Tom Casagrande

8.9

Had a bottle of this cheap white Graves a year ago and liked it a lot (my notes are listed as being for this chateau’s red because the app misidentified it). Still quite fresh. Love the sweetly grassy Sauvignon nose, with just enough ripe gooseberry and some gravel and lanolin. Soft and fruity in the mouth. Not a lot of acid, but more than enough to keep it fresh. Textbook. And a great value. — 18 hours ago

Tom Casagrande

9.3

Elegant and balanced beautifully, but way too young. Enjoyed this at St. Elmo Steakhouse in Indy. Beautiful just-ripe cherry fruit, a floral note, stony minerality. Very nice acids. Tannins very soft. This started to open up nicely by the end of the dinner. — 10 days ago

Tom Casagrande

9.3

Tom had this 13 days ago

with Angelo

Tom Casagrande

9.1

This is just so bright and zingy and friendly. Juicy crisp cherries on the nose with a wee bit of crushed stone. Fresh and fruity and zesty in the mouth. A little chalky tannin and a nice slight bitter note in the finish. How they got this sort of freshness in such a hot year is beyond me. Just a great weeknight dinner wine with just about anything. — 3 days ago

Tom Casagrande

9.3

Domaine Amelie and Charles Sparr “Revelation” Riesling Grand Cru Schoenenbourg. Deep brassy gold color. Big nose has loads of ripe, lightly-spiced apple fruit, cracked stone, a bit of petrol, and torn tarragon leaves. Surprisingly soft and fat textured in the mouth, but totally dry. Ripe appley fruit and some stony minerality. Acids seem low at first but sneak in later to keep it fresh. Delicious now, this will keep a few years but doesn’t seem to be a long ager. — 7 days ago

Tom Casagrande

9.2

Popped and poured. No sediment. Gorgeous nose of earthy, sappy cherry, cola syrup, shards of quartz, and subtle spice. More reserved and austere on the palate than the nose suggests. A tight coil of fruit initially, then morphing into savory, mineral notes that cling. Bone dry

UPDATE: After an hour of air, the palate is softer and a bit more expansive and friendly. The back label has a Ridge-like lists of the ingredients. It lists “Tannin” as an ingredient. I had no idea that one could add tannin to a wine like adding a pinch of salt to a dish. I thought it was solely a matter of skin/juice contact and time. — 13 days ago

Tom Casagrande

9.2

Deep and feral. Blood and granite all over the nose, along with cracked black peppercorns and dry aged beef. Pretty large-framed for a Saint Joe on the palate. Savory, iron and granite. Still some tannin to shed. I’d thought this would be further along than it is, but it’s got promises to keep and miles to go before it sleeps. — 16 days ago

Tom Casagrande

8.7

This is not the Classico Superiore. It’s the plain ol’ Classico.

And it’s exactly what you want in a cheap, basic Valpo Classico: bright, hard cherry candy fruit, and a nice note of bitter almond extract on the nose. Bright and crisp in the mouth. Cleansing. This is not for you if you’re looking for depth, concentration, and complexity, but with ground beef tacos? Perfection. Cheap perfection. — 6 days ago

Tom Casagrande

9.2

2022 Laurent Martray Cote de Brouilly Les Feuillees - Love the nose. So much crumbly wet granite and earth, and deep dark cherry underneath. The palate is rich but a little loose-jointed, flavors lurching all over the mouth. Dark cherry and loads of clingy, stony minerals. A little bitterish note in the finish, together with decent acids, is perky. The tannins are a little scratchy but not unpleasantly so. This needs a couple of years to settle down but is energetic and fun right now too. — 8 days ago

Tom Casagrande

9.1

Textbook Pouilly-Fume. Nose has equal proportions flinty minerality and ripe gooseberry fruit verging into orchard fruit. Zero cat pee or overly green herbal notes. Crisp in the mouth, with nice weight and balance. Some fruit up front transitions into full mineral mode by the end. Would be dynamite with grilled shrimp, but I’ll happily settle for simple sipping before dinner. Since @Delectable Wine isn’t doing locations anymore, I’ll just make believe I’m drinking this in France. — 14 days ago