Michael Stickings
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Reviews (246)
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Reviews
Viña Casablanca Nimbus Single Vineyard Syrah 2011, Casablanca Valley
Casablanca Valley, Chile$16.75
This is another wonderful Chilean Syrah, warm and inviting, with a soft, luscious embrace supported by immense flavour. It opens with gorgeous fruit, mostly raspberry, strawberry, and plum, but then the common Syrah elements come in, some mild meatiness along with black pepper, as well as earth, herbs, milk chocolate, licorice, and graphite towards the end. The mix of sweet and savoury is handled extremely well, with New World boldness nicely balancing Old World restraint, showing how well this grape can do in cool-climate Casablanca Valley. Simply delicious.
3.5 Stars
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Tarima Hill Monastrell 2011, Old Vines, Do Alicante
Spain$19.95
This expression of Monastrell is far more fresh and vibrant than the thick, heavy bottle would suggest (and not as hot as the 15% alc. would suggest), with blackberry, blueberry, raspberry, and violet leading the way, along with redcurrant, minerals, and licorice. There's a lot of oak as well, but it's hardly overbearing, and indeed the vanilla and pepper spice bond nicely with the rich fruit and floral notes on top of an underlying earthiness. Soft and pillowy, with pleasantly powdery tannins, this is yet another superb value from yet another less-heralded south-eastern Spanish appellation.
3.5 Stars
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Cara Nord 2013, Do Conca De Barberà
Catalonia, Spain$19.95
Though still young, this Garnacha-Syrah-Garrut (Mourvèdre) blend from Conca De Barberà, close to Priorat and Montsant, is a full, rich, well-balanced red that tastes just like a GSM blend from Spain should. Soft yet structured, fresh yet profound, it features a complex array of notes including plum, blackcurrant, prune, fig, dried raspberry and other berries (suggesting Rioja), black pepper, earth, roasted and cured meat, and leather (suggesting maturity beyond its youth). It's not clear if it this has much aging potential, but it works very well right now, rewarding contemplative tasting.
3.5 Stars
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Pieropan Soave Classico 2014, Doc
Veneto, Italy$19.95
This is still young, and it has the sharp, vibrant acidity and fruit depth to warrant a good deal more aging, but it's so very impressive now with aromas of lemon, raw almond, pear, apple, lychee, and slate -- and indeed it is the balance of citrus and mineral that really makes this shine (reminiscent of a dry Mosel Riesling). The lemony acidity dominates the palate, but there's ample structure and savoury complexity to keep it contained. So very Italian, in the way of great Italian whites, and such a great value, this is a Soave that defies the region's poor reputation and builds its own.
3.5 Stars
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Reichsrat Von Buhl Armand Riesling Kabinett 2012, Qmp
Pfalz, Germany$18.95
The nose on this Pfalz Riesling is full of ripe apples and pears, but the impact is subtle, delicate and a touch floral. Then the flavour truly arrives, with peach, apricot, pineapple, and more apple, the fruit sweet but not too sweet, bathed in light honey, with a touch of citrus. There's a quirky sulphur note that goes away by the second day, but the main problem is that there isn't enough acidity/minerality to cut through the richness, the careful balance so characteristic of great German Riesling not quite there. But it's just so delicious that even this inadequacy can be excused.
3.5 Stars
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Rompesedas 2006, Do Toro
Castilla y León, Spain$19.95
Such a gorgeous nose on this well-aged, high-value Toro, the dark fruit (ripe blackberry, blackcurrant) providing enormous depth while taking a back seat to cinnamon, clove, vanilla, buttercream, milk chocolate, and even a hint of ginger, much of this replaying on the palate. It suggests sweetness, but it still has plenty of tannic structure. If anything, it may be a little too much, overdone, and a bit rough on the finish, but there's no denying the flavour impact, and the emergence of tart red berries and new leather adds to the complexity. An excellent example of warm-climate Tempranillo.
3.5 Stars
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Alejandro Fernández Dehesa La Granja 2008, Vino De La Tierra De Castilla Y León
Spain$21.95
There's a lot of brett in this well-aged, very Old World Tempranillo from one of Spain's most famous winemakers. Which isn't so bad. It smells like an old boot, but the earthy, well-worn leather is intriguing, not off-putting. The problem is that there isn't much else on offer. There's a fair amount of blackberry, but the fruit is largely flat and dull. Generally unfruity wines are fine, but I do think a beverage made from fruit should at least be minimally fruity. And this just thins out -- brett, blackberry, and all -- into finishing bitterness, with little to no fruity charm along the way.
3.5 Stars
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Poderi Angelini Primitivo Di Manduria 2010
Puglia, Italy$18.95
Here's an earthy, dusty, leathery, slightly bretty, sharply acidic, and deeply rustic Primitivo. But time pulls out baked dark berries and plums, dried dark fruit (including concentrated raisin), brown and pepper spice, vanilla marshmallow, and fresh raspberry, with notable heat. This is all about savoury rusticity, at least initially and as the frame, but the tangy fruit brightens things up through to a bitter herb finish, with whisky-note sweetness adding a pleasantly soft, smooth complement. Great value, impressive complexity and, overall, undeniable elegance within that rustic frame.
3.5 Stars
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Firestone Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, Santa Ynez Valley
California, Usa$19.90
Here's a high-value California Cab that really delivers. Benefitting from a moderate climate that keeps Californian excess in check, it offers immensely inviting fruit-forward aromas of cassis, blackberry, blueberry, and dark cherry -- ripe, plump fruit nicely complemented by pine, cinnamon, and fresh wood, the oak present but not obtrusive. This complexity gives way to more of an oaky muddle through the mid-palate, and bitter, chalky tannins take hold after that through the finish, but there's sufficient acidity to prop things up with vibrancy. Really good now, but could use 1-2 more years.
3.5 Stars
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Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet/Shiraz/Merlot 2012, Coonawarra, South Australia
South Australia, Australia$24.95
This amazing blend smells and tastes like blood, as if Wynns has tapped into the veins running deep beneath Coonawarra, pulling up the essence of the earth into its grapes. And it's like blood because of all the iron. Here, it defines the wine but does not overwhelm it. It's the primary vein that runs through what is otherwise an enormously complex wine, with softer Merlot notes of raspberry, plum, cherry, and chocolate coming first but then complemented by Cab cassis and Syrah black pepper and meat, with additional earthy notes. Solid tannic structure and (cran-cherry) acidity. Extraordinary.
3.5 Stars
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