2019
2019
Orsi Vigneto San Vito 2019 Barbera Martignone
Italian Red
Barbera grows in heavy clay over limestone under certified biodynamic farming. Maceration lasts one month. Fermentation and twelve months of ageing take place in botti, and the wine is bottled without fining or filtration. Sulphur use varies with the sanitary condition of the grapes; some years receive none, while other years see a small addition at harvest or bottling.
Wynns Coonawarra Estate 2019 Black Label Old Vines Shiraz
Australian Red
Intense ruby colour with a youthful purple hue accompanies cranberry, redcurrant and blackcurrant. The medium-bodied profile includes crunchy dark berries, black pepper, cinnamon, fine tannins and lively acidity. The wine is made entirely from Coonawarra Shiraz. Maturation lasts thirteen months in new and seasoned French oak hogsheads, vats and barriques. The oldest contributing sites include the Undoolya vineyard planted in 1894. Alcohol is 13.4 percent.
Crossbarn by Paul Hobbs 2019 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
American White
Green apple, white peach and citrus blossom aromas accompany pear, kumquat and lime zest. The palate has brisk acidity, minerality and a vibrant finish. Baker's yeast and crushed stone are also present. The wine is medium-bodied and silky, with crisp fruit. Chardonnay comes from the Sonoma Coast in California. The wine is unoaked, and production totalled sixteen thousand cases.
Bordertown 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon
Canadian Red
Dark red in colour, with black fruit, blackcurrant, dark cherry, herbs, spice, stewed plum, mint, pepper and leather. The texture is firm, with fresh acidity and well-managed tannins. Estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignon comes from an east-facing Osoyoos vineyard with gravel, light-coloured sand and heavy soil. Fermentation lasts twenty-four days. Natural malolactic fermentation takes place in French oak, and maturation lasts twelve to eighteen months in French oak.
Catherine & Pierre Breton 2019 Nuits d’Ivresse Bourgueil
French Red
Smoky black fruit, spice and wild bramble accompany a broad, structured profile with smooth tannins. Cabernet Franc is hand-harvested, destemmed and fermented for three weeks with native yeast. Malolactic fermentation and ageing take place in used barrels. No sulfur is added during vinification. The vines are farmed organically and biodynamically, and the wine contains thirteen and a half percent alcohol.
Pheasant’s Tears 2019 Poliphonia
Georgian Red
This light-bodied red brings together more than one hundred and seventeen indigenous Georgian grape varieties from the main vineyard in Sighnaghi, Kakheti. White, yellow, pink, golden, red and black grapes are fermented and aged in qvevri, followed by further time in stainless steel. The wine is medium-bodied, with high acidity, and contains twelve and a half percent alcohol.
Luis Seabra 2019 Xisto Ilimitado Tinto
Portuguese Red
Balsamic notes, fresh red fruit, local scrub and spice accompany flint and broken-stone mineral character. The palate is dense and fresh, with fine tannins, acidity, red cherry and pomegranate. Two vineyards were harvested separately, and sixty percent of the fruit was vinified as whole bunches in old wooden Port vats. Maceration lasted twenty-nine days, followed by eighteen months of ageing.
Domaine Buronfosse 2019 L’Hôpital Trousseau Côtes du Jura
French Red
This red is made from Trousseau under the Côtes du Jura appellation. The estate is located in the Combe de Rotalier and covers about five hectares. Its vineyard has been farmed organically, while cellar work follows a low-intervention approach with minimal technical intervention and few oenological products. Peggy and Jean-Pascal Buronfosse began producing wine there at the turn of the millennium.
Domaine Pierre Gaillard 2019 Saint-Péray Blanc
French White
Exotic and tropical fruit aromas accompany ripe peach, honeysuckle and orange blossom. The broad, juicy palate has phenolic grip, while spice and mineral notes appear in the finish. This dry white combines equal parts Marsanne and Roussanne. It carries 13.5 percent alcohol and comes from the Saint-Péray appellation in the Rhône. The profile also includes honeyed, candied-fruit and acacia notes.
Stolpman Vineyards 2019 So Fresh Crunchy Roastie
American Red
Blackberry, strawberry and blueberry appear with cherry candy and floral perfume. The palate is light to medium-bodied, bright and fresh, with a soft frame and juicy finish. This red combines ninety-five percent Syrah with five percent Viognier. Winemaking uses whole berries and whole clusters for carbonic fermentation, with ageing in large neutral vats. The vineyard is farmed organically, and alcohol is 12.5 percent.
Stolpman Vineyards 2019 So Fresh Love You Bunches Sangiovese
American Red
Cherry sour candy and tart berry appear with crunchy red fruit and zippy tannins. The wine is darker and more giving than the preceding vintage, with high acidity and 12.8 percent alcohol. Organically farmed Sangiovese from Ballard Canyon undergoes carbonic maceration. Raspberry, crushed stone and freshness are also present in the profile, together with light herbs.
Caparsa 2019 Bianco di Caparsino Toscana IGT
Italian White
Trebbiano and Malvasia form this still white. The fruit was harvested in late September, after the estate picked Sangiovese for its traditional-method sparkling base. Lemon rind and candle wax define the profile. The wine was made in Tuscany; no following edition was produced because the next season was considered too hot to make a balanced white.
Bodet-Herold 2019 Physis Crémant de Loire Brut Nature
French Sparkling
Chenin comes from a southeast-facing site with light, well-draining Turonian chalk and resurfacing limestone; Grolleau grows on heavier clay-rich marl. Whole clusters were pressed at low pressure, with first-press and end-of-press juice separated. Ambient yeasts drove fermentation, malolactic conversion was blocked, and the wine rested briefly in stainless steel. Bottling took place in spring, followed by thirty months on lattes and a low dosage.
Château Haut-Cadet 2019 Saint-Émilion Grand Cru
French Red
This is a still red wine. Fruit is joined by spice, toast and grilled notes. The wine has good volume and supple tannins. Grapes were harvested by hand, and vinification used concrete and stainless-steel tanks. Merlot accounts for eighty-five percent of the planting, with fourteen percent Cabernet Franc. Ageing took place in tank, and production totalled fifty-five thousand bottles.
Château Suduiraut 2019 Le Blanc Sec de Suduiraut Bordeaux Blanc
French White
Bright light-yellow colour shows green reflections. Floral notes, white fruit and lemon are joined by delicate red fruit after aeration. The palate is round, with pear, peach and Sauvignon Blanc fruit, while the finish brings citrus zest and minerality. The blend is fifty-two percent Semillon and forty-eight percent Sauvignon Blanc. Harvest ran from September 4 to 16. Ageing lasted six months: seventy-five percent in vats and twenty-five percent in barrels.
Pierre-Olivier Bonhomme 2019 Tuffeau Chenin
French White
Chenin grows on white chalk beneath shallow topsoil. The profile combines ripeness with the grape’s acidity, while minerality and salinity are present. Élevage lasts about a year in demi-muids, followed by another year of bottle ageing. The fruit comes from an organic grower in Vouvray, and whole clusters are pressed before fermentation in neutral oak.
Maison En Belles Lies 2019 Beaujolais-Villages
French Red
Gamay comes from a four-hectare parcel in Quincié-en-Beaujolais, where the soils include schist, basalt, granite and quartzite. Many vines are more than a century old. Whole clusters ferment in open wooden vats with light foot treading and no pump-overs. The wine spends eighteen months in barrel and has ripe fruit, fresh acidity and concentrated character.
Laurence et Rémi Dufaitre 2019 Côte de Brouilly
French Red
Deep red fruit appears in a round, juicy profile with energy and complexity. A faint shimmer of tannin is present in the finish without grain. The Gamay comes from seventy-year-old vines on blue volcanic rock. Carbonic maceration and concrete are used, with no sulphur added and no filtration. Fresh acidity is also present, and the wine contains thirteen percent alcohol.
Broc Cellars 2019 KouKou Cabernet Franc
American Red
Cabernet Franc comes from Crown Point Vineyard in Happy Canyon. The site has serpentine loam and clay-loam soils, with pronounced shifts between daytime and nighttime temperatures. Whole clusters are placed in concrete, foot crushed and gently pumped over. The wine is pressed back into concrete for ten months of ageing before bottling. It contains twelve percent alcohol and comes from Santa Barbara County.
Broc Cellars 2019 Amore Bianco Tocai Friulano
American White
Tocai Friulano comes from Fox Hill Vineyard in Mendocino and is grown organically. Native yeasts carry out fermentation, no sulphur is added, and the wine is left unfiltered. The fermented juice is pumped off the skins, which are pressed in a basket press. The wine is then returned to sandstone jars for ageing. Production totalled forty-two cases.
Matteo Correggia 2019 La Val dei Preti Roero Arneis Riserva DOCG
Italian White
Golden yellow colour accompanies resin, acacia honey, hay, balsamic and mineral notes, with a hydrocarbon detail. The palate is fresh, savoury and persistent, with a long mineral finish. Made entirely from Arneis, seventy percent of the lot is softly pressed in stainless steel and thirty percent is skin-macerated. The wine then spends six months in stainless steel and six years in bottle.
Mixtura 2019 MIX Tinto Vino de Mesa
Spanish Red
Wild red fruit, lilac, Atlantic woodland, pepper, liquorice and a light smoky note appear in a medium-bodied red with silky texture, polished tannins and balanced acidity. The finish is savoury, slightly saline and persistent. Mencía, Caíño, Brancellao and Sousón ferment separately with indigenous yeasts in open vats, followed by twelve months in old French oak before the blend completes malolactic fermentation.
Château Lamery 2019 Sémillant Vin de France
French White
Fruit, light oxidative notes, acidity and extraction shape this dry Sémillon. Grapes are harvested by hand from old vines and fermented in small concrete vats without added sulphur. The wine spends nine months on its lees in old oak, without topping, racking, fining or filtration, then four months in concrete for blending. The vineyard is farmed organically and biodynamically, and the wine is classified as natural.
Il Roccolo di Monticelli 2019 Di Rado Bianco
Italian White
Golden colour carries citrus aromas, a light yeasty note, fine bitters and gentle astringency. Garganega and Trebbiano di Soave come from old vines established in the nineteen-seventies on a limestone hill with exposed rock. The grapes are harvested by hand and fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts. Extended skin maceration is followed by nine months in stainless steel and at least two years in bottle, without filtration or added sulphur.
eStCru 2019 Staring at the Sun Carignan Alexander Valley
American Red
Mouth-coating, chalky tannins accompany ripe cherry, vanilla, beetroot and rhubarb. Gamey and earthy aromas and flavours are present. Venison, soy sauce, white pepper, clove and sweet tobacco are also present. Acidity is high. The wine spent twelve months in French oak. Residual sugar is 0.30 percent. The wine comes from Alexander Valley in Sonoma County and is made from Carignan.
Podere Pradarolo 2019 Libens Rosso Assoluto
Italian Red
Fruit and leather notes appear with dried plum and a volatile finish. The texture is soft, while the tannins are firm. Croatina and Termarina are grown near Parma. Fermentation is spontaneous, and skin maceration lasts forty-five days. Maturation takes place in barrels. The wine is bottled without filtration and without added sulphur, and the total sulphite level is zero.
Zorah 2019 Voskì White Wine
Armenian White
Light straw colour is present. Asian pear, white flowers, unripe apple, pastry cream and grapefruit appear with a silky texture and bright acidity. The blend is equal parts Voskèat and Garandmak. Ungrafted vines between thirty and forty years old grow at about 1,400 metres on sandy limestone soils with stones. Fermentation uses natural yeasts in concrete, and maturation continues for eleven months in concrete and six months in bottle.
Colombera & Garella 2019 Cavazucchi Rosso
Italian Red
The vineyard covers 0.7 hectares on a south-west-facing slope at 350 metres in the La Mesola cru. Its yellow volcanic sand is high in porphyry. The blend is eighty percent Nebbiolo, ten percent Croatina and ten percent Vespolina. Fermentation is spontaneous with native yeasts in large cement tanks for ten days. Maturation lasts two years in old oak barrels, one year in cement tanks and one year in bottle.
Domaine Rijckaert 2019 Les Sarres Savagnin Côtes du Jura
French White
Savagnin comes from the Les Sarres site at Buvilly, where the vines face east on grey marl with gryphaea from the lower Bajocian, Lias and Triassic. The wine has body and depth. Vineyard and cellar work includes restricted yields, hand harvesting, slow pressing, indigenous yeasts and long maturation. This Jura terroir is well suited to Savagnin.
Château Lafleur du Roy 2019 Pomerol
French Red
Merlot forms eighty-five percent of the blend, with ten percent Cabernet Franc and five percent Cabernet Sauvignon. Red berries, raspberry, cassis, truffle, liquorice, sweet spice, vanilla, nutmeg, tobacco, cocoa, black cherry and mineral notes are present. The texture is velvety and the tannins are melted. Hand-harvested fruit ferments in temperature-controlled stainless steel before fifteen to eighteen months in French oak, one-third new.