92
Kubli Bench Blanc White Family Vineyard 2016 Applegate Valley 12.5%
I love this wine’s nose! A blend of 55% Marsanne and 45% Viognier, it smells of white flowers, spring grass, candied pear skins and white peaches. So, the attack was a bit of a surprise – though not an unpleasant one – with its cutting bitterness and pithily tannic texture. The finish lingers pleasantly with flavors of green tea leaves, fennel and yellow plum skin. There’s solid length and good complexity here, so this should evolve nicely in the bottle. I do wonder if the tough, somewhat challenging palate texture will calm down in time?
Drink: 2018-20

91
G*S*M 2015 Rogue Valley 13.5%
This wine is noted to be an astonishingly precise 39.66% Syrah, 31.61% Mourvèdre, 16.06% Grenache and 12.67% Sangiovese! It is a pale-colored and youthful blend bursting with rose petals and spice box aromatics that eagerly show off its Grenache and Sangiovese portions. I found it interesting that the feisty and full-flavored Syrah and Mourvèdre components didn’t start showing until the wine had been opened for several hours. Then the funk starts to strut its stuff, weaving scents of crusty leather and damp barnyard into the strawberry, watermelon and raspberry fruit medley. The medium finish shows no hint of new oak. It’s a smooth wine that glides across the palate, insisting only on a wee hint of tannic dryness on the finish. This is a Troon Vineyard bottling best finished in one sitting, as mine didn’t hold well overnight.
Drink: 2018-20