Thanksgiving Pairing Premium 6pk at Noe Valley
1 bottle each of the following:
2021 Domaine Auguste Clape Renaissance (Syrah) $170.99 - 95 pts Vinous - Saturated magenta. Expansive aromas of black and blue fruits, licorice, olive and black pepper show fine clarity and building florality. Smoky and energetic in the mouth, offering juicy blackberry, cherry and baking spice flavors that slowly deepen through the back half. Becomes sweeter on the long, focused finish, which features grippy tannins and lingering floral and exotic spice notes.
2013 Plumpjack Merlot BUNDLE ONLY - 92 pts Vinous The 2013 Merlot is dark, supple and nicely textured in the glass. Sweet red cherries, tobacco, mint, licorice and dried herbs are laced together in the glass. This is an especially savory, mineral-driven Merlot with good depth and nuance, but there is plenty of juiciness in the dark red/bluish fruit, some of that the result of the inclusion of 13% Malbec in the blend. Far from an easygoing wine, the 2013 is going to need at least a year or two for the tannins to soften. The Merlot is made from a site in Oak Knoll.
2017 Domaine de l'Arlot Nuits St George Clos des Forêts (Pinot Noir) $135.99 - 93 pts Vinous The 2017 Nuits-Saint-Georges Clos des Fôrets-Saint-Georges 1er Cru contains a little more amplitude than the 2016, fine mineralité and discrete floral scents, pressed rose petal especially. Good energy and precision. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, fleshy on the entry with a fine bead of acidity, very pure and poised with a discrete black pepper edge mixed with seaweed towards the finish. This is an excellent wine that may improve further with bottle age.
2020 Bruno Lorenzon Les Croichots Mercurey 1er Cru Blanc (Chardonnay) $110.99 - 93 pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate The 2020 Mercurey 1er Cru Les Croichots Blanc is another best-ever from Lorenzon in this vintage. Exhibiting aromas of crisp Anjou pear, beeswax, freshly baked bread and fresh hazelnuts, it's medium to full-bodied, satiny and seamless, with racy acids, striking intensity and a long, saline finish. This is often one of the more outgoing, demonstrative wines in the range, but with the 2020 vintage, Lorenzon has attained a new level of refinement and elegance.
2020 Von Winning Forster Pechstein Grosse Gewachs Riesling $135.99 - REVIEW OF THE 2019 VINTAGE 95 pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate Lime-yellow in color and complex on the Burgundian, smoky nose, Stephan Attmann's 2019 Pechstein GG is probably the greatest he has produced since the legendary 2010 vintage. It is bright and intense on the nose, with refreshing lime and lemon aromas intertwined with flinty notes of crushed stones, lemon zest, leaves and a touch of vanilla, iodine and fresh oak. This is a full-bodied, rich and juicy, highly elegant and firmly structured Pechstein with very fine tannins and almost slightly sweetish fruit, even though I suppose this wine is entirely dry and just rich in extracts. This is mouth-filling, juicy and quite hedonistic Pechstein still doesn't have the electrifying vibration of the 2010, but it has quite a lot of other talents.
2018 Domaine Didier Dagueneau Buisson Renard (Sauvignon Blanc) $132.99 - 93 pts Vinous Returning in 2018 after 2017 was wiped out by frosts, this is an intense, wild 2018 Buisson Renard, like an untamed head of curls. In clear evidence at this early stage, it has floral and boxwood characters and a nutty oak-derived influence. There's even an intriguing note of peppermint on the sinewy, lengthy finish. In a mid-weight, linear style with a firm, phenolic finish that almost requires knife and fork. This needs more time in bottle to shed its austere frame, but if you're not in a hurry...