Week of 3/24/24 : Vinography

Hello and welcome to my weekly dig through the pile of wine samples that show up asking to be tasted. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of Vinography Unboxed, where I highlight some of the better bottles that have crossed my doorstep recently.

This week included some of the most legendary wines of New Zealand, from venerable producer Pyramid Valley, in the North Canterbury region of that country’s South Island. Started in 2000 by the late Mike Weersing and his wife Claudia, this fully-biodynamic, limestone-terroir-obsessed estate has long been making some of the very top wines in New Zealand. Their Chardonnays in particular sit amongst the very best interpretations of this grape anywhere in the world. The estate was sold in 2017 to Steve Smith and Brian Sheth, who have done an admirable job carrying on the Weersings’ legacy.

Indeed, the Lion’s Tooth and Field of Fire Chardonnays from 2020 are mind-bending in their finesse, vivacity, and deliciousness. They positively shimmer on the palate and, for those who haven’t had them, will challenge your very conception of New Zealand wine. Snappy Savvy Blanc these are most definitely not.

It’s hard for anything to hold a candle to those first two wines, but the 2020 Angel Flower and Earth Smoke Pinot Noirs are making a good go of it. The Angel Flower in particular has an effortless poise and elegance to it that proves quite seductive.

The Snake’s Tongue Pinot Noir is a new addition to the Pyramid Valley portfolio of wines. Sourced from a newer estate vineyard in Central Otago, it comes from a specific parcel that the new winery’s owners believe can live in the pantheon of the winery’s top bottlings. I enjoyed it, but it didn’t impress me as much as the North Canterbury wines.

Let’s stick with the southern hemisphere for a while longer, but spin the globe a bit, shall we? Over in Uruguay, the grape Tannat is king and has historically been made into robust, ripe, and oak-aged wines in the model of Bordeaux. Increasingly, however, producers are exploring a wider range of expressions for the grape, and that is a very good thing.

The Viña Progreso “Revolution” Tannat is bright and crunchy, picked on the early side, and designed to be a fresher interpretation of the grape, courtesy of Gabriel Pisano, whose family has been making wines under the Pisano name in the Progreso region of Urugay since 1924. Viña Progreso represents Pisano’s “experimental” efforts, though many of his wines have become regular annual productions.

As another example, the Folklore Tinto from the Castel Pujol brand (made by Bodega Cerro Chapeu) has co-fermented some first-press Petit Manseng skins and juice to make a lighter, perhaps fruitier version of Tannat that still manages to have a lot of depth and honesty to it. But at only 13{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a} alcohol, it comes across as more elegant than powerful.

The Bouza Tannat, on the other hand, is made in the more “traditional” mold of Uruguayan Tannat, at least when producers seem to be looking to make something more “impressive.” Big, extracted, and given a serious oak treatment, this wine, however well-made, seems a bit old-fashioned at this point.

Returning ever-so-briefly to the northern hemisphere, I’ve got two wines to recommend from Compris Vineyard, a new-ish project in the Willamette Valley that emerged from the collaboration of two couples during the Pandemic. They’ve sent along a Tempranillo (a surprising variety to plant in the land of Pinot) and the other a Syrah. I liked the Tempranillo more than the Syrah, but both offer a nice combination of fruit, freshness and more savory qualities.

Notes on all these below.

Tasting Notes

2020 Pyramid Valley “Lion’s Tooth” Chardonnay, North Canterbury, New Zealand
Pale greenish gold in the glass, this wine has a gorgeously flinty nose of lemon pith and bee pollen shot through with a smokiness that is quite alluring. In the mouth, lemon peel and lemon pith flavors are bright and clean with flinty notes and wet stone minerality. Notes of sweet lime linger in the finish which turns saline and mouthwatering with a lightly chalky texture. Long, elegant, vibrant, and utterly compelling. Score: between 9.5 and 10. Cost: $110. click to buy.

2020 Pyramid Valley “Field of Fire” Chardonnay, North Canterbury, New Zealand
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of flinty lemon and grapefruit zest, with sharper notes of citrus oils. In the mouth, the wine is intense. Grapefruit and lemon flavors vibrate with concentrated citrus oil and herbs as vibrant, electric acidity lights up the palate. The wine is incredibly saline, with a sappiness that kicks the saliva glands into overdrive. Phenomenal. Score: between 9.5 and 10. Cost: $110. click to buy.

2020 Pyramid Valley “Angel Flower” Pinot Noir, North Canterbury, New Zealand
Medium garnet in the glass this wine smells of raspberry, earth, and dried flowers. In the mouth, flavors of raspberry and citrus peel mix with herbs and a bright, lean, and juicy acidity. Fantastically stony, with faint, barely perceptible tannins. Elegant, poised, and utterly distinctive, with a long finish. Score: around 9.5. Cost: $110. click to buy.

2020 Pyramid Valley “Earth Smoke” Pinot Noir, North Canterbury, New Zealand
Medium garnet in color, this wine smells of raspberry, herbs, and crushed stone. In the mouth, sour cherry flavors mix with raspberries and wet chalkboard. Fine tannins give texture to the wine as citrus oil, flowers, and dried herbs emerge in the finish. Beautiful and elegant. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $100. click to buy.

2021 Pyramid Valley “Snake’s Tongue” Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of floral blueberry and raspberry flavors. In the mouth, black raspberry and herbs mix with fine-grained, faint tannins. Notes of black cherry take on a stony quality as a chalky texture lingers in the finish with some bitterness. Great acidity. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $110.

2020 Viña Progreso “Revolution” Tannat, Progreso, Uruguay
Light to medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of cherry, earth, and dried herbs. In the mouth, tangy black cherry and sour cherry flavors mix with orange peel and bright, juicy acidity. Crunchy and lean, with barely perceptible tannins. 13.5{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a} alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $21. click to buy.

2023 Bodega Cerro Chapeu “Castel Pujol – Folklore Tinto” Red Blend, Rivera, Uruguay
A hazy medium to dark garnet in the glass with purple highlights, this wine smells of blackberry and black cherry with hints of floral notes. In the mouth, black cherry and blackberry flavors are wrapped in a cloud-like haze of powdery tannins as citrus peel acidity keeps things bright and juicy in the mouth. There’s a lovely texture and a sense of honesty here. A delicious blend of 80{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a} Tannat and 20{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a} Petit Manseng “first press skins.” Fermented with native yeasts, bottled unfined and unfiltered. Curiously this bottle, which does have an English-language importer back label, does not show the alcohol content anywhere. Producer’s website suggests it is 13{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a}. Score: around 9. Cost: $21. click to buy.

2020 Bouza Tannat, Uruguay
Inky opaque purple in the glass, this wine smells of oak and dark fruits. In the mouth, rich black cherry, cassis, and blackberry flavors have a hint of snuffed candle wick and a lightly bitter licorice-root quality. Good acidity keeps things fresh, and the tannins are quite restrained, but there’s a touch of heat in the finish. Overall this is just a big ripe wine that represents what I think of as the classic, but slightly old-fashioned style of Uruguayan Tannat. It’s missing finesse. Spends 14 months in a combination of French and American oak. 15.5{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a} alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $27. click to buy.

2021 Compris Vineyard “Midnight Journey” Syrah, Chehalem Mountains, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Inky garnet in the glass, this wine smells of blueberries and violets. In the mouth, tangy blueberry and black currant flavors have a brisk acidity and nice freshness to them, with hints of wet pavement underneath the higher-toned fruit and florals. Faint, barely perceptible tannins. Interesting. 14.2{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a} alcohol. LIVE sustainability certified, Salmon Safe. Closed with a glass stopper. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $50. click to buy.

2021 Compris Vineyard “Moonlit Sky” Tempranillo, Chehalem Mountains, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Medium garnet in the glass, this wine smells of cherry and dried flowers. In the mouth, wonderful cherry and citrus peel flavors are bright and tinged with flowers and dried herbs. Excellent acidity and a stony minerality, with barely perceptible tannins make for a surprisingly elegant package. I think this is the first Tempranillo from the Willamette Valley I’ve tried and now I want to try a bunch more. 14.2{83994d7454f8ce68441ea8152244c292227c3db19076e7622c8f5ff92141c35a} alcohol. LIVE sustainability certified, Salmon Safe. Closed with a glass stopper. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $50. click to buy.