Gunther Steinmetz, Mosel, Mulheimer Sonnenlay, Riesling Kabinett, 2019
A lovely Kabinnet, showing slate, apples, minerals and, most of all, that indescribable Mosel-ness. Delicate, elegant, yet gripping, it has the body and focus of a Kabinett with the texture and stuffing of a Spatlese. Salty, yet sweet, racy with a precise texture and lithe body.
Alphonse Mellot, Sancerre Rouge, Génération Dix-Neuf, 2012
Dense nose with dark fruit and vanilla that is not easy to call out as a Pinot. It's somewhat more Pinot-like on the palate, but even there, the spicy oak obscures the spices that Pinot can give off with ease, if you let it. I think there's good fruit here, but the winemaking is overhanded. Unless Mellot employ a genius winemaker whose Pinot takes decades to come around, I would guess that a decade is enough to see where a wine like this is headed. I think it’s obvious I don't like the direction. I wasn’t crazy about their Les Romain’s, either, so right now, based on this admittedly small sample, I’m not a fan of Mellot.
Sam Harrop, Waiheke Island, Onetangi, Syrah, 2018
The polar opposite of the Mellot, with precise winemaking that respects the fruit, employing a reduction which makes for vivid freshness here, with trimming of olives. Young and still inscrutable, potentially gorgeous.
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