The Wines of This Week's Tasting:
Featuring Russian River Pinots + Chardonnays
July 7, 2021
Sparkling
Deux Roches Cremant De Bourgogne 24 19.99
White
2018 Chapoutier La Combe Pilate Viognier 31 25.99
2018 Domaine Schlumberger Pinot Gris 26 21.99
2017 Domaine Schlumberger Riesling Searing Grand Cru 38 31.99
2019 Hourglass Sauvignon Blanc 48 40.99
2019 Rochioli Sauvignon Blanc 51 42.99
Red
2019 Rochioli Pinot Noir 96 81.99
Maritana Chardonnays & Pinot Noir
After the sale of Patz and Hall, Donald Patz started a new project he christened Maritana focussing on his favorite area for Pinot and Chardonnay, Russian River. If Patz & Hall wines are for Pinot and Chardonnay lovers, Maritana wines excite devotees of those grapes. Donald wants to draw out the aromatics of the grape. He has undoubtedly succeeded' showing the balance and finesse that minute attention to detail can evoke. They display nice tension between minerality, ripe fruit, chiseled acids, and delicate, decorous use of wood, all in balance.
Maritana chardonnays have all the grape's expressive apple, pear, and light tropical notes but have a mineral drive that echoed Chablis. His Pinot Noir has extraordinarily seductive red and blackberry aromatics that complement without overwhelming a fine acid structure.
They are not Burgundian, a term too often misused for West Coast wines, but they have finesse and complexity that I rarely see in California. I am excited to see how they have developed from my notes below from two years ago.
2017 Maritana Chardonnay la Riviere; Aroma: very clean a touch of flint; Mouth: smooth relatively dense fleshy neutral, clean rounded, rounded flesh, restrained dry; Very Good - Excellent 62; 6-11 Mixed 55.8; Case, 52.99
2017 Maritana Chardonnay Dutton Ranch Shopblock 55-year-old vines Aroma: flinty, Taut taut flinty again: Mouth: flinty rather firm, almost a RR Chablis, fleshy to the tongue; Excellent 79; 6-11 Mixed, 71.1; Case, 66.99
2017 Maritana Chardonnay Hansen Hill Dutton Ranch; Aroma: clean brighter acid, brighter lemon-lime oily note; Mouth: clean smooth lighter rather pretty fine acid lithe, mineral, acid, very dry long finish, it sings on the palate; Excellent - Outstanding 99; 6-11 Mixed, 89.1; Case, 84.15
2017 Maritana Pinot Noir La Russe; Aroma: rather sweet, very dense, some plummy notes with a lifted finish; Mouth: ripe & lifted, fleshy texture, bright acid nicely balanced with fat texture, fine underlay of mineral acid; Excellent62; 6-11 Mixed, 55.8; Case, 52.99
Take 10% off the bottle price for any mix of 6 to 11 of these wines
Twelve or more at the case discount.
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Please pass this on to any friends who are wine enthusiasts!
- Len Rothenberg
