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WINE TASTER INDEX-old

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Taster Issue
Aaron Patrick 123
Alexander Jason 120
Bates Christopher 124
Betts Richard 113
Blackwell Alisha 131
Bright Mark 128
Callahan Brahm 126
Castillo Lorraine 129
Cherniavsky Alexandra 133
Clarke Sarah 125
Cole Wanda 114
Costello Will 121
Couvreux Michel 126
Davila Patrick 114
De Lavallade Cara 124
Driver Speckan Rachel 123
Dulle Matthew 135
Dunn Phillip 113
Englemann Michael 130
Garzini Aaron 134
Gibson Stacey 133
Geddes Lindsay 128
Goldston Keith 118
Hon Arthur 111
Hufford Evan 132
Humiston Courtney 117
Keck David 123
Kelly Dennis 111
Kruth Geoff 120
LaPratt Alexander 129
Lechner James 122
Lepeltier Pascaline 112
Linder Joseph 111
Lindgren Shelley 125
Lindsay-Thorsen Jeff 127
Madrigale Michael 119
Maniec Laura 116
Masias Kester 127
McCoy Carlton 122
McCrossin Amanda 132
McDonald Steven 133
Mendoza Mark 117
Morton Katie 125
Nelson Sean 126
Norris Jessica 131
O’Connor Robin Kelley 115
Parsons Taylor 118
Patrick Aaron 123
Phillip Virginia 131
Polakovicova Petra 115
Porter Jeffrey 113
Prokoshyn Kimberly 121
Rahn James 115
Ramiro Rubén Sanz 112
Renaud Eric 128
Rodil June 121
Rodriguez Jesse 124
Rohrbaugh Jackson 127
Sandberg Jonas 119
Segelbaum Erik 118
Smith Dawn 130
Smith Jason 114
Smith Thomas 120
Stamp Matt 132
Strong Carrie Lynn 116
Stuckey Bobby 119
Takemura Yoshi 112
Thomas Katherine 134
Tran Hai 130
Van de Water Mia 116
Wines Emily 134
Young Kristen 135
Zacharias Matthew 117
Zachareas Debbie 135
Zamarano Fahara 122
Zisovski Hristo 129
FROM ISSUE 132:

 

We send three wine professionals and unmarked bottle, they taste, give us their impressions on a classic varietal from a classic appellation, and guess what the wine is. Keep in mind: a different conclusion can sometimes be the highest compliment a wine can hope to receive.

AMANDA MCCROSSIN
Wine director, PRESS,
Napa, CA

While working in restaurants in New York and simultaneously pursuing acting roles, Amanda McCrossin got bit by a bug called wine. Infected, she eventually worked her way to a sommelier position at Rotisserie Georgette. “One day I got a call from Scott Brenner and Kelli White asking if I was interested in moving to Napa Valley to work with them at PRESS, a restaurant that served only Napa Valley wines. Three and half years later they gave me the reigns and now I run the show.” McCrossin manages a list of 1,500 evolving wines. “We ask our winemaker neighbors to raid their cellars for us, then we go to our network of collectors, and after that a few grey market sources that we trust for care in storage. One of the advantages of being in Napa is that so many winemakers dine with us that we can get real-time perspective on the older vintages we open.” Another advantage: staff outreach outings. “We have weekly field trips where we go feel the sun the grapes feel, and put our hands on the vines that hold them. We gain such great, valuable personal perspectives that we implement talking with guests on the floor.” As a champion of Napa Valley wines, PRESS has added a monthly program called Sunday School that invites vintners to pour wines and talk about whatever he or she has on their mind for 90 minutes. McCrossin documents many of these chats and her winery visits on her YouTube channel, SommVivant.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5WQZ5Mn4nx/

SIGHT: Reflectively youthful and surprisingly nuanced on the color spectrum. At first glance the wine appears quite yellow, but illuminated by a dramatic green tinge, it looks like a sunrise atop a lush mountainside. Fresh after a rainfall and bursting with reflection. I’d rather enjoy a dress fashioned from these colors to wear on Memorial Day next year. I could continue to wax poetic, but back to the task at hand. Clear and day-bright, no evidence of gas, and as noted, streaks of kafir lime green.

AROMA: Obnoxiously and fragrantly aromatic in the best way. Notes of beeswax, to acacia, to pineapple, and finishing on something greener and herbal. It’s a wild roller coaster of intense aromatics that pulls you in and surprises at each turn. Has a youthfulness and pleasing softness. Pronounced and lush fruit. Ripe, but not appearing to come close to anything baked. It does, however, remind me of canned peaches and pineapple, or the fruit cup I ate in elementary school. Not unpleasant in the least, but certainly not freshly picked from the tree.

PALATE: Peach and pineapple diced up and thrown into a fruit salad. Weight and texture with a touch of phenolic tension that pricks the tongue. A nice juxtaposition against the silky and oily viscosity. I detect fresh grass and greenness at the finish, but alcohol, a touch on the hot side, indicates a warm vintage and climate. As the temperature warms in the glass the fruit becomes more and more pronounced. While there is definitely acidity, it seems to defer to its fruity cohorts.

INITIAL CONCLUSION: The color, with all its greenness and reflectiveness, struck me first. Compared with the tropical fruits and herbaceous, I’m inclined to lean toward Sauvignon Blanc from a New World region. It also wouldn’t shock me to learn that there might be a touch of Semillon based on the texture and waxiness. The wine is youthful.

FINAL CONCLUSION:  2016 Sauvignon Blanc from Napa Valley.