I am way behind on notes – so I will keep this short and sweet. Two weeks ago, I had a lovely shabbos with sushi and some great white wines, and some leftover “port” for dessert. The Hagafen winery whites continue to impress (other than the chardonnay), and Herzog Cellars Chardonnay reserve is oaky as always, but controlled and lovely. Finally, the Tura Portura, from Tura Winery was nice and showed almost exactly like it did when we visited, so that was nice as well.

The wine notes follow below:

2012 Hagafen Riesling, Devoto Vineyards – Score: A-
This wine continues to impress me and one that I never get tired of. It is a step beyond simple quaffer, with great balance of 2% residual sugar and great acidity, controlled with lovely tropical fruits. The nose starts off with sweet notes or tropical fruit, clear honeysuckle commands the nose, with pineapple, and candied grapefruit taking the side stage. The mouth is rich and layered and truly captivating with an almost oily texture from the sugar, along with banana, peach, more tropical fruits, along with tart white cherry. The finish is long and sweet with a great balance of tart to sweet fruit, sour red apple, and guava. Bravo!

2009 Herzog Chardonnay, Special Reserve, Russian River – Score: A-
The nose starts off with a lovely floral perfume, followed by quince, rich funk, oak, all over layered with guava and green apple. The mouth is lovely for the first 4 or so hours, with a crazy viscous almost oily texture, coating the mouth with rich oak that is controlled along with baked apple, peach cobbler, and sweet herb. The finish is long and oaky with white chocolate, sweet cedar, more baked goods, fresh fruit, and lovely orange pith. This is a wine with great structure and body – but the body gives way with time, so drink this now and do not leave the wine open too long.

2009 Tura Portura – Score: A-
This wine was made from late harvest Cabernet Sauvignon that was pulled from the vine at 34 brix and then aged in oak for 34 months. The wine starts off with a crazy sense of alcohol and sugar coating fruit, over time the alcohol blows off and what is revealed is a lovely bushel of ripe sugared fruit, candied raspberry, candied cherry, sweet date, fig, packed with dried nuts and sweet herb. The mouth is huge, layered, and insanely concentrated, with deeply expressive and extracted fruit, mounds of chocolate, crazy notes of concentrated sweet and candied fruit, mounds of fresh spices, rich mouth drying tannin, along with a lovely attack of cinnamon bark, cloves, and heat that gives way to sour/tart cherry, sweet tobacco, and a great balance of acid and body that grabs and keeps your attention – BRAVO!