Sweetly Kusuda, Sonoma Sleepers and the Capo of Veneto

Our latest Weekly Tasting Report includes ratings for 504 wines from six countries, with New Zealand giving us a couple of our top-scoring bottles during the visit there by Associate Editor Ryan Montgomery, Senior Editor Jacobo García Andrade and James for the harvest of James’ 1986-planted pinot noir vineyard in the heart of Martinborough. They tasted hundreds of wines during their visit, mainly from the North Island and Central Otago, in the South Island, from the 2022 and 2023 vintages, while 53 wines from Martinborough itself were rated for this report.

Martinborough is renowned for its pinot noir, but we gave our top scores to a sweet wine made from late-harvested and botrytis-affected grapes and a syrah from Kusuda. The former, the Kusuda Riesling Martinborough Trockenbeerenauslese 2022,  is masterfully constructed and truly incredible, and carries over 308 grams per liter of residual sugar with a focused acidity and a textural, viscous mouthfeel.

Kusuda, founded by Hiroyuki “Hiro” Kusuda in 2001, is known for its meticulous grape selection and minimal intervention. Hiro produces exceptional pinot noir, syrah, and riesling from his four hectares of vines planted just around the corner from James’ vineyard. James described the Kusuda Syrah Martinborough 2022 as “being the benchmark syrah for New Zealand” and recalling the “complexity and focus of France’s great Hermitage wines from bygone years of the 1980s and 1990s.” The Kusuda wines are a must-taste if you can find them.

Martinborough is coming off a hard 2023 vintage that was plagued by cool weather and rain, with some producers not managing to reach the ripeness or structure they desired. There are still some gems to be found for both whites and reds. The reds are light, bright, and made for early drinking with instant pleasure. This was evident when tasting the Craggy Range Pinot Noir Martinborough Aroha Te Muna 2023, which is perfumed and focused with finely integrated tannins and bright acidity.

There is also much pleasure to be had from the whites of the 2023 vintage, particularly chardonnay. The Martinborough Vineyard Chardonnay Martinborough Home Block 2023 is quite lean and mineral but is also well balanced with high tension – a reflection of the cool and wet harvest that year.

Sonoma Sleepers

Several outstanding bottles from Sonoma County’s Donelan Wines rose to the top of this week’s California tasting results. The family-owned winery’s 2021 powerful yet poised syrahs, pinot noirs and chardonnays made a great impression on Executive Editor Jim Gordon in a tasting with family member Cushing Donelan and their winemaker for nine years, David Milner.

One moderately aged sleeper in the tasting got the highest score, however. The Donelan Syrah Sonoma County Cuvée Keltie 2016 is transitioning into a smooth, sleek red that is still powerful, but now with slightly rounded tannins and a mellowing mouthfeel.

Fantastic blackberry and grilled meat flavors in that syrah are enhanced by earthy, floral tones from fermenting with almost 100 percent whole clusters. That is, the stems go into the fermentor along with the juice and skins.

Also well-balanced but potent is the Donelan Syrah Sonoma County Bennett Valley Jemrose Vineyard Cardiac Hill 2021. It’s dense in structure and tastes of black fruits, iron and star anise. Both of these reds take you on a great ride down the mysterious path of syrah.

To mention just one more, their top Burgundian varietal this week is the Donelan Pinot Noir Russian River Valley Klopp Ranch Annabelle’s Block 2021. It offers a nose of flowers, minerals and sour cherries at first, then feels full-bodied and nicely structured on the palate. Look for many other standouts from Donelan in the tasting notes below.

Racy Rhone

For Senior Editor Stuart Pigott and Tasting Manager Kevin Davy, one of the highlights of their tour of the Rhone is always the tasting in deep, dark vaulted cellar of Pierre Gonon, the leading producer in St. Joseph. This time they weren’t disappointed, because the Pierre Gonon St.-Joseph 2022 stunned with its combination of concentration and raciness, then an extremely long, velvety finish. And the very spicy Pierre Gonon St.-Joseph 2023 has enough tannic power and polish to be hot on its heels.

They were also very impressed with some wines from less well-known appellations in the Southern Rhone, not least those from high-altitude Vinsorbes. No wine from this appellation we’ve encountered before was quite as brilliant as the Château de Rouanne Vinsorbes Les Côtes 2022, which has intense graphite character and is super-peppery and energetic. It also has great concentration on the very focused, medium-bodied palate.

This property belongs to Louis Barruol, who is much better known for his wines from Chateau de Saint Cosme in Gigondas. Excellent as they, for Stuart and Kevin the Chateau de Rouanne wines were every bit as good. However, there’s no denying the gracefulness of the Château de Saint Cosme Gigondas Hominis Fides 2023 in spite of it having the typical full body and power of Gigondas.

We have been excited about Cairanne for some years, both for reds and whites, and in the 2023 vintage the standout wine for Stuart and Kevin was the Domaine A. Berthet-Rayne Cairanne Blanc Les Perchettes Vin Méthose Nature 2024, which has fantastic freshness and purity for a natural white wine made with minimal sulfites (just one small addition prior to bottling). The red Domaine A. Berthet-Rayne Cairanne Vieilles VIgnes 2023 also impressed for refinement, energy and silky tannins.

Lirac is another appellation that’s moving up. Stuart and Kevin plan to spend some time there next year, but for now the Raymond Usseglio & Fils Lirac Charles I 2023 gives a good idea what the potential is with its intense Mediterranean herb and licorice character. It manages to be elegant in spite of the compact tannin structure.

The Capo of Veneto

Tucked away in Italy’s far northeastern corner lies a wine of noble roots and contrarian spirit. First produced in 1964 by an anarchist count, it bears the name Capo di Stato – “Head of State” – a tribute to the enthusiastic praise it once received from France’s Charles de Gaulle upon his first taste.

The wine is crafted by Loredan Gasparini of Veneto, an estate blending half cabernet sauvignon with cabernet franc, merlot and malbec. It hails from a venerable two-hectare vineyard originally planted in the 1940s and partially renewed in the 1990s. The style is unmistakably Bordelaise, but shaped by the region’s cool climate and centuries-old winemaking traditions.

Among recent vintages, the 2021 stands out. It opens with bright, precise aromas of cassis, prunes, oak bark, smoke, woodland underbrush, leather, earth and balsamic notes. On the palate, it is full-bodied and structured, delivering focused cassis fruit layered with graphite. The tannins are firm, grainy and just austere enough to lend gravitas – yet fully ripe. A lingering finish reveals hints of sweet blond tobacco and a remarkable natural freshness, polished despite the wine’s youth.

Also tasted this week was the latest release from Amarone stalwart Bertani: the Amarone Classico 2016. Following the powerhouse 2015 vintage – which was awarded a rare perfect score and was our Wine of the Year for 2024 – the 2016 shifts gears toward refinement. Winemaker Pietro Riccobono likens it to the storied 1986. Here, finesse takes precedence over force, with deep, elegant tannins and a long, toasty finish that lingers with quiet authority.

– Ryan Montgomery, Jim Gordon, Stuart Pigott and Aldo Fiordelli contributed reporting.

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated during the past week by the 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.

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