Wine
Wine
Harvey & Harriet 2022 White Blend San Luis Obispo County
American White
Tangerine, pineapple and honeydew accompany a creamy texture and bright acidity. The blend is fifty percent Chardonnay, eighteen percent Chenin Blanc, fourteen percent Grüner Veltliner, ten percent Albariño and eight percent Viognier. Mineral, spice and lees notes are also present, and the finish shows understated oak. The wine comes from San Luis Obispo County on California’s Central Coast.
Nino Franco 2022 Nodi Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG
Italian Sparkling
Bright straw colour and fine, persistent mousse accompany white pepper, nutmeg, candied fruit and floral notes. The palate has mouth-filling mousse, acidity and a lingering finish. Glera comes from old vines in Valdobbiadene, including century-old material and selected old clones. Wisteria, rose, pear, gooseberry and lime are also present, alongside peach and white fruit. Alcohol is eleven and a half percent.
Emandare Vineyard 2023 Wolff Vineyard Pinot Noir
Canadian Red
Red cherry, cranberry, wild rose, mushroom, subtle apple and dusty minerality shape the profile. The palate has a clean texture. Pinot Noir comes from thirty-five-year-old vines and is fermented and aged in neutral French oak. Bottling takes place without fining or filtration. Cellar work follows a minimal-intervention approach. The old-vine site is in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.
Emandare Vineyard 2022 Blanc de Blancs Traditional Method
Canadian Sparkling
Green apple, citrus and brioche accompany a crisp palate. Chardonnay forms the base, with a small amount of Gewürztraminer used to enhance the aroma. The sparkling wine is made by the traditional method and spends sixteen months on its lees before disgorgement. The Chardonnay comes from thirty-five-year-old vines. Tiny, creamy bubbles accompany pear and floral notes. Production totals sixty cases.
Ramos Pinto 2018 Late Bottled Vintage Port
Portuguese Fortified
Concentrated ruby colour, nearly opaque at the centre, accompanies ripe cherry, raspberry, black plum, eucalyptus and cedar. Cherry, plum, sweet red berries and bergamot sit with meaty, silky tannins. The blend contains Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Barroca, Sousão, Tinto Cão and Tinta Roriz. Grapes are foot-crushed in lagares, and the wine ages in large casks. It is bottled without filtration or hot and cold treatment.
Baia’s Wine 2021 Krakhuna Imereti
Georgian White
Apricot, persimmon, citrus peel and herbal notes accompany stone fruit, honey and spice. The wine is full-bodied, with tannin and a long, dry finish. Krakhuna is the sole grape. Vines grow at three hundred twenty-four metres on free-draining alluvial soils. Fermentation takes place in qvevri with wild yeast, and the wine is unfiltered and low in sulphites.
Fairview Cellars 2016 The Bear Reserve Meritage Golden Mile Bench
Canadian Red
Red and black berries, currant, tobacco, bell pepper, herbs and anise define the profile. Integrated tannins, medium acidity and a long, clean, balanced finish are present. The blend combines Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, with Cabernet Sauvignon making up at least half. The wine comes from Golden Mile Bench in British Columbia.
Casale del Giglio 2021 Faro della Guardia Biancolella Lazio IGT
Italian White
Pale yellow colour with a green tint accompanies ripe golden peach, fresh apricot and floral perfume. The palate is flinty and fresh, with citrus on a lingering fruity finish. Biancolella grows on Ponza at the base of a sea cliff near the island’s lighthouse. The wine remains on its lees for seven to eight months before bottling. The site has volcanic and calcareous soils.
Le Coste 2024 Litrozzo Rosato 1 L
Italian Rosé
Deep rosé colour accompanies citrus and floral aromas. The palate is fresh, while the finish is persistent and fragrant with the aromatic character of Aleatico. The blend is ninety percent Aleatico and ten percent Merlot. Vines average thirty years on loose volcanic soil at three hundred metres. After a short maceration in the press, direct-pressed juice ferments in stainless steel. The wine matures five months in tank and seven months in bottle.
Soalheiro 2023 Primeiras Vinhas Alvarinho Monção e Melgaço
Portuguese White
Bright lemon to golden-yellow colour accompanies ripe fruit, spice and buttery notes. This dry Alvarinho has a full body with lively acidity. Grapes from the first vineyard planted in the mid-seventies and selected parcels more than thirty years old are harvested by hand. Most fermentation occurs in stainless steel, with fifteen percent in used oak vessels. The wine remains on its lees with bâtonnage and ages for six months.
Olivier Rivière 2024 Plaisir Simple Côtes de Bourg
French Red
Cherry, cassis and ripe red fruit accompany a supple, velvety texture, fine tannins, freshness and a lightly mineral finish. The blend combines Merlot and Malbec. Grapes are harvested by hand and sorted twice. Parcel selections undergo maceration and fermentation in neutral tanks, followed by ageing in vessels chosen for the conditions and yield of the harvest. Alcohol is twelve percent.
Tenute Vignola 2024 S’Inventu Cannonau di Sardegna DOC
Italian Red
Deep ruby colour with garnet shades accompanies red-fruit, balsamic and Mediterranean-scrub notes. The palate is fruity, decisive and persistent, with round, smooth tannins. Cannonau is harvested by hand in crates, then crushed and destemmed. A forty-eight-hour cold pre-fermentation maceration precedes fermentation lasting approximately ten to twelve days. The grapes come from Sardinia’s Gallura area. Alcohol is thirteen and a half percent.
Château Pailhas 2022 Saint-Émilion
French Red
Red fruit, blackcurrant, blackberry, Morello cherry and spice shape the profile. The blend is eighty percent Merlot and twenty percent Cabernet Franc. The vines average thirty-five years on clay-limestone soils and are mechanically harvested. Vinification takes place in concrete and stainless-steel tanks. Ageing is divided evenly between new barrels and barrels that have held at least one wine.
Château Gigault 2001 Cuvée Viva Premières Côtes de Blaye
French Red
Blackberry and boysenberry fruit accompany floral, plum and raspberry notes. Merlot forms ninety percent of the blend, with Cabernet Sauvignon accounting for the balance. The profile is light to medium in body, with silky tannins and fine mid-palate sweetness. The middle is defined, the fruit is not overdone, and the finish is medium in length.
Slobodné Vinárstvo 2017 Partisan Cru
Slovak Red
Frankovka Modrá makes up about sixty percent of the blend, with thirty percent Cabernet Sauvignon and ten percent Alibernet. Grapes are grown in organic vineyards with biodynamic practices on calcium-rich loess soils at 200 metres with southwest exposure. Fermentation uses no selected yeast, enzymes or other additives. The wine is neither fined nor filtered, contains twelve percent alcohol and has twenty-four milligrams per litre of total sulfur.
Domaine Louis Jadot 2015 Monthélie Les Sous Roches
French Red
Pinot Noir grows on an east-facing, 1.16-hectare site with clay and stones at the surface. Grapes are hand-harvested into small cases, sorted by hand and destemmed. Maceration lasts three to four weeks in open wooden or stainless-steel vats, with twice-daily punching down during fermentation. Maturation lasts about eighteen months in barrel, with around one third new oak. The wine comes from a village appellation in the Côte de Beaune.
La Soeur Cadette 2024 Juliénas
French Red
Perfumed plum, juicy raspberry, cassis, red fruit and spice accompany mineral texture and fine tannins. Gamay comes from two sites with blue granite and sandy soils, where the vines average around eighty years. Whole clusters ferment in concrete before eight to ten months in older barrels. Native yeast is used. A scrubby herbal note appears on the finish, and alcohol is twelve and a half percent.
Pierre-Olivier Bonhomme 2020 La Tesnière Pineau d’Aunis
French Red
Cranberry, cherry, damp forest floor, clove and pepper accompany a pale, glossy red with juicy fruit, fine tannins and a mineral finish. Pineau d'Aunis comes from vines averaging twenty-five years on flint and clay soils. Semi-carbonic maceration lasts thirteen days in wooden vats. Native-yeast fermentation runs for two months, followed by six months in used 228-litre barrels. The wine is bottled unfiltered.
Château Jacques Noir 2018 Saint-Émilion
French Red
Made entirely from Merlot grown on clay, this red is aged in barrel. Ample, deep fruit accompanies blackcurrant, spice and wood-aged flavours. The palate has a firm, fine tannic structure. Production for this release amounted to 48,400 bottles, and alcohol is fourteen percent. Brilliant ruby colour, red fruit and toasted notes are also part of the profile.
Craven Wines 2024 The Firs Syrah Stellenbosch
South African Red
Violets, blackberry, leafy notes and pepper accompany a sappy palate with concentrated fruit, bright acidity and firm tannins. Syrah from a Devon Valley vineyard planted in the year two thousand grows in deep, clay-rich red soils. Whole bunches are lightly foot-stomped, with gentle pumpovers once or twice daily. After pressing, the wine matures for ten months in concrete. Alcohol is thirteen point zero three percent.
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.
Bodegas Albamar 2020 Albamar Tinto
Spanish Red
Caíño Tinto, Espadeiro and Mencía form this red from Rías Baixas. The varieties grow near the mouth of the Umia River in the Ría de Arousa, among gentle relief, sandy and clay soils and a constant sea breeze. Fermentation uses native yeast in stainless steel, where the wine matures for six months and completes malolactic fermentation. It then rests for three months in oak. Alcohol is eleven percent.
Beckham Estate 2021 Olivia’s Pinot Noir Rosé
American Rosé
Pinot Noir from a dry-farmed estate vineyard in the Chehalem Mountains is fermented in amphora and aged in neutral barrel. Pale blush colour and a light body accompany strawberry, cherry blossom and racy acidity. The terra-cotta vessels used in the cellar are made by hand in the vineyard studio. The wine is an Oregon rosé.
Domaine Georges Glantenay 2023 Bourgogne Aligoté Vieilles Vignes
French White
Citrus and white flowers accompany fullness and taut acidity on the palate. Aligoté from Burgundy is harvested by hand from vines averaging forty-five years of age. Fermentation and ageing take place in oak. Production amounted to 1,800 bottles for this release. This dry white comes from Bourgogne AOP and contains twelve and a half percent alcohol by volume.
Domaine Julien Sunier 2022 Régnié
French Red
Vine peach and a smooth texture accompany velvety tannins in this Régnié. Gamay Noir comes from certified-organic south-facing parcels between 280 and 400 metres, with vines averaging sixty years on sandy pink granite. Whole bunches undergo carbonic fermentation with native yeast in concrete. After slow pressing, the wine matures for nine months in equal parts foudre and barrel.
Koppitsch 2021 Happy Anniversary
Austrian Red
Blaufränkisch and Sankt Laurent are blended in proportions of seventy and thirty percent. Around ten percent of the stems remain in the mash before natural fermentation in stainless-steel and fibreglass vats. Pressing takes place after about ten days. The wine then spends twenty-two months on gross lees in 225-litre barriques and is bottled unfiltered, without fining or additives. Alcohol is eleven percent, and no sulfur is added.
Wasenhaus 2022 Grand Ordinaire
German Red
Fresh herbs, tobacco leaves, bright red cherry and fresh leather accompany this dry natural red from Baden. The palate has fresh acidity and tannins, with cherry and red plum. Spätburgunder undergoes carbonic maceration and is pressed after ten days, while fermentation is spontaneous. The wine contains twelve and a half percent alcohol. Air softens the palate and brings greater balance.
Henschke 2024 Peggy’s Hill Riesling
Australian White
Pale straw colour with lime-green reflections accompanies white florals, almond blossom, lime and white peach. The palate is rich and concentrated, with ripe citrus, bright acidity, mineral texture and length. Riesling from Eden Valley growers is hand-picked, partly crushed and chilled, gently pressed, cool-fermented and kept on lees. Some vines are up to fifty years old, and alcohol is eleven and a half percent.
Feudi di San Gregorio 2022 Pietracalda Fiano di Avellino Riserva DOCG
Italian White
Straw-yellow colour accompanies chamomile, fresh flowers, white-fleshed fruit, candied citron and Mediterranean scrub. The palate is soft and balanced, with savoury freshness, lively fruit and a menthol note. This Fiano is made as a reserve bottling in Fiano di Avellino DOCG, Campania. Fermentation and six months of maturation take place in stainless steel. Alcohol is thirteen percent.
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.