The Wines of This Week's Tasting:
Wines of Character and Place
April 29, 2026
Whites
2025 Ovum Wine Co. Big Salt
In a novel take on seafood wines, natural wine maker Ovum deftly blends aromatic grapes Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Blanc from ocean-side Oregon vineyards into a palate-satisfying blend whose salinity partners shellfish or any seafood as much as does the mineral acidity of Chablis or Muscadet.
Color: very light orange; Aroma: fresh orange, very ripe and aromatic, with clean, rich fruit, lightly ripe and full; Mouth: low acid, fleshy, fragrant, full in the mouth, fat, clean, saline, long; Very Good Plus 19.95; Mixed Case, 17.96; Case, 16.96
2023 Kuen Hof Eisacktaler Sylvaner
The Kuen Hof Wine Estate dates back to the 12th century and has been with the same family for over 200 years. Since 1990, Peter and Brigitte Pliger have worked the steep, mineral-laden vineyards and consistently produced high-quality white wines. Accuracy and mindfulness are key ingredients to their success as they implement organic and biodynamic farming practices to get the best results for their grapes. Careful, multiple hand-harvests ensure the best grapes are selected, brought to the winery, and masterfully transformed into world-class wines.
Aroma: Bartlett pear, candied lime zest, fresh ginger, flint, white pepper, and green tea. Mouth: Zesty Citrus, Sour Apple with underlying note of pear and crushed almonds, medium acidity, light body, juicy texture, and long finish that leaves your mouth watering for another sip. Very Good Plus $37, Case $31
2023 Reeve Vermentino Sonoma
A Sonoma micro-négociant expresses the lively zing of the vermentino grape to the full breadth of California fruit, making for a very satisfying wine that seamlessly marries the two.
Aroma: heady, fullish, light, pretty racy acidity, some vibrancy, fullish and round. Mouth: ripe acid that opens to a broad and fruit-filled midmouth, clean acid, vibrant texture, nicely long; Very Good - Excellent $35; Case, $29.75
Red
2022 Morey-Coffinet Bourgogne Côte d'Or Rouge Organic
The Chassagne-based domaine is primarily known for its excellent white wines. They did a great job with this estate pinot noir from vines in Chassagne and Puligny. It's a classically styled wine of depth that is not dissimilar from a Fixin or Nuits St. Georges. While drinkable now with airing, it could well develop very nicely in the next three to five years.
Color: light, but semi-opaque bright; Aroma: heady and savory, earth and light wood; Mouth: clean, rounded, fleshy, firm, intense, with light tannins, very well-structured light tannins; ripe, bright, and intense, clean. Very Good Plus – Excellent? $48; Case, $41
2020 Ch Mauvesin Barton Moulis
The Barton Family is well known for their excellent and delicious Leoville and Langoa St. Julien estates. Their Estate in nearby Moulis is less well known and provides the same winemaking at a much lower price.
Neal Martin, Vinous: “a generous bouquet with perfumed brambly red fruit, briar and light pencil box notes. The palate is medium-bodied and well defined, albeit quite leafy, with a ripe, vivacious entry and a touch of brown spice livening things up. It has good weight and grip on the mid-palate, finishing with gusto. This should give over a decade of drinking pleasure” $34, Case $28.95
2018 Terre Rouge Syrah Côtes de l'Ouest
From our friend Bill Easton, a well-aged classic Syrah with depth and fruit from California's eastern Amador County. It has Syrah’s herbal and savory qualities, with some age that makes it ready and able to drink with almost anything on the spring and summer grill.
Aroma: heady and deep, firm, savory; Mouth: fleshy and ripe, bright and intense, clean, pure syrah, in a wine for nice breadth and depth; Very Good Plus $29.95; Case, $25.95
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- Len Rothenberg
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