Selection
Selection
Bodegas LAN 2017 Rioja Gran Reserva
Spanish Red
Deep garnet-red colour with a ruby rim accompanies ripe black fruit, fig, balsamic notes, spice and smoke. The blend is harmonious and balanced, with approachable tannins and a long finish. Tempranillo and Mazuelo come from vineyards in Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa planted more than forty years ago. The wine spends twenty-five months in mixed barrels and thirty-six months in bottle.
Josmeyer 2022 Le Kottabe Riesling
French White
Light green-yellow colour accompanies apple, citrus, floral, flint and mineral notes. The dry Riesling has fresh, juicy character, 12 percent alcohol, less than three grams per litre sugar and six grams per litre acidity. Forty-five-year-old vines grow in a dozen gravelly alluvial parcels. Hand-picked grapes ferment spontaneously in century-old casks and mature on fine lees for several months.
Château Mauvinon 2021 La Familia Bordeaux
French Red
Fresh fruit and bright black fruit accompany subtle toast and an intense tannic structure. The red wine is made from Merlot grown with organic and biodynamic methods in Bordeaux. Grapes are harvested by hand, while vinification and ageing take place without added sulphites. The wine carries 13.5 percent alcohol, and its sulphite level is twenty-five milligrams per litre.
Coulter Wines 2022 C1 Adelaide Hills Chardonnay
Australian White
Straw-yellow colour with green tinges accompanies lemon curd, peach, toasted oatmeal and briny notes. Citrus, white peach, pithy lime, ginger spice and phenolic grip are also present. Hand-picked fruit comes from a thirty-year-old vineyard at 450 metres. Full-solids juice ferments in French oak, without malolactic conversion or lees stirring, and remains in oak for nine months.
Blue Mountain 2023 Blossom Slope Block 17 Chardonnay
Canadian White
Lemon curd, white flowers and wet stone accompany a focused, textural Chardonnay with a long mineral finish. Block 17 has westerly exposure, coarse loamy sand and thirty-three-year-old vines. The site is planted to clones 76, 95 and 96. Stone fruit and vanilla join apple in the glass. The wine spends eighteen months in French oak.
Domaine Séguinot-Bordet 2023 Chablis Vieilles Vignes
French White
The colour is pale gold with green reflections, bright and clear. Ample, expressive and fresh aromas include fruit, vanilla, fresh vegetal and subtle floral notes. The Chardonnay is powerful and rich, combining softness with vivacity. The finish is long and mineral, expressing rigour and charm. Old vines grow around Maligny in Chablis, where the vineyards have south-west exposure.
Garnet Valley Ranch 2016 Traditional Method Sparkling
Canadian Sparkling
Red berry aromatics accompany mouthwatering acidity, creamy texture and a savoury edge. Apple, almond, brioche, dried apple and sagebrush add further detail. The sparkling blend combines Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Garnet Valley in the Okanagan. Traditional-method production includes seventy-two months on lees. Alcohol is 12 percent, with 2.93 pH and 9.1 grams per litre total acidity.
Ghost Rock 2024 Sauvignon Blanc
Australian White
Florals and tropical fruit accompany white peach, honeydew melon, passionfruit, slate and fresh-cut grass. The Sauvignon Blanc has lively acidity, chalky texture and a long, fresh finish. Eighty-five percent ferments in stainless steel with selected yeast, while fifteen percent ferments naturally in new French oak. Both portions receive lees stirring and extended time on lees. Alcohol is 13 percent.
Provenance Vineyards 2018 Deadeye Napa Valley Red Blend
American Red
Ripe blackcurrant, stewed blackberry, mint chocolate, charred bark and mocha accompany a full-bodied texture with round, sleek tannins. Bitter chocolate and dark berry appear on the finish. The blend combines Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec. It matures for eighteen months in French, American and Hungarian oak. Fruit is sourced from vineyards across Napa Valley.
Frog’s Leap 2021 Sauvignon Blanc
American White
Freshness and depth accompany bright fruit and crisp mineral detail. The Sauvignon Blanc received about three hours of skin contact before pressing, followed by roughly six months on the lees. Two percent of the blend fermented in a concrete egg. The wine is made entirely from Sauvignon Blanc grown in certified-organic, dry-farmed vineyards. Production totalled eleven thousand two hundred ten cases.
Stolpman Vineyards 2020 So Fresh GDG Gamay
American Red
Bright, clear red colour accompanies high-toned fruit, pine and hop notes. Rhubarb, salted plum, oregano and dried rose petals appear with a savoury side and crunchy texture. The Gamay comes from own-rooted vines planted in Ballard Canyon. Carbonic maceration is used, and no sulphur is added. Some fruit is sourced elsewhere in Santa Barbara County.
Michele Chiarlo 2022 Palás Barolo
Italian Red
Garnet-red colour with bright hues accompanies ethereal, balsamic notes, small fruit, liquorice and tobacco. The Nebbiolo is broad and harmonious, with silky tannins integrated into the structure. Fermentation takes place in steel with thirteen to fourteen days of skin contact and soft cap wetting. The wine completes malolactic conversion in steel and spends twenty-four months in large oak casks before bottle refinement.
Olivier Rivière 2022 La Bastid Rioja Blanco
Spanish White
Floral notes, white fruit, yeast and spice accompany a fresh, fine palate and soft mouthfeel. The white blend comes from Rioja in Spain and carries 13 percent alcohol. Fermentation uses amphorae, oak vats and concrete, followed by eight to ten months on the lees in French and used oak. Viura and Garnacha Blanca come from clay-limestone soils in Rioja Alta.
Marques de Riscal 2019 XR Reserva Rioja
Spanish Red
Deep cherry colour accompanies liquorice, cinnamon and black pepper. Mature fruit appears with freshness, polished tannins and structure. The finish is long, with light balsamic notes. Tempranillo and Graciano spend twenty-five months in American oak. The wine carries 15 percent alcohol. Small berries and clusters came from a harvest with low pH and high acidity.
Nikolaihof 2021 Zwickl Grüner Veltliner
Austrian White
Silver-golden colour is slightly cloudy yet bright. Asparagus, mineral detail, ginger and lime appear in the glass. The Grüner Veltliner is medium-bodied, with medium tannins, acidity and a creamy texture. Lime and mineral notes are joined by a long finish with green apple. This white wine is Biodynamic and comes from the Wachau in Austria.
Oddero 2018 Langhe Nebbiolo
Italian Red
Ruby-red colour accompanies violets and red fruit. The Nebbiolo has tannins that recall the earth of the Langhe. Fruit comes from an east-facing two-hectare vineyard at 200 metres, planted at four thousand vines per hectare. Selected clusters ferment with about fifteen days of skin contact and complete malolactic conversion. The wine then matures in oak barrels of different sizes for twelve to eighteen months.
Roots Run Deep Educated Guess 2022 Napa County Cabernet Sauvignon
American Red
Sweet black currant and juicy blackberry appear with shaved chocolate and tobacco. Toasty oak and silky tannins accompany a lingering finish. The blend is eighty-five percent Cabernet Sauvignon, nine percent Merlot and six percent Petite Sirah. It spends twelve months in French oak and carries 14.5 percent alcohol. Production totalled eighty-five thousand cases from Napa County fruit.
Domaine Nico 2022 Grand Mère Pinot Noir
Argentinian Red
Red cherry and strawberry aromas accompany a little black fruit, black pepper and cinnamon. The Pinot Noir has medium acidity and a broad palate shape. Fruit comes from a two-hectare parcel at Villa Bastías in Tupungato, planted with Dijon clones at 1,120 metres. Twenty percent whole clusters ferment in roll fermenters and steel tanks before fourteen months in French oak, ten percent new.
Voerzio Martini 2020 Ciabot della Luna Langhe Nebbiolo
Italian Red
Ruby colour with purple reflections accompanies high-toned red fruit, floral, earthy and herbal notes. Acidity and superfine tannins sit alongside fruit flavours. The perfume is delicate, fine and intense, while the taste is full and appropriately tannic. Fruit comes from the Langhe in Piedmont, and the wine is made entirely from Nebbiolo under Langhe DOC.
Donkiesbaai 2022 Steen Chenin Blanc
South African White
Fresh straw colour accompanies peach, lime, macadamia nougat, elderflower and oak. The Chenin is round and rich, with mineral detail and a full, balanced finish. Grapes were destemmed, crushed, pressed and settled overnight. The wine uses a combination of stainless steel, French barriques, concrete eggs and clay amphorae. It is dry, with 13.11 percent alcohol and 1.9 grams per litre residual sugar.
Olivier Rivière 2023 Le Blanc Rioja
Spanish White
Straw-yellow colour with golden reflections accompanies peach, stone fruit, citrus, mandarin and spice. The white blend is creamy, with acidity and a long finish. Viura, Malvasía and Garnacha Blanca come from nine small parcels in Rioja Alavesa on clay and marl. Grapes are hand harvested, then fermentation and ageing are divided equally between concrete and French oak for eight to ten months.
Henri de Villamont 2023 Savigny-lès-Beaune Le Village Blanc
French White
Straw-yellow colour with golden tints accompanies white flowers, pear and peach. Citrus and mineral notes appear with white peach, crunchy apple and honey. The Chardonnay is structured and fresh, with a long finish. Fruit comes from a young domaine monopole parcel. The unsulphured harvest receives its first sulphur addition after malolactic conversion, and the wine rests eleven months in oak barrels.
Ponzi 2019 Tavola Pinot Noir
American Red
Black cherry, rhubarb and clove appear with caramel, wild herbs and baking spice. Raspberry, plum and strawberry compote are also present, along with silky tannins. Fruit comes from several vineyards across the Willamette Valley. The Pinot Noir sees twenty percent new oak. Its profile is soft and plush, with red fruit and spice in the glass.
Josmeyer 2017 H Vieilles Vignes Pinot Auxerrois
French White
Mirabelle and apricot appear with mineral and saline detail. The Pinot Auxerrois is fleshy and chalky, with long bitter notes. Grapes are harvested entirely by hand and whole-cluster pressed for about seven hours. After natural settling, spontaneous fermentation takes place in a century-old foudre. The wine rests on fine lees for several months before filtration and bottling.
Forge Cellars 2020 Freese Dry Riesling
American White
White pepper, apricot and saline detail appear in a dry Riesling. Fruit comes from Freese Vineyard on the east side of Seneca Lake at Lodi, where gentle slopes sit on loam with shale. Grapes were hand harvested, sorted and whole-cluster pressed. Indigenous-yeast fermentation took place in barrel. Residual sugar is 2.5 grams per litre, with 580 cases produced.
Tenuta Mazzolino 2024 Terrazze Pinot Nero
Italian Red
This Pinot Nero comes from Lombardy. The estate calls it its village expression and describes it as the whole hill in one bottle. The wine matures for six months in stainless steel and carries 13 percent alcohol. It is produced in Italy under the Pinot Nero dell'Oltrepò Pavese DOC. The winery is located in Corvino San Quirico.
Oeno 2019 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
American Red
Cherry and cranberry appear with earthy forest-floor detail in a medium-bodied Pinot Noir. Fruit comes from a single River Front Block vineyard in the Russian River Valley, planted with vines fifteen to twenty years old. Half the grapes ferment as whole clusters with native yeast. The wine matures in neutral oak and is bottled without fining or filtration in Healdsburg, California.
Undurraga 2023 Red Field Blend
Chilean Red
Deep garnet colour with violet hues accompanies peppermint, pepper, violets, lavender, blackberry and red fruit. Raspberry and cherry appear with firm tannins, freshness, light toast and a long finish. The field blend is mainly Malbec, with Carignan, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault and País. Old dry-farmed vines grow in Maule, and the co-fermented wine spends fourteen months in mostly neutral French oak.
Crossbarn by Paul Hobbs 2018 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
American Red
Vibrant ruby colour accompanies pomegranate, Bing cherry, rhubarb, Earl Grey tea and cinnamon. Strawberry, raspberry and fennel join delicate acidity and salinity. The Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir uses about seventy-two percent estate fruit. A small portion of stems is included, and the wine spends nine months on its lees in French oak, eleven percent new. Production totalled about nineteen thousand five hundred cases.
Chateau Ste. Michelle 2013 Ethos Reserve Chardonnay
American White
Toasted oak, poached pear, butter and nutmeg accompany pear, crème brûlée and Golden Delicious apple. The Chardonnay is rich, full-bodied and textured, with peach and a long finish. Fruit comes primarily from Canoe Ridge Estate and Cold Creek vineyards. The wine spends nine months on its lees in French oak, using thirty-six percent new, sixty percent one-year-old and four percent two-year-old barrels.