Wine
Wine
Day Wines 2022 Infinite Air Castles Gamay-Dolcetto Willamette Valley
American Red
Rosy florals, blueberries, boysenberry, grilled plum, cracked pepper, dark berries, obsidian minerals, petrichor and summer forest shape the profile. Bright acidity appears with a plush, velvety mid-palate and a long, firm structure. The blend is fifty-eight percent Gamay and forty-two percent Dolcetto. Partial destemming leaves twenty percent whole clusters. Native fermentation lasts twenty-four days, followed by eleven months in neutral French oak.
Forjas del Salnés 2021 Goliardo Tintos de Mar Rías Baixas
Spanish Red
Black pepper, herbs and flowers appear with a wild character. The palate is medium-bodied, with supple tannins, fine silky texture, freshness and a long finish with a salty note. Caíño Tinto, Loureiro, Espadeiro and Sousón form the blend. The grapes come from old vines planted on pebbly, sandy and granitic soils. Maturation lasts twelve months in oak barrels and large foudres.
Tenute Rade 2017 Historical Nizza DOCG
Italian Red
The nose is fresh, with boysenberry, crushed purple plum, violet, liquorice, grey pepper and bright berries. The palate has juiciness, mineral character, acidity, tension and energy. Juicy purple plum, bright blackcurrant, cornflower, cardamom, toast and nutmeg are present. The tannins are marked near the finish, with a subtle chocolate note in the persistence. The wine is made entirely from Barbera.
Gérard Bertrand Château L’Hospitalet 2022 Grand Vin Rouge La Clape
French Red
The colour is bright ruby. Spice and ripe strawberry aromas are present. The tannins are silky and fine, and the fruit character is fresh. Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre form the blend. The grapes are hand harvested, sorted and destemmed. Each variety ferments separately in temperature-controlled tanks with twenty to twenty-five days of maceration, followed by twelve to sixteen months in new 225-litre barrels.
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.
Van Zellers & Co. 2020 Late Bottled Vintage Port
Portuguese Fortified
Deep ruby colour appears with wild blackberry syrup, cassis, liquorice, cracked black pepper and cardamom. The palate has structure, volume and a velvety texture, with integrated brandy, fruit richness and freshness. The wine was bottled unfiltered. It aged in very old wooden Port casks and small stainless-steel vats. The grapes grow on schist in the Douro, and alcohol is 20.2 percent.
Jean-Paul & Charly Thévenet 2020 Morgon Tradition
French Red
The colour is translucent garnet with a purplish cast. Cherry and raspberry appear with white pepper. The palate is round and ample, with ripe tannins and a sustained grip on the finish. This dry red is made entirely from Gamay. Maturation takes place in stainless-steel tanks and used barriques. The wine carries thirteen percent alcohol and comes from Morgon in Beaujolais.
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.
Château d’Orignac Pineau des Charentes NV
French Fortified
Apricot, yellow fruit, honey, raisins, spice, flowers and orange shape the profile, with a sweet yet refreshing palate. The blend is sixty percent Merlot and forty percent Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine matures for at least five years in 225-litre French oak barrels. Golden and amber tones are present, and alcohol is eighteen percent. The grapes come from Fins Bois.
Domaine Marcel Deiss 2019 Zellenberg Alsace
French White
Peach, quince, grapefruit, apple, tea, white flowers, wet stone and sage appear with ripe yellow fruit. Fresh acidity and a long saline finish are present. The complanted vineyards include Riesling, Auxerrois, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir. Fermentation uses indigenous yeast, and maturation lasts at least twelve months in large oak. The vineyards lie on marl and limestone conglomerates.
MicroBio Wines 2019 Ruf y Ann Rufete
Spanish Red
Wild raspberry, olive, earth, cumin and floral notes appear in a delicate profile. Acidity is pronounced, while the tannins are sweet and delicate. The finish is long and floral. Rufete comes from a vineyard planted in nineteen fifty-one at Miranda del Castañar, with decomposed granite and a slate outcrop. The wine carries 13.3 percent alcohol and the vineyard is farmed biodynamically.
Donkiesbaai 2019 Suiderkruis Piekenierskloof Red
South African Red
Cinsault accounts for forty-nine percent of the blend, Grenache Noir forty-two percent and Syrah nine percent. The varieties mature separately for twelve months in seasoned 500-litre French oak barrels. Cranberry, watermelon, blueberry and cinnamon are present, with delicate tannins, earth and new leather. The finish carries cranberry and redcurrant. Alcohol is 12.96 percent, and the wine comes from Piekenierskloof.
Lariana Cellars 2022 Twenty Two Okanagan Valley Red
Canadian Red
Cabernet Sauvignon accounts for sixty-four percent of the blend, with Syrah and Carménère each at eighteen percent. Cabernet and Carménère are estate grown, while Syrah comes from Red Brick Vineyard. Fruit is destemmed and hand sorted before crushing. Maturation lasts sixteen months in oak. Blackcurrant, dark fruit, baker's chocolate and vanilla are present. The tannins are pleasant and approachable.
Vincent Ruiz 2022 Yseult Mon Amour Syrah
French Red
Bright red plum and cherry appear with crushed pepper and violet. The tannins are delicate. Syrah comes from limestone and clay soils, with vines averaging sixty years old. Whole bunches macerate for twenty-one days without punching down or pumping over before vertical pressing. The wine ages on its lees for eight months and carries twelve percent alcohol. Farming is organic.
Vincent Ruiz 2022 Prima Materia Grenache
French Red
Ripe redcurrant, tangerine, dried herbs, earth, citrus, red fruit and a touch of bitterness form the profile. The wine has good concentration. Grenache comes from Ardèche and carries twelve percent alcohol. Hand-harvested fruit undergoes whole-bunch fermentation and about fourteen days of maceration in stainless steel with indigenous yeast, followed by eight months in the same vessel. It is unfined and unfiltered.
Château Laffitte Carcasset 2016 Saint-Estèphe
French Red
Black fruit, red plum and cedar appear with a woody texture. The tannins are pleasant, and the wine has concentration and harmony. Its ruby colour, delicate fruit and toast sit with a structured palate that is not aggressive. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc form the blend. The Saint-Estèphe red spends twelve months in oak barrels.
Campolargo 2016 Cercial Branco Bairrada
Portuguese White
Colour and aroma show clear development, with almond, dry brush and candied orange. The palate has light toast with mature orange, hazelnut and fruit. It shows a younger character than the colour and aroma, with a distinctly fresh taste and a light profile. Made from Cercial in Bairrada, the white wine carries 11.5 percent alcohol.
Clos du Tue-Boeuf 2018 Qvevri Sauvignon Blanc
French White
Sauvignon Blanc is vinified in large Georgian earthenware qvevri. The dry white is classified as Vin de France and carries 13.7 percent alcohol. The estate's vines grow on clay and flint over Blois chalk, on south- and southeast-facing slopes above the Beuvron. Harvest is by hand, no oenological inputs are used during vinification, and any sulphite addition at bottling is very small.
Château Ormes de Pez 2019 Saint-Estèphe
French Red
Purplish garnet colour accompanies fresh blackberry and blackcurrant. The texture is velvety, with well-rounded tannins and toasted notes from barrel maturation. The blend is fifty percent Merlot, forty percent Cabernet Sauvignon, seven percent Cabernet Franc and three percent Petit Verdot. Fruit was hand picked and sorted in the vineyard. Maturation lasted sixteen months in French oak, including forty-five percent new wood.
Borgogno 2019 No Name Langhe Nebbiolo DOC
Italian Red
Ruby-red colour with garnet highlights accompanies violet, rose, ripe fruit and spice. The palate is velvety and balanced, with polished tannins and earthy flavours. Nebbiolo accounts for the entire composition. Maturation lasts at least three years in cask and six months in bottle. The fruit comes from vineyards around Barolo with south, southeast and southwest exposures on calcareous-clay soils.
Antinori Castello della Sala 2023 Conte della Vipera Umbria IGT
Italian White
Straw-yellow colour with bright green hues accompanies pink grapefruit, lychee, sage and elderflower. The palate is supple and fresh, with lime and pineapple in the finish. Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon are hand harvested, cooled before gentle pressing and fermented in stainless steel below sixteen degrees Celsius. The wine is then held at about ten degrees to prevent malolactic fermentation.
Château Puygueraud 2003 Côtes de Francs
French Red
Deep ruby colour accompanies a developing bouquet of fresh leather, spice and fruit preserved in spirit. Cigar box and forest-floor notes are also present, together with berry fruit. The palate is round and balanced, while red berry, earth and tobacco appear in the finish. Maturation took place in barrel, and production totalled ninety thousand bottles.
Sandy Giovese 2021 Vino Rosso 3 L Bag-in-Box
Italian Red
Bright red cherry and violets accompany a light body and very fine tannins. The blend is eighty-five percent Sangiovese and fifteen percent Trebbiano, and alcohol is twelve percent. The grapes are grown in Le Marche on Italy's Adriatic coast. The name plays on Sangiovese, an ancient red grape of central Italy. The profile is fresh, smooth and easy-drinking.
Domaine Bourdy 2020 Cuvée d’Automne Côtes du Jura Rouge
French Red
Pinot Noir, Trousseau and Poulsard form the red blend. The vineyard parcel covers 0.13 hectares, with clay and limestone soils. Farming is organic and harvest is by hand. Spontaneous fermentation takes place in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts. Maturation is also in stainless steel. The wine is bottled without fining or filtration and with no added sulphur dioxide.
Rosie Giovese 2021 Vino Rosato 3 L Bag-in-Box
Italian Rosé
Fresh strawberry and nectarine skin appear in a crisp, pale-pink profile. Sangiovese accounts for sixty percent of the blend, Merlot thirty percent and Lacrima ten percent. The style is bone-dry yet fruity, and alcohol is twelve and a half percent. Lacrima is identified as a grape native to Le Marche, where this still rosé is made.
Domaine de la Jaufrette 2014 Vacqueyras Rouge
French Red
Mushroom, leather and light smoke are present. The red blend comprises sixty-five percent Grenache, fourteen percent Syrah, eleven percent Mourvèdre, four percent Counoise, four percent Cinsault and two percent Terret. Fruit is hand harvested, not crushed or destemmed, and the varieties are vinified together with long vatting. Maturation takes place in foudres and new wood for six to twelve months.
Primitivo Collantes Amontillado Fino Fossi
Spanish Fortified
Clear amber colour accompanies dried fruit, cereal aromas, preserves and pepper, with marked acidity and a balance of acidity and sweetness. Palomino Fino comes from the Matalián vineyard. Biological ageing under flor lasts five years; the wine is then fortified and continues through about ten years of oxidative ageing in the criaderas-and-solera system. The palate is fresh and savoury with saline notes.
Albino Rocca 2023 Nebbiolo d’Alba
Italian Red
Ruby colour tending toward garnet accompanies violet, humus, woodland spice, red fruit, dried flowers, liquorice and Earl Grey tea. Fine, supple tannins and a long finish are present. Nebbiolo comes from Terra di Mezzo in San Rocco Seno d'Elvio, where vines between fifteen and sixty years old grow in calcareous-clay soil. Maturation lasts roughly twelve months in large Austrian and German oak.
Domaine Gérard Persenot 2023 Bourgogne Côtes d’Auxerre Pinot Noir
French Red
This still red is made from Pinot Noir in Bourgogne Côtes d'Auxerre. Gérard Persenot is among the growers working in the roughly fifty-hectare Vaux vineyard above the Yonne valley. Vaux was replanted in the 1970s. Its south-southeast-facing slopes carry Kimmeridgian soils, while Portlandian soils occur on the plateau. The domaine is based in Saint-Bris-le-Vineux, France.
Heidi Schröck & Söhne 2022 Ried Kulm Blaufränkisch
Austrian Red
Blackberry, cherry and plum preserves accompany violet, lavender, dark chocolate, sweet pepper and roasted almond. The texture is velvety and delicate within a concentrated profile. Red cherry, raspberry, mineral and light loamy-earth notes are also present. This medium-bodied Burgenland red has integrated tannins and a juicy finish, with alcohol at thirteen and a half percent.