Featured Wines - May 2017

The 2015 vintage in the Russian River Valley delivered an exceptional crop of Chardonnay. An unseasonably cold spring produced tiny clusters and low yields that developed under near perfect summer conditions to deliver outstanding quality. The 2015 Wild Goose Russian River Chardonnay offers a rich color and amplifying aromatics redolent of apple, pear, and honey with appealing hints of exotic spices. Refreshing on the palate...

Fournier’s 2014 Cuvée Silex is named for a 6 acre vineyard parcel comprised of prime silex soil, a mixture of flint, clay, limestone, and silica. This is a soil combination found only on a few choice hillsides in France’s Loire Valley. The 2014 Fournier Cuvée Silex is a special Sancerre that hails from an outstanding vintage and prime silex soil. The latter imparts mineral-rich qualities to the wine that define the wine’s amplifying bouquet...

The 2015 Château du Trignon Côtes-du-Rhône displays a brilliant, intense ruby color and a wealth of savory scents and flavors, which mark it as classic Côtes-du-Rhône. The tantalizing scents of raspberries, wild strawberries, and red currants first grace the nose where they mingle with hints of spice and aromatic herbs. In the mouth, the wine reveals its pure berry fruit flavors, which quickly delight the palate and are nicely framed by subtle...

Blessed with fine weather in 2014 and spared the destruction from the earthquake that struck southern Napa Valley on August 24 of that year, the Russian River produced a bevy of exciting wines in 2014, with Syrah faring especially well as the 2014 Tierra y Mar Russian River Syrah can attest. Hailing from the renowned Christensen Vineyards, the 2014 Tierra y Mar Russian River Syrah offers up a deep draught of black cherry and blueberry aromas...

Roussanne is a difficult grape to grow and a tricky wine to make, but when it is good, it’s very good. Happily, Jerome Quiot and the folks at Château du Trignon know how to work with Roussanne and the Rhône’s other mercurial white grape varieties and they have turned in another superlative effort in the estate’s 2015 Château du Trignon Roussanne Côtes-du-Rhône Blanc. Ripe, juicy flavors, supreme purity, elegance, and balance characterize...

Chapel Hill’s 2014 McLaren Vale Shiraz marks another high water mark for this outstanding property. Garnering from Wine Advocate 92+ Points, the deeply colored 2014 Chapel Hill McLaren Valle Shiraz offers an impressive array of savory aromas: a core of blackberry and mulberry fruits infused with forest woodlands, wild herbs, and cracked black pepper wafts from the glass. Full-bodied and concentrated but without the heavy jammy...

Burgundy and quite a few New World producers of Pinot Noir could take lessons from Rockburn. The 2013 Rockburn Central Otago Pinot Noir not only underscores Central Otago’s preeminent position as New Zealand’s premier Pinot Noir producing region, it highlights Rockburn’s consistent attention to quality. Rockburn’s Pinot Noirs have for three years in a row made Cuisine’s Top 10 List. Rockburn’s 2013 Central Otago Pinot Noir sports a brilliant