Niepoort, Douro, Tiara Branco, 2019
I always say that Portugal whites are really great around the time they turn four, but I learned that by buying bottles with some age on them, not by actually aging any myself - I've never been able to keep my hands off my own stash. This is a blend of local grapes - Cercial is the most familiar of the five or six listed on the Niepoort web site. The nose is a wonderful expression of minerals, mostly chalk with a touch of talc, the palate balanced and savory with terrific acidity. It’s already in a good place. Niepoort are always sensitive with their barrel regime, so whatever oaky influences there ever were are long gone. It’s poised and ready and with more age I expect to see more nuances and better integration with the acidity.
Selbach-Oster, Mosel, Zeltinger Schlossberg, Riesling Kabinett, 2019
I've had past vintages that were brilliantly focused, which this, quite honestly, isn’t. But it’s delicious with decent complexity, juggling sweetness and salt, a fresh, moreish wine, dousing the sinuses and palate with red apples and chalk, and, later, some sweet dough.
Fedellos do Couto, Ribeira Sacra, Conasbrancas, 2019
A field blend of Dona Blanca and Godello, macerated on its skins for 28 days, and, voila! An "orange" wine that feels more white and less "red" than, say, a Rioja white. The skin contact highlights the mineral aromas (mostly clay), I think, and feels very integral. What I think of as the "orange" character comes out after a couple of hours (but throughout the evening feels very integrated and natural): spices with a sort of metal sheen.
Domaine Pierre Duroché, Gevrey-Chambertin, Les Jeunes Rois, 2017
A lovely Gevrey, the nose pretty, even feminine, with a touch of violets and iron complementing red berries. From what I've read, 2017 is on the soft side and this seems to be the case with this wine. It makes its impact by perfuming the mouth cavities, rather than scratching the taste buds, coating the palate with sour and salty flavors rather than puckering astringency.
Domaine Leflaive, Macon-Verze, 2019
I'm late to the show, as always. Domaine Leflaive's beguiling Macon has been available in Israel for about two years and I only managed to drink it now. The love for it was no hype. While it lacks the depth and complexity of the great vineyards of the Cote de Beaune, this is an almost seamless expression of Bourgogne white (if you give the oak enough time after opening to dissipate): aromas of lemon cream, matchsticks and salt, echoed on the palate and emboldened by really fine acidity.
Raziel, 2018
Fresh blackberries, roasted rocks, iron, a hint of herbs. It’s still on the fruity side and relatively simple, but the balance is excellent - in fact, if the last bunch of Chateauneufs I bought a decade ago had been this balanced, I might still be buying a bottle every now and then, even though they're not really not my style, even when balanced. Neither is this, actually, but it is very well crafted.
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