A Sigh of Relief for California’s 2021, Plus Uniquely Tenerife: Weekly Tasting Report (Jan 24-30)

The JamesSuckling.com tasting team added another 561 wines to its early-year tally over the course of the past week as it spread out around the globe to bring you ratings from 12 countries, including such mainstays as the U.S., France and Australia all the way to China, Peru and Israel.

New California wines tasted largely by James and Executive Editor Jim Gordon on location in Napa and Sonoma were dominated by pleasantly well-balanced and structured cabernet sauvignons from the 2021 vintage, like the top-rated Sterling Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Mt. Veeder Yates Vineyard 2021, Faust Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Coombsville The Pact 2021 and Hewitt Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Rutherford Double Plus 2021. Out of the 155 wines we tasted from California, about a third were cabernet sauvignons.

Wineries were breathing sighs of relief as they unveiled the vintage, after a traumatic 2020 vintage troubled by smoke effects from wildfires that raged through Napa and Sonoma counties. It meant that a high percentage of wineries released few or no 2020 red wines, knowing that they showed smoky flavors or suspecting that the smoke taint would come out later in the bottles.

But a raft of delicious, moderately tannic and not overly alcoholic 2021s are now filling the gap in the marketplace, ranging from relatively affordable Napa Valley releases by Frank Family and Sterling to single-vineyard selections by boutique producers Di Costanzo and Sonoma-based Courtney Benham.

Also in the report are a handful of 2020s that weren’t affected by smoke, and a number of late-release 2019s that were especially impressive. The 2019 vintage has been showing as balanced, delicious and fine to drink now in many cases, but some appear to be firming up now and promising a good, long life in the bottle.

Silver Oak is known for aging its wines longer in barrel and bottle than most, so its 2019s are just out, including a supple but concentrated Napa Valley bottling and a classic-style Alexander Valley release laced with black fruits and savory touches.

Look for reports coming soon on some of the most collectible California reds from Colgin, Harlan and more.

Plenty of outstanding-quality newly released Barolos and Barbarescos are also in this report, and they come from key names such as Azelia, Ceretto, Elvio Cogno, Damilano, Giacomo Borgogno, La Spinetta, Michele Chiarlo, Moccagata, Oderro, Pio Cesare and Vietti as well as others. Most are from the 2020 and 2021 vintages.

From out tastings so far this year, the 2021 vintage looks to be even more tannic than the 2020s, at least for the Barbarescos, which are being released on the market now. And winemakers that James has spoken to agree.

“The 2021 reminds me of the 2006 vintage for tannin extraction but with less dry sensations and the 2013 vintage for elegance and finesse. For me, this is a great mix with a fantastic potential for aging,” said Vietti winemaker Eugenio Palumbo. “The 2021 was a balanced and classic vintage due to good winter water resources [snow and rain] and a very regular growing season from April to mid-October, without any peaks of cold or warm and with a great temperature shift from mid-September to picking time,” which started Oct. 5 and ended on Oct. 15.

He added, “I think that the good amount of tannins was due to the above conditions together with limited rainfall during this season” – just 400 millimeters – “that have guaranteed a natural extraction and concentration to the fruit.”

James thinks that 2021 will be better than 2006, which were marked by dry tannins just like some 2019s. It’s clear it was a more balanced and homogeneous grape-growing season. He’s looking forward to tasting more 2021s, particularly next year when Barolos are released.

There are more 2020 nebbiolos in the notes below that show the wonderful harmony and attractiveness of the year, particularly the strawberry and floral sensations. The 2019s Barolos here stand up with some of the best, while the drink-me-early 2018s are outstanding in quality.

James was also surprised to see some 10-year-old 2014 Barolos in the tastings last week considering the difficulty of the vintage, which had a lot of rain and uneven ripening. But they were outstanding quality because they came from excellent vineyards, such as Cannubi.

UNIQUELY TENERIFE

In our Hong Kong office, Associate Editor Andrii Stetsiuk explored the unique offerings of Spain's Envínate  winery and found a few standouts among its 2022 releases. One was the Envínate Islas Canarias Palo Blanco Las Molinas 2022, which impressed with its enhanced creamy texture and heightened complexity. The wine is sourced from the Palo Blanco area of the Orotava Valley in the northern part of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, and Las Molinas parcel boasts ancient, braided listan blanco vines, some of which are 150 years old.

Envinate cofounder Roberto Santana told Andrii via Zoom that the 2022 vintage was a good one for the area because there was sufficient rain, as opposed to the preceding five years, which saw limited precipitation. Another wine that stood out with its volume, fruity palate and soft, silky tannins was the Envínate Vinos Atlánticos Migan 2022. Primarily crafted from listan negro, it originates from the Orotava Valley’s La Habanera and San Antonio parcels.

Another highlight emerged in the form of the Envínate Vinos Atlánticos Táganan Margalagua 2022. The Margalagua parcel is situated in the Taganan area in the hard-to-reach northeast part of Tenerife island, which has its own distinct microclimate – moister and cooler than the rest of Tenerife and showing true volcanic character. The wine is a blend of co-planted, untrained, indigenous varieties such as listan negro, negramoll, listan prieto, malvasia nera, baboso and others. The vines, which are at least 100 years old, rest 150 meters above sea level on mixed volcanic soils, making the Táganan Margalagua a true testament to the island's viticultural richness.

We also uncovered two mesmerizing Ribera del Duero wines from Vivaltus, a relatively new venture spearheaded by the Yllera family. Senior Editor Zekun Shuai was especially fond of the impressive 2018 and 2016 vintages. Notably, they exhibited a fragrant, refined, and elegant personality, highlighting fruit purity, sophistication and intricate layers of flavor, rather than sheer concentration and structural power out of extraction.

What sets these two bottles apart is their impressive subtlety, elevating them beyond the realm of merely good but uninspiring wines that rely heavily on indulgent chocolatey oak spices, almost sweetish richness and bold, chewy tannins. The 2018 vintage is a standout, as it marks only the third release to hit the market. And according to Marcos Yllera, the president of Yllera wines, it is mostly sold through La Place de Bordeaux and distributed to more than 35 countries.

Yllera also takes great pride in their consulting oenologists, who include Jean-Claude Berrouet, the former winemaker for Petrus, and his son Jeff.

The Berrouets are known for their soft-handed approach, and have lent their expertise to projects in Argentina (Tapiz), the United States, China, Israel and of course Bordeaux. Now they are helping Vivaltus to make elegant wines, using grapes sourced from very old vines aged between 70 and 100 years and grown at different altitudes ranging from 800 to 1,000 meters.

The 2018 and 2016 both show a composed personality, perfectly concealing the alcohol on the nose and palate and resulting in wines with a supple texture but that are also vibrant and fluid in mouthfeel, exuding pure expressions of fruit with polished tannins.

ISRAEL'S COOL-CLIMATE WINES

That Senior Editor Stuart Pigott tasted wines from a handful of Israeli wineries last week might seem to need explanation given the war there. Of course, we also follow the news, but for us the subject is always wine. Stuart was in Israel nine months ago but was unable to taste the wines of Odem Mountain Winery in the country’s far north, because time ran out on him. That was a shame, because every wine from this producer impressed him.

You could mistake the Odem Mountain Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Galilee Alfasi Special Edition 2015 for a serious Napa cabernet, thanks to its generous cassis and elderberry aromas with a touch of bitter chocolate. The combination of richness and masses of fine tannins made this a standout wine.

The more elegant Odem Mountain Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Galilee 1060 Estate 2018 had notes of mint and menthol as well as cassis and mulberry. This concentrated and focused red has a cool-climate feel despite coming from a warm country because the winery’s estate vineyard is 1,060 meters above sea level. That makes it one of the highest-altitude vineyards in the upper section of the Galilee wine region.

It’s really rare to find a nebbiolo from outside Piemont that really shines, due to the fickle nature of this late-ripening grape. However, the Odem Mountain Winery Nebbiolo Israel Reserve 2019 has an excellent combination of floral delicacy, plum and rosemary aromas plus a firm tannin structure. It suggests that there are some niches in this part of the world where the grape has a bright future.

A NOD TO AUSTRALIAN NEBBIOLO

Senior Editor Ned Goodwin MW is in the midst of a comprehensive tasting of the gilded wines of Beechworth, Australia, including its superlative chardonnay and syrah, as well as of nearby King Valley, a bastion of Italian heritage and increasingly good sangiovese and nebbiolo.

Beechworth, a picturesque town set amid the foothills of the Australian Alps, some three hours north of Melbourne on the border of the states of New South Wales and Victoria, was once the wealthiest town in the world per capita due to its plentiful gold deposits. Its stately Victorian buildings and wrought-iron lacework are reminiscent of a film set, while its vineyards are smattered with granite slabs and boulders.

Granite’s capacity for reflection and refraction of the light that dapples the flaxen hillsides of this sub-alpine region is ideal for promoting optimal rather than excessive ripeness in the grapes. The summers can be warm and yet the diurnal shifts are dramatic, balancing extract with ample freshness. King Valley is similarly sub-alpine and cool, but with lateritic, loamy soils. These are planted to a diverse array of Italian varieties, as the region’s Italian settlers shifted from tobacco to grapes as their principal crop.

Ned will soon offer a full report on Beechworth and King Valley, but this week it was a raft of nebbiolo from the two areas that got him particularly excited. In fact, Ned suggested that the Domenica Nebbiolo Beechworth 2021 is “the finest New World nebbiolo” he has ever tasted. Red fruited, transparent and energetic, it attests to the notion that in the very best hands, nebbiolo can be akin to pinot noir from another mother. Ned also lauded its “structural compression and rivulet of pure, sumptuous fruit.”

Nudging the Domenica as the gatekeeper to the firmament was the Sentio Nebbiolo Beechworth 2021, which was just a little more bumptious of fruit than Domenica’s frisky iteration. Local patriarch Julian Castagna, an engaging biodynamic producer, said that both come from vines abutting each other on Beechworth’s “golden mile,” which has relatively shallow soils underlain by granite, with shale at the bottom.

The Castagna Beechworth Barbarossa 2021 was another nebbiolo that shined. It boasts a voltage of acidity placated by ripe cherry fruits and noble bitterness. Perhaps more Italianate is the Traviarti Nebbiolo Beechworth 2021, while the Schmölzer & Brown Nebbiolo Beechworth Thorley 2021 is a little softer, earthen of aroma and ready to breach, with no dearth of moreish complexity.

Finally, a shout out to Pizzini in the King Valley, an address that Ned has long followed. All of their nebbiolo wines offer intrigue, but Ned’s favorite was the Pizzini Nebbiolo l’Aquila 2019, a wine that boasts notes of pomelo, tangerine, sandalwood and brush fire, with a sweep of pickled sweet cherry across the background. Fred and Joel Pizzini pay a great deal of attention to the curvature of their tannins, achieved with longer oak aging than regional peers.

– Jim Gordon, James Suckling, Andrii Stetsiuk, Zekun Shuai, Stuart Pigott and Ned Goodwin MW contributed reporting.

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated during the past week by James Suckling and the other tasters at JamesSuckling.com. They include many latest releases not yet available on the market, but which will be available soon. Some will be included in upcoming tasting reports.

Note: You can sort the wines below by country, vintage, score and alphabetically by winery name. You can also search for specific wines in the search bar.