Wine
Wine
Domaine de la Solitude 2018 Vin de la Solitude Châteauneuf-du-Pape
French Red
Counoise accounts for thirty percent of the blend, Grenache twenty-five, Syrah and Mourvèdre fifteen each, and Clairette, Bourboulenc and Roussanne five each. Floral, blackberry and spice notes appear with cassis and garrigue. The palate is tannic and fresh. Whole clusters are co-fermented in a wooden conical tank for more than a month. Vatting lasts eighty days. Maturation lasts eighteen months in barrel. The wine is bottled without fining or filtration.
RAEN Winery 2016 Royal St Robert Cuvée Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast
American Red
Wild strawberry, raspberry and cranberry appear with cured meat, wood smoke, forest floor, herbs and truffle. Dark cherry, violet, mushroom and black tea are also present. The palate has a chewy frame, acidity and a long mineral finish. Fermentation uses eighty percent whole clusters and native yeasts. The wine is aged in ten percent new French oak and ninety percent neutral oak, then bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Nada Fiorenzo 2016 Barbaresco
Italian Red
Nebbiolo comes from Rombone and Manzola vineyards on sunny slopes in Treiso, at 230 to 260 metres above sea level. The colour is bright garnet red, with fresh floral aromas. Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel. Maturation lasts twenty-four months in oak and six months in bottle. The wine is enveloping and has fourteen percent alcohol.
Domaine de Marcoux 2023 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc
French White
Roussanne and Bourboulenc come from two separate parcels. Fennel and fleshy fruit appear in a smooth white. The grapes are hand harvested in fifty-kilogram boxes, then cooled for settling before alcoholic fermentation. Malolactic fermentation is not carried out. Maturation lasts seven months on fine lees. The vineyards are farmed organically, and the finished wine has fourteen percent alcohol.
Zenato 2010 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
Italian Red
Plum cake, blackberry, mocha, chocolate and baking spice appear with smooth tannins. Dark fruit, resin, cola, tar, oregano and rosemary are also present. The colour is ruby red. The blend combines eighty percent Corvina, ten percent Rondinella, five percent Croatina and five percent Oseleta. Fermentation lasts twenty-five days in stainless steel. Maturation includes thirty months in French oak and twelve months in bottle.
Zenato 2015 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
Italian Red
Ripe black raspberry and currant appear with woodsy spice, graphite and smoke. Glazed cherry, dried meat, citrus and roasted herbs are also present. The wine is medium to full bodied, with creamy tannins and linear acidity. A firm bite is also present. It is dry and oaked, with sixteen-and-a-half percent alcohol. Corvina, Rondinella, Croatina and Oseleta form the blend.
Zenato 2012 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico
Italian Red
Dark prune, blackcurrant, black cherry, crushed raspberry, blue flowers, tilled soil, menthol, cedar, mocha, vanilla and nutmeg appear in the profile. Leather, tobacco, spice and a confectionery note are also present. The palate is rich and full, with firm, velvety tannins and fresh acidity. The texture is dense. It has a long finish and sixteen-and-a-half percent alcohol.
Château Haut-Bages Libéral 2006 Pauillac
French Red
Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot form a seventy-five to twenty-five percent blend. Red fruit, damson, blackberry, currant, dried flowers, toast, vanilla and spice are present. The palate is full, with fine, tight tannins, grip and a pure finish edged by marzipan. The structure is powerful. Balance and fruit are also evident. The estate is classified as a fifth growth.
Frescobaldi 1997 Lamaione Merlot Toscana IGT
Italian Red
Merlot grows at 300 metres on south-west-facing clay soils rich in limestone and mineral elements. Maceration lasts about four weeks. Malolactic fermentation takes place in barrique, and maturation lasts eighteen months in French oak. Blackberry, violet and fresh porcini appear with round, velvety tannins, full body and a long finish. The vineyard covers twelve hectares, and its principal planting dates to the mid-seventies.
J.J. Prüm 2007 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese
German White
Riesling comes from the steep, south-southwest-facing Wehlener Sonnenuhr vineyard on weathered grey slate. Grapes are hand picked and fermented in stainless steel with wild yeast. Fine fruit, refreshing acidity and delicate minerality form a balanced profile. Slate and flowers appear with peach and lime, while the texture is silky and the finish is long. Alcohol is seven-and-a-half percent.
Felton Road 2012 Bannockburn Pinot Noir
New Zealand Red
Pinot Noir shows strawberry jam, black cherry, smoke, celery salt, barnyard, thyme, light vanilla and carrot top. Raspberry jam, coffee, tobacco leaf, saddle leather and herbs are also present. The palate is dry, fresh and juicy, with intensity, balance and slight astringency. Four vineyards supply the fruit. The colour is cherry red, and alcohol is fourteen percent.
Olivier Leflaive 2014 Chassagne-Montrachet Les Pierres
French White
Chardonnay grows on clay-limestone soil over a rocky bank at 230 to 250 metres. The grapes are hand harvested, pressed immediately and gently, and lightly filtered. Ageing lasts sixteen months in barrel, including four months after the lots are assembled; twenty percent of the oak is new. Citron, earth, pear, sap and mineral elements appear in an intense, structured profile with a long, supple finish. Alcohol is twelve-and-a-half percent.
Adelsheim 2021 Breaking Ground Pinot Noir Chehalem Mountains
American Red
Pinot Noir comes from eleven hillside sites, with sixty-eight percent estate fruit. The vineyards include loess, volcanic and sedimentary soils. Grapes are fermented in stainless steel, then aged for eleven months in French oak, twenty-nine percent new. Black cherry and raspberry appear with exotic spice and dark loam. The texture is supple, with ethereal qualities and deeper tones. Alcohol is thirteen percent.
Trefethen 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Oak Knoll District
American Red
Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot form an eighty-eight, six and six percent blend from the Main Ranch estate vineyard. Dark plum and black cherry appear with cocoa, pepper and fragrant herbs. Bright cherry flavours are accompanied by vanilla and forest floor. The wine spent eighteen months in oak, with fifty-three percent new barrels. Alcohol is thirteen-point-nine percent, and the fruit is sustainably farmed.
Tiberio 2021 Fonte Canale Trebbiano d’Abruzzo
Italian White
Trebbiano Abruzzese comes from a 1.5-hectare vineyard at 350 metres, with ninety-six-year-old vines on calcareous clay over sand. Only static free-run juice is used. Fermentation with indigenous yeasts takes place in stainless steel without malolactic fermentation; the wine is neither fined nor filtered. Green apple, nectarine, mandarin, lemon peel, white flowers, anise, mineral character, acidity and a long finish are present.
Vietti 2018 Castiglione Barolo
Italian Red
Nebbiolo from several Barolo parcels forms the blend. Wild berry, rose, rusty iron, mint, raspberry, dried orange and floral elements appear in the profile. The palate is compact and juicy, with firm tannins. Vinification and maturation are carried out separately before the final blend is selected. The wine spent thirty months in wood and has fourteen-and-a-half percent alcohol.
Fontodi 2009 Flaccianello della Pieve Toscana IGT
Italian Red
Sangiovese is fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts and macerated for at least three weeks in temperature-controlled stainless steel. Malolactic fermentation takes place in barrel. Maturation lasts twenty-four months in Tronçais and Allier oak. Toast, ripe red fruit and violet form the profile. The wine is dry, robust and harmonious, with an intense garnet-red colour. The vineyards are farmed organically.
Montes 2016 Purple Angel Carmenère
Chilean Red
Carmenère and Petit Verdot form a ninety-two to eight percent blend. Blackberry, fig, nutmeg, dark chocolate, pastry and soft toast are present. The palate is structured, with round tannins, volume, balanced acidity and a long finish. Fruit comes from Apalta and Marchigüe in the Colchagua Valley. Eighty percent was aged for eighteen months in new French oak; the remainder used second-use French oak.
Máté 2019 Brunello di Montalcino
Italian Red
Black cherry, slate, blackberry, plum, lavender, earth and sweet spice form the profile. Maturation lasted two years in 500-litre tonneaux, between one-third and one-quarter new, followed by twelve months in larger botti. The wine has bright acidity, a medium body, fine polished tannins, focus and structure. The grapes are organically grown, and alcohol is fourteen-and-a-half percent.
Champagne Nicolas Maillart Brut Rosé Grand Cru NV
French Sparkling
Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are blended at sixty to forty, with seven percent still wine. Skin maceration lasted fifty-two hours; fermentation was divided equally between steel and oak. Wild strawberry, cherry and raspberry appear with rock salt and a chalky foundation. The skin contact gives a gentle blush and additional texture, while dosage is six grams per litre.
Champagne Cazé-Thibaut Naturellement Extra Brut NV
French Sparkling
Pinot Meunier from Châtillon-sur-Marne forms this Blanc de Noirs Champagne. Fermentation is spontaneous in oak. The wine is neither fined nor filtered and undergoes natural cold stabilization. The dosage is determined by tasting for the cuvée. The wine is classified as Extra Brut and non-vintage. The house was founded by Roger Cazé, and its work continues in the Marne Valley.
Zeni 1870 2015 Amarone della Valpolicella Barriques
Italian Red
Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella are hand selected from hillside vineyards in Valpolicella Classica. The grapes dry for four months before traditional skin fermentation and twenty to twenty-five days of maceration. Maturation lasts twelve to twenty-four months in French oak barriques, followed by a short period in steel. Vanilla, cocoa and spice form the aromatic profile. The palate is full, harmonious and tannic, and alcohol is sixteen percent.
Baricci 2018 Brunello di Montalcino
Italian Red
Bright ruby colour appears alongside blood orange, sour cherry, cedar and graphite. The palate is hearty and rich, with dark fruit, grippy tannins and a clear, straightforward character. Small ripe red fruits, aromatic herbs, undergrowth, smoke and flint provide further detail. The profile is savoury and continuous, with lively tannins, an airy fruit-and-smoke finish and fourteen-and-a-half percent alcohol.
Champagne Voirin-Jumel 2015 Millésime Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs
French Sparkling
Chardonnay comes exclusively from Grand Cru vineyards on the lower slopes of the Côte des Blancs, where chalk is prominent. The wine is made from a single harvest year and does not undergo malolactic fermentation. Lees maturation lasts for at least eight years. The style is Brut. The vineyards connect the villages of Cramant, Avize and Oger.
Pinino 2020 Brunello di Montalcino
Italian Red
Blackberry, plum and spice form the profile of this Sangiovese Grosso. The palate is velvety, full-bodied and smooth. Fruit comes from the Pinino and Canchi sites, whose soils include galestro, alberese, clay and silt. Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled steel tanks, with eighteen to twenty-five days on the skins. Oak maturation lasts at least thirty months, and alcohol is fourteen percent.
Tenet Wines 2014 GSM Columbia Valley
American Red
Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre form a forty-three, thirty-five and twenty-two percent blend. Red and black raspberry, plum, herb and spice appear in the profile. Lively fruit flavours and a lingering finish are also present. The wine is red, dry and full-bodied, with blackberry, smoked herbs and liquorice also present. The texture is mouth-filling. Alcohol is fifteen-and-a-half percent.
Château Croizet-Bages 2016 Pauillac
French Red
The blend is fifty-five percent Cabernet Sauvignon, forty-one percent Merlot and four percent Cabernet Franc. Vinification takes place in stainless-steel tanks, with malolactic fermentation in barrels and tanks. Maturation lasts twelve months in French oak, half of it new. Plum preserves, baked black cherry, cassis, menthol, cigar and cumin notes accompany plush tannins and a long, spicy finish.
Champagne Delamotte Blanc de Blancs NV
French Sparkling
Grand Cru Chardonnay from chalk soils is vinified in stainless-steel tanks. Reserve wines form part of the blend, and maturation on the lees extends for four to five years before disgorgement. The profile is mineral and chalky. After disgorgement, ageing continues in bottle. Serve around eight degrees Celsius in a tulip-shaped wine glass to allow the mineral character to develop.
Viñedos El Pacto 2021 Riojanda Viñedo Singular Rioja
Spanish Red
The small Navaridas parcel sits at 535 metres on calcareous-clay soil, with a ten-percent east-facing slope. It covers 0.2163 hectares, and its old vines produce less than one kilogram per plant. The grapes were picked by hand, destemmed without crushing and fermented spontaneously with native yeasts in wooden vats. Maturation lasted fourteen months in new 500-litre French oak barrels.
Clos Pegase 2010 Hommage Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
American Red
The blend is ninety-nine percent Cabernet Sauvignon and one percent Petit Verdot. Black cherry, cassis, French plum, baking spice, iris, fresh pipe tobacco, liquorice and subtle toasted oak form the profile. Firm tannins accompany a mineral structure, and the wine carries fourteen-and-a-half percent alcohol. The texture is smooth and velvety, and the finish is long, balanced and seamless.