"Sous la Velle" takes its name from its location 'under the village' of Saint Romain. The vineyards enjoy a steep and south facing exposure, planted on marl scree with the vines taking root in the limestone and offering a beautiful minerality to the wine. The nose expresses small red and black fruits, blackcurrant, cherry, raspberry and violet. The mouth provides a rich, supple and elegant wine with a good structure, pure fruit and vibrant acidity.

After destalking the grapes, the juice, skin and pulp are put into the vat for cold maceration. It lasts from 15 to 18 days. The alcoholic fermentation will follow, lasting from 5 to 6 days. These steps may be punctuated by push-downs. Aging in oak for 12 months.

Pork Filet Mignon, Pike Perch, Tomme de Morvan Cheese.

Clos du Val Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 5% Malbec and 1% each Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

This fresh and vibrant Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is brimming with aromas of blackberry, mulberry, cassis, and violet. On the palate, bright flavors of cranberry, red plum, cherry, and lavender are intertwined with supple tannins, balanced acidity, and a long, smooth finish.

Review:

"Sleek tannins, guided by sweet earth, slate, purple plum and black olive. Savory notes of fig, toasted cedar, and black tea meld with blackberries. Well structured and impeccably balanced."

-Tasting Panel 96 Points

IMPORTER SALE!

Blend: Colmant Brut Reserve NV is a blend of Pinot Noir 52%, Chardonnay 48% (Franschhoek, Robertson, Elgin, Somerset-West and Stellenbosch). 10% of the blend is made of reserve wine from the previous vintage and 12% of the base wine is barrel fermented.
Ageing: 28 months minimum on the lees at steady 13°C temperature.
Tasting: A subtle pale gold color with a very clean and elegant nose. The aroma has a gentle spicy toastiness with a lemon / yeasty perfume followed by more mature fruit. Plenty of freshness on the palate, with a good acidity which perfectly balances the yeasty depth, bready flavors and ample structure. Long smooth finish. Will develop nicely over the years.
Drinking tips: Divine as an aperitif and loyal as a party buddy, it also goes perfectly with oysters, sushis or any delicate seafood.

Reviews:

"The Brut Reserve (disgorged April 2018) was 10% fermented in French oak barrel and includes 20% reserve vintages. It spent 30 months on the lees. The well-defined, focused nose features bright citrus lemon and hints of baked bread. The palate is well balanced with a taut, crisp, citric entry. This is vivacious, very pretty and graced with lovely apricot hints on the finish. A superb MCC from Colmant. - Neal Martin"

- Vinous (August 28th 2018), 91 pts

"Fresh with leesy notes, a fine mousse and delicate palate of minerals and green citrus zest, this is a first class New World sparkler. It’s rich enough to enjoy on its own or with white meats. It’s a 50/50 blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay aged on the lees for 30 months and 25% reserve wines from earlier vintages."
-International Wine Review, 91 pts

"Disgorged February 2011, the Non-vintage Brut Reserve is a blend of 52% Pinot Noir and 48% Chardonnay based on the 2008 vintages blended with reserve wines from 2007 and 2006 (25% of the blend), aged for 30 months on the lees. It has a very fine pettillance in the glass. The nose is very well defined with crushed stone, oyster shell and the subtle perfume of fine lees coming through with aeration. The palate is very crisp and lively on the entry with vibrant acidity, a citrus thread from start to finish, and though it is not a powerful Cap Classique, it is wonderfully poised with great persistence on the fresh lime and Granny Smith-tinged finish.
There are many alternatives to Champagne, and South Africa is no exception with some fine “Method Cap Classique.” Jean-Philippe Colmant hired winemaker Nicolas Follet to create a small range of impressive sparkling wines; they eschew malolactic fermentation and practice extended lees aging."
- eRobertParker.com  , 92 pts

Our Hunt for Colmant:

 It was day 6 in South Africa and we find ourselves outside of beautiful Cape Town, in the country near the Riebeek Kasteel area in Swartland.  Let's talk a little about my accommodations before I tell you about this amazing bubbly. We arrive at the one and only hotel in Riebeek to find out that there were not enough rooms open for all. 

We reached out to our contact at Riebeek cellars, who we will refer to as "Point Break" from now on. For those of you that have not seen the movie Point Break, this guy looked and sounded like a blonde Keanu Reeves with a Dutch accent. Anyway, Point Break tells me that they have secured a small bed and breakfast that we could use for the overflow. Sounded nice...so I opted for it. 

Upon arrival, the home was beautiful on the outside with a catchy French name, "Shades of Provence". After Point Break fiddled with the skeleton key and lock for a good 35 minutes in the rain, we finally get to see the inside of our new home. The door opened straight into the kitchen where the first thing I noticed was the mouse sh*t all over the place. It was winter there and the mice were trying to stay warm, I'm sure. Little did they know this damn place had no heat.

Besides myself and my fiancee Sylvia, there were 3 other people and a total of four rooms. At this point I knew I better drag both our suitcases up those steps and get to the best room before everyone else. At stroke-causing speed, I skipped up the steps nearly knocking Point Break on his back and went through the rooms. I settled for a nice corner room with the least amount of dirt on the concrete floor and with only one or two spider webs on the wrought iron bed post.

For dinner that night, we returned to the hotel restaurant to join the rest of our group. The 5 of us forced to stay in the bed and breakfast were in a far worse mood than everyone around us. Arriving late, we sat at the end of the dinning table and hoarded as much wine as possible to try and drink ourselves to a point where we could sleep in that disgrace of a French country side home that Point Break secured for us.

 That night, I slept with the lights on, all my clothes on, and on top of the sheets hoping to avoid spider bites. I awoke that morning to Sylvia standing over me holding what looked like a hot water knob off of the shower. "It wasn't even attached.", she said. Sylvia proceeds to take a "whore-bath" in the sink using her own packed sock as a wash cloth. It was the only thing she deemed clean. To top it off, in a brief moment of happiness she finds a hair dryer in a cabinet. She pulled it out in triumph only to realize that there was a used condom stuck to the side of it. Obviously, this is her last trip to South Africa.

El Cortijillo Tempranillo La Mancha is made from 100% Tempranillo

Up front aromas of raspberry and cherry fruit, medium to light weight, Rhône wine in character, cherry fruit flavors, followed by bright acidity. Reminds of a mythical cross between a Pinot Noir and a Côtes-du-Rhône. Pleasant and fun, bistro red.

Made from 30 year old vine.

Delicious with Paella, hamburger or pasta. But also great with grilled vegetables. (bell pepper, eggplant, etc)

El Cortijillo Tempranillo La Mancha is made from 100% Tempranillo

Up front aromas of raspberry and cherry fruit, medium to light weight, Rhône wine in character, cherry fruit flavors, followed by bright acidity.
Reminds of a mythical cross between a Pinot Noir and a Côtes-du-Rhône. Pleasant and fun, bistro red.

Made from 30 year old vine.

Delicious with Paella, hamburger or pasta. But also great with grilled vegetables. (bell pepper, eggplant, etc)

El Cortijillo Tempranillo La Mancha is made from 100% Tempranillo

Up front aromas of raspberry and cherry fruit, medium to light weight, Rhône wine in character, cherry fruit flavors, followed by bright acidity.
Reminds of a mythical cross between a Pinot Noir and a Côtes-du-Rhône. Pleasant and fun, bistro red.

Made from 30 year old vine.

Delicious with Paella, hamburger or pasta. But also great with grilled vegetables. (bell pepper, eggplant, etc)

The grapes come from the property owned vineyards in the municipality of Grávalos, south of Monte Yerga at the foothills of the “Cordillera Ibérica” at an altitude between 700–800 meters above sea level. A very high located area where you obtain fresh wines with little alcohol content and with very fine and elegant aromas.

The Pinot Noir variety originating in Burgundy is one of the three most important varieties in Champagne. Harvested around the second and third week of September. The collection of the grapes is done manually, selecting the grapes, preventing any deteriorated grapes from reaching the press or not complying with the quality required to elaborate our cavas.

Raspberry pink with steely glare. Fine bubble that forms a small rosary of slow evolution. Fruity aromas of strawberry, raspberry and flowers (rose petals). Pleasant and potent in the mouth with light acidity and a bubble very well integrated. Persistent and elegan

Review:

Wine Enthusiast Magazine (December 2023), 94 pts

Our DuMOL Estate Vineyard is our original high-density vine planting from 2004. It’s organically farmed without irrigation – these vines work hard each season. We make a strict selection for this bottling, one of our flagship wines, so that only three acres of its nine total comprise this bottling; the balance forms the core of Highland Divide. This is the best of the best. The high vine density and exclusively Calera Selection produce a wine with a significant level of both tannin and acidity. This structure is buffered by a deep core of fruit extract, the product of the ripe grape skins themselves, and the essence of the wine. Each vintage can age for many years, and it gradually deepens into a woodsy, truffley, and enveloping wine with grand scale complexity while never relinquishing its inherent brightness. 

The wine’s aromas and flavors are akin to black cherry, boysenberry, hibiscus, anise, moss, and juniper. The palate is simultaneously bright yet dark, with mineral drive, violet floral lift, and bay laurel freshness. Tannins and acidity fuse to lengthen these flavors, and the wine finishes with dried herbs and orange zest lift. Great aging potential. Drink between 2025 and 2034 and decant for an hour in its youth to hasten the development. 

Review:

Medium to deep ruby-purple in color, the 2022 Pinot Noir Estate Vineyard comes barreling out with bold notes of fresh blackberries and black cherries opening out to suggestions of anise, garrigue, and lilacs. The medium-bodied palate reveals impactful black berry flavors with wonderfully spicy accents supported by grainy tannins and great tension, finishing long with a minerally lift. This is an all Calera vineyard. (LPB)

-The Wine Independent 97 Points

El Cortijillo Tempranillo La Mancha is made from 100% Tempranillo

Up front aromas of raspberry and cherry fruit, medium to light weight, Rhône wine in character, cherry fruit flavors, followed by bright acidity. Reminds of a mythical cross between a Pinot Noir and a Côtes-du-Rhône. Pleasant and fun, bistro red.

Made from 30 year old vine.

Delicious with Paella, hamburger or pasta. But also great with grilled vegetables. (bell pepper, eggplant, etc)

El Cortijillo Tempranillo La Mancha is made from 100% Tempranillo

Up front aromas of raspberry and cherry fruit, medium to light weight, Rhône wine in character, cherry fruit flavors, followed by bright acidity.
Reminds of a mythical cross between a Pinot Noir and a Côtes-du-Rhône. Pleasant and fun, bistro red.

Made from 30 year old vine.

Delicious with Paella, hamburger or pasta. But also great with grilled vegetables. (bell pepper, eggplant, etc)

Far Niente Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 92.3% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Franc, 1.7% Petit Sirah, 1% Petite Verdot.

Beautiful aromas of dark plum, red cherry, licorice and warm baking spices open onto a plush and silky palate layered with plum, spiced cherry and cassis. A classic Napa Valley Cabernet, fine-grained tannins and lively acidity support the wine throughout, while the finish is refined and polished.

 Review:

Refined and pure aromas of dark cherries, blackcurrants, violets and cedar. The palate is full-bodied with seamlessly integrated tannins and focused acidity, giving notes of Damson plums, graphite, mocha, dried herbs and potpourri. Very well balanced and polished.

-James Suckling 96 Points

Faust Cabernet Sauvignon  is made from 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, complemented with Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc.

Cabernet’s classic aromas and flavors star in the 2022 Faust Napa Valley. Delicate violet notes lift the dark fruit on the nose—black currant and briary blackberry—layered with pungent forest botanicals, leafy tobacco, graphite, and toasted spice. The velvet of fine-textured tannins backs expressive red fruit flavors on a complex palate, both sweet and savory with mocha and minerality, juicy ripe fruit and freshness.

Ferrata Punta Drago Etna Rosso  is made from 100% Nerello Mascalese.

Pale ruby red color, elegant bouquet of red berries, spicy notes and underbrush. Great structure, silky tannins, soft and elegant.

Suitable with hors d'oeuvres of cured meats, aged cheese, meat dishes but also fish recipes.

Finca del Castillo Tempranillo La Mancha is made from 30 year old vine Tempranillo (100%).

This pretty little red has a flavor reminiscent of good Cotes du Rhone. Medium bodied, flavorful; hints of raspberry and strawberry. Shows best with picnic fare and grilled meats. Perfect summer red.

The Sonoma Coast AVA is becoming known as the top source for cool climate Pinot Noir. Flanagan Pinot Noir is founded in letting each site and each vintage express itself. They do not have a dogmatic approach to wine-making. Pinot Noir, more than any other grape variety, is made in the vineyard.

The nose is reminiscent of Chambord with rich raspberry notes. The palate has great depth of fruit and notes of Christmas spices like clove and nutmeg. The wine displays vibrant acidity and has a very clean finish. Our Flanagan Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast pairs beautifully with duck, salmon, pork and game; like pheasant, venison, and elk.

Florence Cholet Auxey-Duresses Rouge is made from 100 Pinot Noir 60 year old vines.

Auxey-Duresses exhibits intense and juicy aromas of cherries, raspberries, and spices. This is a charming wine that has harmonious and delicate tannins, and a fine texture in the mouth. Medium-bodied, elegant and complex with great concentration and structure.

Florence Cholet Auxey-Duresses Rouge is made from 100% Pinot Noir.

Auxey-Duresses exhibits intense and juicy aromas of cherries, raspberries, and spices. This is a charming wine that has harmonious and delicate tannins, and a fine texture in the mouth. Medium-bodied, elegant and complex with great concentration and structure.