Hello and welcome to my weekly dig through the pile of wine samples that show up asking to be tasted. I’m pleased to bring you the latest installment of Vinography Unboxed, where I highlight some of the better bottles that have crossed my doorstep recently.

This week included one of my favorite obscure genres of wine: still white wine made from Pinot Noir. I don’t know who made the first such wine, but the first one I had was at the hands of winemaker Tony Rynders when he was working at Domaine Serene in Oregon. The one I tasted this week was from Waits-Mast Family Cellars, and it delivered the mind-bending berry and citrus flavors, combined with a nice silky texture that is the hallmark of this wine, which is made simply by treating Pinot Noir like a white grape. That means pressing whole clusters of it and fermenting the pale juice on the lees in stainless steel.

This week I also tasted a number of wines from Uruguay, a country that is unfortunately off the radar for most wine lovers. If you’d like a quick overview, check out my introduction to Uruguayan wine, penned after my first visit to that wonderful country. The truth of the matter is that Uruguay produces some fantastic wines, and I’m sure they’ve only gotten better and more interesting in the 8 years since I’ve been there.

As a case in point, let’s look at this beauty of a white blend by Cerro Chapeu, who give their combination of Trebbiano and Malvasia from the far north of the country a little bit of skin contact and let it positively gush stone fruit and bright citrus.

Juanicó makes an interesting blend of Albariño, Verdejo, and Chardonnay into a citrusy herbal melange that satisfies beautifully, especially for the price.

On the darker side of things, the Prima Donna oak-aged Tannat from Stagnari offers the nicely bright but rich fruit and fine tannins that characterize the Tannat grape when it is treated well. Likewise, the Auguará Special Reserve Tannat from El Capricho provides a nice earthy and stony backdrop to its dark fruit, and with slightly better-integrated wood than the Stagnari bottling.

The star of the Uruguayan selection this week, however, was undoubtedly the single-vineyard Tannat from Bodega Garzón. This wine is the picture of refinement, with wonderful earthy tones married to the wine’s stony core, wrapped in the dark fruit and powdery tannins that take their very etymology from the Tannat grape. The Garzon winery, owned by Argentine billionaire Alejandro Bulgheroni, has been, from day one, a no-expenses-spared attempt to demonstrate the potential of Uruguayan wine. I’d say they’re doing a fine job of it.

Closer to home, let’s finish up with a couple of red wines from Markus Niggli’s Markus Wine Co. Both have slightly more wood influence than I would like at this point, but his “Blue” blend of red grapes is dark, spicy and juicy with excellent acidity, while his “Ancient Blocks” Carignane from the Nicolini vineyard shows a textbook expression of the grape variety with its cherry cola notes and wonderful orange peel acidity.

Notes on all these below.

Tasting Notes

2021 Bodegas Cerro Chapeu “Castel Pujol – Folklore” White Blend, Cerro Chapeu, Rivera, Uruguay
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of grapefruit pith and white chalkboard. In the mouth, wonderfully stony flavors of wet chalkboard, lemon pith, Asian pear, and white flowers have a crisp brightness thanks to excellent acidity. Quite tasty. A blend of 70% Trebbiano and 30% Malvasia with a bit of skin contact. 11.5% alcohol. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $22. click to buy.

2022 Juanicó “Don Pascual Coastal White” White Blend, Uruguay
Light yellow-gold in the glass, this wine smells of candied lemon peel and chamomile. In the mouth, bright lemon peel and lemon pith flavors mix with a hint of chamomile and green apple. Juicy and bright with a light pithy bitterness in the finish. A blend of Albariño, Chardonnay, and Verdejo. 12.5% alcohol Closed with a screwcap. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $18. click to buy.

2022 Waits-Mast Family Cellars “White” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California
Light gold in the glass, this wine smells of raspberries and citrus pith. In the mouth, bright raspberry and cherry flavors mix with lemon pith and orange peel flavors amidst bright juicy acidity. Nice silky texture, and a hint of salinity. 13% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $42. click to buy.

2021 Markus Wine Co. “Nicolini Ranch – Ancient Blocks” Carignane, Lodi, California
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of boysenberry and plum with a hint of oak. In the mouth, boysenberry and cherry flavors are shot through with toasted oak. Bright acidity keeps the wine fresh, and notes of citrus peel and a little cola linger with the oak in the finish. Too much wood influence for my taste, but it is hard to argue with the fruit. Vines planted in 1936. 14.5% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $ . click to buy.

2020 Markus Wine Co. “Blue” Red Blend, Lodi, California
Medium to dark garnet in color, this wine smells of oak and black and blue fruits. in the mouth, toasted oak and cherry mix with blueberry and blackberry fruit as muscular tannins grip the palate. Orange peel brightness marks the finish, with good acidity, but there feels like a touch too much wood here. A blend of 70% Petit Verdot, 15% Zinfandel, 7% Carignan, 5% Petite Sirah, and 3% Alicante Bouschet fermented with native yeasts and then aged 22 months in second-use French oak barrels. 14.5% alcohol. 150 cases made. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $40. click to buy.

2018 Antigua Bodega Stagnari “Prima Donna – Crianza en Roble” Tannat, Riberas del Santa Lucia, Canelones, Uruguay
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of cedar and forest floor and dark black fruits. In the mouth, black cherry and cocoa powder flavors mix with cola and black licorice under a gauzy haze of tannins that seem very fine. Good acidity, and well-integrated wood that leaves just a hint of bitterness in the finish. 13.5% alcohol. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $??

2020 Bodega Garzón “Single Vineyard” Tannat, Maldonado, Uruguay
Inky opaque garnet in the glass, this wine smells of black cherry, dried flowers, and wet earth. In the mouth, beautifully refined, powdery tannins drape gauzily around a core of black cherry, earth, and dried flowers with hints of dried herbs. Excellent acidity and stony depth. Powerful but not overblown, and very refined. 14.5% alcohol Score: around 9. Cost: $34. click to buy.

2018 El Capricho “Auguará – Special Reserve” Tannat, Durazno, Uruguay
Very dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of black cherries and blueberries. In the mouth, rich black cherry, earth, cedar, and struck flint flavors are wrapped in fine-grained athletic tannins that show great restraint. Excellent acidity accentuates the stony underbelly of this wine. Notes of dried herbs, earth, and licorice root linger in the finish. 14% alcohol. 2000 bottles made. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $??