mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-06*Former Wine Critic @ Robert Parker Wine Advocate, reviewing wines from 2006➡️June, 2023, primarily Portugal, Greece, USA off of West Coast (esp. NY, VA) & others in E. Europe, Middle East. Retired.
*Recovered trial lawyer. Long retired. Interested in things besides wine & law--travel, photography, politics, film, music, art and SyFy, among others.
HEADER PHOTO: Santorini, Greece
This is a new Masto instance for me, but been at Masto a couple of years longer than the 11/24 date on this one!
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My Riesling secret--I prefer a little sugar. Yes, some say an off-dry style has gone out of fashion. Do NOT vex me, heathens! The faithful know that those off-dry German miracles are perfect contrasts of acidity and sugar. The war between Acidity and Sugar often ends well for the fruit and the drinker. Which is why I like them off-dry.
The Finger Lakes is stronger in Dry, I think, but well-known Wiemer does a nice job here with its workhorse 2016 Semi-Dry staple.
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This '02 is another Seavey, love and keep revisiting, but it evolved slowly, took a while to hit peak for years. It could be hard & closed in its first 15 years. This is arguably the best bottle I've had so far, big winner from winemaker Philippe Melka. Still have some, but wish I'd held them all until the 2020s!
Textured and just slightly tight on opening, it pulls itself together and blossoms, managing the feat of seeming ripe and concentrated on the palate while elegant in presentation.
Well, I don't like long threads, but...1/3 at least with two wines, not one.
My Phillies edition, with Portuguese consultant Frank Paredes and his Harper jersey. We also had wine.
Start with Luis Pato's Vinhas Velhas Branco 2016. It's in fine form, an old vines blend (Sercial, Bical, Sercialinho) from Bairrada. It's aging well and gracefully, bright, stonewashed, elegant, and in a perfect place. Good depth. Can still age, no rush, but very nice now. Hint! 12.5%, $30-ish.
Posted on the Gewurz Cluster Select Late Harvest, Navarro's luscious dessert wine, not too long ago. It held great, but now back to the bigger star--the Riesling CSLH ('02)
Every time I've come back to this over the years, it's intriguing and delicious, color darkened & as typical for late harvest, more concentration, a beautiful meld of caramelized apricots. These just keep on keepin' on.👍 A fave USA dessert wine
10.1% alc, r.s. 21% by weight, $23 per half back then
Some call the grape Portugal's Chardonnay. Sogrape's 2011 Encruzado, from Carvalhais in the Dão region, is Encruzado that ages, and here's some proof.
It's no longer young, but the maturity isn't decay either. There's concentrated fruit, a bright finish and complexity. It even got better up to a point. Mature notes were more prominent the next day, though. Still nice, but dive in.
14%, upper $30s in new years.
😨 Nothing matters to them but their money, a continuing theme. They're just gonna do it. The Tech Bro motto--move fast, break things--works. Congress, the public, can't keep up. By the time alarms sound, it is too late. I guess Musk will have armed satellites soon controlling space.
RE: @ianRobinson@mastodon.social
Saw this again this morning, and yes, it is so true. We should have a law--New Year's Day is the same day when kids go back to school after summer break.😇 Or thereabouts. September 1 is acceptable. Jan. 1--nope.
Ok, I've ranted on a pet peeve enough now.
From Wölffer, on Long Island, N.Y.'s South Fork, this 2015 Bordeaux-blend (composed of the famous wine band, Merlot & the Cabernets 😈) is textured, complex, bright and prime time, a claret-wannabe you just can't stop drinking.
Beautifully focused, ripe and flavorful on the juicy finish, it sports a hint of green (Cab Franc?) & seems very elegant, with finesse to spare. This is a great time to dive in, but there are years left. 13.5% alc, $40 these days
A drum roll please for '99 Lynch Bages, last bottle of a 27-year-old journey. Great fill! The fruit still seems far from an antique. As always, I like wines with nuance and complexity. This has thinned a bit, probably, but has subtle concentration, appealing aromatics, flavor and a silky finish.
It remains lovely & good to the last drop of this last bottle. And the vintage wasn't even a great one. So there!
$40-then, more than double now.
This was just the 2d vintage of a brand dedicated to the memory of an historic TBA with 303° oechsle. The theme is ripe & sweet (listed Spätlese, it's more Auslese), but it's not really a dessert wine and it has fine balancing acidity.
It's full bodied, fresh and bright. The peach and mango flavors are in control, but delectable.The unctuous texture is cut by that acidity. It seems shockingly young, impossibly delicious. Riesling, baby!
$25 then, about $60 now.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXkeH6bNuCQ6ds_nTlmkpqrPKCCJgb9Ym&si=K4-h7HEf1VdsP-_c
If anybody remembers it, this was a rather terrific mini-series by Steven Spielberg and others. All 10 episodes, complete and remastered, are on YouTube.
Sort of picks up where Close Encounters left off.
Well, Norm Eisen has had a chance to read the opinion now, and is suggesting it is simply a procedural ruling. I need to investigate more in due course.
