{"id":2308,"date":"2015-05-27T10:12:00","date_gmt":"2015-05-27T10:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/2015\/05\/27\/saturday-may-30-2015-vintages-release-report\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T03:55:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T03:55:50","slug":"saturday-may-30-2015-vintages-release-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/2015\/05\/27\/saturday-may-30-2015-vintages-release-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Saturday May 30, 2015 – Vintages Release Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

To print this report click here for the PDF version<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Key to the 5-star rating system:<\/strong><\/em>
5 = Outstanding … 4.5 = Excellent … 4 = Very Good … 3.5 = Good<\/em><\/p>\n

Wine colour indicators – Red<\/span>, Whites<\/span>, etc.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Foci …<\/strong> New World Pinot Noir (NWP<\/strong>) and Southern Rhone (SRh<\/strong>)
The Skinny …<\/strong> As a fan of the Rhone Valley and its wines (namely the reds) I am always excited to see the Rhone spotlight, and there are a few good ones on the way, so spark up the BBQ as these wines will go great with the meats you’ll be Q’ing.  There’s a good wine from Chile and a Wild Thing Zin you’ll find fabulous for that back rib dinner you’ve been dreaming about.<\/p>\n

Argentina …<\/strong>
Diamandes de Uco 2011 Malbec<\/em><\/span> ($27.95 – #404145) – deep, dark, rich colour: blackberry, mocha, white pepper, tobacco and quite chewy. (****)<\/p>\n

Australia …<\/strong>
The Black Chook 2013 Shiraz\/Viognier<\/span><\/em> ($17.95 – #066738) – shows a certain juicy blackberry character, very approachable. (*** ½+)<\/p>\n

Canada<\/strong> (Ontario) … click on wine name for full review<\/span><\/em>
Creekside 2013 Queenston Road Pinot Noir<\/em><\/a> ($18.95 – #415877) – **** (NWP<\/strong>)
Lailey 2013 Unoaked Chardonnay<\/em><\/a> ($14.95 – #299776) – *** ½
Raven’s Roost 2013 Pinot Noir<\/em><\/a> ($22.95 – #415828) – ****
Redstone 2012 Limestone Vineyard South Riesling<\/em><\/a> ($18.95 – #381251) – *** ½<\/p>\n

Chile …<\/strong>
Errazuriz 2012 Aconcagua Alto Cabernet Sauvignon<\/em><\/span> ($19.95 – #203364) – minty blackberry and black currants, touch of cedar and spicy chocolate. (****+)<\/p>\n

France<\/strong> (Burgundy) …<\/em><\/span>
Maison Roche de Bellene 2010 Vieilles Vignes Meursault<\/em><\/span> ($48.95 – #241091) – creamy with lime meringue and peach puree all with a shot of vanilla and butter cream. (****)
Louis Bouillot Perle D’Ivoire Brut Blanc de Blancs Cremant de Bourgogne<\/em><\/span> ($19.95 – #48801) – crisp of acidity with hints of sweetness on the finish. (*** ½+)
Marchand-Tawse 2012 Bourgogne Pinot Noir<\/em><\/span> ($29.95 – #285601) – black cherry, mineral and cranberry. (*** ½+)
France<\/strong> (Champagne) …<\/em><\/span>
Louis Roederer Premier Brut Champagne<\/em><\/span> ($40.95 \/ 375ml – #93054) – bready, biscuit, almond skin, bruised apple and hints of bosc pear; quite simply lovely. (****)
France<\/strong> (Loire) …<\/em><\/span>
Chateau de Sancerre 2013 Sancerre<\/em><\/span> ($24.95 – #340893) – pleasant bit of grassy and grapefruit rind. (*** ½+)
France<\/strong> (Rhone) …<\/em><\/span>
Chateau de Nages 2012 JT Costieres de Nimes<\/em><\/span> ($24.95 – #736876) – gentle red fruit, spice with a touch of herbal character. (*** ½+) – SRh<\/strong>
Domaine du Vieux Lazaret 2011 Chateauneuf-du-Pape<\/em><\/span> ($39.95 – #983650) – chewy with chocolate, herbal and floral;  quite pretty. (*** ½+) – SRh<\/strong>
Domaine Duseigneur 2011 Antares Lirac<\/em><\/span> ($18.95 – #213082) – good fruit, hint of chocolate on the finish, very appealing. (****) – SRh<\/strong>
Domaine les Aphillanthes 2011 Plan de Dieu Cuvee des Galets Cotes du Rhone-Villages<\/em><\/span> ($23.95 – #414367) – floral, black cherry, raspberry, and white pepper; a very pretty wine. (****+) – SRh<\/strong>
Domaine les Grands Bois 2013 Cuvee Philippine Cotes du Rhone-Villages<\/em><\/span> ($18.95 – #286344) – spicy, rich blackberry and black cherry with ripe tannins. (*** ½+) – SRh<\/strong>
France<\/strong> (Roussillon) …<\/em><\/span>
Domaine Bellavista 2011 La Cuvee D’Ava Cotes du Roussillon<\/em><\/span> ($15.95 – #383398) – lots of black cherry and blackberry with a touch of vanilla and an elegant spiced finish. (****)
Famille Perrin 2014 Tavel<\/em><\/span> ($19.95 – #680801) – hints of strawberry and apple skin; dryish with some cherry-lemonade action on the finish. (*** ½+)<\/p>\n

Italy<\/strong> (Tuscany) …<\/em><\/span>
Fossacolle 2009 Brunello di Montalcino<\/em><\/span> ($48.95 – #309880) – sour cherry, herbal, smoky\/toasty, hint of coffee, plenty of acidity. (****)
Marchesi Torrigiani 2008 Guidaccio<\/span><\/em> ($48.95 – #674499) – quite supple with good acidity on the finish; layers of spice, herbal, black fruit and balanced tannins. (****)
Italy<\/strong> (Veneto) …<\/em><\/span>
Le Arche 2012 Rossogrande<\/em><\/span> ($15.95 – #410696) – plum, blackberry, hint of toast and earthiness. (*** ½+)
Provolo Campotorbian 2009 Ripasso Valpolicella Classico Superiore<\/em><\/span> ($19.95 – #974402) – not much on the nose but there is rich cherry, mocha on the palate more than makes up for it. (*** ½+)
Villa Girardi 2011 Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico<\/span><\/em> ($42.95 – #159913) – nicely extracted dark fruit, chocolate, vanilla, smoke and dense tannins; definitely needs a little time. (****)<\/p>\n

New Zealand …<\/strong>
Auntsfield 2012 Single Vineyard Pinot Noir<\/span><\/em> ($29.95 – #361246) – delicate Pinot Noir with cherry, raspberry and tart cranberry on the finish. (*** ½+) NWP<\/strong>
Saint Clair 2013 Premium Pinot Noir<\/em><\/span> ($24.95 – #413591) – delicate black cherry, white pepper and cranberry. (*** ½+)
Spy Valley 2014 Sauvignon Blanc<\/em> <\/span>($19.95 – #686675) – lots of tropical fruit amongst the usual grass and grapefruit. (*** ½+)<\/p>\n

Portugal …<\/strong>
Alvaro Castro 2011 Red<\/em><\/span> ($17.95 – #285288) – there’s an herbal quality which leads to red fruit, and a slight mocha\/coffee sensation; quite elegant. (****)
Dow’s 2009 Late Bottled Vintage Port<\/em><\/span> ($18.95 – #6013927) – black cherry, plum, black licorice, vanilla, spiced-mocha with hints of minerality and generous fruit all backed by that big acidity. (****)<\/p>\n

South Africa …<\/strong>
Desiderius Pongracz Sparkling Pinot Noir\/Chardonnay<\/em><\/span> ($19.95 – #404111) – nice crisp clean flavours of lemon and apple with good acidity. (*** ½+)<\/p>\n

Spain …<\/strong>
G 2011 Garnacha<\/em><\/span> ($18.95 – #132266) – great nose, very good dark fruit, chocolate, cherry, spice almost silky on the palate. (****)<\/p>\n

United States<\/strong> (California) …<\/em><\/span>
Migration 2013 Pinot Noir<\/span><\/em> ($44.95 – #412437) – generous cherry nose which follows onto the palate with vibrancy of flavours. (*** ½+) – NWP<\/strong>
Ravenswood 2013 Besieged<\/em><\/span> ($24.95 – #414136) – interesting blend of grapes with dark fruit, gentle spice, licorice and a juicy middle. (*** ½+)
Rutherford Ranch 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon<\/em><\/span> ($24.95 – #73817) – plum, cherry, blackberry, and vanilla; quite a tasty little Cab. (****)
Wild Thing 2012 Old Vine Zinfandel<\/em> <\/span>($26.95 – #282517) – this one’s on the darker side with plum, black cherry, blackberry, black raspberry but with a juicy sweetish core. (****)
Zynthesis 2011 Old Vine Zinfandel<\/em> <\/span>($24.95 – #412510) – fresh ripe juicy, lots of sweet red fruit and vanilla. (*** ½+)
United States<\/strong> (Oregon) …<\/em><\/span>
Argyle 2012 Artisan Series Reserve Pinot Noir<\/em><\/span> ($49.95 – #70623) – light yet generous of flavour: cherry framed by spice with fine tannins. (****) – NWP<\/strong>
Duck Pond 2012 Pinot Noir<\/em><\/span> ($29.95 – #427872) – straddles between Burgundy and California with good tannins, sweet cherry and peppered minerality. (*** ½+) – NWP<\/strong>
________________________________________<\/p>\n

In-Store Discoveries – wines that appear on the shelves of your local Vintages outlet …<\/strong>
Bachelder 2011 La Petite Charmotte Nuits-Saint-Georges<\/em><\/span> ($58.95 – #357228) – Burgundy … **** ½
Domaines Schlumberger 2010 Kessler Gewurztraminer<\/em><\/span> ($33.95 – #307694) – Alsace … *** ½+
Gundlach Bundschu 2011 Merlot<\/em><\/span> ($44.00 – #397497) – California … *** ½+
La Follette 2012 Sangiacomo Vineyard Chardonnay<\/em><\/span> ($50.00 – #394502) – California … *** ½+
Lucien Muzard & Fils 2013 Les Meix Chavaux Meursault<\/em><\/span> ($58.95 – #407072) – Burgundy … *** ½+
Peninsula Ridge 2013 Beal Vineyards Inox Reserve Chardonnay<\/span><\/em><\/a> ($18.95 – #007328) – Ontario … *** ½+
Stonestreet 2011 Bear Point Chardonnay<\/em><\/span> ($64.95 – #411579) – California … ****
Stonestreet 2010 Legacy<\/em><\/span> ($99.95 – #708024) – California … ****+<\/p>\n

If You Can Afford It – wines worth their high price …<\/strong>
Chalk Hill 2012 Chardonnay<\/em><\/span> ($54.95 – #706580) – California … *** ½+
Domaine de la Vieille Julienne 2012 Les Trois Sources Chateauneuf-du-Pape<\/em><\/span> ($79.95 – #414433) – Rhone … ****+ (SRh)
Segla 2006<\/em><\/span> ($53.95 – #359810) – Bordeaux … ****<\/p>\n

What I’ll Be Lining Up For – May 30, 2015 …<\/strong>
Domaine Bellavista 2011 La Cuvee D’Ava Cotes du Roussillon<\/em><\/span> ($15.95 – #383398) – France
Domaine les Aphillanthes 2011 Plan de Dieu Cuvee des Galets Cotes du Rhone-Villages<\/span><\/em> ($23.95 – #414367) – France
Errazuriz 2012 Aconcagua Alto Cabernet Sauvignon<\/em><\/span> ($19.95 – #203364) – Chile<\/p>\n

Happy Shopping<\/p>\n

To print this article click here for the PDF version<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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To print this report click here for the PDF version Key to the 5-star rating system:5 = Outstanding … 4.5 = Excellent … 4 = Very Good … 3.5 = Good Wine colour indicators – Red, Whites, etc. The Foci … New World Pinot Noir (NWP) and Southern Rhone (SRh)The Skinny … As a fan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vintages-releases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2308"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7470,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2308\/revisions\/7470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.michaelpinkuswinereview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}