 excellent, memorable wines – and a great company. Let’s raise the glass to the joy the wine is able to bring. Cheers to memorable nights!
Valentine’s Day 2025 – Reflecting on Wines
In my previous post, I complained about frustration with choosing the right wine for the right moment. That post ended with a picture of the wines I selected for Valentine’s Day 2025 – and now I want to talk about those wines.
Following my own advice, our first wine was sparkling. Not just any sparkling – it was Champagne. And not just any Champagne – it was Krug.
I don’t want to sound elitist, but the only way to put is this: those who know, know Krug.
For the wine lovers en masse, the epitome of champagne is Dom Perignon. Maybe also Crystal on a good day. Krug definitely is lesser known, but for those who know, Krug is a cult, a religion, the only Champagne one can drink.
I joined that cult after experiencing Krug vintage and non-vintage wines during the PJ Wine Grand tasting in New York in 2010. Krug was an absolute revelation, I have never tasted anything like that ever before.
Then a few years later, in 2012, I came across an article by Alice Feiring, talking about changes in winemaking at Krug in 2003 which she said resulted in more or less the “end of Krug”. I referred to her article in my post, but unfortunately, the original article can’t be found so I can’t share any more details. I only remember tasting Krug at the trade tasting in the same year or maybe the year after, and thinking “well, it is not as good as I remembered it“.
Trade tasting is not always the best place to fully understand the wine, so Krug remained high on my “wines I want” list. Then a few years back, I got this half-bottle of Krug as a present for the new year, and this year I decided that Valentine’s Day is a perfect reason to open that bottle.
After struggling a bit with the cork, I managed to get the wine into our flutes (I know, I know – but it is a holiday, okay?). Smelling and tasting it left both me and my wife underwhelmed. Crisp and acidic for sure, but that’s what literally every other Champagne has, and Krug should really give you more. A few more sips and I closed the bottle, and back into the fridge it went.
Not so long ago, I read an article from a champagne pro, and he suggested that Champagne, similar to any other still wine, can and usually improves after opening. It can be placed into the fridge and enjoyed slowly over the next few days, and many of the Champagnes simply taste better the next day.
Why is this important? When I poured what was left of Krug into the glass the next day (okay, it was a regular glass), that was a totally different wine. Rich, layered, with toasted bread and apples. This was the real deal and it was delicious. I can’t tell you if it tasted like the one I was blown away by in 2010, but it was definitely an excellent Champagne. I guess there is an interesting lesson here for future encounters with Champagne, and not only with Krug.
After Krug’s image was somewhat restored in my eyes, I decided to learn more about the wine. Nowadays every bottle of Krug comes with its own unique code. When you go to the Krug website and type in the code, you get the most detailed information about the wine you can wish for – here are a few excerpts related to my bottle:
“Krug Grande Cuvée 170ème Édition
Composed around the harvest of 2014, Krug Grande Cuvée 170ème Édition is a blend of 195 wines from 12 different years. The youngest is from the year 2014 and the oldest dates back to 1998.
In all, reserve wines from the House’s extensive library made up 45% of the final blend, bringing the breadth and roundness so essential to each Édition of Krug Grande Cuvée.
The final composition of this champagne is 51% Pinot Noir, 38% Chardonnay and 11% Meunier.
Time in the cellar:
This half-bottle spent around 7 years in Krug’s cellars developing its generosity and elegance, receiving its cork in Autumn 2020.”
According to Julie Cavil, Krug Cellar Master:
“In this blend, the dynamic Pinot Noirs of 2014 came from a wide range of plots throughout the Champagne region, while fruity and full-bodied Chardonnays were selected from plots in the Montagne de Reims, Sézannais and Côte des Blancs. The Meuniers from the Vallée de la Marne Rive Gauche were particularly bright, with magnificent fruit expression from plots in Leuvrigny. To complement the wines of the year, we selected reserve Pinot Noirs from plots in the Montagne de Reims Sud renowned for their structure, including an Ambonnay from 2005. Reserve Chardonnays from plot’s wines from Avize and Mesnil-sur-Oger over a wide spectrum of years have a nice share of voice in this blend, while reserve plot’s wines of Meuniers add freshness, intensity and chiselled structure.”
And then there was 2002 Shafer Relentless Napa Valley (14.5% ABV, 80% Syrah, 20% Petite Sirah). I tasted this wine a few times before at the trade tastings, but never had an opportunity to really spend some time with it.
Shafer needs no introductions to California wine lovers, with its fame closely associated with the flagship wine, Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon. Shafer Relentless is not as well known, but this Syrah blend has been around for more than two decades, named in honor of Shafer’s [relentless] winemaker, Elias Fernandez.
We didn’t decant the wine – it would probably help a bit, but I just didn’t want to deal with it. At first, the wine was tight, with well-noticeable tannins and an interplay of tar and cherries, with the addition of pepper. After some time in the glass and opened bottle, the tar subsided, leaving delicious peppery cherries to be admired around a layered but firm core. This 23 years old wine showed beautifully and it was a real treat.
Now the last piece – food. We stopped going out to the restaurants on Valentine’s Day a long time ago – the experience just not worth it. We were craving sushi for some reason, so that is what completed our Valentine’s Day dinner – here you can see some creative rolls from an Asian restaurant not too far from our house.
There you are my friends – our V-day reflections. How was your celebration? Any special wine experiences? Do tell! And until the next time – cheers!
Frustration of the Oenophile – Choosing Wine
First-world problems, I know. Nevertheless, let’s talk about them.
I guess we, oenophiles, are tender creatures. Doesn’t take much to get us frustrated. Wine not tasting the way we expect; not enjoying critic’s choice 100-points wine; close friends not sharing your excitement about the wine in the glass. We can go on and on about these little insignificant things, each one a source of the full-blown frustration. Oenophile’s frustration looks different every day. And mine right now might be the biggest one of all (remember – taste is subjective, so are the feelings) – inability to choose the wine.
Assuming I will be able to finish this post today, tomorrow we are celebrating Valentine’s Day – and what says “I love you” better than a luscious, voluptuous, sexy, and seductive bottle of wine? Forget flowers, flowers don’t stand a chance against such a bottle of wine. But what wine will be luscious, voluptuous, sexy, and seductive? The need to choose that wine properly becomes the cause of the ultimate frustration. But that’s not all, because merely in a week we have to deal with OTBN – Open That Bottle Night – and this is the ultimate “oenophile frustration” cause, as now we need to decide what bottle we kept not opening waiting for a special moment which might either never arrive or already be in the past?
Decisions, decisions, decisions. Trying to select the right bottle of wine for the occasion, you have only a few minutes to agree with yourself on the proper bottle. If you will not arrive at the decision within those few minutes, the next 2, 3, 4 days will be miserable. You are going to pull a bottle, look at it, think about it for a moment, sigh, and put it back. Then repeat the process over and over again, pretty much until you force yourself to feel that you got the right bottle. Possibly to change your mind again in a few hours, or even 20 minutes before the bottle needs to be opened. If you are an oenophile, and you are not going through this pitiful “decision paralysis”, I envy you and congratulate you. And for the rest of us – I share your pain.
So what wine should you select for Valentine’s Day? I already told you – it should be luscious, voluptuous, sexy, and seductive – or not. Of course, there is a big dependency on the food, but don’t try to achieve a perfect match – it’s okay to enjoy your food and wine independently. I have to say that I’m not a big fan of still Rosé wines for Valentine’s Day – yes, it matches the pink color of all the all V-day paraphernalia – but it might not deliver the pleasure you are looking for. I also would suggest avoiding “thought-provoking” wines – rare grapes, natural wines, skin-contact wines, wines from the forgotten corners of the Earth. On a normal day, I’m the first one to ask for an obscure wine, but for Valentine’s Day, wine should give you pleasure, elevate your mood, it should be easy to understand. If upon the first sip you will not say “ahh, this is good”, you’ve chosen the wrong wine – put the cork back and go fetch another bottle.
I love to have bubbles for Valentine’s Day – of course, nothing can beat the classic Champagne (and it perfectly can be pink), but you can’t go wrong with Cremants, Franciacorta, Trento DOC, Cava, and all other méthode champenoise wines. If you like white wines, Chardonnay is your best choice of white V-day wine, pretty much from anywhere in the world, as long as it is not a lifeless purposefully unoaked rendition.
And then, of course, the red. Ideally, the red should have an age on it, to truly deliver all that pleasure upon a first sip. Amarone, Brunello (I would avoid Barolo unless you perfectly know what you are doing), Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux/Cabernet blends, Super-Tuscans, Spanish Grenache, Rioja from a good producer, Syrah and Zinfandel. I’m not trying to make other wines feel bad, but for Valentine’s Day, this is what I would pick from.
Here is actually what I picked – Champagne and Syrah from California – and I will tell you all about it later on.
If you thought selecting wine for Valentine’s Day was frustrating, it is nothing in comparison with selecting the wine for OTBN.
OTBN (Open That Bottle Night) was invented in 1999 by Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, writers behind the Wall Street Journal’s wine column at that time. The purpose of the OTBN, which is always celebrated on the last Saturday in February, is to encourage wine lovers around the world to open that special, stashed far away bottle. We all have those bottles that can be categorized as “not today”. These wines typically exist in single quantities in our cellars and always have a memory attached to them.
This is what makes the selection process very difficult – to open or not to open? I have only one such bottle. What if I open it too early – I will never know how amazing it could become over the next 10 years? Once I open that bottle which was gifted by a dear friend, brought back from the amazing trip, acquired in the moment splurge, will my memories be lost forever? Should I just hold on to that bottle instead? Will I open this wine in the right company? Will people truly appreciate the sacrifice I’m making?
Frustrated, frustrated oenophile. It is hard to make wine decisions.
I hope you got my point. And I hope I helped you, at least a tiny bit, to select a proper bottle of wine, at least for Valentine’s Day. And please don’t ignore the OTBN – the right time to open a special bottle of wine is now – you never know, tomorrow the wine might be gone, or you might be gone. Truly, live in the wine moment – at least on the last Saturday in February.
Do you have frustrated oenophile moments of your own? Please share! And I wish you a happy, quick, and not-frustrating-at-all wine selection process, for all the special moments to come. Cheers!
FeedSpot 100 Best Wine Blogs of 2025
When I started this blog about 15 years ago (you will hear about it more this year) after extensive nudging from friends, I did some “soul searching” as a novice blogger. When you write something “in the open” you want someone to read it, right? Along these lines, one of the important soul-searching questions was: “Who am I writing for” – again, every writer is looking for readers, so what can or should I do to attract them? The best answer I found was ” you don’t write for anyone, you only write for yourself” – and ever since this was exactly what I have done.
While I’m writing for myself, I obviously appreciate any form of acknowledgment – it is nice to know that somewhere out there there is at least someone who might read a word or two from this blog. So when I got an email from FeedSpot informing me that the Talk-a-Vino blog was featured as one of the Top 100 Wine Blogs of 2025, this was a happy and humbling moment, this exact acknowledgment.
It is an honor to be featured in the list which includes Wine Spectator, James Suckling, and Decanter blogs. And of course, it is great to be in the wonderful company of wine bloggers I’ve known for many years – 1 Wine Dude, the drunken cyclist, Dallas Wine Chick, Food Wine Click just to name a few.
There was also an unexpected benefit of this recognition :). When I went to add the FeedSpot badge to the sidebar of my blog page I discovered that at some point I missed a change in the theme I’m using on WordPress, and my blog roll disappeared along with a few other lists I always considered important. I had to spend a bit of time restoring the blog to the way I always liked it to be, but now you can again see the list of blogs I’m following, along with the list of my favorite places to buy wine and some wine travel website recommendations.
And with that, let me get back to the gazillion of the posts I need to finish – onward and upward.
Grape For The Future, Wine For Today
Source: Wikipedia
Have you heard of the grape called Marselan?
If you have – great, pat yourself on the back as you are ahead of many wine lovers.
If you have not – even better, as we are going to fix it right now.
Some grapes have been around seemingly forever (the winemaking is getting older and older with every new discovery – I just learned today that based on the latest research, the wines were made around 11,000 years ago – quite an age), and it is impossible to tell when particular grapes were born. For others, the history is much more definite, as those grapes have been bred with a purpose, and thus their “birthday” is well known.
Marselan is one such grape. It was bred by Professor Paul Truel in 1961. Marselan is a cross of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache, and it was bred to be heat-resistant and disease-resistant. While having those desired qualities, Marselan had small-sized berries, which was not a great trait in the 1960s – the desired grape was supposed to have a high yield, thus Marselan ended up on a shelf. As the climate was changing and the temperatures were rising, the need for heat-resistant and disease-resistant grapes became more apparent, and Marselan was brought back to life, entering an official INRA grape registry in France in 1990.
Marselan was bred by Professor Truel in Languedoc near the French coastal town of Marseillan which gave Marselan its name. Marselan is a blue-skinned late-ripening variety, producing large clusters of small berries, leading to a high skin to juice ratio in the winemaking. Marselan prefers dry soil and hot climate, and it has strong disease resistance to botrytis bunch rot, powdery mildew, and other grape malaises. While born in France, Marselan found its great fame in China, where it might be considered a “signature” grape according to Decanter magazine.
Marselan is best known as a blending grape. Nevertheless, varietal Marselan wines started being produced in Languedoc in 2002. Today, about 70 wineries in Languedoc produce varietal Marselan wines. In 2019, Marselan was one of four new red grapes authorized for use in the production of Bordeaux wines. In Bordeaux, Marselan can make up to 10% of Bordeaux Superior and Bordeaux AOC blends, though it cannot be listed on labels. In addition to France and China, Marselan today is growing in Spain, Switzerland, California, Brazil, Uruguay, Israel and other places.
Okay, the formal introduction is over, let’s move on to the fun part – tasting probably the best of the best wine Marselan has to offer – NV Gran Marselan Cuvée du Centenaire Vin de France (14.5% ABV, $169, 100% Marselan, 15 months in 2-years old French oak barrels, 1,716 bottles produced).
This wine had been produced by EdenGrapes with the grapes coming from two best and oldest (40+ year old vines) blocks of Marselan vineyards in Languedoc, discovered after an extensive search. The wine was released in 2024 to celebrate the 100th birthday of Paul Truel, creator of Marselan, who was born in 1924, hence the Cuvée du Centenaire designation.
While speaking with Christian de Rivel, the producer of Gran Marselan, he suggested that it would be very important to decant the wine for anywhere between 2 and 5 hours to let it shine. Well, you never need to ask the wine geek twice to play with his wine.
Long decant? Ha! I got you!
There are many ways to decant the wine. I don’t want to go too far on the tangent here, so I will just give you a “short brief”, and hopefully a more in-depth decanting rundown later in another post. I prepared a few decanting instruments I have at my disposal – a classic decanter, a couple of aerators – VersoVino and Venturi, and even a super-decanting tool, or rather a “hyper-decanting” tool, the blender.
Wine Geek’s Mise an Place
Even if decanting is suggested, to decant or not to decant is a personal choice. I had to taste the wine to decide what I would like to do in terms of decanting, so first I just poured some wine into the glass:
Upon opening
Beautiful color, bright garnet
Nose of wild raspberries and wild blueberries, superb, earthy undertones
Beautiful palate of wild berries, well integrated velvety tannins, firm structure, good acidity, excellent balance 8+/9-, delicious overall and dangerous.
Based on tasting the wine “as is”, hyper-decanting was ruled out – the wine was perfectly drinkable from the get-go, no need for extreme measures. But I had to try the tools nevertheless:
VersoVino
Nose a bit more pronounced and open, adding tart cherries to the aromatics
Palate is a bit smoother, tannins become silkier, overall wine is more polished. I really didn’t expect that. Wow. 9-
Venturi
High intensity nose, now more Cabernet-like profile, a touch of eucalyptus
Excellent palate expression – it doesn’t have cassis, but instead offers gobs of dark fruit, good acidity, more of a chewy structure. After Venturi, the wine actually begs for a steak. It shows bigger. But it is now more in Grenache territory, with dark chocolate undertones. 8+
I definitely like the effect of VersoVino more. The wine is softer and more elegant with VersoVino compared to Venturi.
Bubbles – an effect of Venturi
Now we wait.
1 hour control point from decanter
Nose changed, now offering some sapidity undertones, became lean and powerful. Now nose promises big, “serious” wine
Delicious bouquet on the palate. Dark fruit, elegant, balanced, tart cherries woven over the firm structure. Elegant, delicious. 9-
2 hours later
Tart nose, earthy undertones, cherries
Lots of tart cherries on the palate, different representation, firm, tight, lots of energy, now gripping tannins which cut finish somewhat short. Wine is evolving. 8
4.5 hours later
Fresh berries returned on the nose with some earthy undertones
On the palate, the wine is tight with some brushy tannins, good clean dark fruit finish. The wine would perfectly complement steak, but for sipping I would prefer one of the earlier versions. 8
Second day
Still pretty much tastes like the wine after a few hours of decanting.
So what did I learn after tasting the Gran Marselan, besides the fact that I really didn’t need to decant it more than for an hour? The conclusion is easy. The grape has great future potential. But you don’t need to wait for the future – you can simply enjoy the wine right now. Also, I know what you are thinking – this Gran Marselan is expensive. While I can’t argue with that, if you are ever willing to spend $170 on a bottle of a special wine then this wine is well worth your consideration. I know of many California Cabernet Sauvignons in the same price range which will deliver much less pleasure, so this wine is definitely worth it. Maybe one day we will be able to compare the notes? Until that time – cheers!
Pinot Noir Battle – Let the Best (but Most Unexpected) Win…Again
It all started with a few tweets. I noticed a very high praise for the German Pinot Noirs shared by some of the European wine lovers I’m connected to on Twitter (still can’t make myself call it X, so you will have to forgive me for that). Particularly, Pinot Noir from Ahr was regarded as the best in the world, handily beating Burgundies on any occasion. I was intrigued and started searching for the Pinot Noir from Ahr, which proved to be challenging.
Ahr is a tiny region, one of the smallest in Germany – according to Wines of Germany, Ahr has only about 529 hectares of vineyards (around 1,323 acres), which comprises 40 single vineyards. 65% of the vineyard area is planted with Pinot Noir, about 860 acres – for comparison, the Jackson Family mostly Pinot Noir plantings in Oregon alone amount to roughly 600 acres. You can imagine that finding Pinot Noir from Ahr in the US was rather challenging.
The more I saw Ahr Pinot-praising tweets, the more I wanted to try it. Then one day I checked Wine.com, and there it was – Pinot Noir from Ahr, made by Meyer-Näkel. I quickly went to the Twitter folks to check if this wine would sufficiently represent the Ahr region, got an approving nod, and bought a bottle.
Once the wine arrived, I thought of the best way to try it. When it comes to learning about wine, tasting wines side by side is the best way to learn. Oh yeah, and if you want to be honest with yourself, blind tasting is the only way. We tend to be led by what we know, by our beliefs. Once we know that the wine costs $100, we want to believe that it is better than the bottle which costs $50. Once we see a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley in California, we automatically assume that it will be much better than the Cabernet Sauvignon from Lake County or Lodi. Nothing is wrong with us, this is how the brain works – so once you remove all the factors of influence, once you get one on one with the liquid in your glass without knowing the producer, the region, the price – it is very easy to be honest with yourself. So blind tasting it is.
Sometimes we don’t realize how fast the time passes. I love talking about blind tastings when I’m talking about wine, and I have a few of my favorite blind tasting examples, one of them particularly being the Pinot Noir blind tasting we have done in the past. What I didn’t realize is that the particular wine tasting I remember so well took place almost 15 years ago (time flies, isn’t it). The outcome of the tasting was very surprising, with South African Pinot Noir from Hamilton Russell beating California, Burgundy, and others – 15 years ago I didn’t even know that South Africa produced Pinot Noir!
Many things have happened in the wine world over these 15 years – of course, Pinot Noir is one of the oldest red wines produced in the world, but now it is literally produced everywhere – I don’t know if today there is a country which doesn’t produce Pinot Noir wines (maybe Spain?). Also, the quality of Pinot Noir throughout the world got a lot higher. The tasting you are about to read about is the perfect illustration of both points – the widespread geography and quality.
Okay, a blind tasting of Pinot Noir. The Ahr Pinot Noir got high praise, so we need to compare it with the best of the best – which means that we have to have California, Oregon, and Burgundy in the tasting, plus whatever else we might be able to find. I asked for a few samples of Oregon Pinot Noir. Very conveniently, Last Bottle had an offer for Chacra Pinot Noir from Patagonia – a different Pinot Noir from Chacra was James Suckling’s wine of the year recently, so this was a good addition to the tasting. Bottle by bottle, we assembled 12 Pinot Noirs from around the world, and the battlefield was ready to be set up.
This is a blind tasting, so we placed all bottles in the paper bags, and then my daughter who was now a participant in the tasting put the labels randomly on the bags (15 years ago her role was limited only to attaching the labels :)). I also prepared a few of the “reference points” for everybody to use in the form of the crushed fruit in the glass – I didn’t find plums in the store, but we had many other relevant “references” – cherries, pomegranate, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and even liquid smoke.
We also had paper for taking notes, and as a reference, I included all the countries that were present in the tasting so we could try guessing the countries for each wine. All countries except the two, as both Zak and I brought in one “surprise” each – Pinot Noir from the countries that are not really known as Pinot Noir producers – we didn’t know what wine the other person was bringing. Here is the list of countries that were offered for everyone’s reference: Argentina (Patagonia), California (Santa Rita Hills), France (Burgundy), Germany (Ahr), New York (Finger Lakes), New Zealand (Central Otago), Oregon (Willamette Valley, 2 wines), Poland, Washington, Surprise 1 (European country not listed above), Surprise 2.
Off we went, tasting and discussing the wines, trying to figure out what was what. Consciously tasting 12 wines in a row is not an easy fit, especially when you try to at least identify the countries. Also, each person (there were 8 of us) was supposed to decide on 3 of their favorite wines so we would be able to vote for the most popular wine of the night, so we had to score each wine. Here score is simply comparative within your notes – 1 through 5, E to A, doesn’t matter, as long as everyone can decide on their favorites.
Here are my notes for all 12 wines as the tasting was happening.
Wine #1: Country: New World (have no idea what I was thinking, I guess something outside of Europe), Vintage: 2021. Cherries, lots of cherries, raspberries, tart cherries on the palate, good balance, nice. Score: 8
Wine #2: Country: Oregon, Vintage: 2021. Iodine, cherries, tart, pepper, tannins, earthy, rocky. Score: 8+
Wine #3: Country: Poland?, Vintage: 2021. Cherries, initially fresh berries, fresh raspberries, sweet cherries, good balance. Score: 8
Wine #4: Country: Argentina?, Vintage: 2019. Gunflint, fresh, crisp, tart, rocky, cherries, excellent. Score:8/8+. Tasting again at the end of the tasting, the wine lost something, so finally score is 8
Wine #5: Country: California?, Vintage: ? Almost black color, dark, aged, medicinal nose, iodine, sweet cherries on the palate, tart. Score: 8-, after retesting later – 8, wine improved.
Wine #6: Country: Oregon? No, Vintage: ?, carrot juice on the nose, very grippy tannins on the palate, cherries. Score: 7+
Wine #7: Country: ? , Vintage: ? Beautiful color, Rutherford dust, hint of cherries, tannins and cherries on the palate, good balance. Score: 8 initially, 8+ after breathing
Wine #8: Country: Germany, Vintage: ? Love the garnet color, smoke, tar, concentrated nose. Wow! Superb – cherries, concentrated, good acidity, good balance. Score: 8++
Wine #9: Country: Oregon, Vintage: ? Pencil shavings, Rutherford dust, tannins, cherries, elegant but needs a touch more acidity. Score: 8
Wine #10: Country: ?, Vintage: ? Pomegranate seeds, cherries, very tight. Cool aid, cherry cola Score: 8-
Wine #11: Country: Finger Lakes, Vintage: ? Smoke and rubber, tar, on the nose. Rubber, tannins, cherries, became more balanced after breathing Score: 7+ initially, improved to 8 on the second tasting.
Wine #12: Country: Oregon, Vintage: ? Cherries, vegetation, cool aid on the nose. Cherries, good balance, good acidity, excellent. Score: 8+, went down to 8 after re-tasting as the finish showed sugar candy.
Ugh, this was not an easy tasting, but it was finally complete. Time to decide on favorites. First, everyone had to make their own decisions for the 3 favorite wines. After re-tasting and struggling, my list of favorites in descending order looked like this:
1st favorite: #8
2nd favorite: #2
3rd favorite: #7
Next, the vote. Remember, each person (there were 8 of us) was allowed to vote for 3 favorite wines, thus we just called the wine number and asked to see a show of hands. Here are the results.
Wine #1 – 1
Wine #2 – 5
Wine #3 – 1
Wine #4 – 0
Wine #5 – 0
Wine #6 – 3
Wine #7 – 3
Wine #8 – 3
Wine #9 – 3
Wine #10 – 1
Wine #11 – 1
Wine #12 – 3
Therefore we had a clear winner – wine number 2, and 5 wines in the second place with 3 votes each – #6, #7, #8, #9, and #12.
Next came the best and final part of the blind tasting – the reveal! Would you believe me If I told you that the revealed bottle elicited a loud “oh, wow, really” literally from everyone? Surprise after surprise after surprise.
The most popular wine? Pinot Noir from (drum roll, please)
Japan!
Seriously, Japan??? How? Yes, Japan makes wine, but to make Pinot Noir that shows better than Oregon, California, Burgundy, and all other countries? Just wow. Apparently, this is an impossible-to-get “cult” wine, produced in minuscule quantities, $100 wholesale but $300 retail if you can even find it? That was the first “surprise” wine.
Pinot Noir from Poland that was very good? How about that? My favorite wine of the tasting, Southern Lines from Central Otago, by some absolute miracle was $15 per bottle – how is that even possible (it is a case buy if you can find it at that price).
Here is the full list of wines in the numbered order:
- 2021 Bells Up Jupiter Pinot Noir Estate Chehalem Mountains AVA (13.5% ABV, $50)
- 2021 Domaine Takahiko Soga Nana-Tsu-Mori Pinot Noir Hokkaido Japan (13% ABV, $300?)
- 2022 Violetti-Rebbau Pinot Noir Barrique Vin de Pays Suisse (13% ABV, $N/A)
- 2021 Meyer-Näkel Pinot Noir Ahr Germany (12.5% ABV, $56 at Wine.com)
- 2018 Paul Garaudet Pinot Noir Bourgogne AOC (13% ABV, $39)
- 2017 Shaw Vineyard Pinot Noir Reserve Finger Lakes New York (13% ABV, $N/A)
- 2021 EILA Violet Pinot Noir Willamette Valley (12.7% ABV, $65)
- 2021 Southern Lines Pinot Noir Central Otago New Zealand (13.5% ABV, $15)
- 2022 Chakra Sin AzuFre Pinot Noir Patagonia Argentina (12% ABV, $30 Last Bottle)
- 2021 Golden West Pinot Noir Goden West Vineyard Royal Slope Washington (14% ABV, $21)
- 2011 Sea Smoke Southing Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills Santa Barbara County (14.5% ABV, $100?)
- 2021 Adoria Vineyards Pinot Noir Zachowice Poland (12.5% ABV, $25)
You see, this is what blind tasting does. Under the guise of the brown bag, all wines are “the same”. You are not influenced by anything – “ahh, I brought this wine, it must be better”, “ahh, the guy in the store was raving about it so much”, “ahh, it got 99 points from Suckling” – none of this matters. You let your palate be the judge. Wine has to give you pleasure.
As the wines were left at my house after the tasting, I was the lucky bastard who had an opportunity to taste them over the few next days. This is not how the general population consumes wines, so this has very little bearing on the results and the whole tasting process, but I can tell you that for example, the Sea Smoke Southing became literally my favorite wine – it developed a depth of flavor and a beautiful complexity – if it would taste like that during the tasting it would be handily the wine number 1, for sure for me. The Pinot Noir from Ahr also developed additional layers, with gunflint and roasted meat notes now dominating the flavor profile in a very respectful manner, making it a lot more pleasant to drink – again, in that state it would again get a much higher rating in my book. And pretty much across the board, the Pinot Noirs continued their evolution and most of them were still drinkable even 5 days after being open – a testament to quality.
Here we are. 15 years later, the most unexpected Pinot Noir wins again. But this is the beauty of wine. The mystery, the enigma, the art. Wine is a liquid art form, and this tasting delivered an unmeasurable amount of pleasure and created new memories. This is what life is all about, isn’t it? Creating good great memories. And wine is exceptionally good at that. Onward and upward.
Celebrating New Year 2025 In Style
New Year is my favorite celebration. It is simply a celebration of life as it happens. Forget all this “new year, new you” nonsense, forget all the resolutions – new year resolutions don’t work, you can’t do something once in 365 days and expect that the effect will last for the next 364. So the New Year celebration for me is just an opportunity to spend time with your friends and family, and maybe enjoy some special treats – yes, I’m talking about wine and food, of course (in that specific order).
New Year celebration is an opportunity to open a special bottle (or 2, or 3, or more). I always want to decide on my celebratory wines in advance, and then the decisions are still happening at the last minute. Here is what I decided on to celebrate the new year 2025:
We started with NV Champagne Duval Leroy Brut Reserve (12% ABV), which showed beautifully with a yeasty, toasty nose, and then freshly baked bread and apples on the palate, spread over the fine mousse. Supple acidity completed the presentation, and the bottle was emptied in a matter of a few minutes.
One bottle of bubbles is never enough, so we continued our New Year celebration with NV Champagne Decotanne Brut Blanc de Noirs (12% ABV). Not so much of the toasted notes but nice fresh apples instead, followed by creamy, apple-forward fine mousse, rounder and just a tiny bit sweeter than the previous Champagne, possibly with simply a perceived sweetness just because of the fuller body. Overall elegant and delicious to the last drop.
Next I decided to open the 2012 Peter Michael Ma Belle-Fille Chardonnay Knights Valley Sonoma County (15.6% ABV). I have a complicated relationship with Peter Michael wines. When I tasted Peter Michael Chardonnay for the first time (probably 2008 vintage), I instantly fell in love and signed up for the mailing list (got on relatively quickly). Then a few of the subsequent vintages were not as good, while the price continued to go higher, so I dropped off the mailing list, and now just slowly finishing the bottles I have with various degrees of success (read: enjoyable, pleasure-inducing wines). This 2012 Chardonnay should be remembered as a success, showing a serious punch of vanilla and overripe apples on the nose, and continuing with the exact same profile on the palate. The acidity was in check, making the wine “pleasant to drink” but not much beyond that. A bit more acidity would have perfectly freshened up the wine, but oh well. Still, a very decent California Chardonnay specimen at 12 years of age.
Last but not least – 2017 Cayuse Syrah Cailloux Vineyard Walla Walla Valley (13.8% ABV). I know, 7 years is not really an age for the Cayuse wines, but hey, that’s what the New Year celebration is for – to motivate you to open a special bottle of wine. I decanted the wine for a few hours, and it opened up beautifully with smokey, earthy cherries, granite, and iodine – both on the nose and on the palate. A very elegant and delicious wine in its own right.
Not sure if food is as exciting as wine, but the New Year celebration also requires a celebratory set of dishes, something along these lines:
This year was also very special as Hanukkah and Christmas overlapped, which only happened 5 times over the past 125 years – in 1910, 1921, 1959, 2005, and now 2024. As the last day of Hanukkah overlapped with New Year Day, I took this picture to preserve such memory:
So, how was your New Year celebration? Amy special wines, special food? I’m eager to know, do tell.
And until the next time – cheers!
Happy New Year 2025!
I want to take a moment to wish everyone a healthy, peaceful, happy New Year 2025, filled with amazing experiences, wonderful, memorable life moments, good conversations, loving families and friends, and very importantly, delicious, memorable wines!
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