The Tasting Panel magazine

August 2016

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68  /  the tasting panel  /  august 2016 WINES Kettmeir 2015 Pinot Grigio, Alto Adige DOC, Italy ($22) Crème fraîche and a lemon-lime pie filling make this white a textural treat. Biscuit and a hint of lanolin further round it out, but the high soprano minerality and vibrato of the lean acidity keeps it crisp and fresh. 91 SANTA MARGHERITA USA Gehricke 2014 Pinot Noir, Los Carneros, Sonoma County ($39) Aged nine months in French oak, earth and wild raspberry are luxuriously set on a plush platform. Brown sugar soaks into cinnamon cherries: what an effect! Ripe and round with juicy tannins and a deep, brandied cherry-oak finish. 92 3 BADGE ENOLOGY Conceito 2014 Contraste White, Douro DOC, Portugal ($19) Traditional white grapes including Rabigato, Códega do Larinho and Arinto are grown on granite pla- teau soils and aged for six months in new and used oak French barrels. Winemaker Rita Marques, trained in Douro and Bordeaux, creates an energy and fruity liveliness with this white. A touch of grassiness melds with a minerality that is texturally thrilling. 93 M IMPORTS Château Buena Vista 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley ($50) This wine celebrates Buena Vista's long history in Napa Valley, with grapes sourced from all over the region, including St. Helena, Rutherford, Stags Leap and Calistoga—and the label, showcas- ing the impressive edifice at Buena Vista, depicts the winery built by its founder, Count Agoston Haraszthy, in the late 19th century. Taste the tilled soil, the dusty cherry-chocolate cedar and the opulent, finely grained tannins that over-deliver for the price in this deep magenta- hued powerhouse. 95 BOISSET COLLECTION Château Lagrézette 2013 Le Pigeonnier Malbec, Cahors, France ($250) This seven acre vineyard of Malbec is adjacent to the 500 year old Lagrézette Castle, and owned by art collector and entrepreneur Alain Dominique Perrin since 1980. Perrin coined the phrase "modern luxury" with the range of "Must de Cartier" jewelry and perfume (the phrase implies someone must have it). I can see the segue into his Cahors wines—most prominently this 100% single vineyard treasure. Perrin and his team—which includes consulting enologist Michel Rolland— constructs an evolved wine that's inky, with notes of iron, blood and soil. Violets are dry and format the edgy tannins, pronounced by dark chocolate and crème de cassis. 95 THE OTHER WINE & SPIRITS PICKS In each issue The Tasting Panel's Publisher and Editorial Director Meridith May, selects her favorite wines and spirits of the month. Check here for the latest arrivals in our offices, the hottest new brands on the market and an occasional revisited classic. Publisher's Worthy of a smooch. French-style double bizou. Wildly infatuated. Seriously smitten. Head over heels in love. acidity keeps acidity keeps acidity crisp fresh. 91 SANTA MARGHERITA Gehricke 2014 Carneros, Sonoma ($39) Aged oak, earth oak, earth oak, and luxuriously set luxuriously set luxuriously Brown sugar cherries: what cherries: what cherries: round with deep, brandied deep, brandied deep, 92

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