Pursehouse: ‘An April on the road, and 10 of my top wines tasted’

Deep Purple said, ‘April is a cruel time’ in the bizarre 12-minute song, April, the last track on their third album, brilliantly titled Deep Purple III.

Respectfully, I disagree. April can be a great time, as spring brings slumbering greenery to life, and opportunities to visit wine regions, near, like the Dundee Hills and far, like Croatia’s Kvarner region, came my way, I embraced April, despite Deep Purple’s jaded take on the month.

Oh, and New York City was in there too, how can I forget? I was there to promote our New York Fine Wine Encounter, on 7 June. Less than a month away!

Scroll down for scores and reviews of Clive’s selection of wines from his April tastings

Come out to the coast, we’ll have a few laughs

I had got word through the grapevine that the Croatian national government wanted to honour the scribblings of yours truly, so who was I to say no?

All kidding aside, the Croatian tourism board gave me the Gold Pen Award for my coverage of the country’s wines in 2024, so off to Istria I went.

A side journey to the region of Kvarner opened up yet another gem in that country’s fascinating array of growing regions, principally centered around the island of Krk.

I was able to taste and dine with a few of Kvarner’s producers and visit the region’s largest vineyard, planted to Zlahtina. A white indigenous variety. Croatia has over 100 such wine varieties originating in this diverse growing region.

This is a country I’ve been visiting for almost a decade, and I continue to be impressed with the direction the wines are taking. If you’ve never been to Croatia, its food, wine and immense natural beauty are a great reason to visit.

I did a little truffle hunting and sightseeing in a storybook town called Grožjnan, a charming village high in the Istrian hills. Our awards ceremony was held at the Kozlović winery, who make some of the country’s best white wines. It was a whirlwind, but the kind you enjoy.

The Dundee Hills turns 20

The Dundee Hills Winegrowers Association invited me to help them celebrate their 20th birthday. They can legally start drinking their own product next year.

We hosted a panel for consumers and industry members alike to look back at where Oregon Pinot Noir got its start, and forward to the undeniably bright future.

I was joined on the panel by pioneering winegrowing Allen Holstein, second-generation Dundee Hills growers Jesse Lange and Paul Durant and one of the region’s rising stars, winemaker Kate Payne Brown.

Anytime I’m down in the Willamette, I try to schedule a few tastings. For my quick one-day visit, I shoehorned in two exciting stops. First up was Abbott Claim, where the very talented Alban Debeaulieu is making the wines, including my top wine of last year’s Decanter Top 50 US Wines.

I find his 2022 vintage wines, particularly a couple of his Chardonnays, to be exhilarating, as you’ll see below, the Temperance Hill bottling really captivated me.

He also told me about a special project the folks at Abbott Claim are working on. From there, I checked in with Craig Williams of X Novo, the longtime brains behind Joseph Phelps.

He left California behind for the wilds of Oregon. Williams has planted a couple of vineyards in the Eola-Amity Hills from which winemakers are clamouring to source fruit.

The X Omni site, in particular, makes electrifying Chardonnay.

The Big Apple

The last trip of my whirlwind April was New York City for a little event promotion. As the only full-time Decanter person in the country, someone’s gotta do it, and well, that someone is me.

After sharing a natural wine at Frenchette with our columnist Eliza Dumais, I hosted a couple of cool Decanter events. One was a dinner at the famed Carlyle hotel, just across from Central Park, where I highlighted the American wines that were among the top in the 2024 DWWA judging.

They included an array of Chardonnays and a top-rated Pinot Noir, a Best in Show wine from Oregon’s Audeant.

My trip was rounded out by a fantastic tasting at Millesima, where we previewed our Fine Wine Encounter masterclasses from Veuve Cliquot, Biondi Santi and the Rioja DOCa.

I also hit up a few pizza places, including my favourite, Scarr’s. Let’s grab a slice together if you’re coming to our Fine Wine Encounter.

Further highlights

This month, my wine highlights included several bottles from the Willamette Valley. In addition to the Abbott Claim, the 00Wines, X Novo, and Granville bottles were serious standouts.

I was really taken by the Love & Squalor Temperance Hill Pinot Noir. With a little age on it, it’s loaded with elegance.

The 2022 vintage from Reynvaan Family Vineyards, largely in The Rocks District, shows tremendous balance with that regional depth. There were a couple of California wines from Ridge Vineyards and Tablas Creek also got my attention.

You can see all the wines we taste in our Decanter database.

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Clive’s selection of 10 top wines from April

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