Domaine Arnaud Lambert Clos de Midi Breze Saumur Blanc, 2018

I was impressed with this Saumur Chenin Blanc when I had it a wine tasting five years ago. I bought three bottles but felt sure that they would be even better with a few years in the cellar.. Tonight I was rewarded for my patience. It is a different wine from the one I had at the tasting but oh so much better.

Deep gold color. Lovely scents and flavors of fresh pears, flowers, spices and lemon peel. After an hour or so the pears take a back seat to ripe apricots, honey and damp hay. Full body (13.5% alcohol) and round texture but with Loire Valley acidity to keep it fresh and lively. Flavors evolve and expand. Very dry. Not a wine for drinking on the deck unless you are in a contemplative mood. We enjoyed it with Margharita pizza but it is a serious wine that will dress up any meal. 

Domaine Notre Dame des Pallieres Sablet L'Olivet, 2019

This Cotes du Rhone Villages is 60% Grenache, but the Syrah (40%) is showing most priominently right now.

Bright, medium deep ruby. Swirling reveals some lovely rose petal scents. Black as well as red berries, currants, cassis and black pepper. Suave and sophisticated. Drinking beautifully right now. 
 

Elyse Le Corbeau Hudson Vineyard Los Carneros Grenache Blend, 2005

I usually don't find much to like in California imitations of Chateauneuf du Pape. This wine is a major exception. It is 90% Grenache and  10% Syrah from the esteemed Hudson Vineyard. The label describes it as "echoing the great wines of Chateauneuf du Pape," and I tend to agree.

Light, brickish red whern poured as a taste. Grenache tends to develop oxidative notes, and this can be positive as well as negative if you like Southern Rhone reds. Darker crimson when poured as a glass. Also some oxidative notes on the nose, but these add to the depth and complexity of the wine. Dark cherries, black licorice and peppercorn. Savory rather than sweet. Sea salt and compact fruit cake flavors. At 19 years, this wine is well aged, but it holds up well over three days without any hint of decline.
 

Carpe Diem Anderson Valley Chardonnay, 2019

Made from grapes grown in the cool Anderson Valley of northern California, this wine has some of the qualities that I like in Oregon Chardonnays. I doubt, though, that the grapes are Dijon clone for it lacks some of the subtleties of aroma and flavor that characterize Dijon clone Chardonnays that I have had.

Medium deep yellow. Freshly squeezed lemon acidity. Lemons, butter, vanilla, honeydew melon. Medium bodied with some rich fruit on the mid-palate. Drinking beautifully now with plentiful acidity and tannin, but I am not sure I would like it at age 10.
 

Thomas Goss McLaren Vale Shiraz, 2016

This McLaren Vale Shiraz is coming along nicely at eight years of age, but it still may have a year or two of positive development ahead of it.

Deep and dark but not opaque. Red fruits emerging to go along with Shiraz black fruits and spice. Shows more acidity than it did a few years ago, but the tannins and alcohol (14.5%) still define this wine. Definitely an old style Australian Shiraz and a good buy at $15 or under.

Chateau Grand Traverse Gamay Noir Reserve, 2012

Many Michigan wineries are obsessed with creating "big" red wines, similar to those in California, even though the climate in the state is more conducive to producing smaller red wines, similar to those of Germany and Austria. My favorite Michigan red is this Gamay Noir from Chateau Grand Traverse. To me, it is more like a Pinot Noir than the estate's own Pinot Noir.

Medium deep color, has not lightened as much you might expect 12 years after the vintage. Enticing scents of flowers and dark cherries. Same on the palate. If anything, this wine serems to be putting on, rather than losing, weight with advancing age. Big fruit on the finish, but it is clearly time to drink up for this 2012
 

Tour Saint Bonnet Cru Bourgeois Medoc, 1995

This is not a big-name Bordeaux, and it is 29 years past its vintage date. The price tag from the 1990s reads $14.95, but this wine still sells today for about that price. Yet tonight it is drinking as a beautiful example of mature Bordeaux.

Medium deep red, minimal bricking. Lovely bouquet of fresh berries and flowers. Cabernet (45%) /Merlot (45%) fruit in its prime. (Also has some Malbec and Petit Verdot in the blend.) Cherries, currants, cassis and a hint of black tea on the mid-palate. Tannins have faded away and there are no hard edges. Suave dinner wine. I think it has improved since my last bottle a year ago. It certainly has not declined.