2020
2020
Martin Ray 2020 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
American White
Juicy citrus, fresh pear, white flowers and apple skin appear with a touch of minerality. Oak is well integrated, and vanilla bean marks the finish. The Chardonnay comes from Cartan Vineyard and Mill Station Vineyard at Dutton Ranch. Fermentation used both selected and native yeasts, while twenty-five percent new French oak was used. The southern sites have cool day-to-night temperature shifts, while the northern sites are at higher elevations.
Wine Art Estate 2020 Techni Alipias Red
Greek Red
Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for seventy percent of the blend and Agiorgitiko thirty percent. The varieties were vinified separately after a short cold soak, then fermented in stainless steel with regular pump-overs. Following malolactic conversion, the wine matured for twelve months in French oak, one third new. Sour cherries and sweet spices accompany blackberry, pepper, leather and a vegetal note. The palate has pronounced acidity, fleshy tannins and a persistent finish.
Enate 2020 Crianza Tempranillo Cabernet Sauvignon
Spanish Red
The colour is dark Bordeaux red with bluish reflections. Tempranillo forms seventy percent of the blend, with thirty percent Cabernet Sauvignon. Red fruit, spice and smoke accompany coffee, chocolate, mineral and caramel notes. The wine spent nine months in oak. Its structure is smooth and fleshy, with balanced tannins. A long finish includes fine toasted notes. The wine comes from Somontano in Aragón.
Petit Vega 2020 8 Meses Ribera del Duero
Spanish Red
Dark cherry colour introduces blackberry, liquorice, spice and toast. The palate is full and structured, with soft tannins and a persistent finish. Tempranillo is hand harvested from roughly thirty-year-old vines at about 900 metres. Fermentation uses large oak vats, stainless steel and concrete, followed by eight months in French and American oak. The dry wine carries 14 percent alcohol.
Château de Rhodes 2020 Gaillac Rouge
French Red
Black fruit and spice are present in a rich, dense profile. Wood ageing and softened tannins are also recorded. The blend combines Braucol, Duras, Syrah and Prunelard in proportions of forty-one, thirty, twenty-one and eight percent. The wine is dry, organically produced and identified as natural, with fourteen and a half percent alcohol. Residual sugar is three point three grams per litre.
Juan Carrau 2020 Gran Reserva Petit Manseng
Uruguayan White
Intense golden colour shows yellow tones, with apricot, honey and citrus aromas. The white has good structure, freshness and acidity. It is made entirely from Petit Manseng grown at Las Violetas in Canelones. Selected bunches are harvested by hand, then destemmed and crushed. Fermentation takes place in three-hundred-litre French oak barrels, followed by ten months in the same barrels with bâtonnage.
Sébastien Morin 2020 Arcane
French Red
Deep fruit and fine tannins shape the profile. Gamay comes from old vines on sandy granitic soils near the cellar in Saint-Étienne-des-Oullières. Seventy percent of the fruit is destemmed and layered with whole bunches for fermentation. The vineyard is farmed organically without certification. Fermentation is spontaneous, and the wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered, with no additives.
Il Palazzo 2020 Chianti Riserva
Italian Red
Ruby-purple colour accompanies red and black fruit, including currant, cassis, sour cherry and black-cherry syrup. Peach skin appears with rhubarb root, cinchona and liquorice. The profile includes delicate tannins, freshness and balance. The blend combines ninety percent Sangiovese with five percent Canaiolo and five percent Colorino. Fermentation takes place at controlled temperature; maturation uses stainless steel and large oak.
Clos du Tue-Boeuf 2020 Le Petit Buisson
French White
Made from Sauvignon Blanc, the wine shows ripe apple, fresh herbs, citrus and flint. It is medium-bodied and refreshing, with bright acidity, a delicate texture and a long finish. Grapes are hand harvested and gently pressed. Fermentation occurs in neutral vessels with wild yeast, followed by six months on the lees in Burgundy barriques. It is bottled without fining or filtration.
Pierre-Olivier Bonhomme 2020 Vercheny Rouge
French Red
The release is made entirely from Pinot Noir grown in the Cheverny area on clay-and-sand soils. The clay is associated with concentration and depth, while the sandy ground is associated with fruit character. The harvest yielded thirty-five hectolitres per hectare. Because the blend contains no Gamay, the wine is presented as Vin de France rather than under the Cheverny appellation.
Clos Berenguer 2020 Clos de Tafall Priorat
Spanish Red
Grenache, Cariñena, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon form the red blend, with fruit drawn from estate vineyards around El Molar. Ripe fruit appears with balsamic detail, aromatic herbs and light toast. Smoke, stone and iron accompany strawberry preserves, red liquorice, violet and cured tobacco. The palate has volume and balance, with chalky tannins providing weight and focus. The finish is long and persistent.
Domaine Zind-Humbrecht 2020 Muscat Turckheim
French White
Muscat d’Alsace accounts for eighty-five percent of the blend, with fifteen percent Muscat Ottonel. The thirty-seven-year-old vines grow on gravelly silt and loam at the edge of Herrenweg de Turckheim, where the microclimate is warm. Fermentation was quick and finished bone dry. Pale yellow-green colour accompanies delicate floral aromas, an airy texture and soft velvet on the palate. The profile has tannic structure and a long finish.
Les Vins Contés 2020 Pow Blop Wizz Pétillant Rosé
French Sparkling
Two days of skin contact in stainless steel precede fifteen days of fermentation. The wine is bottled while sugar and yeast remain, then finished without filtration, fining or added sulphur. Grenadine, cherry and wild-strawberry notes accompany soft bubbles and fresh acidity. The colour recalls acerola, while the finish carries a juicy, fruit-driven character. Alcohol is 11%.
Okanagan Crush Pad 2020 Free Form Riesling
Canadian White
Organic Riesling from Garnet Valley Ranch is whole-bunch pressed and fermented in stainless steel with natural yeast. Granny Smith apple, tropical citrus and mandarin pith appear in a delicate, refreshing profile. A creamsicle texture accompanies fine Okanagan tension and length. The wine is identified as natural, with no added sulphites and less than ten milligrams per litre of total sulphites.
Esporão 2020 Colheita Branco
Portuguese White
Antão Vaz, Viosinho and Alvarinho are grown in an organically certified vineyard on clay-loam soils derived from schist. Part of the wine ferments in concrete tulip tanks before four months on fine lees. Straw colour with green tones introduces citrus, orange blossom, grapefruit and papaya. The palate is balanced and vibrant, with an intense body and a persistent finish.
Medici Ermete 2020 Phermento Lambrusco di Sorbara
Italian Sparkling
Lambrusco di Sorbara is refermented in the bottle. The wine is lightly sparkling and dry. Red berry, violet, citrus and bread-dough aromas accompany raspberry, grapefruit and ginger, with crisp acidity. The colour is bright pink and the bubbles are fine and persistent. The fruit comes from sandy soils around Soliera in Modena, and the wine is finished with a crown cap.
Colombera & Garella 2020 Cascina Cottignano Bramaterra
Italian Red
Nebbiolo forms eighty percent of the blend, with Croatina and Vespolina at ten percent each. The Cottignano parcel lies at 350 metres in Masserano, on acidic volcanic porphyritic sand. The organically farmed vines are twenty to fifty years old. Native-yeast fermentation follows destemming and soft crushing, with up to forty days on skins. The blend rests six months in concrete, then two years in an older large oak cask.
Sage Hills 2020 Ancestral Method Pinot Gris
Canadian Sparkling
Estate-grown Pinot Gris comes from thirteen-year-old vines in sandy clay loam. Half the fruit was whole-cluster direct pressed, while half was destemmed; fermentation took place in stainless steel. Bottled during primary fermentation, the wine spent twelve months on lees before hand disgorgement, with no dosage or added sulphites. Bright red fruit, cherry, raspberry and grapefruit appear in a dry sparkling profile.
Joseph Drouhin 2020 Saint-Véran
French White
Slow pressing excludes juice from the final pressings, and fermentation uses neither artificial yeasts nor enzymes. Ageing takes place in stainless-steel vats for six to eight months. Golden colour and green reflections accompany ripe Chardonnay, musk, white flowers and peach, with a round palate and refreshing character. The vineyards occupy Jurassic limestone at Burgundy's southern end, just north of Beaujolais.
Winery Zodi 2020 Kvishkhuri Amber
Georgian White
Honey and field flowers mark the aromas of this full-skin-contact amber wine. Kvishkhuri comes from sixty-year-old vines in a one-hectare vineyard. Skin contact lasts one month, and the wine ages for twenty months in qvevri. The producer works in Imereti in western Georgia, using minimal-intervention methods that add or remove nothing beyond a small sulphur addition before bottling. The estate seeks to preserve forgotten local grape varieties.
Planeta 2020 Terebinto Grillo
Italian White
Straw-yellow in colour, this Grillo offers white melon, loquat, apricot, pineapple and beeswax. The palate is fresh and vibrant, with 13.5 percent alcohol. The grapes come from Gurra vineyard at Menfi in Sicily. Fermentation and maturation take place in stainless steel. The vines grow on clay and limestone, and harvesting occurs during the first week of September. The wine is made entirely from Grillo.
Markus Altenburger 2020 Blaufränkisch Vom Kalk
Austrian Red
Ruby-garnet colour with violet reflections accompanies hibiscus, red berries and fresh cherries. Candied violet and lemon are present, with fine tannin and a saline finish. Blaufränkisch grows on clay and limestone. The wine ferments spontaneously, matures for almost a year in large neutral wooden casks, and is bottled without technical or chemical aids. It contains twelve percent alcohol.
Maison Noir 2020 O.P.P. Pinot Gris
American White
Apples, pears and peaches lead the fresh profile. Fruit is sourced from several Willamette Valley vineyards and combines grapes from multiple appellations, giving the wine breadth, complexity and several layers. This is an Oregon white made from Pinot Gris, with thirteen-point-six percent alcohol. The bottle is finished with a screw-cap closure. The winery was founded by sommelier Andre Hueston Mack, a former Per Se and French Laundry sommelier.
Bernard Baudry 2020 Chinon Blanc Le Domaine
French White
Chenin provides the base for this Loire white. Bright straw with a watery hue, it offers Jonathan apple, pear, honeysuckle, quince and light spicy musk. The palate brings ripe pear and baked apple with good weight and a soft, rich texture. Further quince and spice are present. The finish is dry and fresh, with a medium-to-long spicy aftertaste.
Rigour & Whimsy 2020 Thus Spoke Veruca
Canadian Red
Syrah and Viognier were co-fermented from fruit harvested on October 7 in Oliver, British Columbia. Syrah accounts for eighty-five percent of the blend and Viognier fifteen percent. Maturation lasted nine months in used French oak puncheons, and bottling took place the following August. The wine contains 3.39 grams per litre of residual sugar, with pH 3.82 and 6.375 grams per litre of acidity.
Markovitis 2020 Xinomavro Naoussa
Greek Red
Sun-dried tomato, olive, cherry, strawberry, plum, lavender, sweet spices, dried fruit and leather form the profile. The wine is dry and balanced, with firm tannins and a long aftertaste. Made entirely from Xinomavro, it comes from organically farmed forty-year-old vines on clay-limestone soils with flint at 250 metres. The grapes are hand-harvested, wild-fermented and aged twelve months in used barrels.
Pierre-Olivier Bonhomme 2020 Meslier Vin de France
French White
Pear, yellow flowers and caramel appear in the aromatics. The palate is pure and full, with transparent fruit extract, fine acidity, gentle bitterness and mineral character. Meslier Saint-François provides the full composition from vines averaging fifty-two years old on clay-limestone soils. Natural fermentation lasts forty-five days in fibre tanks. Maturation lasts five months in used 228-litre barrels. The wine is bottled unfiltered.
Weingut Malat 2020 RAW Gelber Muskateller Orange Wine
Austrian White
Cloudy orange in colour, the wine combines ripe peach, apricot, grapefruit, white flowers, smoke and nutmeg. It is dry and piquant, with crisp acidity, tart yellow fruit and a creamy, yeasty texture. Gelber Muskateller is fermented on its skins, matured for six months in large old wooden casks and bottled unfiltered, with no sulphur added. Alcohol is ten percent.
Plume 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley
American Red
Cassis, vanilla, plum, liquorice, mocha, pencil shavings and tobacco form the aromatic profile. The palate has supple weight and a smooth texture, with freshness. Spiced cocoa appears on the finish. This Cabernet Sauvignon comes from Alexander Valley in California. Plume is a Stewart family project developed after the family expanded its wine work from the Okanagan Valley into California.
Château d’Armajan des Ormes 2020 Sauternes 375 mL
French Dessert
Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle form the blend. Mango, dried apricot, honeyed yuzu, vanillin and candied ginger appear with luscious sweetness and citrus acidity. Tea leaf and cinnamon are present on the finish. The fruit is harvested in five vineyard passes, and the wine matures for twenty-four months in barrel. It contains fourteen percent alcohol.