Wine & Spirits - August 2018 - 83

CYP RUS W H I T E

FR A NC E RED

230767

90 | Tsiakkas

$19

2017 Lemesos Xynisteri (Best Buy) ^ Based
in the Pitsilia mountains, Costas Tsiakkas has
run this winery since 1988. He grows xynisteri on high, forested hills, creating a delicate
wine with crisp flavors of apple and peach,
filigreed with scents of orange blossoms and
almond brioche. It would pair well with a
simple preparation of sole. § Athenee Importers & Distributors, Hempstead, NY

CYP RUS RE D
230766

90 | Tsiakkas

$28

2015 Lemesos Vamvakada ^ Deep royal purple in color, this feels ripe and youthful, with
juicy blueberry fruit. Fine-grit tannins lend it
balance and gravity, drawing out a stony minerality and rosemary tones. Lean and sinewy,
this would pair well with pork loin; it should
also age well. § Athenee Importers & Distributors, Hempstead, NY

CYP RUS D E S S E RT
229898

93 | Loel

$32

Commandaria Alasia ^ This is the vinous
equivalent of a cinnamon-walnut coffee
cake: plump, nutty, sweet and indulgent,
with bright lemon-zest highlights and hints
of bitter, complex spice. It's made in the traditional style, blending the juice of superripe,
sun-dried mavro and xynisteri, mellowed in
oak barrels for at least three years. A saline
note makes it as addictive as salted caramel,
and it shares the same smooth, silky texture.
It's dessert on its own, or a companion to jazz
up biscotti. § Nestor Imports, NY

FRANCE WHITE
CORSICA
230778

90 | Domaine Torraccia

$25

2016 Porto Vecchio ^ Marc Imbert runs this
estate in southeastern Corsica, farming 106
acres organically. This white, made from vermentino fermented in tanks without added
yeasts, has a broad, rich feel. The flavors
seem to reference the slate soils on which it
grows-it's savory, earthy and herbal, with
a lively pink-peppercorn spice. § T. Edward
Wines, NY

CORSICA
230781

90 | Domaine d'Alzipratu

$30

90 | Clos Teddi

$22

2015 Corse Calvi Cuvée Pumonte ^ Pierre
Acquaviva started this winery in the 1990s,
taking over his father's vineyards and purchasing some more near Calvi in northwestern Corsica. He now farms nearly 100 acres.
This red, a blend of sciaccarellu, nielluccio,
grenache and aleatico, is spicy and exotic,
like a wine that grew up in a warm place. The
red fruit is almost raisin-sweet, and yet the
wine feels breezy, the flavors lifted by tangy
acidity and floral notes. It could work well
with a savory cherry clafouti, or duck breast
with rhubarb compote. § Frederick Wildman
and Sons, NY
230779
2016 Patrimonio (Best Buy) ^ Marie-Brigitte
Poli runs this estate in northern Corsica,
where the Agriates desert meets the Mediterranean. She adds a touch of grenache into the
nielluccio for this blend, lending extra juiciness to the wine, but it's the notes of dried
and fresh herbs, black olives and licorice that
give it freshness and personality. § The Vine
Collective, NY

PROVENCE
230585

95 | Domaine Tempier

$49

93 | Domaine Le Galantin

$25

2015 Bandol ^ While many French regions
suffered from the heat in 2015, Daniel Ravier
reports that Bandol's vines were sustained by
abundant winter rains, providing enough
soil moisture to make it through the heat.
His 2015 is sunny and generous in fragrant
berry fruit, but it also radiates freshness. The
flavors feel like they are delivered by herbscented breeze, they so subtly and gently
fill the head with fragrance. Mourvèdre's
power reads in the wine's leather and smoke
scents, but there's nothing rustic about this:
It's long, elegant and totally delicious, and
should develop for another decade at least. §
Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA
230559
2014 Bandol (Best Buy) ^ Brother-and-sister team Jérôme and Céline Pascal farm
this 56-acre estate in Bandol, relying almost
entirely on mourvèdre for this wine (it
includes five percent grenache). Aged in foudres for two years, it smells like a campfire
and tastes like roast game, cocoa and dark,
intense berries. It feels wild and pretty, structured by fine-grained tannins that hold the
flavors long. § V.O.S. Selections, NY
231286

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