Vintages June 13 release makes Dad's day fizzle, and some Italian whites.

Mid June brings another  so so release. The features are Bubblies (reasonable to ridiculous price wise), Dad’s day specials, and Italian Whites. In trying to go beyond Pinot Grigio for the latter, our intrepid Vintages team has come up with 5 other wines. 

From this release, here are the ones that interested me for one reason or another.

 France

Bastide Miraflors Vielles Vignes Syrah Grenache 2013 -  799 cases of 12 - $19.95 – The ‘over the top’ Parker review will have you wrestling for this one - with the adjectives that he used to describe the wine you’d think this was a wine for the ages! Best to temper your enthusiasm and follow the Sol Mandlsohn credo “If you get some, you get some but if you miss it, you miss it.”

CHATEAU Eugenie Cuvee Reserve D’Aiuel Cahors 2011 -297 cases of 12 - $20.95 – One for the cellar. Do not open for three or four years as it needs time to calm the tannins. If you’re still eating beef or lamb by then, this’ll be terrific.

Xavier Ventoux 2012 -709 cases of 12 - $15.95 – Every so often a nice, well priced, sophisticated wine sneaks in beneath the radar. This could be one of them.

CHILE

NINQUÉN ANTU CHILEAN MOUNTAIN VINEYARD SYRAH 2013   550 cases of 12   $17.95 – Watch for serious vanilla intermixed with chocolate and black fruits. Usually an excellent choice for the price but it’ll need to be left alone for a bit.

VIÑA TARAPACÁ GRAN RESERVA CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2012   547 cases of 12  $17.95 - OK price for an OK Chilean.

AUSTRALIA

ELDERTON HIGH ALTITUDE CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2013   447 cases of 12  $19.95  - From the Eden Valley region, which if you squint is a subset of the Barossa Zone. This is worth a try if you really like the estate cab but don’t like the estate cab price (this means you Doug!). Site specific vineyard but priced similar to the old ‘Elderton Friends’. I’d try one to see how the new line is panning out.

MOUNTADAM PATRIARCH SHIRAZ 2010   249 cases of 12  $29.95 – Interesting that the Elderton wine above is from  Eden Valley but is indicated as being from Barossa. This Mountadam wine manages to get properly listed as being from the High Eden subregion of the Eden Valley wine region within the Barossa zone.  Someone needs a geography lesson for the Elderton next year. The Mountadam is worth  trying  head to head with an Elderton Estate Shiraz if you have one.

ITALY

MIALI MATER PRIMITIVO 2010   299 cases of 12  $18.95 – A Zinfandel cousin with a bit of age. Great for BBQs , burgers and the like.

AMBRA SANTA CRISTINA IN PILLI CARMIGNANO 2011   222 cases of 12  $23.95 – A sleeper methinks. Mostly Sangiovese and Cabernet, should be very nice with a little age.

SPAIN

BORSAO TRES PICOS GARNACHA 2012   848 cases of 12  $19.95  - This has previously been  highly recommended  by me among others. For me, the last couple of bottles that I had were absolute oak bombs – vanilla extract in black raspberry juice. Buyer beware because I’m not sure if my palate or the wine has changed.

USA

SNOQUALMÍE CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2012   447 cases of 12  $16.95 – Organic and well scored from a good producer.  Save yourself at least 5 bucks and take this over the Cali alternatives.

RODNEY STRONG CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2012   836 cases of 12  $22.95 – An OK Cali alternative.

SILVER BUCKLE RANCHERO RED 2010   359 cases of 12  $21.95 – Any wine that stirs memories of a Ford Fairlane turned into a pickup truck has to be worth a try. Too bad there isn’t some El Camino in this release for a road, err taste test against it.

ROSE TABLE WINE

 (ZUCARDI) VIDA ORGÁNICA MALBEC ROSÉ 2014   449 cases of 12  $13.95 – Organic production, reasonable price.

MONTE ZOVO BARDOLINO CHIARETTO 2014   349 cases of 12  $13.95 – A dryish wine promoting sweet cherry and exhibiting a full mouthfeel.

BIG BUCKS

Pieropan LA ROCCA Soave Classico 2011 -$39.95 - #2 from the Wine Enthusiasts top 100 last year. Expect puckering astringency and subtle fruits.

TWO HANDS BELLA'S GARDEN SHIRAZ 2012    181 cases of 6  $63.95 – Always superior.

PAUL HOBBS CROSSBARN CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2012 167 cases of 12  $62.95. Jumped almost $20 in the last few releases. Yes, you probably can do better for much less.

OPUS ONE 2011    99 cases of 6  $444.95-  Not a chance!

TENUTA SETTE PONTI ORENO 2011    163 cases of 6  $76.95 – I have to ask, why wasn’t I born rich?   If I was, I’d buy almost 6 of these before I bought one of the Opus One.   

J. LOHR HILLTOP CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2012    701 cases of 6  $40.95 – A single vineyard produced by  a quality Paso Robles winery.

CASTELLO DI AMA RISERVA CHIANTI CLASSICO 2009   324 cases of 12  $34.95  - The third Vintages release of the 2009 vintage of this wine. While it has been highly recommended in the past, I found one of the three smaller 375 ml bottles I purchased a while back to be suffering from apparent premature oxidation. Another reader reported similar findings. Bad cork seal? Bad bottle? Bad batch?  All of the above? Perhaps. Before I consider buying more of this I think it’s time to try one from the previously released 750 mls. Done, last day of May and it was suddenly Novemberish so a meal of Osso Buco was in order. The wine was good but this is not a ‘sit and guzzle’ wine for sure. This is an ‘open me, sip me, and taste me change while you’re preparing and cooking something over a period of a couple of hours’ wine. With sufficient air, this becomes a perfect ‘accompany a very good meal’ wine.