WineSpeed - Wines

March 24, 2023

STARK-CONDÉ Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

(Stellenbosch, South Africa) $25

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of South Africa’s leading red grapes, and the top wines are both fantastic—and fantastically priced. Bold, sleek, and delicious, this Cabernet from Stark-Condé leads with a big wave of rich blackberry and cassis flavors, then finishes with a streak of coffee, dark chocolate and mineral notes. The impressive tannin here calls for some grilled chops. The story of Stark-Condé is an amazing coming-together of nationalities and cultures—Japanese, Cuban, American, and of course South African. Black winemaker Rüdger van Wyk is a rising star.

92 points KM

Available at Vivino

March 17, 2023

MASSOLINO

Nebbiolo 2020

(Langhe, Piedmont, Italy) $37

If you love Italian food and wine, I hope this is the wine you drink sometime soon. (It’s easy to buy; see below). The minute I tasted it, I wished I had an Italian grandmother who was, right that moment, rolling out some tagliarini or stuffing some ravioli. (Sigh). Nebbiolo—considered by many to be the greatest Italian red grape variety—is the grape that makes Barolo, which is famous, long-lived, often hard-to-get, and usually quite expensive. So, finding a great Nebbiolo from the area around Barolo, but not in the appellation, is the key to scoring something delicious to drink that doesn’t require hocking the family jewels. This wine fits that bill. It’s from the Langhe, and Massolino is one of the top producers in all of Northern Italy. I’d drink anything they make. Nebbiolo is light in color, but don’t let that fool you. The variety usually arrives with a big bolt of tannin. But Massolino’s Nebbiolo is, thankfully, not aggressive. In fact, the sweep of cherry and dark chocolate flavors is what defines the wine and makes you want to come back to it again and again. Time to put the pasta water on to boil.

93 points KM

Available at Wine.com

March 10, 2023

LA CAPILLA

Crianza 2018

(Ribera del Duero, Spain) $31

Red wines from Ribera del Duero in northern Spain are not known for their frailty, and La Capilla (The Chapel) is a great example. Lush, soft, and powerful, this is a wine for red meat if there ever was one. But power alone is not why we fell in love with this gem. The aromas and flavors (anise, lavender, chocolate, cherries, spices) are layered and complex. And best of all, while La Capilla is uber rich, it also has a streak of freshness, keeping it lively on the palate. Like the vast majority of Ribera del Duero wines, this one’s made 100% from tempranillo, Spain’s great red grape. “Crianza” means it was aged a minimum of two years (one of which must be in oak casks) before release.

93 points KM

Available at Plummarket.com

March 3, 2023

PARALLEL NAPA VALLEY

Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

(Napa Valley, CA) $130

In 1999 four couples who shared a love of Napa Valley wine did what friends (you have to be really good friends) sometimes do: they started a winery together. Parallel Napa Valley (named after the parallel course that their lives took and an homage to skiing, which the couples also loved) makes distinctive small lot Cabernets from vineyards in the heart of the valley—Oakville and Rutherford. This Cabernet—their “regular” one, not the reserve—is juicy, lively, complex, sleek, and intense. The texture is all silk and velvet. 2019 was a top vintage for many Napa wines—as you’ll see if you lay in a bottle or two of this gem. And while the wine is not inexpensive, we think it delivers more than a slew of other Cabernets that cost nearly twice as much.

94 points KM

Available at Parallel Napa Valley

February 24, 2023

LA CROIX DUCRU-BEAUCAILLOU

2019

(Saint-Julien, Bordeaux, France) $50

La Croix is the “second wine” of Ducru-Beaucaillou, one of the top wines of Saint-Julien. The second wine of an estate is often made by the same winemaker with the same attention to detail as the estate’s grand vin, but is made from younger vines, or specific lots that didn’t quite make it into the grand vin. But here’s the best part: the second wine of a top Bordeaux costs a fraction of the estate’s grand vin. So if you don’t want to spring for Château Ducru-Beaucaillou ($350), La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou (about $50) is a perfect choice. The wine itself is lovely. A slow climb of rich flavor, culminating in a burst of cassis. Incredible length and precision. Plus lots of structure, so you can drink the wine now, or lay it away for a few years, because the wine is built to last. Grill some lamb chops, pour La Croix into a decanter to open it up a bit, and your evening has just gotten very special.

93 points KM

Available at InternetWines.com

February 17, 2023

HENSCHKE

“Henry’s Seven” 2021

(Barossa Valley, South Australia, Australia) $46

It can sometimes seem as though Châteauneuf-du-Pape has a lock on grenache-syrah-mourvèdre blends, and making them into one of the most delicious wines alive. Ah, but then one would be forgetting that Australia has been blending these three grapes together for well over a century. Henry’s Seven—made by the uber-famous Australian winery Henschke—leads with syrah in the blend, and the wine is a slow arc of beauty and purity. Extremely vivid and alive, it sings with menthol, anise, violet, and blackberry flavors. And the texture lives hedonistically somewhere between silk and velvet. Henry’s Seven is a tribute to Henry Evans, one of the early pioneers of the Eden Valley, who planted 7 acres of vineyard there in 1853.

96 points KM

Available at Wine.com

February 10, 2023

GALLICA

Cabernet Sauvignon 2020

(Napa Valley, CA) $210

Gallica is a tiny hidden gem of a Napa Valley winery making exquisite, artisanal wines. Its owner, Rosemary Cakebread, made many of the legendary Spottswoode Cabernets for years, and her elegant hand is obvious. Gallica—the name refers to a wild European rose—is a rush of decadent flavors (blackberry, cedar, violets), waves of vibrant freshness, pinpoints of spiciness, and a magnificent structure of fine tannin. Young, expressive, and super delicious now, it promises to get better and better with age. So lay in a few bottles because the production is very small. (And lastly, a word on vintage 2020, the “wildfire year.” Some Napa wineries made no 2020 wine because of smoke taint; other wineries were completely unaffected. Ms. Cakebread showed me the official ETS Testing Laboratory report for this wine confirming that it was not exposed to smoke.)

96 points KM

Available at Gallica

February 3, 2023

WEINGUT HIRSCH

"Kammern" Grüner Veltliner 2021

( Kamptal, Austria) $33

Icy sheets of refrigerated sunlight. Crystalline and precise. A delicious trajectory beginning with salty minerals and ending in white pepper. Can you tell I really liked this wine? Austrian Grüner Veltliner—especially from a top appellation like the Kamptal—is perhaps one of the world’s most underappreciated of all the great white wine varietals. And the small artisanal family-owned Hirsch winery is one of Grüner’s greatest practitioners. Intense yet graceful, this wine pulls you into it and showers you with purity and freshness. It’s one of my favorite white wines with a pork roast or roast chicken. (12.5% abv)

94 points KM

Available at Wine.com

January 27, 2023

CANVASBACK

Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

(Walla Walla Valley, Washington) $56

For Cabernet lovers priced out of Napa Valley and Bordeaux, Walla Walla, Washington is the place to know. The Cabernets are firmly structured with lots of richness and length. In particular, this Cab from Canvasback is terrific—lots of blackberry and cassis fruit, plus notes of vanilla and espresso. There’s tannic power here to be sure, but also a sense of refinement. Pour it into a decanter and watch it unfurl itself some weekend night soon. (14.5% abv)

94 points KM

Available at canvasbackwine.com

January 27, 2023

ESPECTACLE

Montsant 2018

(Montsant, Spain) $140

Wines from Montsant and neighboring Priorat are among the most expensive in Spain, but they can be spectacular—as this wine’s name suggests. Texturally: an iron fist in a velvet glove. Waves of savory umami flavors, plus violets and espresso. A lit-from-within aliveness. A finish that doesn’t. 100% Garnacha (Grenache) from vines more than 100 years old. Simply stellar.

95 points KM

Available at Wine.com

January 20, 2023

Bottle image of featured Wine to Know 01-20-2023

THREE STICKS

“Gap’s Crown Vineyard” Pinot Noir 2020

(Sonoma Coast, CA) $75

Three Sticks makes more than a half dozen fantastic Pinot Noirs from extremely cool, Pacific-impacted vineyards all over Sonoma. Their Gap’s Crown is our favorite because it embodies Pinot’s great “magic trick”—which is to be simultaneously both utterly rich and beautifully restrained. I also think that all the best California Pinots are never simply fruity; they have hints of flavors that are “dark” and “corrupt” at the same time. In Gap’s Crown, pomegranate, blackberry, and raspberry are woven into a delicious tapestry with notes of pipe tobacco, damp earth, and the addictive smell of soft (maybe slightly sweaty) leather gloves. Pinot Noirs like this are never inexpensive, but they are such a compelling head-trip to drink that $15 a glass seems just about right. 14% abv

96 points KM

Available at Wine.com

January 13, 2023

VIONTA

Albariño 2021

(Rías Baixas, Spain) $25

We believe in always have a bottle of chilled Albariño in the fridge. Fresh, limey, and a little salty, Albariño tastes like a margarita without the tequila. Very refreshing.

89 points KM

Available at Craft City