Wine & Spirits - April 2018 - 126

ST-NICOL AS DE
BOURGUEIL
228567

89 | Pascal Lorieux

$18

2015 St-Nicolas de Bourgueil Expression
(Best Buy) ^ Simple and clean, this wine's redcherry flavors have a woodsy scent, tightening around a note of cherry-pit tannins. It's
a lively cabernet franc to serve with charcuterie. § V.O.S. Selections, NY

TOURAINE

W HITE
CHARDONNAY

94 | Kumeu River

92 | Marie Thibault

$27

2013 Touraine Les Grandes Vignes ^ Marie
Thibault worked with François Chidaine
in Montlouis before setting up her own
domaine in Azay-le-Rideau. She blends this
wine from old-vine gamay and côt, destemming the grapes before a long maceration.
The first impression is all côt, black and fragrant with marjoram and other herbs, while
the finish shows more of the freshness and
vibrant red fruit of gamay. It's lush and supple, edgy with acidity and steely tannins,
needing some time in bottle to integrate,
though braised wild duck would match it well
right now. § Selection Massale, San Leandro, CA

VALLEE DE L A LOIRE
227254

91 | Domaine Andrée

$30

2015 Val de Loire L'Envolée ^ Stéphane
Erisse blends this from grolleau gris and grolleau noir planted in schist soils, creating an
intense red wine with red fruit that pierces
through any initial green notes. It moves
from tobacco and sage to fresh raspberry
and cracked black pepper. Decant a bottle
to serve with blood sausage or most anything
meaty. § Grand Cru Selections, NY

VIN DE FRANCE
228770

90 | Domaine de l'Ecu

$39

2014 Vin de France Mephisto ^ Guy Bossard
converted this domaine to biodynamics in
1998; it's Demeter certified and now farmed
by Fred Niger, who makes this cabernet
franc from a parcel of vines in granite, and
ferments it in amphorae and older barrels.
It comes to the bottle without any additions
(zero sulfur), and acts like it, offering a bit
of Loire Valley-naturel insanity, as naked as
the image of Mephisto on the bottle, whose
privates have been discreetly obliterated by
our TTB. Its scent of red fruit and raw meat
follow a wild volatility, the wine austere and
ready for braised tripe. § Polaner Selections,
Mount Kisco, NY n

WINE & SPIRITS

Our blind panels tasted 221 new-release New Zealand wines for this issue. Our critic for
New Zealand, Sarah Sutel Looper, rated 38 as exceptional (90+) and 17 as Best Buys.
Find a complete list of wines tasted and all reviews at wineandspiritsmagazine.com.

121753

227863

126

FOCUS: NEW ZEALAND

APRIL 2018

$46

2016 Kumeu Coddington Chardonnay ^
The Coddington Vineyard, with its soils of
clay over sandstone, produced a restrained
yet potent chardonnay in the warm 2016 vintage. This white is simultaneously friendly
and wild, energetic and coy. Its core of
detailed sweet orange citrus unfurls in notes
of Bosc pear and daffodil. The texture is silky,
and the wine is concentrated enough to benefit from some aging. Cellar it for a few years,
to pair with crisp, lemony roast chicken or
rabbit. § Wilson Daniels, St. Helena, CA
121903

92 | Dog Point

$45

2015 Marlborough Chardonnay ^ What's
great about this wine is its ability to maintain
its size and scope without the flavors becoming overbearing. From vines planted in 1981,
this wine ferments in French oak (15 percent
new), and integrates the wood notes into the
fruit seamlessly. It's a full-bodied wine that
moves well, with notes of chamomile, ripe
lemon and raw hazelnuts tethered to breezy
acidity. It has lively energy and will cellar well
for up to five years. § Vintus, Pleasantville, NY
121755

92 | Kumeu River

$34

2016 Kumeu Estate Chardonnay ^ This is
sourced from six sites throughout Kumeu.
Despite extended lees aging and full malolactic fermentation, it's creamy, with a centered, persistent acidity that buoys the notes
of rich oak, toasted oats, dandelion greens
and brown butter. Ideal for sautéed fish with
cream sauce. § Wilson Daniels, St. Helena, CA

common in Germany), which not only offer
higher juice-to-oak ratios, but also have thick
staves, which means generally warmer fermentations that point up the wine's exuberant, outgoing fruit. This chardonnay, while
restrained and linear at first, relaxes into itself
with notes of crunchy apples, fresh churned
butter, tropical fruits and lemon juice moving into a nutty, long finish. Decant if drinking now, or cellar for up to five years. § Pacific
Highway Wines & Spirits, Petaluma, CA
121862

90 | Felton Road

$40

2016 Central Otago Bannockburn Chardonnay ^ The warm, dry season in Bannockburn encouraged this wine toward ripe flavors of white peach, crushed rock and citrus
blossoms. You also might find notes of white
summer corn, melon and nasturtium. This
is a sleek, pleasant chardonnay whose oak
frame focuses the composition in a taut package. § Martin Scott Wines, Lake Success, NY

PINOT GRIGIO
121797

90 | Brancott Estate

$12

2016 Marlborough Pinot Grigio (Best
Buy) ^ Clean and direct, this lovely white sings
of fuzzy peaches and ginger tea. The integrated alcohol weighs the wine nicely, lending a silky texture and roundness reminiscent
of freshly baked peach cobbler. For seared
scallops. § Pernod Ricard USA, Purchase, NY

SAUVIGNON BLANC
121840

93 | Peregrine

$16

92 | Black Cottage

$15

$50

2016 Central Otago Sauvignon Blanc
(Best Buy) ^ This is a compelling and fresh
white from Peregrine's organic vineyards in
the Cromwell Basin. Though the summer
was hot and dry in 2016, Peregrine managed
to capture fruit purity in this wine, along
with exotic notes of lemongrass, Thai basil
and sweet pea shoots. The limey acidity pulls
the wine back to make it as tight as a cocked
crossbow. A vibrant sauvignon for meaty
white fish. § Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL
121637

2014 Marlborough The Fuder Single Vineyard Selection Clayvin Chardonnay ^ This
wine fermented in fuders (1,000-liter barrels

2017 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (Best
Buy) ^ Like crunching into a celery stalk, this

121709

91 | Giesen

http://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com https://giesen.co.nz/wines/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - April 2018