Michael Stickings
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Reviews (246)
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Reviews
San Pedro 1865 Single Vineyard Carmenère 2011, Maule Valley
Maule Valley, Chile$19.95
Given its herbal-vegetal characteristics, there are limits on how far Carmenere can go on its own, but this example from the Maule Valley is truly exceptional by any standard. The green pepper comes first, along with black pepper and faint wisps of smoke, but it's a deep, enveloping, multi-faceted note, and while the savoury elements are the primary ones, the rich and luscious fruit that emerges along with them -- currant, cherry, plum, cassis -- provides amazing balance and complexity. With a silky texture, lip-smacking finish, and excellent length, this is a great wine and a great value.
3.5 Stars
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Chåteau D'anglés Grand Vin 2008, Ac Languedoc La Clape
Languedoc, France$20.95
A whirlwind GSM -- good, then not good, then all over the place. It opens with a gorgeous blast of cassis, like a New World Cab, but then the Syrah takes over with black pepper and roasted meat atop cherry, raspberry, cola, and bitter herbs. Then the barnyard funk shows up, off-putting Mourvèdre notes that overwhelm. And you think, maybe it's done, gone for good. Until, with time, lots of time, the soft, warm Grenache helps to even things out with pillowy purple fruit. It eventually settles in as very good, with admirable complexity, good depth and length, and unresolved internal turmoil.
3.5 Stars
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Tenuta Stefano Farina Le Brume Langhe 2009, Doc
Piedmont, Italy$16.95
Opening up with decidedly funky-meaty notes, and with a brick-red colour of dried blood, this Nebbiolo from Langhe, near the far more famous Barolo and Barbaresco, seems stale and uninviting. But give it some time to breathe, a couple of hours or even a full day, and it becomes a complex, intriguing wine with a food-friendly Italian roller-coaster of aromas and flavours of redcurrant, sour cherry, cranberry, earth, tar, leather, mushroom, and bitter herb. It's all too thin, and some of the funkiness remains, the fruit somewhat suppressed, but it's still a great value for interesting Piedmont.
3.5 Stars
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Domaine Chofflet Valdenaire Givry 2009, Ac
Burgundy, France$26.95
Sadly, something just seems wrong here. Hopefully it's the bottle, not the wine itself. You get a sense of the rich earthiness and cherry and cranberry fruit, with some black pepper and baking spice as well, but the dominant note is an awful band-aid funkiness that just makes this undrinkable, and it doesn't go away, with the colour a rusty brown-red. It may simply be a solid Pinot well past its prime, but after just six years one hardly expects such decay, and the reputation and reviews certainly suggest much better.
3.5 Stars
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Domaine Du Clos Gautier Cuvée Emile 2008, Ac Côtes De Provence
Provence, France$24.95
With its meaty-herbal profile, this Syrah-Grenache blend from Provence could easily pass for a wine from Languedoc, say, from La Clape. There isn't all that much fruit, unfortunately, and so the dominant notes are limited to smoked meat, local herbs, black pepper, pine resin, and leather, though there's a sour edge that emerges on the palette, and with time raspberry and blackberry make their presences known. It's not an altogether unappealing effort, and the savoury qualities make it quite food-friendly, but it lacks finesse and charm, and ultimately that meaty-herbal profile proves limited.
3.5 Stars
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Dandelion Vineyards Lionheart Of The Barossa Shiraz 2011, Barossa Valley
South Australia, Australia$19.95
I'm generally not a huge fan of Australian Shiraz, what with its overripe, overwrought, commercially-driven, in-your-face tendencies, but with its burst of black pepper spice, savoury meaty-earthy-herbal elements (plus a hint of salt on the finish), rich purple fruit, and touch of funkiness (bandaid), this one actually seems more like a Syrah-based blend from the southern Rhône, and that's very much to its credit. It's still big, bold, and obvious, the fruit (cassis, blackberry, blueberry) ripe, the wood pronounced, but it's admirably restrained and interesting overall, defying the stereotype.
3.5 Stars
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Château Hanteillan 2010, Ac Haut Médoc
Bordeaux, France$19.95
Vibrantly fruity while also elegantly restrained, this superb-value Bordeaux has a brilliant nose of raspberry right from the start, with complexity emerging in the form of sweet plum, sour currant, earth, pepper, candle wax, and graphite minerality, the fascinating interplay of sweet and sour shining throughout, the length outstanding. If there's a fault, it's that it's a bit hollow mid-palette, but this is resolved somewhat with time in the open, and indeed it opens up a great deal. Still young and raw, tannins firm, there's room to mature, but even now it's a genuine pleasure to experience.
3.5 Stars
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Clos Bellane Côtes Du Rhône Villages Valréas 2010, Ap
Rhône, France$19.95
If it were only for the nose, this would be excellent, what with its wonderful interplay of fruity cherry and berries (notably raspberry and strawberry), and savoury mushrooms, herbs, earth, and crushed rock, all coated in oodles of black pepper, but alas. The experience isn't terrible past the aromas, but the flavours, with the savoury taking over, thin out quickly and are somewhat severe on the palate, while the finish is bitter and the length is unimpressive. It has that great nose, though, and it certainly deserves additional praise for representing its region in an uncommercial style.
3.5 Stars
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Château Camp De La Hire 2010, Ac Castillon Côtes De Bordeaux
Bordeaux, France$16.95
Another great value from a great vintage, this right-bank Bordeaux surprises with a burst of ripe fruit upon opening -- plum, raspberry, dark cherry. But after time in the open it remains largely closed, the acidity and chalky tannins suggesting decent aging potential. There may not be all that much depth regardless, but this shows serious elegance and teases with complex aromas of dark fruit, mocha, graphite, herbs, earth, butter, and sweet marshmallow, however thin overall at this point. It's a solid 88, with some patience to let it breathe, but substantial improvement is certainly possible.
3.5 Stars
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Porcupine Ridge Syrah 2011, Wo Swartland
South Africa$13.95
Always an amazing value, this complex and balanced South African Syrah features a rich fruity core of cassis, blackberry, and dark cherry supported by complementary oak and mineral elements and defining spicy and smoky notes. It can be a bit rough and gritty in the mouth, with some grainy chocolate, but it's still eminently approachable even at a young age. Extremely well done, it's one of those all-purpose wines that goes well with food but can also stand on its own for frequent drinking.
3.5 Stars
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