Dazzling Dozen
2019 Whitehall Lane Sauvignon Blanc Rutherford Napa Valley NVWE Notes: Just released and vibrantly fresh, this bottling wants a little bit of airing to reveal all of its many virtues. The aromas unfold as a focused melange of gooseberry, honeydew melon, grapefruit pith, lemon grass, lemon zest and white peach pit scents. It is delightfully refreshing in the mouth yet a suppleness of texture adds gentility to the honeydew, peach pit, gooseberry, grapefruit, lemon grass, white pepper and mineral flavors. These flavors linger in a ready-to-enjoy, food-friendly style that might make this an ideal compliment to fillet of sole in a kumquat buerre blanc.
2019 The Fields Chardonnay Sonoma Coast NVWE Notes: This is a bright and forthcoming Chardonnay with an racy, food-friendly balance. The nose combines scents of fresh apple, green apple skin, lemon, lime and a hint of peach pit. Fresh applesauce, quince, preserved lemon, key lime and hints of clove and vanilla join mineral notes on the palate, where the texture is sleek and rather Macon-like. The finish lingers well and the wine will be easy to enjoy with a wide variety of appetizers and entrees. 450 Cases produced, by Baker Lane Winery.
2019 Dashe Chenin Blanc “Les Enfants Terribles” Clarksburg “Concrete Cuvee" NVWE Notes: Rich in fruit, if clearly dry, the nose of this deftly balanced bottling is a harmony of fresh pear and apple, baked green apple (skins on), quince and lemon blossom scents, with quiet mineral undertones. It is supple and attractively zesty on the palate, where flavors of fresh pear and apple, baked green apple, membrillo and suggestions of dried lemon and orange peel rise above a subtle mineral background. It finishes zesty and lingers with a gently tongue-coating impression of fruit. It is ready to enjoy and should prove a handy match for a wide variety of holiday dishes. 843 cases produced.
Sobon 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon California NVWE Notes: Racy and focused, centered on rich red cherry, red currant, and sweet-savory spices of dark tobacco, canela, baking spices and firming minerality. It is lean, gently gripping, slightly minerally and very long, with cherry and fresh red currant joining vanilla at the end. A fine value and a nice dinner wine that will be better in 12 months.
2014 Gregory Graham Syrah Crimson Hill Vineyard Red Hills, Lake County NVWE Notes: Nicely evolved and immediately satisfying, this sweet-natured bottling offers scents of plum pie, dark cherry galette, black peppercorn, root beer bark, baking-spice and a hint of vanilla pipe tobacco. Baked and dry fruit flavors dominate on the palate, where the texture is rounded and appealingly supple. The finish is dinner-friendly and lingering, with plenty of cherry, plum, dry cranberry, licorice root and dark tobacco flavor. It is ready to enjoy.
2018 Odonata Malbec Pedrigal Vineyard San Benito County
NVWE Notes: Although varietally on-point, this Malbec has a character quite different from previous Odonata bottlings. The nose offers an almost textbook blueberry, currant, mocha and sandalwood combo, yet those scents are perfumed by intriguing counterpoints of laurel, rosemary and pumpkin pie spice. Fruit takes center-stage on the palate along with sweet tobacco and baking-spice notes to push the herbal exotica into deep background. This wine may prove even more fruit-centric in another year, although a supple texture makes it an easy drinker already. 400 cases made.