Couple little oddball bottles got opened this week without ink, so figure I’d scribble some notes, as they’re both rather exemplary.
Found the 6YO Rias Baixas on a list at lunch up the coast and loved the earthy, green-mired nose and sweaty sprite. The nose is beautiful: mineral-ridden and raspy, the color a deep legal-pad, the flavor-profile ridiculously charming and complex. Crazy sharp in presentation, acidity curling the tongue and pressing bits of tart apple-pear fruit into every pore. NOT expensive, a glorious screw-top PERFECT for sunny coastal lunches of seafood, salad, or even heartier fare.
The SCM is a completely different monster, big, thick, disgusting, dripping concentration in the nose from an inpenetrable glass. Dusty smoke, honey-badger piss, blackberry and ridiculous vanilla peat explode in the bouquet, and tasting it produces a chalky, serene wall of delicacy and Cab wonder. It’s actually quite austere over the middle, culminating in powdery tannin well-blended with bits and grits of deep cherry. I told you to buy all of this you could afford: there’s still gobs of it in California and it’s CHEAP. Listen to me.
2016 LICIA Albarino Rias Baixas DO Spain 12.5
2018 MICHEL-SCHLUMBERGER Cabernet Sauvignon Santa Cruz Mtns California 15.4
Stephen McConnell 