The Poor Man's Guide's
Wine Reviews

Excellent, classic rich Pinot and Chardonnay blend with a yeasty and doughy nose followed by a round, even voluptuous, powerful mouthful. Has nice pinot sweetness without being out of balance. Nothing out of place. This is quite a deal for an inexpensive non-vintage in a powerful full-bodied style! Two Stars. Becky Wasserman Selection, Importer: Garber & Co, Topanga, CA.

Toasty and very buttery ripe tropical fruit aromas would not be confused for a Champagne but are very pretty nonetheless. This has a seductive lush, sweet mousse with bright, almost tropical fruits and good balancing acidity. Sweeter than the French bubblies reviewed here but still balanced and very tasty. This is very young and should gain in complexity with age. Again, I wouldn't confuse this with Champagne but that doesn't detract from it. After all, Champagne is Champagne, Prosecco is Prosecco and California sparkling wine is California sparkling wine. They are all separate and distinct, but good examples of each is worth of its place on your table. One Star Plus.

The nose is like cutting into a ripe and fresh honeydew melon. This and fresh honeysuckle fill your nose while you sip and encounter more honeydew, pureed with tangerines and a hint of fresh cut grass. This does have quite a bit of sweetness but seems to remain fresh and balanced and is very good with food. One Star. Importer: Grape Solutions, Inc., Dover, Delaware.

Compared to the big, yeasty and doughy Berthelot above, this one was more vibrant, laser-like and with a buttery nose held together with a finer etched minerality. Creamy and silky flavors yet bright and vibrant. This is young but so delicious. It will likely be even better in ten years but who can wait! Two Stars Plus. Terry Theise Selections. Importer: Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY.

Golden in color and displaying a honeyed nose of roasted nuts, chicken bouillon and curry, this is not unlike the 2000 Cuvée Speciale reviewed in Issue 10 but is a bit less flamboyant and in your face. More reserved, pretty and even floral as compared to the exotic spice and umani nuances of the great Cuvée Speciale. Salty and tangy flavors are brighter and show more verve. This seems rather young and primary and will probably improve with some age in bottle. Does not have as much of the sous voile, oak-aged nuances of the Cuvée Speciale and Vin Jaunes. One Star Plus. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, New York, NY.

As I said, these wines often defy description because the aromas and flavors here only partially resemble anything remotely grape or fruit-like. You have to try to get a bit poetic in describing the best of these. This 99 from Puffeney, or "the Puff Daddy" as some like to call him, is no exception. My notes started "Wow, I don't even know where to begin." The aromas display brilliantly the typical Vin Jaune characteristics of Sherry-like nuts, curry spice, chicken boillon and such. But beyond that, you have a hard time describing. It seems impossible that this came from grapes. Heady, yet mellow. Intense, yet comforting and seductive. Sensuous and long as all hell on the finish. A baby. You can get lost in there. Umami, earth, nuts. So much going on yet conveys a sense of a single, cohesive whole that you can't easily pick it apart into its components. Enveloping and simply beautiful. A thing to behold. Yet, this is an infant and needs decades to be at its best. If you drink it now, decant it for hours and watch its evolution over a whole afternoon and evening. A passionate wine! Hard to imagine what this will be like in a century. Three Stars. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, New York, NY.

Classic, precise Abtsberg "honey pressed through a granite and shist filter. The nose gives an almost tactile sense of nuanced and chiseled minerality. How a smell can convey texture I don't know, but this does. The flavors are even better. Scintillating stars of honey, acid and filigreed stones. Precise, pure and vibrant as great Abtsberg often is. This will hold a long time. Yum! Its almost criminal that a wine this good is this inexpensive. Two Stars Plus. Importer: Vakkenberg International Inc., Tulsa, OK.

Tasting these wines is a fascinating exploration of the different terroirs of Volnay and despite being from the same vintage and producer, the differences are quite dramatic, each site speaking in a unique voice, particularly for the single vineyards which are to follow. This first one is the basic Volnay Premier Cru which is typically a blend of several 1er cru vineyards within the village.

Very pretty, even seductive, ripe blueberries, cherries, powdered sugar and rose petals. Very fresh and pure aromas that are ripe yet vibrant. Velvet wrapped plums and cherries with a fine etched minerality and abundant tannins. The ripe tannins keep it tight and somewhat austere in its youth but this is excellent and deserves a decade in the cellar at least. Will probably be drinking wonderfully at 20+ years. However, this will show better in its relative youth vis-à-vis the Champans and Taillepieds. Excellent value. Two Stars. Importer: Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, New York, NY.

The nose here is again very pretty but more intense with a spicy dark red fruit and a craggly, rocky minerality which seems decidedly red in nature. This is burly, tannic and quite austere right now, like a good young Champans often is. Rocky, crumbly earth minerality give power to the fruit which has good depth but is buried in tannin and rocks right now. While the Premier Cru above is much more alluring and seductive now, this wine has more power and a clearer voice in terms of the transparency of its individual terroir. While the structure tends toward the coarse side now, I have little doubt that the underlying stuffing is more than adequate to enable several years of improvement in the bottle as the tannins soften and fade. In fact, as this sat in the glass over an hour or so the continued to soften and become much more approachable. This should be quite long-lived. Two Stars. Importer: Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, New York, NY.

In contrast to the Champans which had a sense of craggly, rocky minerality, the mineral component here is finer. Still quite mineral, this tends more towards finely etched white stones that are finer in grain. More ripe red fruit is evident on the noble nose. However, in the mouth this is even more tannic and austere at first, yet with finer grain and a silkier, sweeter minerality and tannin. So very young but this should evolve beautifully. I give it the slight edge because of its more noble structure and balance. This was a very interesting examination of these terroirs which revealed some of the key differences between the Champans and Taillepieds sites. Two Stars Plus. Importer: Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, New York, NY

This wine starts out a bit dusty and musty but definitely shows some of the telltale and much sought-after Côte-Rôtie smokey bacon and pepper spice. Some herby and stemy complexity came out with air. The flavors are spicy and iron imbued and while not too deep, lacking a bit on the midpalate, this is a good simple introduction to Côte-Rôtie. It lacks the breed, depth and complexity that the best examples possess. It did get better with air, fleshing out some. While this is not a stellar Côte-Rôtie, it is a worthy introduction into the character of the wines of this famous region. One Star. Importer: Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York, NY.

This took a bit of coaxing, not showing much at first. But after 15 to 20 minutes in the glass this started to show hesitant but undeniable earth and spice aromas that are just starting to poke through. There is a sense of ripeness and depth but the fruit is playing second fiddle to the spice and earth at this point. The mouth is also very young and not yet showing all that it will after a long sleep in the cellar but already there are dense black fruits, peppercorns, meat and even some iron-like minerals. Definitely feels like there are depths to plum as this ages. Quite young, but should be great, particularly for the Cuvée Classique. While this is approachable and enjoyable now with some time in the glass or a decanter, this will only get better. Ideally, I usually feel this cuvée is best after 10 years from the vintage. The single vineyard wines take even longer and can be extremely long-lived. Two Stars. Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA.

Creamy buttered brioche, truffle honey and spicy botrytis immediately caress your olfactory neurons. Decaying leaves on the ground in the fall and sweet slightly rancid apple and apricot add to the complexity. When my wife smelled this she said it was the "sweet smell of fall and crunchy layers of wet golden leaves you walk through as a child anticipating Halloween." In the mouth this is creamy and rich yet super silky and perfectly balanced. No shrill acidity and no cloying sugar, just right. This shows very well right now but is just a baby. While it doesn't have the power and size of the Quarts de Chaume, this has a more feminine, seductive character. So pretty, even sexy. So natural. So pure. Just great. Three Stars. Importer: Premier Cru, Oakland, CA.

Heady, even alcoholic, aromas of banana nut bread, pumpkin bread and walnuts. Simple, but pretty. The flavors are similar with tangy banana, honey, nuts and Sherry-like notes. Doesn't have tremendous depth but flavorful simple flavors. One Star. Importer: Premium Ports & Madeiras, San Francisco, CA.