Wine & Spirits - Winter 2019 - 90

33RD A N N UA L B U YI NG G UI D E

Wine & Spirits

the black-raspberry fruit and breathe out the
spicy old-vine tannins. The lasting perfume
might bring to mind the bark of a wild cherry
tree, as if the sap were pushing through that
bark in spring. This is California wine, and
it's a world-class wine that costs $40 a bottle.
The wine market is nothing if not imperfect.
(W&S 6/19; 750 cases) -J.G.
517933

95 | Ridge

finely wrought fruit. This 2016, from an 8.5acre site on the lower slopes of the property,
reflects a generous vintage with a smoky,
Volnay-like suppleness, a velvety texture
and gentle persistence, like waves lapping
on a lakeshore. It lasts like this for days after
opening, the flavors delicate and complex as
it mingles with air. (W&S 12/18) -P.J.C.

OREG O N
BEST CHARDONNAY
517824

95 | Bergström

$110

2017 Willamette Valley Sigrid Chardonnay ^ In Sigrid, Bergström's flagship chardonnay, Josh Bergström manages to pack his
wine with flavor but no excess weight. From
three of his biodynamically farmed vineyards, the wine starts out high-toned and
tense, with an angular structure and bright,
saline flavors that turn nutty, generous and
succulent with air. It has the stuffing to age
for a half-dozen years at least, if you can
resist. (W&S 10/19; 950 cases) -P.J.C.

BEST PINOT NOIRS

95 | Cristom

$70

2016 Eola-Amity Hills Marjorie Vineyard
Pinot Noir ^ Cristom wines usually reflect
some sort of tension between smoky, wholecluster spice flavors and firmly expressed,
90

WINE & SPIRITS

BEST SYRAH

96 | W. T. Vintners

517953

95 | Rose & Arrow

$150

2017 Eola-Amity Hills 1st Stonecreek
Amity Hills Pinot Noir ^ From a shallowsoiled parcel in the northern end of the Eola
Hills, Stonecreek is among Rose & Arrow's
rockiest sites, with alterite and fractured
basalt in thin layers over basalt bedrock.
The wine it grew in 2017 almost smells wellbuilt, with a concentrated cherry scent that
seems to emerge from stone. The wine's mineral tension gives it an assertive power and
energy, its pure fruit framed by a firm grip of
tannins with umami savor. It's mouthwatering now, and built to age. (W&S 10/19; 148
cases) -P.J.C.

517031

$115

2016 Seneca Lake Noble Select HJW
Vineyard Riesling ^ A wine filled with coiled
energy, this is remarkably complex, with a
heady concentration that cuts both ways:
floral on one hand, powerfully expressive in
its fruit flavors on the other. With notes of
pear blossoms and saffron, superripe pineapple and cut grass, it's pure and heady in its
mouthfilling intensity, a riesling to cellar for
years. (W&S 8/19; 44 cases) -P.J.C.
514881
$35

2017 Finger Lakes Late Pick Riesling ^
Growers on Cayuga Lake since the early
1970s, the Hosmers started their winery
in 1985, and now have 70 acres planted to
vines. For this late-picked riesling, the family sets aside a parcel and harvests all but the
best fruit, which is left to hang and accumulate botrytis. The wine is modestly sweet,
and yet the prevailing impression is one of

BUYING GUIDE 2020

ARGENTINA
BEST MALBEC

95 | Zuccardi

BEST RIESLINGS

94 | Hermann J. Wiemer

$49

2016 Walla Walla Valley Damavian Blocks
30 & 31 Les Collines Vineyard Syrah ^ Jeff
Lindsay-Thorsen refers to his allocation
at Les Collines as "the Damavian Blocks."
It makes this site sound vaguely Game of
Thrones (in fact, the word is a concatenation
of three children's names), though fruit from
Les Collines, a cool, well-drained site in the
foothills of Walla Walla's Blue Mountains, is
always among the most aromatically expressive in all of Washington State, and may well
merit its own neologism. The aromas, goosed
by whole-cluster fermentation, are hauntingly savory, with scents of smoke, creosote,
violets, sage, peppermint, iodide, sassafras,
rosemary, lavender...it's the sort of wine you
could smell for days. It feels brisk, windswept, wild and structured for long aging.
(W&S 10/19; 190 cases) -P.J.C.

124799

N E W YORK

94 | Hosmer

514490

WASHINGTON
518130

$35

2017 Russian River Valley Ponzo Vineyard
Zinfandel ^ A roseate red, this is the pinot
noir of zinfandel. The variety accounts for
98 percent of the blend (there's only a touch
of petite sirah) and the wine transforms the
thin skins of zin into a delicate, transparent
structure, displaying clarity in the tannins
with notes of raspberry seeds and crushed
black peppercorns. It has the kind of tannins
that would meld into eggplant tapenade with
grilled lamb. The lasting flavors of raspberry
and apple skin glow red, the wine's energy
and stamina pumped up with luscious grape
gentleness. A California beauty. (W&S 10/19;
1,900 cases) -J.G.

energy and movement. It leads with scents
of pineapple, saffron and honey; the flavors
capture a pure rich essence of apple, broad
and generous, giving way to a firm, nimble
finish. (W&S 2/19; 125 cases) -P.J.C.

$30

2018 Tupungato Alto Poligonos Malbec ^
Zuccardi's Poligonos range is designed to
show off the different terroirs of the Uco
Valley. This wine, from one of the highest
points in Tupungato, stuns in its purity, the
red fruit flavors seeming to radiate sunshine
and coolness with Andean clarity. The fruit
flavors have a crisp snap, like the skin of a
fresh-picked cherry yielding to a bite; their
acidity sets off the fruit sweetness, intensifying the flavor. The wine feels full and round,
filled out by fine-grit tannins, yet shapely
and energetic, redefining what's possible in
Argentine malbec. (W&S 10/19) § Winesellers,
Niles, IL -T.Q.T.

https://shop.rosearrowestate.com/Wines/Rose-Arrow# https://www.cristomvineyards.com/product/2016-Marjorie-Vineyard-Pinot-Noir-Copy11?pageID=9D20857D-0880-09C2-1B24-3500A7B0AC49&sortBy=DisplayOrder&maxRows=16&

Wine & Spirits - Winter 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - Winter 2019