Booker Vineyard Oublie Red is made from 33% Syrah, 30% Grenache, 28% Mourvèdre, 5% Tannat, 4% Petite Sirah
Oublié's blend is always Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre – the California version of a Châteauneuf du Pape. The namesake is a play on the French term for "forgotten." Rhône varietals grow beautifully on the estate and Booker believes that they are far-too-often forgotten when you think of a California wine. Deep ruby/purple in color, this hearty expression of a Paso GSM boasts confident notes of boysenberry, licorice and cedar on the nose. On the palate, the taster is rewarded with lively flavors of raspberry coulis mingled with blonde roast coffee and chocolate ganache. For lovers of Mourvèdre, this vintage of Oublié will show off. It drinks bolder than prior vintages, mostly because the Mourvèdre was so special in '19.
Oublié is traditionally one of Booker's most food-friendly wines and should pair well with most dishes.
Review:
The 2019 Oublié is a blend of Syrah, Mourvèdre, Tannat and Petite Sirah with a medium ruby-purple color. The nose offers gregarious mixed berry preserves and accents of potpourri, mint and fragrant earth. The palate offers juicy appeal and powerful fruit with loads of spice and floral perfume, bursts of freshness and firm, pleasantly rustic tannins, finishing very long.
-Wine Advocate 97 Points
Brize Loire Renaissance Anjou Blanc is made from 100% Chenin Blanc.
Anjou Blanc Renaissance was entirely fermented and aged in French oak barrels. The wine is dry and powerful with an intense bouquet of apricot, vanilla and honey.
Excellent when paired with lobster or white fish with a creamy sauce.
Cardinale Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot.
Super structured and with minerality to spare, this Cabernet Sauvignon offers a real presence on the palate from start to finish. Generous notes of dark chocolate balance beautifully with a blue and black fruit flavor explosion, finishing with a subtle whisper of rose petal.
Reviews:
- James Suckling 98 Points
Cazaux Gigondas Tour Sarrasine is made from 75% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre. 45 year old vines on average.
Intense, persistent red and dark fruit aromas. Raspberry, pepper and spice flavors. Silky tannins.
Enjoy with game meat or strong cheeses.
Review:
"Bright violet color. The fragrant and incisive nose displays vibrant red fruit, floral and spice qualities. Shows very good energy and detail on the palate, offering nervy bitter cherry and redcurrant flavors and a hint of garrigue. Closes long and spicy, with resonating fruit and floral notes. - Josh Raynolds - Josh Raynolds"
- Antonio Galloni's Vinous (January 2023), 92-94 pts
Cazaux Vacqueyras Blanc Les Clefs d'Or is made from 50% Clairette, 30% Roussanne and 20% Grenache Blanc.
A wine with lively acidity, expressive aromas of fennel and white flowers. It is long and full in the mouth with minty and anisy aromas mixed with white peach flavors. Refreshing and mineral character.
Clairette grapes are green harvested to concentrate and harmonize aroma. Each grape varietal is hand picked separately. Pressing with skin contact at low temperature. Aged 12 months in stainless steel tank. (No oak)
Enjoy this wine with all sorts of fish starters, squid salad with olive oil and basil. A must try with fresh oysters.
Charles Krug Family Reserve Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Napa Cabernet Sauvignon.
Rising 1,650 feet above the Napa Valley floor on the southwestside of Howell Mountain, the Family Reserve Howell MountainCabernet Sauvignon sits above the fog line. The distinctiveclimate, along with volcanic and iron-rich red soils, producefruit with great balance and intensity.
Review:
The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Limited Release Cold Springs is the most distinctive of the wines in this range of limited-release Cabernets from Charles Krug. Gravel, licorice, menthol and spice all develop in a Howell Mountain Cabernet endowed with tremendous class and nuance.
-Vinous 92 Points
Chateau de Saint Cosme Gigondas Le Claux is made from 95% Grenache, 5% Syrah.
Château de Saint Cosme is the leading estate of Gigondas and produces the benchmark wines of the appellation. The property has been in the hands of the Barruol family since 1490. Louis Barruol took over from his father in 1992 making a dramatic shift to quality and converting to biodynamics in 2010.
Château de Saint Cosme Gigondas Le Claux is the estate’s oldest vineyard and sits near the entrance to the winery. “It was first planted in 1870 following phylloxera. My uncles thought it wasn’t producing enough fruit and planned to uproot it in 1914,” says Louis Barruol, but “World War I interrupted that plan.”
The 1.8-hectare Le Claux—meaning “Clos” in old French—is a field blend of predominately Grenache. Louis Barruol believes 10% of the vineyard is from the original 1870 planting. Vines are replaced by massal selection and the average vine age is 60-years. The wine is made with whole cluster fermentation from indigenous yeasts, is aged in 20% new 228-liter barrels, and bottled without fining or filtration.
Tasting Notes
Brilliant violet color. Displays pungent, mineral- and spice-accented cherry, black raspberry, potpourri and licorice aromas, along with hints of savory herbs, vanillo and incense. Chewy and tightly focused on the palate, offering bitter cherry, dark berry and Moroccan spice flavors that unfurl slowly through the back half. It closes with firm tension, chewy tannins and excellent tenacity, leaving resonating cherry and floral notes behind. All barriques, a third of them new.
-Vinous 95-97 Points
Chateau Gaudrelle Vouvray Reserve Personelle 2009 is 100 percent Chenin Blanc
Fine Chenin Blanc typicity, with aromas of ripe apples and honeyed notes. Rich, smooth, rounded palate with great structure and weight. Has the acidity to support ageing for 10 years.
Clos Du Val Yettalil is a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec
The 2019 Yettalil opens with aromas of fresh blackberry, ripe plum, and racy cassis layered with hints of violet, bay leaf, and thyme. Beautifully balanced and elegant on the palate, vibrant acidity and polished tannins give way to a concentrated core of black cherry, vanilla, and cedar. The texture is velvety and plush with a backbone of graphite and dark chocolate that lingers through a long finish.
Review:
The 2019 Yettalil is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. Deep garnet-purple in color, it charges out with energetic notes of crushed black and red currants, warm black plums, and black raspberries, plus suggestions of cedar, violets, and Indian spice with a waft of tree bark. The medium to full-bodied palate is lively and well-structured, featuring firm, ripe tannins to frame the muscular fruits, finishing on a lingering fragrant earth note.
-Wine Independent 95 Points
Jubilation is our newest wine in the Colgin Cellars collection. Jubilation is our Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine created with a selection of barrels that display earlier drinking characteristics from our three hillside vineyards. As our vine age has matured and small additions have been made to our original holdings, we had the privilege of increasing our selectivity. Following the blending of our single-vineyard wines, we were fortunate to have a collection of barrels that conveyed the same elegance and complexity for which we are known, yet on a more supple, approachable frame. Jubilation is a wine ready to enjoy now, with the pedigree to age gracefully in the cellar, maintaining the Colgin Cellars’ hallmarks of perfume, freshness, and minerality. The inaugural bottling of Jubilation from the 2016 vintage was released in late 2020. Future vintages are destined for select members of the fine wine trade.
CONCHA Y TORO Cabernet Sauvignon Puente Alto Don Melchor is made from 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, 1% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot.
Deep violet in color, intense, and with a great aromatic complexity of red fruits together with floral notes of violets and roses. On the palate, it is a tasty wine with a soft spell and a superb freshness, along with the elegance and power so characteristic of Puente Alto. It is a wine with a velvety texture, lush body, and a very long and persistent finish.
Review:
Deep and serious with black olives, blackberries, blueberries, tobacco leaf, sweet red capsicum, ash, dried meat and a hint of black chocolate. This is a more direct, full-bodied Don Melchor, filled with solid blackberries and wrapped by tight, fine-grained tannins. Long and deep. 92% cabernet sauvignon, 6% cabernet franc, 1% merlot and 1% petit verdot. Better after 2024.
-James Suckling 97 Points
Corne Loup Lirac Blanc is made from 40% Grenache Blanc, 35% Viognier and 25% Marsanne
No Oak
The wine boasts a light yellow and brilliant color, fine floral and fruity notes. It is fat, ample and powerful in the mouth with a lot of freshness.
Early to bud and early to ripen, the 2014 vintage was our third drought year in a row. Dry, even temperatures marched the grapes along at a steady clip all year and created a wine with beautifully integrated fruit, acidity, and tannin.
Dense and dark magenta in color, this is a lithe and energetic vintage with lifted aromatics and a purity of fruit that lights up the medium-bodied tannin structure. The nose promises fresh black fruits, cherries and a touch of graphite, and the palate completely delivers. Juicy blackberry, plum, and bright cherry explode in the mouth, and develop into savory notes of baked black fruit and fresh pencil shavings on the mid-palate.
Eagle Summit Vineyard’s signature eucalyptus appears on the back palate to brighten the fruit, showing fragrant peppermint and warm, toasty spices through the finish. Whether you open it young or wait a few decades, this vintage does Howell Mountain proud--sophisticated and smart, with a rustic wild side.
Cresta Velia Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
Aged in 100% French oak (86% new)
• 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Eagle Summit Vineyard on Howell Mountain
• Equal amounts of clone 4 and clone 7
• unfined and unfiltered
Review:
"The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% Cabernet aged 20 months in 86% new French oak, with the typical suspects in terms of cooperage – Darnajou, Taransaud, and Remond. This opaque purple-colored wine has plenty of mulberry and blackcurrant fruit along with hints of blackberries, camphor and incense. The are some notes of unsmoked cigar and licorice as well. Ripe, medium to full-bodied and luscious, it is a classic to drink over the next 15 or more years. - RP"
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue #228, December 2016), 90 pts
DAOU Vineyards Bodyguard Red is made from 100 percent Chardonnay 65% Petit Verdot, 35% Petite Sirah.
The 2020 Bodyguard is the newest edition to this exceptional collection from winemaker Daniel Daou. Bold and brooding, it displays a vivid, deep purple hue accompanied by an intense nose of chocolate-covered blueberry, black raspberry, Zante currant, pencil lead and damp forest floor. Secondary layers reveal notes of kirsch, fennel, black olive and a hint of cool wintergreen. A lush palate of black plum, dried cherry and blackberry is supported by a firm structure with polished fine-grained tannins. Highlights of dusty leather, dried sage and truffle add layers of complexity that complement the rich, dark fruit. The finish strikes an impressive balance of power and grace, with lingering notes of currant, dark chocolate and crushed stone minerality that enhance the fullness of the experience.
Review:
DAOU Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Petit Verdot.
The 2021 DAOU Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is emblematic of Paso Robles as a world-class region for Bordeaux-style wines. Intense purple-red hues foreshadow deep aromas of black fruit, pomegranate, tobacco, mocha, and bay leaf. Trailing notes of clove, nutmeg, and vanilla emerge as the wine opens up in the glass. Opulent textures expand across the palate with flavors of red fruit, blueberry, and chocolate-covered raspberry. The overall experience is fresh and rich, concluding with velvety tannins and impressive length.
Review:
The 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is blended with 23% Petit Verdot, made entirely with free-run juice, and it will be matured for 16 months in 50% new French oak. Opaque ruby, it offers pure aromas of cassis, violet, grilled meats, desert sage and bell pepper. The full-bodied palate is powdery, energetic and detailed with a long, layered finish.
-Wine Advocate 94-96 Points
DAOU Vineyards Soul of a Lion is made from 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, 10% Petit Verdot.
The 2019 Soul of a Lion is a blockbuster vintage that showcases how Bordeaux varieties are remarkably suited to the terroir of DAOU Mountain. This wine explodes from the glass with a kaleidoscope of aromas and flavors, including blackberry, blueberry, black currant, dark cherry, sweet tobacco, and licorice. An added floral dimension imparts an integrated sense of elegance and freshness. While full-bodied with ultra-high phenolic levels, this wine maintains its evenness and poise through an extraordinarily long finish. Structured, balanced, and powerful, the 2019 Soul of a Lion will reveal its full magnitude after several years of careful cellaring.
Review:
The 2019 Soul Of A Lion is a blend of free-run Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot, aged 22 months in 100% new French oak. Opaque ruby in color, it offers aromatic contrast between dark, savory cherry fruit, chargrill and graphite, and top notes of green pepper and rose petals. The palate explodes with detailed flavors and its tannins are already resolved and chocolaty, with seamless acidity and exotic spicy layers emerging on the extended finish. Wow!
-Wine Advocate 97+
Delas Hermitage Domaine des Tourettes is made from Syrah.
The wine has a brilliant, deep red hue. The nose is powerful and complex, expressing blackberries, spices and leather. On the palate the wine is firm but silky, with a tightly-knit tannic structure that is the hallmark of wines that have a good future.
Pair this wine with rare or medium-cooked games, marinated meats and spicy stews. We recommend opening this bottle between one and three hours before drinking
Review:
A blend of fruit from the lieux-dits Les Bessards, Le Sabot and L’Ermite, this 2019 draws together a picture of the Hermitage hill in all its grandeur and complexity. At its center, it’s bright and juicy, filled with ripe berry flavors; around the edges, it’s stony and firm, with herbal notes that accent its cool reserve. It shows some vanilla and spice tones from its time in oak (a mix of new and barrels) but the fruit handles it well, absorbing it into a warm, rich density of flavor. This should age well for 20 years or more.
-Wine & Spirits 96 Points
The 2021 Domaine Joseph Voillot Volnay Les Champans Premier Cru is from the domain’s largest premier cru holding, 4.2 acres whose vines date from 1934, 1971, and 1985. Champans is down-slope in the premier cru band, and its wine typically has more fruit and power than other Voillot Volnays.
Review:
‘The 2021 Volnay Les Champans Ter Cru has much more brightness and delineation than the Fremiets this year, with red cherries, wild strawberries and ust a touch of iodine and sous-bois. This is nicely focused. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit, fine structure, pliant tannins and a harmonious finish. Not the most complex Champans encountered from this address, yet it has class.
-Vinous 91-93 Points
The 2021 les Champans is also a simply stunning example of this fine premier cru vineyard. The beautifully elegant nose wafts from the glass in a blend of red and black plums, cherries, spit-roasted quail, a complex base of soil, woodsmoke, coffee bean and a deft touch of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and shows off superb depth at the core, great soil signature, ripe, fine-grained tannins and a long, nascently complex and very promising finish. This is a touch more reserved on the palate than the Fremiets and will take a bit longer to blossom, but it is going to be stellar. 2034-2085.
93+ pts- John Gilman, View from the Cellar #102
The Domaine Joseph Voillot Volnay Les Fremiets Premier Cru is from a parcel that is up-slope, and the wine is very calcaire, or limestony; you literally taste the stone in this elegant, intensely perfumed wine. Pair with veal filet mignon, squab, beef steak and roast duckling.
Review:
I really like this terroir and the 2021 is an absolutely classic example of this fine premier cru, offering up a refined and pure bouquet of black plums, dark berries, coffee bean, a complex base of dark soil tones, a nice touch of new oak and plenty of upper register smokiness. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and very elegant in profile, with a superb core, lovely soil signature, ripe, suave tannins and a long, vibrant and complex finish. Fine, fine juice. 2033-2080.
93 pts- John Gilman, View from the Cellar #102
Tim Atkin 93 Points
Dutton-Goldfield Rued Vineyard Chardonnay is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
The nose leads with tangerine, apricot, and kiwi fruit, accented by lemon oil, orange blossom, and hazelnut. In the mouth, the fruit/floral and bright/rich theme continues, with the lychee and Meyer lemon top notes joined by Asian pear and Gravenstein apple, framed with honeysuckle and gardenia.
The dual nature of the wine makes it pair well with both rich and light fare, like lobster roll, roasted pork, or sautéed sole.
Review:
From a clone once called the Chardonnay Musque selection, this wine is highly aromatic and fresh. Juicy tropical fruit and tangerine flavors remain crisp and brilliant, leading to a complex midpalate of Meyer lemon and pear. The finish is topped by lasting, lingering layers of hazelnut.
- Wine Enthusiast 94 Points
Principal El Principal Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot and 3% Syrah originating from old, ungrafted vines. Deep, intense ruby red, black fruit and cassis aromas, well-integrated woody notes, great structure and balance. Ripe and present tannins, elegant and sophisticated in the mouth, a pure expression of the terroir.
Denomination of Origin: Maipo Andes Valley
Vineyard altitude: 800 meters above sea level
Soil: Alluvial origin, Clay loam.
Climate: Sub humid Mediterranean with big influence of the Andes Mountains.
Thermal oscillation: Between 18º and 22ºC.
Viticulture system: Espalier
Pruning: Double Guyot
Yield 4.500 kg/ha
Cool maceration (8°C): 6 days.
Alcoholic fermentation: 6 days.
Post fermentative maceration: 16 days.
Barrel aging: 20 months, new French oak
Bottling: February 2016
Bottle aging: Minimum 2 year in the bottle before release to the market.
pH: 3.46
Total Acidity: 5.9 g/L
RS: 2 g/L
Reviews:
- Descorchados (November 2017), 95 pts
"This complex cuvée of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with 7% Petit Verdot and 3% Syrah from some of the highest vineyards in Pirque is built to age in bottle. Aged in 75) new wood, it’s serious, concentrated yet beautifully balanced, with very fine tannins, some aromatic mocha oak, layers of dark fruit and a backbone of acidity. 2022-30"
- Tim Atkin (Chile 2018 Special Report), 94 pts
The Special Club concept started in 1971. A dozen wine growers from some old families of Champagne had an idea to familiarize people with the originality of the “Champagne de Vigneron” (Champagne of wine grower), thanks to prestigious vintages.
In the beginning, they created an association called the “Club des Viticulteurs Champenois” and chose a bottle with a special shape, created exclusively for them & used only by then. In 1988, they changed the bottle and the label. In 1999, the Club changed its name to “Club Trésor of Champagne.”
The Club Trésors comprises 28 artisan wine makers, selected from the finest areas of the Champagne region, each one recognized for the quality of their work. The Club Trésors is the only organization in Champagne to select its members according to a set of unrelenting quality standards:
Roland Champion's Special Club selection has rich and structured aromas. Very pleasant and generous roundness, nice length in mouth. Golden color with buttery and fruity aromas. All the expression of a magnificent terroir for your most pleasurable moments.
Camus Graves Blanc is made from 50% Sauvignon Blanc and 50% Semillon.
A beautiful, brilliant color, this wine offers a great aromatic balance with complex and mineral notes, Offering white fruit (peach and pear), citrus (grapefruit and lemon), and a toasty finish with a delicate oak presence. The mouthfeel is rich and complex with a great minerality, freshness, structure, and a good length to the finish.
Pairs with poultry, fish, and shellfish.