2021
2021
Prats & Symington 2021 Chryseia Douro
Portuguese Red
Ripe fruit, spice and balsamic notes appear in an elegant, structured profile with a long, persistent finish. The blend is sixty-seven percent Touriga Nacional and thirty-three percent Touriga Franca. Grapes are selected from Quinta de Roriz and Quinta da Perdiz, with a contribution from Quinta da Vila Velha. Maturation lasts fifteen months in four-hundred-litre French oak barrels. Alcohol is 14.5 percent.
Domaine de Bichery 2021 Les Terres Mêlées Champagne
French Sparkling
This Blanc de Noirs is made from Pinot Noir harvested from the Les Mees and Val Ligé parcels. Red fruit, toasted pine and lemon appear with deep minerality, refined acidity and notable length. Grapes are harvested by hand. Forty percent of fermentation takes place in used Burgundy barrels and sixty percent in stainless steel. The wine is raised on full lees without fining or filtration.
Domaine Georges Glantenay 2021 Chambolle-Musigny
French Red
A vibrant mineral aroma accompanies dark fruit. The palate is broad and silky, with depth, slight roundness and finishing intensity. Three parcels contribute to the wine: Les Creux Baissants, Les Condemennes and Les Fremières. The vines average forty-five to sixty-five years old, and the soils contain clay and limestone. Pinot Noir is matured with twenty percent new oak.
Domaine du Pegau 2021 Cuvée Réservée Châteauneuf-du-Pape
French Red
Spicy aromas include ripe red fruit, cassis, toasted herbs, pepper and roasted meat. The palate is big, rich and full-bodied, with a long, lingering finish. The blend is eighty percent Grenache, six percent Syrah, four percent Mourvèdre and ten percent other permitted varieties. Maceration lasts seven to fourteen days. The press and free-run juice matures for twenty-four months in 5,000-litre oak foudres, and the wine is bottled without filtration.
Le Macchiole 2021 Paleo Bianco Toscana IGT
Italian White
The blend is seventy percent Chardonnay and thirty percent Sauvignon Blanc. Winemaking includes ten days in oak. Maturation lasts eight months: ten percent in new oak, seventy percent in second-, third- and fourth-use barrels and tonneaux, and twenty percent in stainless steel. Harvest began during the third week of August. The profile has Mediterranean character, intensity, flavour and depth, and the wine is produced in small quantities.
Génot-Boulanger 2021 Meursault Clos du Cromin
French White
Fennel appears with light reduction, while the palate is balanced, lightly spiced, and marked by sour lemon and orange rind. Depth and tenderness accompany a finish of moderate length. The Chardonnay is hand harvested, crushed and whole-bunch pressed. Fermentation takes place in oak after light settling. Maturation lasts twelve months in oak and six months in stainless steel; the wine is not filtered.
Laughing Stock 2021 Portfolio 3 L
Canadian Red
Merlot accounts for half of the blend; the balance is twenty-nine percent Cabernet Sauvignon, twelve percent Cabernet Franc, five percent Malbec and four percent Petit Verdot. Cassis and blueberry appear with cedar box and fresh tobacco. Red fruit, cocoa powder, smoked cherry and tobacco leaf are also present. The wine has structure, texture and a long spicy finish.
Domaine Faiveley 2021 Meursault
French White
Chardonnay grows on limestone, marl and clay soils with east and southeast exposures. Brilliant pale-yellow colour accompanies white and yellow fruit with light woody notes. The palate is round and full, with vanilla and toast and a slightly acidic finish. The wine spends fourteen months in French oak barrels, less than one third new, with regular stirring. The vineyards are farmed organically.
Tenuta Luce 2021 Luce Toscana IGT
Italian Red
Intense ruby-red colour accompanies dark fruit, wild blackberry and mulberry, with sweet violet, blossoms and mixed spice. The palate is broad, with silk-smooth tannins, balance and a long spice-infused finish. Merlot and Sangiovese form the blend. Fermentation takes place in concrete for twelve days, with twenty-two days of skin maceration. Ageing lasts twenty-four months in eighty percent new and twenty percent once-used barriques.
Jurij Fiore & Figlia 2021 PuntodiVista Lamole Chianti Classico
Italian Red
Fifty-year-old Sangiovese grows at a density of ten thousand bush-trained vines per hectare and is co-fermented with a small share of local varieties. Eucalyptus, sandalwood, white pepper and cinnamon are present. Broad, grainy tannins accompany a juicy blood-orange note. The wine is powerful, sinewy and midweight, and comes from the Chianti Classico area of Lamole.
Joseph Phelps 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
American Red
Ripe currant, tobacco, leather, pencil shavings and dark chocolate are joined by dark plum, blackberry and savoury spice. The full-bodied wine is rich, fleshy, dense and layered, with acid structure and depth. The blend is ninety-two percent Cabernet Sauvignon, four percent Petit Verdot, two percent Cabernet Franc, one percent Merlot and one percent Malbec. It matured for sixteen months in new and used French and American oak barrels.
Primitivo Collantes 2021 Socaire Palomino Fino
Spanish White
Golden straw colour accompanies slate, flowers, ripe white fruit and lactic notes. The palate is broad and fresh, with mint and a long finish. Palomino Fino grows in albariza soils near Chiclana de la Frontera. The dry, unfortified white matures for about twenty-four months in old Fino barrels that remain topped, allowing a light influence from flor.
Villota 2021 Selvanevada Rioja Blanco
Spanish White
Pale gold colour accompanies pineapple, lemon, floral notes, spice and vanilla. The blend has a creamy, rich texture, with minerality, dried apricot and hazelnut. Viura, Garnacha Blanca, Malvasia and Tempranillo Blanco form the cuvée. Maturation lasts six months in French oak on the lees. The fruit comes from Rioja Alavesa within the Rioja denomination in Spain.
Riecine 2021 Chianti Classico
Italian Red
Pale purple colour accompanies red and purple florals, red cherry, plum, raspberry, pomegranate, orange peel, herbs, liquorice and sweet spice. The palate is agile and lightly textured, with complex minerality, powdery tannins and lively acidity. Sangiovese comes from high-altitude vineyards in Gaiole. It ferments spontaneously with indigenous yeast in concrete, then matures in unlined concrete and large untoasted oak.
Siduri 2021 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir
American Red
Red plum, black cherry and violet appear in the aromatics. Mulberry, blood orange, wet stone and cola are present on the palate. Fruit comes from Parsons’, Bloomfield, Dutton-Perry Ranch and Barbieri vineyards. Some sections ferment as whole clusters. Maturation lasts ten months in French oak, thirty percent new. Freshness, acidity and soft tannins are also present.
Mandirola 1913 2021 Tantèi Timorasso Riserva
Italian White
Jasmine, gardenia, honeysuckle and orange blossom accompany fresh and baked heirloom apples and pears. The profile is lush, with honeycomb, stone fruit, bitter orange marmalade, crunchy acidity and stony minerality. Timorasso comes from a vineyard more than ninety years old. Fermentation starts in concrete, finishes in wood, then returns to concrete before ageing on lees and in bottle.
Armand Heitz 2021 Bourgogne Rouge
French Red
Vivid violet colour accompanies red and black fruit. The profile is delicate, with orange zest on the finish. Wild strawberry, raspberry, wax, crushed stone and light smoke are also present, together with fine, light tannins and a juicy core. Half the fruit ferments as whole clusters with native yeast, and maturation lasts eight months. The vines grow on silty clay over marl.
Luis Seabra 2021 Mono A Alfrocheiro
Portuguese Red
Alfrocheiro comes from sustainably grown vines in granitic soils with quartz. The vineyard lies in Dão, in the foothills of the Serra da Estrela mountain range. Forty percent whole clusters ferment with indigenous yeast in a wooden vat, followed by a twenty-six-day maceration and fourteen months in Eastern European oak. The wine is bottled directly from barrel without fining or filtering. Aromatic character and gentle tannins are also present.
Suvla 2021 Reserve Karasakız
Turkish Red
Red cherry, cranberry, dried rose petals and cloves accompany a clear, concentrated body with earthy and spicy detail. Leather, fine tannins and oak are also present, and the finish is long. The indigenous Karasakız grape comes from traditional vineyards on the Gallipoli Peninsula, with selected parcels used for the wine. Maturation lasts fifteen months in oak barrels, and alcohol is thirteen and a half percent.
Domaine Gérard Raphet 2021 Les Grands Champs Bourgogne Rouge
French Red
Autumn leaves, cinnamon, cloves and red berries accompany pomegranate, blood orange and red cherry. Pinot Noir comes from vines more than forty years old rooted in red clay and silt. Grapes are harvested by hand and fermented with indigenous yeast in tank. Maturation lasts eighteen months in older French oak, and the wine is bottled without fining or filtration.
Poderi Colla 2021 Pietro Colla Alta Langa Extra Brut
Italian Sparkling
A complex, rich and persistent bouquet brings bread crust, white flowers and aromatic herbs. The palate is dry and vinous, with substantial, elegant structure, full body and acidity. The blend is 90 percent Pinot Noir and 10 percent Nebbiolo. Fermentation and ageing take place in bottle for at least two years. Refilling uses the same wine without liqueur d'expédition.
Artemis Karamolegos 2021 Santorini 34 Assyrtiko
Greek White
Citrus and stone fruit accompany toast, nutmeg, mineral and smoky notes. The Assyrtiko comes from ancestral vines more than 120 years old in Pyrgos, Exo Gonia, Fira, Akrotiri and Megalochori. Fermentation and ageing use stainless steel, old barrels, cement and clay. The wine spends at least one year in the cellar and carries 14 percent alcohol.
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.
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.
Weingut Falkenstein 2021 Sauvignon Blanc Vinschgau
Italian White
Rich straw-yellow colour is joined by herbal notes, citrus, lemon and salt, along with a long finish. The Sauvignon Blanc spends ten months in large wooden barrels and receives another seven months in bottle. It carries 13.5 percent alcohol and 0.6 grams per litre residual sugar. The wine comes from Vinschgau in Alto Adige, Italy.
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.
Domaine Marcel Richaud 2021 Cairanne Blanc
French White
White flowers, nectarine, orange peel and honey appear in a velvety white. White-fruit flavours, salinity and freshness accompany a rich profile. The blend includes Clairette Blanche, Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Viognier, Bourboulenc, Marsanne and Vermentino. Grapes are hand harvested, and the farming is organic. Most fermentation and ageing take place in concrete, with a smaller portion using 600-litre oak vessels.
1006 Vins de Loire 2021 Celeste Chenin Blanc
French White
Chenin from a single parcel of twenty-five-year-old vines grows on sandstone and puddingstone soils in Anjou. The plot was in its second year of conversion to organic farming. Grapes are hand harvested and pressed slowly into French oak, where fermentation begins with natural yeast. The wine spends seventeen months in second-fill French oak barrels and is made without animal products.
Liber Estates 2021 Rebil Pinot Noir
Canadian Red
Light colour accompanies intense, spicy and savoury flavours with branchy forest-floor notes. Juicy sweet black cherry, floral detail, cinnamon and subtle tight-grained oak are also present. The Pinot Noir grows near the west-facing bank of the Similkameen River in Cawston. Whole berries ferment at cool temperatures, followed by ten months in French oak. Alcohol is 13.8 percent.
Tesselaarsdal 2021 Chardonnay
South African White
Citrus blossom, sweet lemongrass and lees spice accompany fine, dusty minerality. The Chardonnay has a compact, radiant profile and a long, gentle palate that is expressive, classical and restrained. Fruit comes from unirrigated vines in the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge. Six months of ageing uses fifty-eight percent old French oak, twenty-four percent amphorae and eighteen percent stainless steel. Alcohol is 12.75 percent.