Featured Wines - April 2011

Milbrandt’s delicious 2009 Pinot Gris ought to be the poster child for Pinot Gris – one of the world’s greatest white grapes and certainly one of most successful grape varietals now grown in the Pacific Northwest. It also makes us wonder why some purveyors of this flavorful grape fashion fantastic wines while others turn out dull, insipid offerings. Happily, the 2009 Milbrandt Pinot Gris is anything but dull. In fact, it’s everything good Pinot Gris should be.

Pure, natural, and easy to drink, the 2009 certified organic Bosquet du Sanglier Côtes-du-Rhône really knows how to please a crowd. Medium-bodied and as natural tasting as any wine we have ever had the pleasure to drink, the captivating, downright huggable 2009 Bosquet du Sanglier Côtes-du-Rhône offers up a brilliant robe, a fragrant nose, and plenty of flavor and mouth feel in the guise of violets, velvety black fruits, subtle spice, and a long, lingering finish.

Born in an outstanding vintage on the hills surrounding the village of Barolo itself, Gomba’s 2006 Querciola Barolo epitomizes the elegant, hedonistic side of Barolo. This wine marries the power of Barolo in a fine vintage such as 2006 to the ultimate in grace and charm. Languid in color and highly redolent with the fragrance of fresh picked berries, forest woodlands, and savory herbs and spices, the Querciola Barolo recalls the seductive allure of red Burgundy at its finest.

Although Josh Bergström is widely lauded as one of America’s top producers of Pinot Noir, his delicious, sophisticated array of white wines have remained relatively unsung – until now. No doubt, the relatively tiny production of white wine versus Pinot Noir at Bergström has something to do with the fact that few have had the good fortune to taste one of these fair skinned beauties. With that in mind, the 2009 Bergström Old Stones Willamette Valley Chardonnay makes a great debut.

The 2008 vintage in Willamette Valley is a splendid one, indeed, and it may turn out to be the absolutely finest vintage Oregon has harvested to date. And as we have come to expect from Bergström, Josh Bergström’s Pinot Noirs have risen to the top. The 2008 Bergström Cumberland Reserve Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is another stunning example of what America is capable of fashioning from the world’s most complex grape.

A richly robed red wine from Italy’s scenic Campania, the 2008 Vesevo Beneventano Aglianico accentuates the seductive side of southern Italy’s most magical varietal. Vesevo’s Aglianico comes across as lush and juicy, a potion loaded with the scent and savor of ripe red cherries and plump black fruits. Furthermore, this ingratiating red caresses the nose and glides across the palate.

Although we featured Insolia once before some years ago, we bet most of our members have yet to taste a Cusumano Insolia, so we suggest putting all pre-conceived notions aside. Cusumano’s 2009 Insolia is an aromatic wine with an intriguing palate profile. Simply put, Insolia is not like Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, or even Viognier. It is a limpid yet flavorful wine, highly fragrant, and subtlely spicy, that finishes dry.