Gravas Sauternes is a blend of 100% Sémillon.
The wine shows a lovely pale golden color with deep golden highlights. Round and well-balanced offering complex aromas of candied fruits backed up by a hint of exotic fruit (mango, guava) and white flowers. On the palate, it is ample and fleshy, leading into a silky and long finish.
The wine pairs well with white meats, scallops, exotic and spicy dishes, foie Gras, Roquefort blue cheese, chocolate desserts.
Chateau Peymartin Saint-Julien is made from 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot.
Peymartin is the second wine of Gloria, produced using the youngest vines (average 40 years-old) on the estate.
After a manual harvest, the grapes are vinified in thermo regulated stainless steel vats with malolactic in barrel. Peymartin spends approximately one year in cask followed by additional aging at the estate in bottel prior to release. The ensuing style of wine is typically a lighter and more elegant St. Julien, known for its early drinkability and charming character.
Tasting Notes:
Deep ruby-garnet in appearance, Peymartin is classic left-bank Bordeaux. Aromas of dried tobaco, cedar, blackcurrant, and pungent cooking spices greet the nose. The palate is extremely elegant with ripe, yet structured tannins balanced by firm acidity, black fruits, savory earth, and hints of toasted vanilla. A balanced and persistent finish underlines the wine's quality as well as its ability to hold up in bottle.
Segries Tavel Rose is made from 50% Grenache, 30% Cinsault, 15% Clairette, 5% Syrah. The age of the vines is 30 years. Traditional vinification at low temperature, "vin de saignée" with a maceration during one night in cement vat.
This is large for a Rose...structured and focused, with the color of dark ruby. The nose is loaded up with fresh fruit. Strawberry, blackcurrant, and raspberry beam from the glass. On the palate, the mouth-feel is ripe and succulent. It has strength, but maintains its fresh and crisp expression. The finish is filled with Asian spice and slight hints of smoke. Drink this juice now or over the next year or two.
Chavy-Chouet Meursault Les Vireuils is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
The "Les Vireuils" parcel is located on the top of the hill above Meursault, right below the forest.
It is slightly cooler parcel with a limestone soils with a higher presence of rocks. The wines coming from this parcel are always sharp with a vibrant acidity and a lot of freshness.
Tasting notes: Concentrated, powerful, and lively, Les Vireuils has all the classic characteristics of the Meursault appellation. Its sophistication, structure, and assured elegance reflect the character of the soil.
It is a great match with fish in creamy sauce, cheese, white meats.
Collemattoni Adone Rosso Toscano is made from 95% Sangiovese and 5% Merlot
ruby red in color, bouquet of violet, cherry and blackberry, pleasant, dry and well balanced mouthfeel.
Coming from a parcel with 5-8 year old vines planted in sandy clay and marl soils.
Harvest is 100% destemmed with a soft pressing, fermentation in stainless steel tanks at controlled temperature of 28-30°C, maceration for 10 days.
Malolactic fermentation completed.
Wine is slightly filtered before bottling.
Collemattoni Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is made from 100 percent Sangiovese.
Intense ruby red with brilliant burgundy reflects in color. Reminiscent of wild black fruits, vanilla and spices on the nose and dry, warm, slightly austere but velvety in the palate.
This wine comes from the oldest vineyard of Collemattoni: Fontelontano. Less than half hectare. It's one of the few Single Vineyard Brunello di Montalcino riserva.
Coming from a parcel with 15-18 year old vines planted in sandy clay and marl soils.
Harvest is 100% destemmed with a soft pressing, fermentation in stainless steel tanks at controlled temperature of 28-30°C, pumping over for the first week of maceration following by skin-contact maceration for 20-25 days with rack and return technique (delestage).
Malolactic fermentation completed. The delestage and the pumping over are then spaced out along the process.
Wine is slightly filtered before bottling.
Review:
This is intense with aromas of dried cherries, sweet licorice, cloves, crushed walnuts and hints of chocolate and undergrowth. Full-bodied, deep and structured with taut, tightly packed tannins. Long and persistent. Drink or hold.
-James Suckling 94 Points
Color: intense ruby red.
Bouquet:violet flowers, black cherry and wild black fruits.
Taste: warm, dry and with good balance.
Coming from a parcel with 8-13 year old vines planted in sandy clay and marl soils.
Harvest is 100% destemmed with a soft pressing, fermentation in stainless steel tanks at controlled temperature of 28-30°C, pumping over for the first week of maceration followed by skin-contact maceration for 20-25 days with rack and return technique (delestage).
Malolactic fermentation completed.
Wine is slightly filtered before bottling.
Pairs with steak, pheasants and strong cheese.
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)
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+
Domaine Jean Grivot Vosne-Romanee is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
Domaine Jean Grivot is among the great names in Burgundian wine. Étienne Grivot and his wife Marielle took over from Étienne’s father Jean Grivot in 1987. The vineyards are densely planted and farmed organically “sans certification” while the aim in the cellar is for balance and clear expression of terroir.
Jean Grivot’s 38.3 acres spread across 22 appellations with vineyards in the communes of Vosne-Romanée, Vougeot, Chambolle-Musigny, and Nuits-Saint-Georges. Besides the three grand crus, there are 8 premier crus including the much lauded Les Beaux Monts and Suchots in Vosne-Romanée. The grapes are completely de-stemmed and fermentation is spontaneous.
About the Vineyard:
Vosne-Romanée is from village-level parcels lying between the Vosne and the D974. Domaine Jean Grivot is one of the finest producers here and this wine is intended to be a classic expression of the village with red and black fruit perfumed with spice and violet nuances.
Wine Production:
The grapes are destemmed and maceration à froid usually lasts just a day or two. The alcoholic fermentation is spontaneous and malolactic fermentation occurs in barrel. Depending on the vintage, the proportion of new oak is around 25% for the village appellations.
Tasting Notes:
The wine shows aromas and flavors of red berries, herbs, and purple flowers. The palate is rich with ripe fruit and medium weight with bright acidity and fine tannins. Aging in up to 25% new Burgundian pièce brings notes of vanilla, toast, and baking spices.
Food Pairing:
Red Burgundy might be the world’s most flexible food wine. The wine’s high acidity, medium body, medium alcohol, and low tannins make it very food-friendly. Red Burgundy, with its earthy and sometimes gamey character, is a classic partner to roasted game birds, grilled duck breast, and dishes that feature mushrooms, black truffles, or are rich in umami.
Review:
Ripe plum and blackberry fruit, with well-integrated spice and a silky, plump texture which is nicely balanced by plenty of freshness; a typical village-level Vosne, but one that goes beyond in elegance and finesse. This is a blend of grapes grown both above and below grand crus (Aux Champs Perdrix in the case of the former, Aux Réas and others the latter). The total surface area is 2.5ha. The fruit is destemmed and carefully fermented before ageing in 30% new casks.
-Decanter 94 Points
A heavenly, full-bodied dry Riesling with forceful minerality from 100-year-old vines grown in the blue slate soil of Graach.
Graach is a small village in the Mosel valley. It’s steep slate slopes produce wines that combine elegance with rustic strength. Grosses Gewächs (GG) is the designation for an estate’s best dry wine from a Grosse Lage (grand cru) vineyard. This limited-production wine was fermented with indigenous yeasts and kept in the barrel, on the full lees, for a year before bottling. The extended maturation time allows the wine to develop greater texture and a deeper natural harmony. This is a fully ripe wine, with vibrant aromatics and a pronounced acidity that gives it a brilliant structural precision.
Review:
Convincing proof that 2020 is an excellent vintage for dry GG on the Mosel! Cool and stony with delicate white-peach and white-currant aromas. Really takes off at the intensely slatey and racy finish.
-James Suckling 95-96 Points
Dr. Loosen Riesling Eiswein is made from 100 percent Riesling.
This vibrant, racy dessert wine conjures flavors of densely packed pear, apple and guava, with an intense, nervy edge in the aroma. It is luscious, silky and juicy on the palate, with bright acidity giving it a crisp, dynamic finish.
Review:
This is extremely rich, yet the acidity keeps it on its toes. The palate is rich, sporting rhubarb and apricot flavors that are laced by hints of earth, coriander seed and honeyed oolong tea. It has an appealing sweet tart character that takes over and is matched by super suave texture. Shows incredible persistence through the long finish. Drink now through 2050.
-Wine Enthusiast 95 Points
Dr. Loosen Riesling Eiswein is made from 100 percent Riesling.
This vibrant, racy dessert wine conjures flavors of densely packed pear, apple and guava, with an intense, nervy edge in the aroma. It is luscious, silky and juicy on the palate, with bright acidity giving it a crisp, dynamic finish.
Review:
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
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 Pino Club Sea Floored Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
Sea Floored opens with aromas of cherry cola, dried cran-raspberries, and classic Sta. Rita Hills black pepper. On the palate, deep flavors of Chambord, red pomegranate and cranberry fruit are framed by moderate tannins and food-friendly acidity, finishing with hints of tobacco and oak-roasted coffee bean.
Review:
This special bottling from the Foley family packs a lot of complexity into the nose, offering aromas of bay leaf, toasted wood, light cannabis and brisk pomegranate. The palate is firm in texture and covers a wide range of fruit, from dark berry to bright red fruit, though it may be the graphite-like minerality that sets it apart.
-Wine Enthusiast 94 Points
Elvio Cogno Cascina Nuova Barolo 2017
Born to satisfy the curiosity of consumers keen to have a more immediate understanding of Barolo, the wine is bright garnet red in color with orange tints. Pleasing and immediate, it offers scents of flowers and light, delicate spices. The mouth is agreeably rounded, juicy and fresh, with just the right balance between pleasantness and elegance. The aftertaste is very harmonious with a mineral, aromatic finish.
Review:
Attractive dried strawberry with cherry and tar on the nose. Full-bodied with powerful tannins that are dusty and intense. Very flavorful and long. Solid as a rock. Needs at least three or four years to soften and come together.
-James Suckling 95 Points
EnRoute Winery Les Pommiers Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
Aromas of fresh raspberry compote are complemented by notes of baking spice, and fresh rain on a forest floor. Generous-yet-soft strawberry preserve flavors expand on the palate, with elegant, silky tannins. A mouthwatering acidity glides across the finish.
Review:
Vibrant ruby in color, this wine erupts from the glass with aromas of sweet cinnamon, cola and cherry. There is a charming delicacy here, with flavors of dried rose petal, cherry and berry pie filling on a midweight palate. A captivating dance between the snappy tannin structure and the lively acidity of this wine lead to a very pleasurable finish.
-Wine Enthusiast 93 Points
Faustino Gran Faustino I Rioja Gran Reserva is made from 86% Tempranillo, 9% Graciano, 5% Mazuelo.
Gran Faustino I 2004 is a wine that has a very positive evolution as far as tasting aspects are concerned. We have a garnet-colored, medium-bodied, bright wine with a long life ahead of it. It is clean and intense on the nose. Tertiary aromas predominate, with a marked presence of prunes and ripe fruit, perfectly blending with spicy and balsamic aromas from the barrel ageing. Black pepper is also present, reminding us that the Graciano is part of this very particular blend. It is on the palate where this great wine shows its elegance. Its entrance is subtle, but it gradually unleashes a flood of sensations. Notes of licorice, candied fruit, cocoa, and again, the balsamic notes we found on the nose also appear. A well-balanced acidity and polished tannins highlight its silkiness and roundness. It’s a wine brimming with nuances and complexity, very plush, with a sweet and delicate finish.
Classy wine with engaging tobacco, smoke and earthy aromatics. Complex and energetic with spice and red fruit flavours whooshing through the palate in a seductive style. A satisfying aged wine with thrillingly well-integrated new oak and a long, savoury finish.
-Decanter 97 Points
Ferren Chardonnay Sonoma Coast is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
The Sonoma Coast bottling is a blend of barrels from Ferren's single vineyard offerings; Lancel Creek, Silver Eagle, Volpert, and Frei Road Vineyards. The wine is always somewhat more approachable early in its life as less new oak is used in the blend. Pure and translucent fruit is the hallmark of this cuvée. Citrus, quince, sea spray, and minerals are buoyed by refreshing acidity and a seamless finish.
Ferren Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
100% native fermentation (primary and secondary), long cool fermentations often lasting up to a full year, minimal lees stirring, no additions of any kind (commercial yeast, water, acid, enzymes, etc., never any fining or filtration). Aged 18 months in 15% new French oak (Francois Freres, Vosges, Troncais Forrests)
Review:
"This red's pure beam of mulberry, griotte and blood orange pâte de fruit is racy, fresh and in perfect alignment as the flavors pick up dried anise, bergamot and iris accents along the way. Captivating for its combination of range and restraint, with a long, streamlined finish that ripples with subtle tension. Drink now through 2032. - James MOLESWORTH”
- Wine Spectator's insider (May 22nd 2024), 95 pts
Guillemot-Michel Vire Clesse is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
Beautifully expressive, with yellow fruits, orange blossom, smoke & flint. Thick and saline on entry, then seriously deep in the mid-palate, with suggestions of exotic fruits perfectly countered by strong minerality. This wine strikes a perfect balance between sweet and salty elements, and it shows vibrant acidity. It boasts a thickness that few other northern Mâconnais can match.
Enjoy with fish (such as sole meuniere), seafood, roasted chicken, goat cheese.
Review:
"The 2018 Viré-Clessé Quintaine is showing beautifully, wafting from the glass with a lovely bouquet of honeyed citrus fruit, fresh pastry and orange blossom. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and supple, it's elegantly textural and refined, with a fragrant core of fruit and a long, penetrating finish. Even though it will reward a bit of bottle age, it's slightly finer-boned than the more concentrated, muscular 2017, so I would opt to drink this immensely charming wine before its older sibling. – William Kelley"
- The Wine Advocate (Issue 249, June 30th 2020), 93 pts
Bourdieu Blaye Cotes de Bordeaux is made from 87% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc.
Chateau Bourdieu Blaye Cotes de Bordeaux offers a beautiful red ruby color deep and intense. It exhales red fruits and blackcurrant aromas, completed by notes of redcurrant. The mouthfeel is round and juicy, with a smooth, well integrated tannins that offers a nice structure and a long finish.
Perfect with a magret de canard (duck breast) or a filet of beef.