>From a long stretch of a week...

Domaine de la Ronciere, CDP,'Flor de Ronce', 2000
Nose of Provencal smoke & herbs, with gamy cherry-strawberry. A
heady mixture of gamey fruits with an herbed-leather-licorice finish.
Good balance and weight. Has a freshness and density that should allow
it to age at least another 5-7 years. Unroasted Chateauneuf. B+/A-
14.5%

Pieropan, Soave, 'Calvarino', 2002
Bitter green almond with an herbal infused salty sea tang air.
Chartreuse-like flavors in the mouth, nice honey-lemon acidity and an
herbal-thyme note in the finish. Lovely stuff. More depth, class, and
dimension than Pieropan's regular Soave, which is classy in its own
right. A-

Ciacci Piccolomini, Brunello di Montalcino, 'vigna di Pianrosso', 1998
Exciting color of electric Kool-Aid cherry red, with only a slight
browning detected at the rim. Cherry, menthol-euculyptus on the nose,
with lots of deep cherry, licorice, and plum on the palate. Good
concentration, with spicy wood notes showing through, but this is
handled well. On the young side by a couple of years, imho. B+/A-

Colonia Las Libres, Bonarda, Mendoza, 2004
Produced by Altos Las Hornigas. A black wine, as in 'a black mark
upon it.' Dark black cherry colored-dull, unpenetrating black fruit
aromas-black fruits and black pepper and strapping tannins on the
finish. Plodding and one-dimensional, perhaps best used as a summer
bar-be-que wine. Although bonarda tends towards rusticity and
inelegance in it's native Italy, this has lost even simple wine
pleasure status. Like a minature petite sirah without the rich, warm
fruit notes. 13.5%

Domaine Bordenave, Jurancon, 'cuvee Savin', 2000
La dolce vita! Didn't know what to expect when I opened this up
(thought it was going to be a dry white), but the first notes of burnt
herbally sugar with licked lemondrop in the back gave me my first
inkling that this wasn't meant for a first course. In the mouth there's
honeyed turbinado sugar with a lemon-mint finish. It's slightly
unctuous, but not overtly thick, having a nice sappy lemonhead finish.
Has that Italian desert wine quality with a combination of thickness
balanced by a hanging lightness that refreshes, rather than tires. B+

Caves dom Teodosio, Ribatejo, 'Serradayres', 2000
The color here is a light cherry-strawberry red with a light and
clean nature. Old sherry cask, strawberry, and pencil shavings on the
nose. Light stewed plums along with cedar shingles on the finish, along
with sweet spice and some oak. Has a slightly tired, old
Iberian-Chianti dimension to this, but is balanced enough. Curious
about aging though, as this feels fully mature at 5 years of age. 13.5%
[60% Castelao (Periquita), 40% Trincadeira-Preta]

Nice useful notes all around. I usually love the regular Pieropan, this
one sounds worth searching for.