If you've never tried a Sauternes before, you really should. There's just nothing quite like it. Yes, this is a desert wine. No, it's nothing like that syrup that you may have tried in the past. Sauternes are elegant, mysterious, and just yummy.

The first thing I noticed about this one was the light color. Typically Sauternes have almost an orange tint to them -- or at least a darker yellow. This one is much lighter -- looking like a Chardonnay perhaps.

The nose is honey, followed by apricot and maybe some lemon peel. But mostly it's honey! The taste is pretty much the same theme: liquid honey. No, it's not viscous like honey -- I mean it tastes like a honey, but with a lighter consistency. The finish is like I just sucked on a fresh, raw honeycomb -- like right on the farm. I mean, it's not just like licking honey out of a jar off your finger. This has more earth or something to it. Something a little bit more raw. And yet, it's unmistakeably honey.

For me, Sauternes are so wonderful because of their rich depth. Sure, there are lots of "late harvest" desert wines. But there's something more layered and nuanced about a Sauternes.Maybe it's a bit earthier. Whatever it is, it's hard to describe.

The only downside is the price. Many vintners will simply not make Sauternes in a given year if it's not good enough. Plus, making Sauternes is very laborious; all the grapes have to be left to essentially rot on the vines ("noble rot" and all that). And this means there's just no getting around the higher cost.

Cost:       ($45 for a half bottle)

Rating:    8.0

We reviewed the 2006 version of this wine awhile ago; and rereading that review, there's not much to change (read it here). Yes, the wine has some subtle nuanced differences. But overall the theme is the same. I'm not usually a fan of rose wine. This wine smells a bit sweet, yet the it isn't. It's totally watermelon; it's slightly watered down and slightly alcoholic watermelon juice (I mean that in the best possible way). And this version is also very enjoyable, especially on a warm day.

I think this year's version has less vegetable hints. Though there are some other layers to this wine beyond just watermelon. I couldn't quite get my taste-buds around it. Something veggie and something herbal -- and yet just mysterious enough to be elusive. Bottomline: it's tasty and refreshing -- and perfect for a picnic.

Beware: I see this in the grocery store, and two weeks later, it's all gone. So if you're interested, and see it -- grab it.

Cost:   

Rating:    7.5

We've been drinking a lot of Duck Pond recently, especially that yummy Pinot Grigio during these (all to fleeting) sunny and hot days here in Portland. So we've reviewed the Syrah, the Pinot Grigio, and their high-end Pinots -- but what about the standard Pinot? We cracked that bottle finally, and here's the review.

The nose was dusty, a little musty, rhubarb, and raw greens mustard. And then later, the nose got more oceanic -- seaweed, muscles ... beach! Denise said it reminded her of  "sitting on a piece of drift wood, looking at the seagulls!"

The taste was mainly red cherry with hints of raspberry. It was just a little acidic; a bit of a tangerine taste mixed with the berries. The finish was the same combo, only in reverse: berries turning into a subtle tangerine.

We had the opportuity to have this aside a day-old bottle of Brick House Pinot (Ribbon Ridge Select, 2007). And the Duck Pond was much darker and earthier than the Brick House, and the Duck Pond has more subtle spice. They both had a cinnamon quality, but both in very different ways. The Duck Pond was more subtle, and the Brick House was stronger. And the Brick House was more jammy.

Denise didn't care for the beach-qualities strangely enough (she's usually such a big fan of the earth tones). Me, I thought this was a really nice Pinot for price ($20); it's normally so hard to find a nice Oregon Pinot below $25 these days.

Cost:   

Rating:   7.5

I received an incredibly generous gift this year: a DDO Direct Membership. So we're the lucky recipients of a lot of wine from one of my absolute favorite vineyards: Domaine Drouhin. True story: I lobbied to name our first born son "Drouhin" (you know: "drew" for short), but Denise wouldn't have it.

We've been fans for a long time. The 1999 Drouhin "Laurene" was one of those bottles that provided that euphoria that you can't easy forget. I liked Pinot before, but still -- I hadn't tasted Pinot of that caliber prior. I fell in love.

So, this is the first bottle we cracked from our membership. Perhaps a little young, but it was Easter and I wanted something nice.

The nose was super spicy: pepper, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Maybe something earthly -- pine needles! And dried fruit -- dried cranberries and dried cherries. The taste was also spicy, predominantly cinnamon. And in the middle, that's when the fruit came out. Rainer cherry and some strawberry. The finish turned more towards strawberry, and it was almost and ever-so-slightly sweet on my lips -- sort of a sweet strawberry taste. Those spices, while subtle on the taste, raced back in the finish -- which was long and enjoyable.

Luckily we had a little left over and I tasted it again the next night. The smell was heavy all-spice! Maybe a little strawberry. And a musty dust smell -- like a dried up river bed in the late summer. That all-spice remained in the taste. And the finished turned quickly to currant, maybe salmon berry, and rhubarb (there was veggie that was very slightly sour and earthy).

The best way I can describe this wine is "elegant". My dad was initially apprehensive -- he apparently tasted Drouhin and Domaine Serene (where he's a member) recently and very much preferred the Serene over the Drouhin. But he agreed with me, feeling that "elegant" was just the right word for this wine. Yeah, we all loved it. It even bested the Main Divide we had just prior, which was a super-meaty Pinot.

Cost:    

Rating:    9.0

So I have this sort of funny issue with New Zealand Pinot Noir. I love Pinot; it's definitely my favorite varietal (I live in Portland, Oregon, so that's an easy fit). I often hear how great New Zealand Pinots can be, and how they are the new up-and-coming hot spot for the grape. And yet, I can't seem to find one that I like. Now to be far, I haven't had more than a dozen Pinots from the land of the kiwi's. But not a single one that's I found to be good? What are the odds?

Well, I finally found one that I enjoyed. That's the good news. On the other hand, if I would have drank this wine blind, I likely would not have guessed Pinot Noir. This wine was the biggest, most meaty Pinot I've ever tasted. It was more like a Napa Cab. The look of it was very dark purple -- not at all translucent -- and it was full of strong tannins (but not in a bad way). It was so thick you could almost cut it with a knife (again, I don't mean this in a bad way).

The nose had tons of vanilla, bark, and earth. Then there was cinnamon, clove, white pepper and all-spice. The taste was tricky. Blackberry? Maybe black cherry? A little licorice. Some of that stem taste (not overly  bitter). Nutmeg. Carrot. Maybe the fruit was more like currant -- it was not sweet, and was a bit understated. The finish was long, with black cherry, nutmeg, and some kind of veggie -- maybe parsnip,  or rhubarb, or perhaps okra.

This was a crazy Pinot. Everyone liked it, but everyone also agreed it was a Pinot like no other.

Cost:    

Rating:    8.5

We've been off our usual game lately. With the water damage to our condo, and the fact that a four year old in preschool means we're perpetually sick -- it's been hard to review our usual volume of wine. Hotels and dislocation are not conducive for wine blogging, and being sick kills your ability to smell and taste. In fact, we had a dinner scheduled a couple weeks ago and had to cancel because Denise and I were sick -- again.

Anyway, we finally had our friends Andrew and Madeleine over again. We've been meaning to try the recent releases from Duck Pond. We've recently reviewed Duck Pond's higher-end Pinot Noirs awhile back. This time we wanted to pair their Pinot Grigio with our killer fish tacos.

We got this insanely good recipe for salsa from our friends Patrick and Signe: equal parts avocado chucks (cubes if you can) and tomato (equal size cubes), some onion (cubes), cilantro, lime, salt, and a little tabasco to taste (not spicy). Then, we got some great looking halibut from Zupan's and fried it in half canola and coconut oil. Mixed that with Denise's black bean and yam and spinach goo, jack cheese, and corn tortillas -- and we had a feast.

Anyway, we started with this Pinot Gris. The first impression from Andrew was: "that's the lightest white I've ever seen". And it was almost completely translucent; it really looked like a bottle of water. We were dubious to start.

However, it didn't take long to realize that we all really enjoyed this wine. Andrew took an initial sip, and exclaimed: "wow, this is really refreshing!". Madeleine thought it was too light at first (like the first couple minutes), and then totally changed her mind, noting that it was "easy to drink". And in fact, Madeleine who normally has very small glasses of wine, had seconds and thirds of this one.

The thing with this wine was that it was so quaffable. It wasn't complex. It wasn't full-bodied. It was the opposite of that -- and in a really good way. Andrew and I agreed: it was like drinking a soft-drink. Of course, it wasn't sweet, but it was like you were drinking ... Andrew said it reminded him of drinking Fresa when he was a kid. And it was sort of like a flat soda (I don't mean this in a bad way; to the contrary).

The nose was mainly lemon and cilantro. Andrew wasn't getting cilantro (he thought we were smelling the salsa); instead he got liquorice. For me the taste was not just lemon, but a lemon and tangerine mix. It was really great chilled and with that salsa.

This wine was a hit -- and short lived. No, this isn't some complex snotty wine; instead, this is a perfect wine for a picnic on a hot summer day. And at $10 a bottle -- we'll be picking up some more of this one.


Cost:    

Rating:    8.0