Selection
Selection
Thierry Pillot 2022 Bourgogne Blanc
French White
Fruit comes from vines more than forty years old in Puligny-Montrachet and Saint-Aubin. The wine ferments and matures for one year in older 350-litre barrels, followed by six months in stainless steel. Citrus, floral and green-apple aromas accompany succulent, round and vibrant middleweight flavours. Fine weight, depth and a touch of spice are present, with a fresh, citric character. The vineyards are farmed organically.
Domaine Berthaut-Gerbet 2022 Fixin
French Red
Red cherry and crushed strawberry appear in a delicate bouquet. The medium-bodied palate has refined tannins, lightly spiced red fruit and white pepper. The village bottling blends several parcels in Fixin, including Les Crais and En l’Olivier, on brown limestone and marl soils. A portion of whole bunches is used, and maturation takes place in previously used barrels. Alcohol is thirteen percent.
Hacienda Araucano 2016 Alka Carménère
Chilean Red
Deep cherry-red colour appears bright and intense. Black fruit, eucalyptus, black pepper and cinnamon form an intense, complex aromatic profile. The palate is powerful, with silky tannins and balanced acidity. Prune and marmalade are present with spice in a long, complex finish. Made entirely from organically grown Carménère, the wine undergoes double sorting, destemming and gentle crushing. Skin maceration lasts one month.
Giovanni Sordo 2016 Barolo Rocche di Castiglione
Italian Red
Woodland berries, new leather and forest floor appear with morello cherry, liquorice and tobacco. The full-bodied palate is fresh and linear, with bright acidity, taut polished tannins and juicy fruit. Made entirely from Nebbiolo, the wine comes from Rocche di Castiglione in Castiglione Falletto, at 320 to 350 metres. Compact grey-white and bluish marl lies below the surface.
Clos Cibonne 2020 Château Cibon Cuvée Hommage à Marius Rosé
French Rosé
Made from ninety percent Tibouren and ten percent Grenache, this rosé comes from vines more than sixty years old. The wine spends two years in 2,600-litre French-oak foudres, with bâtonnage during the first six months. Its onion-skin colour accompanies full body and layered intensity. Spiced and candied-fruit notes are present with a vinous, substantial palate. The cuvée honours Marius Roux and uses the estate’s historic Château Cibon label.
Danbury Ridge 2020 Pinot Noir
British Red
Ripe fruit, orange blossom and forest floor appear in an expressive bouquet. Fresh acidity, plush velvety tannins and a long finish define the palate. Fruit is hand picked and sorted, gently destemmed without crushing, then given a three-to-five-day cold soak in open-top oak fermenters. Maturation lasts ten months in French oak before bottling without fining or filtration. Alcohol is thirteen percent.
Colombera & Garella 2019 Cavazucchi 1.5 L
Italian Red
The wine comes from a single 0.8-hectare parcel planted in the early twentieth century. Nebbiolo accounts for eighty-five percent of the blend, with Croatina and Vespolina making up the remainder. The parcel lies in Masserano in Alto Piemonte, and fragrance is a hallmark of the site. The bottling is separate from the winery’s Bramaterra cru, and the vineyard is now owned by the winery.
Montes 2020 Purple Angel Carménère
Chilean Red
Carménère accounts for ninety-two percent of the blend, with eight percent Petit Verdot. Ripe blackberry, plum and blueberry appear with sweet spice, pink pepper, coffee and tobacco. The palate is balanced and silky, with fruit and a caramel-like body. Seventy percent matures for eighteen months in first-use French oak and thirty percent in second-use barrels. Alcohol is fourteen-and-a-half percent, and the finish is very long.
Domaine Raspail-Ay 2020 Gigondas 1.5 L
French Red
The blend is sixty percent Grenache, thirty-five percent Syrah and five percent Mourvèdre. Jammy red and black fruit appear with toasted spice. The palate is fleshy, with ripe tannins, acidity and balance. Grapes are harvested by hand. Vatting lasts thirty days, and maturation lasts eighteen to twenty-four months in oak foudres plus six months in demi-muids. Alcohol is fourteen percent.
Domaine Georges Glantenay 2020 Volnay Vieilles Vignes
French Red
Fruit comes from five parcels planted with vines aged sixty years and older. Dense, complex aromas accompany a broad profile of darker fruit. The palate is more intense, with slight salinity and a little more structure. Fruit for this old-vine bottling was formerly blended into the domaine’s other village wine, whose vines range from thirty to sixty years of age.
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.
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 2017 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.
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.