Wine & Spirits

34TH A N N UA L B U YING G UI D E

cherry ﬂavors, satisfying and balanced; for
a chicken braise. -P.J.C. (W&S 8/20; 478
cases) §

OREG O N RE D
519440

93 | Keeler Estate

$28

2017 Eola-Amity Hills Heart Pinot Noir ^
With scents of clove and mulled spices, this
delivers its ﬂavors in waves of richness, the
dark, sumptuous fruit pulsing and precise,
notes of ripe cherry, blueberry and olive
drawing to a savory ﬁnish with bay laurel-
scented tannins. Impressive for the price.
-P.J.C. (W&S 4/20; 426 cases) §

WA S H I N GT O N ROS E
520781

93 | Gramercy Cellars

$22

2019 Columbia Valley Olsen Vineyard
Rosé ^ Greg Harrington channels Provence
in this bracing single-vineyard blend of cinsault, grenache and syrah. A pale onion-skin
hue, the wine spent four months on the lees,
lending it a nutty and biscuity complexity
and breadth. With a sharp cut of acidity, it
holds an impressive tension, even after two
days open. Pour this with a light meal, like
gravlax with capers on a fresh baguette.
-P.J.C. (W&S 8/20; 500 cases) §

WA S H I N GT O N RE D
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
518657

93 | Upchurch

$30

SYRAH
520239

94 | Gramercy Cellars

$25

2017 Columbia Valley Lower East Syrah ^
This is from Greg Harrington's tier of wines
meant to broaden the winery's regional reach
to the Columbia Valley. The blend comes
from Les Collines, Forgotten Hills and Holy
Roller vineyards-the latter a new parcel
owned by Chris Figgins, in The Rocks. The
wine leads with scents of mocha and olive-
the Rocks showing its stuff-while the ﬂavors
feel a bit warmer, with a seductively plush
texture, limned by violet-and-rosemaryscented tannins. Drinking beautifully now;
serve with lamb. -P.J.C. (W&S 6/20; 1,500
cases) §
518879

89 | Chateau Ste. Michelle

$15

2017 Columbia Valley Syrah ^ This offers
impressive complexity at the price, with
scents of licorice and smoked meat, sumptuous oak ﬂavors and sleek fruit.Buy by the
case for outdoor parties. -P.J.C. (W&S 2/20) §

2016 Agrelo Luján de Cuyo Reserva Malbec ^ This is light on its feet and dark in ﬂavor,
with black-pepper spice and meaty cherry
ﬂavors. It feels Old World in its savor, with
green-herb notes playing around the edges,
and gripping tannins. -T.Q.T. (W&S
10/20) § Orvino Imports & Distributing, Coral
Springs, FL

WINE & SPIRITS

$20

2018 Margaret River Wilyabrup Dancing in the Sun ^ This is a dry-grown blend of
sauvignon blanc and semillon (with a little
verdelho) from Vanya Cullen's biodynamically farmed vineyard near the coast in Wilyabrup. There's no oak to get in the way of this
wine's lovely fruit, the crunchy nectarine and
kumquat ﬂavors held tight, with a whisper of
underlying creaminess at the liminal space
between the earth and the sea. -J.G. (W&S
10/20) § Old Bridge Cellars, Napa, CA

AUSTRALIA RED
GRENACHE
125034

92 | Alpha Box & Dice

520109

$36

$15

2018 Mendoza Cabernet Sauvignon ^ This
is ﬁrm and balanced, delivering beefy berry
ﬂavors with ﬁrm, ﬁne tannins, bright, fresh
acidity and radish-like spice. Stock up on it
for barbecue season. -T.Q.T. (W&S 4/20) §
Foley Family Artisan Imports, Santa Rosa, CA

92 | Cullen
$20

CABERNET BLEND
2017 Columbia Valley Quinn Red Blend ^
A blend of malbec, merlot and cabernet,
this has a classic Bordeaux scent of cedar
and plum, the malbec adding a violet bouquet. The ﬂavors are at once plush and sleek,
buoyed by a seductive, purple-fruited core
of fruit and ﬁne claylike tannins. Proceeds
from the sale of this wine go to a cystic ﬁbrosis fund called "All In for Quinn." -P.J.C.
(W&S 6/20; 150 cases) §

92 | Nieto Senetiner

125957

125759

2017 Red Mountain Larger Than Life Cabernet Sauvignon ^ LTL, a new brand from
DeLille's Chris Upchurch, is off to a running
start with this cabernet, with rich and powerful Red Mountain character, dark notes of
black plum and chocolatey, ﬁne-grained tannins. It over delivers for the price, especially
with lamb shoulder. -P.J.C. (W&S 12/19;
925 cases) §

93 | Longship

125192

AUSTRALIA WHITE

A RGE NTINA RED

93 | Bodegas de los Clop

der tannins giving the violet-scented fruit a
lithe line. -T.Q.T. (W&S 10/20) § Taub Family
Selections, Boca Raton, FL

125823

93 | Caro

$21

2017 Mendoza Amancaya Reserve ^ The
partnership between Domaines Barons de
Rothschild (Laﬁte) and Catena, launched
in 1999, produces this "second" wine with a
higher proportion of malbec and less time
in oak barrels than the ﬂagship wine (also
recommended here). In 2017, Amancaya
is the more elegant of the two. The blend
includes 33 percent cabernet sauvignon and
spends a year in barrels (20 percent new): It's
smoky, dark and earthy, with ﬁne cocoa-pow-

BUYING GUIDE 2021

$20

2018 McLaren Vale Tarot ^ Sam Berketa
blends this wine from two vineyards, most of
it destemmed and inoculated with cultured
yeast, ten percent fermented as whole clusters with ambient yeasts. It ages together for
six months in tank, emerging a bit oxygen
starved and reduced, with the green leaﬁness
of persimmon and the tart red fruit of sour
plums. That fruit is almost more pink than
red, layered and funky, with plenty of structural integrity. The ﬂavor impact is lasting,
an intriguing grenache for duck prosciutto
and other cured meats. -J.G. (W&S 2/20) §
AB&D, Carmel, CA

https://www.nietosenetiner.com.ar/ https://www.vinosdelmundo.com.uy/products/bodega-caro-amancaya-gran-reserva

Wine & Spirits - Winter 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - Winter 2020

Wine & Spirits - Winter 2020 - 96

Wine & Spirits - Winter 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - Winter 2020