http://bestdrinkever.net Drinking wine & writing about it. Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:02:43 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en ~$40US, 100% Syrah, DuBrul Vineyard Yakima Valley, WashingtonLuxurious and rich reddish purple. Massive red and black berries on the nose, some ripe plum. A curious lanolin ointment and dried mint components underlying. Mouth-filling body, very round and weighty with an unconscious balance of tannins and acidity. The alcohol nips a ... http://bestdrinkever.net/2008/08/14/owen-roe-lady-rosa-syrah-2005/ ~$14US, 100% Gamay Noir, Chenas, Cru Beaujolais, France Ruby color. Pencils and crayons and cherries. Zesty acidity but a lovely round ripeness to the fruit. Complexity via herbal notes in the finish - sage and thyme, with a little woody asparagus. Medium bodied an edge of firm tannins to close the ... http://bestdrinkever.net/2008/07/28/potel-aviron-chenas-vieilles-vignes-2004/ ~$22US, 100% Riesling, Erdener Treppchen Vineyard, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany I don't know why, but I've been a little afraid of the 'A' word when it comes to German Rieslings. 'A' as in Auslese or Selected Harvest - typically meaning selected ripe berries. The lightbulb went off in my head after the recent fantastic Donnhoff ... http://bestdrinkever.net/2008/07/15/merkelbach-erdener-treppchen-riesling-auslese-2006er/ ~$11USA, 85% Verdejo, 10% Viura, 5% Sauvignon Blanc, Rueda, Spain I've loved Basa since the '03 vintage, and believe this to be the best expression yet. Vibrant ruby grapefruit, white peaches with slightly under-ripe cherries, along with a mineral streak that you'd expect from a German Riesling. A shockingly good ... http://bestdrinkever.net/2008/07/11/telmo-rodriguez-basa-rueda-2006rrie/ ~US$20, 100% Sauvignon Blanc, San Antonio Valley, Chile Chile? No doubt this is exciting wine - in theory and practice. Take a white grape indigenous to the Loire valley and Bordeaux, put it in an even more exotic locale than New Zealand...say...mountainous granite slopes in Chile, facing the Pacific, and see ... http://bestdrinkever.net/2008/07/11/casa-marin-cipress-vineyard-sauvignon-blanc-2007/ ~$13US, 100% Cabernet Franc, Saumur, Loire Valley, France Wine Blogging Wednesday 47 is upon us, and this month the theme is simply the letter 'S'. Slim pickins in the Bestdrinkever HQ cellar - It was either this Saumur, a Spatburgunder (which just felt wrong), or a choice of Syrahs (too ordinary).  ... http://bestdrinkever.net/2008/07/08/chateau-tour-grise-253-saumur-2004/ ~$32US, 80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay, Champagne, France Sprightly, rich and toasty nose - one of those wines you could smell for hours. Very red-fruit-driven, strawberries and right-off-the-tree red apples. Fantastically appley on the palate, like a perfectly ripe Pink Lady apple - red apple sweetness initially, with green apple tartness ... http://bestdrinkever.net/2008/07/04/marc-hebrart-cuvee-de-reserve-brut-nv-champagne/ ~$46US, 100% Riesling, Nahe, Germany Helmut Donnhoff is a master wine-creator, without question. His family's Nahe vineyards produce exemplary Rieslings that stand up to any in the world, each with a signature sense of balance, place and power. The Oberhauser Brucke is absolutely shocking in its intensity across the board, from nose ... http://bestdrinkever.net/2008/07/04/donnhoff-oberhauser-brucke-spatlese-2006/ ~$15US, 100% Carignan, Vin de Pays des cotes de Thongue, Languedoc, France The Carignan grape has been quietly awakening in old parcels of land surrounding the Mediterrean for the past decade. The grape was an easy bet in creating the 'jug-wines' of 19th and early 20th century - due to the ... http://bestdrinkever.net/2008/07/02/la-font-de-l%e2%80%99olivier-carignan-vieilles-vignes-2003/ ~$25US, approx 80% Grenache, 20% Syrah, Gigondas, Southern Rhone, France. I had fun with this one...Saw the single '99 sitting in a bin-end & having read great things about Barruol and the Gigondas appellation but never having the opportunity to try either, I bit. I had intended to pick up a ... http://bestdrinkever.net/2008/06/30/chateau-de-saint-cosme-gigondas-1999/