Simon takes Troy Patterson to task for asserting that orange wines are an assault on pleasure.
Simon takes Troy Patterson to task for asserting that orange wines are an assault on pleasure.
Roasted plums and a lot of evident heat on the nose. Attracive ripe strawberry and plum on the palate but there’s a lack of freshness overall
Spicy and herbaceous fruit with lots of structure and thirst-quenching fruit acids. Some charm has been sacrificed for the sake of extract and oak-ageing, but this is still quite enjoyable
Pretty Zweigelt nose, with pippy strawberry aromas. Good fruit expression and decent acids, quite grippy but fairly nicely balanced. The joyful character of the variety is well preserved, there is length and lots to enjoy here.
Soft textured strawberry fruit with a slightly mealy, woody finish. Lacking a little bit of freshness, and might have been better at a lower ripeness level. Decent enough stuff.
Concentrated red berry fruit with quite grippy structure and a hint of mocha. The nose of perfurmed raspberry and plum is inviting, overall this is very well done – maybe a little primped and permed and international in style, but enjoyable
The fresh acidity here speaks of Blaufränkisch, but overwise oak is covering the fruit character in an unwelcome way, Smoky, roasted notes dominate the nose and the palate. The sour cherry character is still nestled in there somewhere. Maybe this could improve in a year or two if the oak recedes a bit.
Chocolately, plummy, rather neutral tasting fruit, a bit soupy, over-extracted and covered by oak. There’s a hint of Zwiegelt on the nose, and fairly decent acidity, but overall this is trying a bit too hard.
The fresh, fruity acids really lift this up, and the ripe raspberry and strawberry fruit sings loud and cloud. Quite grippy but there’s enough fruit to balance it. Drinking well now but can easily hold and probably improve for a few years.
Spicy, balsamic fruit with a juicy, ripe core. Prodigious structure, and rather woody tannins which need some more time to resolve, but the fruit is lovely.