Wine Review: Highlights of wine in 2024

I hope, dear reader, that the end of the year festivities have not left you in a financial hole. For this holiday season, the newspapers reported that wine sales were up as more and more Americans are drinking wine with their meals. Since this is now a new year, I decided to take a look at my columns of the past year and pick out the ones that I found most interesting.

Crocus L’Atelier 2020 Malbec de Cahors ($24)
I start with this wine because it has made a liar out of me. I have often made reference to the French malbec wines of the Cahors district of France as a super tannic wine that can take forever to become drinkable. The Crocus L’Atelier 2021 Malbec de Cahors proved me wrong. The dark, almost black color of the wine may give the impression of fierceness, but the exact opposite is true. This wine presents the aroma of violets and an obvious mineral element along with those of coffee, licorice and tobacco and a softness rarely found in French wines. This wine proves beyond any doubt that there are still great buys in the marketplace. This wine, as well as all the wines that I write about, are available on the internet and often at exceptional prices that will easily cover the cost of shipping.

Dr. Konstantin Frank Célèbre Riesling Cremant ($25)
Let us begin with a translation: A cremant is a sparkling wine made in the traditional French method that comes from a place other than the government designated champagne producing district of France. The style is also noted for its small bit of sweetness. This wine has been made from riesling grapes, which were among the earliest vitis vinifera grapes to be successfully grown in New York. The wine has been produced in exactly the same way as is French champagne; fermented in the bottle it will be sold in which is a very labor intensive, hands-on process The wine perfectly reflects the flavor and aroma of the riesling grape: crisp apple, apricot and raisin being the most prominent.

Riva Leone 2021 Piedmonte Barbera ($20)
Two things on the label stood out to me: that the wine was a barbera and that the grapes were from Piedmont, Italy. Piemont is one of the finest grape growing districts in Italy and is noted for its barbera grapes. This wine presents a cherry and berry aroma that seems to continually expand as it sits in the glass. The flavor is fruity with a positive, but not objectionable oak background and a hint of spiciness. It is the ideal wine to accompany Italian foods made with white sauce, the favorite sauce of northern Italy or, as I like it, with Italian bread, a little olive oil to dip the bread in and a bit of cheese.

Antigal Uno 2019 Malbec ($16)
Antigal presents this malbec au natural, without any oak aging. The true beauty of the malbec grape can be experienced without any external influences. This wine displays an aroma of assorted dark summer berries that mingle with violets and vanilla which are also to be found in the flavor and then carry through to the finish. The Antigal 2019 Malbec is an exceptional sidestep from the traditional red wines and one that could expand your wine appreciation vista.

Wine columnist Bennet Bodenstein can be reached at frojhe1@att.net.