Wine Reviews: Mini Round-Up for June 24, 2024

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I taste a bunch-o-wine (technical term for more than most people). So each week, I share some of my wine reviews (mostly from samples) and tasting notes in a “mini-review” format.

They are meant to be quirky, fun, and (mostly) easily-digestible reviews of (mostly) currently available wines (click here for the skinny on how to read them), so you can get right to the point and decide if they’re for you (or not). Cheers!

• NV Bodegas Ruiz De Viñaspre Seleccionada Tinto (Rioja): A bit gritty but still plenty alive! Dark and savory plum fruits, cedar spice, & dried violets, on a bed of forest floor. $NA B+
• 2016 Luna Rossa Winery Reserve Barbera (New Mexico): Pushing the limits, but ultimately winning the day with dried herbs, red plums, and large amounts of powerful, spicy grit. $50 A-
• 2007 Luna Rossa Winery Maximus Red Dessert Wine (New Mexico): 100% Sousão. From NM. That spends 15 *years* in oak? It had better be good with those risks, and it is, sporting sweet rhubarb and vibrant freshness. $31 B+
• 2019 Robert Hall Winery Cabernet Sauvignon (Paso Robles): Making a simple, but potent and focused statement. Mineral, powerful, and juicy! $18 B
• 2022 Lucia by Pisoni Estate Cuvee Chardonnay (Santa Lucia Highlands): So much happening here… Apples (yellow and red delicious), minerals, jasmine, fresh ginger… Honeydew melon, ripe citrus, peaches, at turns fresh and then almost oily. I drank this, at volume, happily. $50 A-
• NV Scharffenberger Cellars Brut Rose Sparkling (Mendocino County): A good deal of crushed rose petals, citrus rinds, red berries, and elegance. $25 B+
• 2022 Merry Edwards Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley): Another consistently fine showing; sultry with black raspberry, currants, blackberries, and leather. $60 A-
• 2022 Merry Edwards ‘Georganne’ Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley): Niiiiiiice. Rhubarb, black raspberry, herbs, tea. Big but so balanced and elegant, we might just be seeing the best ME Georganne release in recent memory… $70 A
• 2022 Merry Edwards ‘Dach’ Pinot Noir (Anderson Valley): Tight as a tourniquet right now. But that doesn’t stop it from being exceptional. Cedar, vanilla, dried violets, black tea, bramble, strawberry, blackberry, black raspberry, dark chocolate, fantastic acidic structure… When it opens up, it’s gorgeous, with lots of lift. Long, chewy, and probably still going to be great in a decade. $75 A