“The Poderi Aldo Conterno 2020 Barolo Bussia is a fine and silky wine with the elegant power that is characteristics of this special cru. The wine shows bright fruit flavors with cherry and blackcurrant followed by earthy iris root and licorice. There is a hint of perfume or church incense. That pretty intensity follows through to the palate with balanced freshness and lasting medium-plus richness. Drink: 2026-2045. 95 points”
“The 2022 Saint-Aubin Sur Gamay 1er Cru has a very attractive bouquet with hints of praline infusing the citrus fruit, the 20% new oak neatly integrated. The palate is well-balanced with a fine line of acidity, very edgy in a good way, brimming with energy on the linear finish with a spicy aftertaste. Excellent. Drinking window: 2025-2038. 91-93 points
The first thing to say is that since the 2021 vintage and the division of Domaine Bernard Moreau et Fils, Alex Moreau’s wines are labeled under his own name, a suggestion that I made a couple of years ago in order to distinguish them from those of his brother, Benoît Moreau. There is a tendency for writers to get excited about the “hot new kid on the block,” and there is no question that Benoît is conjuring brilliant wines. But don’t kid yourself that Alex Moreau has somehow forgotten how to make fabulous wines himself. Since his brother’s, sadly, rather acrimonious departure, there has been no decline in quality. Look on the bright side: We now have two excellent producers to follow. What has changed is the quantity of vines at Alex Moreau’s disposal. A couple of years ago, before the split, the Domaine oversaw more than 20 hectares. Now, Alexandre has only 5.5 hectares, losing half to his brother and halved again due to the expected end of fermage contracts. “I’m a small domaine now,” Moreau tells me, a tinge of regret in his voice. “I started the harvest on August 25, the second earliest after 2020. In my opinion, we have to adapt to make sure we pick the fruit at the right time. The problem is that this window is becoming much shorter, so you have to anticipate that moment. I want to pick ripe but not over-ripe. The wines were in barrel for 12 months then racked into stainless steel. They will be bottled next year.” Centered around Chassagne-Montrachet, I highly recommend these wines for their nerve and complexity.”
“This 2019 Old Quarter GSM is fine and striking—the concentration of fruit is unmarred by oak, but has textural complexity and plushness in the mouth. The tannins in this wine are pliable, whippy and omnipresent, while bringing extreme pleasure and freshness to the wine. It has form and shape. Vitality. Purity. Finesse. Drink: 2022-2032. 95+ points”
“The 2019 Polygon 1 Shiraz is spicy, taut and mineral-driven. This has shape and slender form, with pepper spice and all the things, black tea, graphite, etc. There are also notes of lamb fat and cloves as well as dark chocolate, mulberries and licorice. It is savory and exotic and exciting. Although, it does take some getting used to because it is quite different from other Barossa Shirazes—it is pure and febrile rather than big and tannic. This was fermented in concrete and finished off in a custom 420-liter barrel. The fruit for this wine is from a tiny 0.4-hectare polygon and is part of the Old Quarter of the vineyard. The vineyard was split into four distinct parcels, and in three of those parcels, vines grow on heavily fractured micaceous schist. One small area of 0.097 hectares in the middle lacks this schist content and is excluded from the ferment. 46 cases made and 50 magnums. Drink: 2022-2032. 93 points”
“The Polygon 5 is grown on a schist-dominant site, and the thread of tannin between the 2018 and 2019 shows a lineage of assertive, focused tannins. At no point, however, do they intrude on or impede the flow of the fruit. This 2019 Polygon 5 Grenache is supple, buoyant and spicy. It steps outside of the expected Grenache territory for the Barossa and treads a dangerously elegant and fine line. Thrilling. It has savory red fruits: salted redcurrants, pomegranate, raspberry. Wild. Layered. Earthy. Big, yes. Drink: 2022-2036. 96+ points”
“The 2021 Spice Garden Shiraz is a dark, gritty, febrile thing on the nose, with distant chimney smoke, charred eucalypt, blood plum skin, graphite/pencil shavings, dusted licorice and chewing tobacco. In the mouth, the wine is inky and intense—the chalky tannins cut in almost immediately and give the fruit an ashy plume of support that extends all the way into the back of the throat. It is chewy, lithe, supple, intriguing. There is a hint of plum jam in here—not overripe, per se, but plummy. There are also some notes of cloves. I’ll look at this over the course of the coming days—I’ve been tripped up by these wines and their need for air in the past! Don’t make the same mistake! 13.9% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. Drink: 2023-2035. 94+ points”
“The 2023 Grenache, from a site in Alisos Canyon, is superb. lntensely aromatic and layered, the 2023 is compelling. Whole clusters here are high (75%), and yet Alice Anderson pulls it all off with notable flair. Crushed flowers, mint, red fruit, spice and dried herbs are beautifully delineated in the glass. Drinking window: 2024-2030. 94 points
Alice Anderson presented a stellar set of wines that confirmed my first impression from earlier in the year: She is a major talent. Anderson and partner Topher de Felice source fruit from the Ibarra-Young Vineyard in Los Olivos, which they farmcultivated, along with several nearby sites farmed with a similar focus on sustainability. The wines are done in a translucent style that emphasizes freshness. Stem inclusion is on the higher side. More than anything else, though, these wines are all about finesse.”
“The 2023 Syrah Estate lbarra-Young Vineyard is every bit as impressive in bottle as it was from barrel. Dark-toned fruit, olive, baking spices, leather, lavender and licorice open with some coaxing. The 2023 was just bottled and remains a bit tough in its contours, so I would cellar it for another 6-12 months. Superb. Drinking window: 2025-2038. 95 points
Alice Anderson presented a stellar set of wines that confirmed my first impression from earlier in the year: She is a major talent. Anderson and partner Topher de Felice source fruit from the Ibarra-Young Vineyard in Los Olivos, which they farmcultivated, along with several nearby sites farmed with a similar focus on sustainability. The wines are done in a translucent style that emphasizes freshness. Stem inclusion is on the higher side. More than anything else, though, these wines are all about finesse.”
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