2007 Jacob’s Creek Reserve Chardonnay
South Australia
Moderate

Part of wine-insider buzz lately has been how good the Reserve bottlings are from Jacob’s Creek, one of Australia’s oldest wineries in the Barossa Valley. Today it sources fruit throughout south Australia. The wine maker is Phil Laffer, who joined Jacob’s Creek in 1990 and was responsible for the legendary Lindeman special Hunter Valley bottlings of the 1980s. Color is a bright, medium yellow, with a ripe, golden apple aroma and flavor: what Chardonnay gives when grown in a warmer climate. Full-bodied, the wine is supple yet has taut energy and lift. Savory notes of mineral, a touch of lees, a little spice from oak add real interest to the ripe fruit.

2008 Diseño Malbec
Mendoza, Argentina
Value

A great value introduction to Malbec’s charms from Mendoza, Argentina where the grape has established itself as an example of how a little known European variety when transplanted to a warmer climate can reach new heights. The 2008 Diseño Malbec is medium-bodied, supple, plush in texture with very little tannin so completely ready to enjoy now. The wine displays Malbec’s inviting aromas of ripe plum, cherry, along with the variety’s complexing tobacco, game, and chocolate accents all combined in an easy to enjoy wine.

2008 Clos Du Bois Chardonnay
North Coast, California
Moderate

An excellent example of an American Chardonnay that can be enjoyed sipped on its own before dinner as well as accompanying many dishes. This shows a range of sophisticated cellar techniques accounting for the wine’s balance and bright flavors with good structure. First, the grapes are whole-cluster pressed for the finest juice. Then 60% is fermented in French and American oak barrels and undergoes softening malo-lactic conversion and aged in those barrels for six months. The remainder is stainless-steel fermented to preserve bright fruit and has malo suppressed. The result is a juicy, succulent wine with a combination of apple, pear, even a touch of pineapple.

2007 Zen of Zin Old Vine Zinfandel
Ravenswood, California
Moderate

“Zen of Zin” is Zinfandel master Ravenswood’s less expensive, read-to-drink expression of Old Vine Zinfandel. The 2007 is a creamy, supple mouthful of ripe Zinfandel. But it avoids the faults, as I see them, of some Zinfandel: too high alcohol, raisin, prune aromas and flavors. It has creamy textures but there is lift that keeps the wine from being heavy and dull. Aromatics and flavors range from chocolate to a spectrum of blue, black, and red-berried fruit along with cinnamon spice to the juicy, fruity impression. Enjoy with baby-back ribs.

2008 Estancia Sauvignon Blanc Pinnacles Ranches
Monterey, California
Moderate

Estancia grows all its own grapes at the Pinnacle Ranches vineyards nestled on the east side of the Salinas Valley. By controlling its fruit source, Estancia impacts the quality of a wine where it counts: with the raw material. The result is a medium-boded, fresh and bright wine without any of the brash characteristics in some examples. Bottled under Stelvin screw cap, the wine’s freshness and youth is seen in the myriad tiny bubbles that cling to the glass. Passion fruit and citrus aromas along with a bracing saline note are refreshing, delicate and follow into the palate where notes of fresh melon round out the flavor of this supple wine.

2007 Ruffino Fonte al Sole IGT
Toscana, Italy
Value

Ruffino’s “Fonte al Sole” (Sourced from the Sun) is a good introduction to Tuscan wine as it’s dry with a savory mineral character.First made in 1996, Font al Sole is a 60% Cabernet Sauvignon 40% Sangiovese blend, fermented and aged in stainless steel for relatively early drinking. But it’s not jammy, thick wine in an anonymous modern style. The wine’s herbal, tea-leaf, and subtle red berry fruit proclaims it as Tuscan as does the dry, lightly tannic aftertaste made to match a simple weekday plate of pasta and pepper sprinkled with grated parmesan.

2007 Robert Pepi Pinot Grigio
California
Value

This is quite different from the thin, tart ‘lemonade’ sometimes found in some Italian Pinot Grigio. Pepi is a full-bodied, supple but still fresh Pinot Grigio with aromatics and flavors of ripe pear, melon and apple along with that smoky note characteristic of ripe Pinot Grigio. Stainless steel fermentation captures the spicy apple of the variety while bottling the wine under Stelvin screw cap preserves the wine’s freshness without any danger of an off-flavor from tainted corks. Robert Pepi winery was one of the pioneers for Italian varieties such as Sangiovese and Pinot Grigio in Napa Valley. In fact, in 1983 Sangiovese cuttings were brought back from the great Tuscan estate of Biondi-Santi in Brunello di Montalcino. Enjoy this full-flavored Pinot Grigio with scampi on pastas.

2008 Château de Campuget Rosé
Costières de Nîmes, France
Moderate

A lovely dry, succulent rosé displaying all the charms and food versatility of these delicious southern French rosés. The Château de Campuget, a quality leader in the region, is southwest of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, between the Roman towns of Nîmes and Arles, site of the Roman aqueduct of the Pont de Gard. Here the estate grows Grenache Noir (70%) and Syrah (30%) and blends them in this bright, pale pink-peach colored wine. The bouquet is fresh showing a strong mineral scent along with fresh herbs such as thyme and lavender. A supple but firm and dry body also shows hints of olives and thyme along with a peppery note from the Syrah. Serve with grilled tuna or that classic of southern France, a niçoise salad.

2007 Escudo Rojo Baron Philippe de Rothschild
Valle Central, Chile
Moderate

The winemaking team at Baron Philippe de Rothschild is in charge of wine making in this Maipo, Chile venture first made in 2003, combining Chilean fruit with French vinous know-how. The result is a good value expression of Chilean red wine: dry, supple, with elegant, fragrant fruit. The bouquet combines tea leaf, dark red fruit scents, along with spice in a medium-bodied smooth red wine. The wine is made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, and Carmenere, each hand-harvested, fermented separately, then blended and aged for 12 months in French oak barrels, which accounts to some degree for spice and smokiness in the wine. Enjoy now and over the next two to three years.

2008 Mâcon-Villages Domaine de Rochebin
Burgundy, France
Moderate

This is a domaine-grown and bottled Mâcon-Villages, a 100% Chardonnay of far more concentration and depth of flavor than one usually finds in the oceans of industrially made wine from this region in southern Burgundy. The Domaine Rochebin is in the village of Azé, near the spiritual heart of Burgundy, Cluny, whose abbey was the largest of the Middle Ages. The Domaine’s 32 acres of Chardonnay are all former property of the abbey. 2008 is a good vintage here, giving wines of medium to full weight, with a tangy, vivid freshness of mineral, ripe green apple, along with touches of warm, bready lees from aging a portion of the wine in barrels for four to five months. The acidity is crisp (the malolactic is blocked) making for a Mâcon-Villages that should be served with foods.

2007 Frescobaldi Castiglioni Chianti
Tuscany, Italy
Moderate

2007 is a particularly good though small vintage in Tuscany. Made to be consumed relatively early, the Frescobaldi Castiglioni Chianti is mainly Sangiovese with a touch of Merlot that is ready to enjoy now but will develop over the next few years. The wine’s color is dark, deep ruby with a youthful crimson rim. The bouquet shows classic Sangiovese notes of dusty plum, cranberry, walnut, along with a touch of rosemary and mineral. Texture is medium to full-bodied with moderate tannins that are velvety soft and highlight the flavors in a long finish. Savory mineral and herb notes add to the wine’s complexity. Enjoy with a pasta and strips of prosciutto or with sautéed scallopini and sage.

2008 Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc
Marlborough, New Zealand
Moderate

Nobilo’s 2008 vintage resulted in an elegant expression of Marlborough’s signature grape variety: Sauvignon Blanc. There is the expected fresh, tangy, and vibrant aromas and flavors of grapefruit, lime peel, and passion fruit but there is a graceful harmony to their expression. The palate texture of the wine is medium to full-bodied, with a supple, rounded feel while underneath there’s crisp acidity for focus and length. There’s also a touch of peach to the citrus flavors that adds complexity to the wine, no doubt a function of the two main vineyard sources in Wairau and Awatere Valleys. After pressing, several lots receive different levels of skin contact to extract flavor, then the wine is entirely fermented in stainless steel for vibrancy and freshness.