Recent tastes -

• Champagne, André Clouet, Silver Brut Nature, Grand Cru Bouzy, NV (under $45) - Clouet has rapidly become one of my favorite Champagne producers. Rich, creamy, toasty, complex and intensely dry. This is a wine that would be hard to explain to those used to the more innocuous flavors of industrial Champagne producers. Great bubbly.
• Champagne, Delavenne Père & Fils, Cuvée Rose, Grand Cru Bouzy, NV (under $45) - Lots of flavorful pleasure here, but what impresses me most about fine Champagne are the wonderful textures and the creamy frothiness that coats your palate with complexity and pleasure. Bouzy seems to be the epicenter of complex grower Champagnes. The lovely copper color is a inviting prelude to the bright wild strawberry fruit with a lively frothy texture and a long creamy finish. An excellent wine.
• Semillon, L’Ecole No. 41, Seven Hills Vineyard, Walla Walla Valley, 2006 - Big oily, yet dry and bracing. Too bad the alcohol is a bit over the top. Semillon continues to be one of Washington’s most interesting whites. Lobster and crab come quickly to mind when you take your first sip.
• Rioja, Remelluri, 2001 - Just as you would expect there’s plenty of oak here, but it somehow seems to work in Rioja. Very aromatic and spicy with a great balance and an interesting intertwining of sweet oak, tar and ripe bitter cherry fruit. Though thought of as a modern-style Rioja, it seems almost old fashioned compared to today’s fruit bombs. A very nice wine that is more than interesting to drink.
• Barbera d’Alba, Marcarini, Ciabot Camerano, 2005 - This is a wonderful barbera. A beautiful deep ruby with an expansive nose redolent of wild blackberries it is deeply flavored, yet lively and zesty. The combination of power and depth with an almost electric back bone make this an extraordinary pleasure to drink.
• Barbaresco Riserva, Pora, Produttori del Barbaresco, 1999 - I always feel the worship that surrounds the Produttori wines is a little excessive. While dedication to the traditions of the Langhe are to be respected, some traditions are better left behind. The Produttori wines always seem a little hollow compared to other fine traditionalists who have found ways to stay true to the integrity of their vineyards and nebbiolo while bringing to the forefront more fruit character. That’s not to say I did not like this wine, which I did, but these wines are mostly good bargains as compared to being great wines. That being said, this is a very good nebbiolo, although the fruit has already dried out leaving little to balance the substantial remaining tannins. It certainly will be interesting for many years, but will never attain perfect balance.