2019 Eva Fricke · Lorcher Krone Riesling trocken · Rheingau

 

Wine Advocate 

2008 Champagne Jacques Selosse · L’Ensemble des Crus 

Reviewed by William Kelley

The 2008 Extra-Brut Millésime is soon due for release, and I'm a little afraid to fan the flames of what is sure to be insatiable demand with a laudatory review. But such reservations notwithstanding, I'm obliged to report that the wine meets and indeed surpasses the lofty expectations that Selosse's admirers will have surely have formed for it. Disgorged in January 2020, this bottle soared from the glass with scents of citrus oil, buttery pastry, candied peel, crisp orchard fruit, toasted pecans, iodine and smoke. Full-bodied, deep and concentrated, it's immensely layered and intensely vinous, with a tightly wound core, racy acids and a long, pungently saline Knish. "If the 2009 is a Catholic," observes Selosse, "the 2008 is a Protestant"— though a Protestant, I'm tempted to add, who is evidently not entirely immune to the pleasures of the flesh. 

 

1986 Marques de Murietta · Castillo Ygay · Rioja Gran Reserva Especial Blanco

Reviewed by Luis Gutiérrez

I have been terribly excited about this wine since I first learned that (part of) it was still in cement waiting to be bottled in September 2013. I consider the rare white Castillo Ygay one of the greatest white wines ever produced in Spain, and the 1986 Castillo Ygay Blanco Gran Reserva Especial is a great addition to the portfolio of the winery--an historic wine that is coming back to life. This 1986 had seen the light as a limited early release bottled in 1992 and sold around 1995, and some bottles might still be found in the market. But most of it remained unbottled and was kept at the winery, where it stayed in oak for 21 years, followed by some six years in cement vats until it was bottled. It has 13.5% alcohol, an extremely low pH of 2.98 and 6.75 grams of acidity (tartaric). It has a very subtle nose and it's a bit shy, a little closed at first. It was only bottled one and a half years ago, and it's not crazy to say that the wine is showing extremely young. The wine shows more open the day after, when it has developed some nuances of mushrooms and verbena tea. This is mostly Viura with perhaps a pinch of Malvasía Riojana (aka Alarije). The palate is both powerful and elegant, with superb acidity and great length, with volume and sharpness, with a mineral, umami-driven finish. It fills your mouth, tickles your taste buds and makes you salivate. There is nothing negative about the wine; there is no excess oak, nothing blurry, nothing to improve... perhaps the bottle used! I think this is a perfect wine. It seems to be getting younger and younger with time in the glass; it seems to be getting more focused and sharper, and I have no doubt the wine will evolve and last for a very, very, very long time in bottle. 

 

2013 Álvaro Palacios · L’Ermita · Priorat

Reviewed by Luis Gutiérrez

As I put my nose in the glass of the 2013 L'Ermita, my heart started beating faster. If we all thought 2012 was scarce and expensive, wait for the 2013. Made mostly of Garnacha with some 8% Cariñena and a pinch of white grapes interspersed in the vineyard, the L'Ermita fermented in oak vats with natural yeasts, and underwent malo in barrel where the wine then matured for 16 months. The nose shows extremely elegant and balanced with citric freshness, blood orange and grapefruit peel, violets and lilies, earth and Mediterranean herbs. The wine explodes in your mouth, filling it with enormous brutal volume and finely threaded, sharp acidity. This is probably the best L'Ermita to date and is a legendary wine. I just couldn't get myself to spit this wine, which went down like velvet on my throat. Velvet? No, satin! Unfortunately 2013 was the latest harvest ever, the north-facing amphitheater of L'Ermita was harvested on November 5. In this nearly catastrophic vintage (yield-wise...), no more than 640 bottles were filled. Unobtainable and truly world class. 

 

2004 Pingus · Peter Sisseck · Ribera del Duero

Reviewed by Jay S. Miller

The 2004 Pingus is a glass-coating opaque purple/black color with a bouquet of Asian spices, incense, lavender, truflee, black cherry, and blackberry that soars from the glass. Dense, rich, and seamless, this is a complete, harmonious offering with no rough edges. It will continue to blossom for another 5-7 years and offer a drinking window extending from 2014 to 2044.

 

1982 Château Mouton Rothschild · 1er Grand Cru Classé Pauillac

Reviewed by William Kelley

Over the last couple of years, I had inclined to the view that the 1986 vintage was eclipsing the 1982 Mouton Rothschild, but two perfectly conserved bottles this year put paid to that hypothesis. One of the emblematic wines of the vintage, offering up aromas of sweet crème de cassis, cigar wrapper, espresso roast, spices and vine smoke, it's full-bodied, broad and enveloping, with a rich core of fruit; ripe, supple tannins; and a long, expansive finish. Lavish, even flamboyant, and at the same time seriously structured and quintessentially Mouton, it encapsulates the greatness of the vintage. For readers interested in numbers, the 1982 attained 12.3% alcohol with a pH of 3.64 (that information is the result of a great personal misfortune, because I sent a sample from a tragically corked magnum to the local enology lab for analysis out of curiosity). 

 

1982 Château Cheval Blanc · 1er Grand Cru Classé Saint-Emilion

Reviewed by William Kelley

The 1982 Cheval Blanc is a sumptuous, sensual wine, bursting with aromas of sweet raspberries, orange rind, dried flowers, cedar box, black truffles, vine smoke and menthol. Medium to full-bodied, ample and enveloping, it's supple and seamless, with a fleshy mid-palate, melting tannins and a long, expansive finish. As is often the case at this address, at age 40, it's the wine's Cabernet Franc component that really dominates its personality, meaning that it gratifies the intellect as completely as it does the senses. I've drunk the 1982 Cheval three times this year, and it has been remarkably consistently brilliant. 

 

1982 Château Lafleur · Pomerol

Reviewed by William Kelley

The 1982 Lafleur is probably my favorite wine of the vintage, even if there are two or three wines that can rival it in quality, simply because it made such an impression on me when I first tasted it as a student. Today, from a perfect cellar where it has been stored since release, it remains extremely youthful; but it is also much more expressive than it was only six or seven years ago, offering up a singular bouquet of kirsch, sweet berries, licorice, orange zest, exotic spices and crushed mint. Full-bodied, satiny and sensual, it combines huge concentration with rare energy, exhibiting beautifully melted tannins and concluding with a long, pure finish. If I owned any bottles, and sadly I don't, I struggle to think of any circumstances in which I would willingly part with them. 

 

Champagne Jacques Selosse · Substance · Grand Cru Avize 

(1986-2012 D 07·2019)

Reviewed by William Kelley

Since awarding the July 2019 disgorgement of Selosse's emblematic NV Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Substance a three-digit score, readers won't be surprised to learn that I've drunk a dozen bottles—all in the interest of due diligence, of course. Happily, the wine continues to show extraordinarily well, bursting from the glass with aromas of honeyed pears, buttered toast, candied peel, fenugreek and almond paste. Full-bodied, textural and enveloping, it's vinous, concentrated and sapid, marrying to remarkable effect the unique patina imparted by Selosse's distinctive winemaking practices with the powerful yet incisive profile that defines Avize. This is a brilliant Champagne, and my only regret is that I doubt I'll have any bottles left five years from now.

 

2019 Eva Fricke · Lorcher Krone Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese · Rheingau

Reviewed by Stephan Reinhardt

The 2019 Lorcher Krone Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese offers a concentrated, very intense bouquet of fresh pineapple and candied lemon aromas intermixed with notes of sage, lavender, black bread, black pepper and rubbed lime rind. Very sweet and intense on the palate but at the same time piquant and racy, this is a perfectly lifted and refreshing TBA with a lot of terroir expression. It is an incredibly frisky, salty and textured sweet wine like only very few TBAs you can find today. Again, I don't pick up much sulfur here. Tasted in May 2020. Extremely rare. 

 

1962 Château d’Yquem · 1er Grand Cru Classé Supérieur Sauternes

Reviewed by Yohan Castaing

One of the most fantastic mature wines I’ve ever encountered from this iconic estate in Sauternes, the 1962 d'Yquem displays a sensual, racy bouquet with aromas of saffron, quince, spices, candied orange, white truffles and perfectly ripe orchard fruits, followed by a medium to full-bodied, supple and sensual palate, bright acids and a fleshy core of fruit that assert themselves gently on the finish. This multidimensional Yquem, less unctuous and thicker than the mighty 1967, deserves the ultimate score and represents the essence of this great terroir.