May 2024 Tasting Report: Alsace’s Trio of Perfection, California’s Golden Bounty and an Amarone for the Ages

Our May ratings of nearly 2,600 wines uncovered six perfect-scoring bottles – three from Alsace, France, two from Italy and one from the United States – as the JamesSuckling.com team tasted offerings from across the vinous realm, stretching from China in the Far East and Argentina in the extreme south to Lebanon in the Middle East and Liechtenstein in the center of Europe.

Senior Editor Stuart Pigott was in France for much of the month traipsing through Alsace and Rhone, tasting the 2022 vintage in the former and the latest releases in the latter. Stuart said he was amazed by the Alsace 2022s, which came from another hot and dry vintage that resulted in some extremely bright and focused wines.

According to Stuart, 2022 was a “sensational vintage” for dry riesling from the grand cru sites with granitic soils, such as the Schlossberg, Brand and the lesser-known Wineck-Schlossberg, with the 100-point Domaine Weinbach Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Schlossberg Ste. Catherine 2022 being the most extraordinary. “It is the pinnacle of an astonishing range of wines from this famous producer that are all extremely precise and refined,” Stuart said.

Another Alsace producer that rose to the top was Domaine Barmes-Buecher, run by the brother and sister team of Sophie and Maxime Barmes, which gave us a terrific riesling in its enormously concentrated Domaine Barmès-Buecher Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Hengst 2022.

Domaine Zind Humbrecht’s Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Brand 2022 is nearly as amazing, Stuart said, with “breathtaking” stone fruit aromas, but it was Zind Humbrecht’s Pinot Gris Alsace Grand Cru Rangen de Thann Clos Saint Urbain 2022 that delivered our second perfect-scoring wine, with its "lightning-strike freshness and raciness."

Alsace also gave us “one of the greatest Alsace pinot noirs ever made,” in Stuart’s opinion, with the third Alsatian bottle we gave a perfect score to: the Albert Mann Pinot Noir Alsace Grand Cru Hengst Grand H 2022 and its nose “of an entire garden of summer flowers and berries.”

From Rhone, Stuart and Tasting Manager Kevin Davy were most impressed by the new wines from Domaine A. Berthet-Rayne in Cairanne, with their Domaine A. Berthet-Rayne Cairanne Blanc Les Perchettes Vin Méthode Nature 2023 one of the most original natural wines Stuart has ever encountered.

And some new Champagne releases of note that we rated in May included Laurent-Perrier’s No. 24 Grand Siècle in magnum, which James said “showed more fruit and intensity than the regular bottle N.24, with the longer contact with yeast in the magnum giving it more body and flavor.” It’s a blend of 55 percent chardonnay and 45 percent pinot noir from the 2007, 2006 and 2004 vintages.

Associate Editor Andrii Stetsiuk, meanwhile, tasted the latest releases of the Krug Grande Cuvée (172nd edition) and Krug Rosé (28th edition), both of which were created around the harvest of 2016. The first is a “very classic Krug Grande Cuvée with notes of dried lemon, spices, and a subtle brioche as well as a textured and caressing palate,” while the Krug Rosé, which includes 62 percent of the 2016 vintage and 38 percent reserve wines, “shows a beautiful peach-pink hue with a coppery glint and offers fresh floral notes, red berries, and peach skins in both the nose and palate.”

And a couple wines of note that Stuart tasted from Switzerland included the Jean-René Germanier Syrah Valais Cayas Reserve 2020, which “is as plush as it is concentrated  with an extremely long finish,” as well as the Jean-René Germanier Cornalin Valais Chamaray 2019 – “a beautifully crafted expression of the native cornalin grape with deep savory, licorice and smoke aromas.”

ICE WINES, ANYONE?

Stuart also rated a few hundred German wines in May, including some rarely seen ice wines, a special style of dessert wine that needs a hard frost to be viable, which is what happened in 2021. The Hexamer Riesling Nahe Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg Eiswein 2021 is one such beauty, coming with a cornucopia of tropical fruit aromas and an “enormous amount of energy driving the dangerously refreshing finish.”

From the underrated region of Franken, which has struggled to be taken seriously internationally in part because it focuses on dry wines from the silvaner grape instead of on riesling, Stuart found the dazzling Luckert Silvaner Franken Creutz Trocken *** 2023 as well as a giant of silvaner excellence, the Luckert Silvaner Franken Maustal GG 2023 – two limited-edition masterpieces by winemaker Uli Luckert.

And one Franken riesling not to be missed is the Bürgerspital Riesling Franken Pfülben GG 2022, with its “unbelievable nose of all the colors of peach plus fresh pineapple."

The western part of Franken, meanwhile, is home to some of Germany’s best producers of spatburgunder, or pinot noir, with the Furst winery the shining star among them. Their Fürst Spätburgunder Franken Hundsrück GG 2022 is one of the most elegant pinots they have ever made, in Stuart’s eyes, with breathtaking aromas of wet earth, autumn leaves, mint and smoke overlain by layers of red fruit, while their Fürst Spätburgunder Franken Schlossberg GG 2022 is almost at the same level but is more fragrant, with a compelling harmony and almost endless finish of great delicacy.

CALIFORNIA'S BOUNTY

The newly released Ridge Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Santa Cruz Mountains Monte Bello 2021 – surprisingly not from Napa – was the fourth of our perfect-rated wines for May. It’s a massively concentrated, taut but trim wine aged in all-new barrels, predominantly American and eminently collectible, according to Executive Editor Jim Gordon, who was in California tasting during the month. And Ridge’s Chardonnay Santa Cruz Mountains Monte Bello 2022 is another impressive offering; a wonderfully concentrated and full-bodied wine but still light on its feet.

Some examples of the more linear, fresher wines coming out of Northern California, meanwhile, came from Stephane Vivier, as well as from Steve and Jill Matthiasson. Vivier’s sleek and stony Chardonnay Napa Valley Carneros Hyde Vineyard 2021 is a shining example of the beauty to be found in a little restraint, displaying the richness and depth for which Larry Hyde’s Napa-Carneros vineyard is famous, while the 2022 version of the same Vivier Hyde Chardonnay is almost as enticing, Jim said: “light, poised and laced with lemon curd and hazelnuts.”

And from one of the oldest pinot noir properties in California came the full-bodied and complex Vivier Pinot Noir Sonoma Mountain Van Der Kamp Vineyard 2021, while the Vivier Pinot Noir Sonoma Mountain Van Der Kamp Vineyard 2022 is also impressive but shows a lighter color and more tangy red fruits, like cranberry and cherries.

Matthiasson’s acid-driven, low-alcohol wines have developed a cult-like following, Jim said, with one great example being the Matthiasson Chardonnay Napa Valley Linda Vista Vineyard 2022 – a light-bodied beauty that has a touch of butter, a mouthwatering, tangy texture and a green-apple fruitiness that gives it great freshness. Tops among Matthiasson’s Napa cabernets, meanwhile, was the Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Phoenix Vineyard 2021, which comes with great acid balance, delicious red cherries and baked earth nuances.

And J Vineyards & Winery in Sonoma County, under winemaker Nicole Hitchcock, is stepping higher every year in the quality and sophistication of their sparkling and still wines, with the mineral-driven J Vineyards Russian River Valley Late Disgorged 2015 the highest-rated of their offerings. Also check out their J Vineyards Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Annapolis Ridge Vineyard 2021 – “a super-concentrated and age-worthy pinot bottling full of wild berry and spearmint, energized by vivid acidity.”

From the Louis M. Martini Winery on Main Street in St. Helena, Napa Valley, which is increasingly focused on single-vineyard cabernet sauvignons, were two great examples of full-bodied, generously oaked wines from the hands of winemaker Mark Williams: the juicy and dense Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Stagecoach 2021 and the Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Valley Monte Rosso 2021, which is vivid in acidity, bright in red fruits and savory in mint and bay leaf nuances. Their masterwork, however, is the Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Mount Veeder 2021, which offers a Pauillac-like intensity with floral aromas, vivid fruit, compact layers of fine-grained tannins and a long finish. Jim called it “a classic in the making.”

From the neighboring state of Oregon, meanwhile, Stuart tasted the 2022 vintage wines from the Brooks winery in Willamette Valley, and he came across the amazing Brooks Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Cahiers 2022, which is sensationally concentrated and precise, with a mind-blowing array of red fruit, cassis, allspice and iron aromas.

AMARONES, BAROLOS AND MORE

We rated nearly 800 Italian wines in May, with James and Senior Editor Aldo Fiordelli doing the heavy lifting at our tasting office in Tuscany. There, they encountered the perfect-scoring Bertani Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2015, which James said “could be viewed in the same light as the great Amarones of Bertani from the 1930s and 1940s.”

More praise went toward our other top-rated Italian wine, Cantina Terlan’s Alto Adige Terlaner Rarity 2011 – “an extraordinary offering that demonstrates the often-underrated longevity potential of Italian whites.”

And for one of the most mineral expressions from Alto Adige, check out Terlan’s Vorberg Riserva 2021, while its Terlaner 1 2021 is “a masterpiece of concentration, complexity and finesse – an Italian version of a Corton-Charlemagne.”

James also reviewed some exceptional wines from Veneto’s Inama as well as Barolo’s legendary Giuseppe Rinaldi, whose debut Super Veneto red, the Capital O, James called the best carmenere in Italy and perhaps in Europe. From the former, the single-vineyard Inama Soave Classico Vintage Selection 2016 – a white wine aged for seven years on its lees in stainless steel vats – “proves that Soave can age like top white Burgundy,” James said.

Other Barolos we rated included the latest version of the Damilano Barolo Cannubi Riserva 1752. James found it to be close in quality to the 2016 version, which was our Italian Wine of the Year for 2023. The 2017 iteration is intense, flavorful and surprisingly attractive now, with luscious fruit and polished tannins.

And Aldo found that one of the reasons behind the enjoyability of Barolo’s 2020 vintage is that wine producers were able to dedicate themselves full time to their vineyards during the Covid lockdown year. Small producers like Davide Fregonese and his Barolo Cerretta 2020 stood tall alongside established names like Giovanni Rosso and Massolino. Among the producers who are best interpreting the territory today, Aldo said, is Poderi Aldo Conterno, which has found a better balance compared with the past and produces wines like the deep and complex Colonnello 2020.

Tuscany also has some exciting new wines, such as the cabernet-based Tenuta Sette Ponti Toscana Oreno 2022 and the single-vineyard Ipsus Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2020. We also rated two new cabernet franc-based reds from the original creator and owner of Ornellaia and Masseto, Lodovico Antinori. These are small-production gems from vineyards right next to the appellation and close to some vineyards from Masseto. The estate, called Tenuta del Nicchio, makes the excellent Lodovico and Il Nicchio wines.

– Vince Morkri, Managing Editor

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