Country: | France |
Region: | Languedoc |
Winery: | S.C.V. Castelmaure |
Grape Type: | Grenache |
Organic: | Yes |
Vintage: | 2018 |
Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
Castelmaure Corbieres Vin-Gris (Rose) is made from 80% Grenache, 10% Carignan, 10% Cinsault.
Pale pink rose color, a classic gris de gris wine with salmon hues. Delicate strawberry nose, seamless and fine pointed.
Review:
Light pink-hued, the 2018 Vin Gris Rose from the Corbières has a juicy, fruity bouquet of ripe strawberries, violets, and white peach to go with a clean, balanced, deliciously gulpable style on the palate. It’s well done and I suspect a good value."
- Jeb Dunnuck (March 2020), 90 pts
Castelmaure Corbieres Vin-Gris (Rose) is made from 80% Grenache, 10% Carignan, 10% Cinsault.
Pale pink rose color, a classic gris de gris wine with salmon hues. Delicate strawberry nose, seamless and fine pointed.
Castelmaure Col des Vents Corbieres is made from 50% Carignan, 30% Grenache, 15% Syrah and 5% Cinsault.
"Col des Vents" means "Windy Mountain Pass" as it is quite windy and located at the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains.
Originally, the label was a replicate of a Max Savy's painting.
Brambly berry, cherry and raspberry, spices, black pepper ... all are present in this authentic French country wine. There are also some aromas of Garrigue (Rosemary, thyme and lavender) giving a minty, herbal notes, that are quite refreshing as well.
Fullerton Three Otters Rose is made from 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Pinot Gris (7-50 years old)
This Willamee Valley blend hails mainly from three different vineyards in the north, east, and south of the Willamee Valley, with a smaering from five of our other sites. The soils of the vineyards represent the breadth and diversity of the Willamee Valley with both sedimentary- and volcanic-based soils.
Acid: TA 5.6 g/L
pH: 3.45
Aging: 100% stainless steel
Bottled Unfined
Clones: Pommard, Wadensville, Dijon 113, 114, 115, 667, and 777
The story of Fullerton’s rosé originates from the 2012 harvest. Winemaker Alex Fullerton and his father and proprietor Eric Fullerton couldn’t decide on a house style for rosé, so they held a friendly competition. They each made a rosé to see whose would win over a crowd. Though the wines were destined to be boled separately, Alex got curious and tried blending the two. Voila! The sum was better than the parts, and a tradition was born. Alex now makes one rosé that is whole cluster pressed and tank fermented, yielding a very crisp and light colored wine, while Eric crafts his rosé from a more robust extraction, which yields a darker and fuller-bodied wine. The two lots are then blended to taste, delivering a crisp, fresh rosé with wonderful structure. The juice spent three weeks on the gross lees prior to fermentation to extract aroma precursers, and then six months on lees post-fermentation.
Pairs with soft cheeses, chicken/turkey.
G.D. Vajra Barolo Coste di Rose is made from 100 percent Nebbiolo.
The Coste di Rose is a very seductive wine right out of the gate. Cherries and roses burst on the nose, with hints of amarena, red hard candy, wild berries, wet stone, mint and thyme. The palate is radiant and expressive, with all of the signature elements of Coste di Rose in nice evi-dence: the ethereal character, the saline, up-front tannic structure, and further whiffles of roses and cherries in the finish.
Review:
This wine shows a darker and more savory profile than Vajra’s Costa di Rose, its black-cherry flavors tinged with notes of licorice and tobacco. Scents of lavender and violet lend a delicate touch to the wine, which continued to gain verve and freshness with time in the glass.
-Wine & Spirits 96 Points
When the founding fathers of the Napa Valley carved out new sub-AVAs (American Viticultural Areas) in the 1980s, Soda Canyon Ranch was not yet on anyone’s map. The vineyard is neighbored to the northwest and west by the winegrowing districts of Stags Leap District and Oak Knoll District, respectively, which were among the early pioneers of California Cabernet Sauvignon to attain global fame. To the northeast and southeast—and further off the beaten path—were Atlas Peak and Coombsville, thought to be the next frontiers for the emerging wine-producing region.
With richness and depth of flavor, the 2018 Timeless Napa Valley is the embodiment of patience and attention to detail. Decades of experience at Soda Canyon Ranch allow winemaker Nate Weis and team to highlight the individual merits of each block. Combining the strongest lots from each resulted in a refined and harmonious bottling.
In 2018, the diurnal shift at Soda Canyon Ranch produced a darker, lusher fruit profile of Cabernet Sauvignon. Simultaneously, the overnight recovery periods resulted in expressive and refined Merlot, giving the wine a pleasant profile of bright, red fruit. With an extended harvest window, the signature, plush density and structure of Petit Verdot is also prevalent in the final blend. Cabernet Franc thrived in 2018 with its predilection for the cooler soils and the climate of blocks 5, 6, 16, 20 and 21—areas we call the Transition Zone and Hardpan Alley. The variety’s floral and tobacco-like aromatics are accentuated, and its more aggressive nature for back-end tannins tamed.
Once blended, the 2018 vintage rested in French oak barrels for 16 months, developing flavors of vanilla and baking spice. Velvety tannins dance across the palate of bright and lingering cassis. With a smooth finish, this is a comforting wine of elegance and depth—a sophisticated expression of the sedate summer.
Review:
This is a little old-school and shows lots of dark berry, chocolate and dried fruit. It’s full, dense and layered with fleshly sensibility. Velvety texture.
-James Suckling 93 Points
Castelmaure Corbieres Vin-Gris (Rose) is made from 80% Grenache, 10% Carignan, 10% Cinsault.
Pale pink rose color, a classic gris de gris wine with salmon hues. Delicate strawberry nose, seamless and fine pointed.
The S.C.V Castelmaure Estate
S.C.V. Castelmaure was founded in the 1920’s and today consists of 65 members, of which 15 bring 85% of the production. The winery is located in the unofficial Corbieres cru site of Durban (there are 11 unofficial Cru’s in Corbieres), which will become soon an official Cru together with Boutenac and Alaric. The Serre mountain in the south protects the little plateau of Castelmaure from the off weather patterns of the Mediterranean sea.
Patrick de Marien, the president of the cave, and Bernard Pueyo, the director, work in conjunction with Tardieu/Laurent in trying to produce wines of higher quality each year.
The S.C.V Castelmaure Vineyard
The AOC Corbieres was created in 1985 and measures 23,000 hectares (56,810 acres). The appellation requires a minimum of two grapes in a wine blend.
The co-op farms 350 hectares (868 acres) around the tiny hamlet of Embres et Castelmaure. The 760 parcels are inspected and the characteristics recorded on computer. Each parcel is supervised individually by a technician who dedicates his time to this task. They have re-learned to prune, plough, check yields, sort, select, with a permanent focus on the respect of the environment. All the grapes are harvested by hand. In the cellar, vats hygiene, temperature control, ultramodern pressing contribute to a better expression of the terroir.
Castelmaure produces 90% red wine of which 80% is A.O.C. Corbieres.
The soil is made of schist, limestone, alluvial river wash and argilo-calcaire.
The 2017 was a very different year to 2016 in terms of the viticultural conditions and it was interesting to watch the progression of the wine and scrutinize its quality as it developed over its first two winters. Whereas 2016 had a very mild winter and exceptionally hot summer, this was compensated by abundant winter and spring rainfall. Conversely, 2017 was warm and drythroughout, although summer temperatures were closer to average, whichproved to be a very significant factor allowing for complete, balancedripening.
It is rare to see such tremendous depth and intensity in color as this winedisplays. The freshness of the floral aromas is very attractive with adominance of rockrose, a flower that grows wild around the hills of Senhorada Ribeira. On the palate, it is exceptionally full-bodied, rich andpowerful with black fruit coming to the fore. Gorgeous, ripe fruit isbalanced by the fine tannin structure. On the finish, it is typically Dow,austere and somewhat drier than many other ports. The intense fruit flavors linger long on the palate.
Dow’s Vintage Ports are only produced in years of exceptional quality and represent only a very small part of the total company’s production in that year. On average only two or three times every ten years are the weather conditions sufficiently good to allow for the making of Dow’s Vintage Port.
Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Dow’s Vintage Ports have been landmark wines in virtually every great year, consistently setting the standards amongst all Port houses. Vintage Ports such as the remarkable Dow 1896, the 1927, 1945, 1955, 1963, 1966, 1970, 1980 and the Dow 1994 are all legends in the history of this great wine. These Ports are still magnificent today, even when 50 or over 100 years old. Few wines can claim this quality and this pedigree.
Dow's Vintage Ports are drawn from the companies' finest vineyards; Quinta do Bomfim and Quinta de Senhora da Ribeira. Each property contributes to the Dow’s unique and distinctive style. When young, Dow’s Vintage Ports are purple-black, austere, complex and intensely concentrated, full-bodied and balanced with very fine peppery tannins.
Over the centuries, the Dow winemakers have evolved a style that suits the house’s key vineyards; fermentations are a little longer, resulting in a drier Port Wine that has become the hallmark of Dow’s. Abundant fruit flavours with hints of ripe blackberries, give elegance and poise to Dow’s. The nose is deep and powerful with strong overtones of violets when young, these mature into fine cinnamon and rose-tea aromas with age. The very high percentage of Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional planted on the vineyards result in the powerful structure and aging potential of Dow’s Vintage Ports
Dow’s Ports avoid an over-rich style and requires a very high degree of skill in wine making and great experience in selecting the finest wines of each year and each vineyard. These wines are aged in seasoned oak casks for some 18 months and are bottled without any filtration or fining whatsoever.
Dow Vintage Ports can be enjoyed when vibrant and young or they can be allowed to age for many years in bottle into a soft and delicate wine of velvet-like elegance.
In the 1920’s, the celebrated Oxford Professor George Saintsbury underlined Dow’s outstanding reputation when he wrote in his famous ‘Notes on a Cellarbook’ (first published in 1920), “There is no shipper’s wine that I have found better than the best of Dow’s 1878 and 1890 especially.”
James Suckling, one of today’s leading authorities on Vintage Port was equally impressed by another legendary wine - the Dow’s 1896 - “The ancient {1896} Port still had an amazing ruby colour with a garnet edge, and it smelled of raisins, black pepper and berries. It was full-bodied, with masses of fruit intertwined with layers of velvety tannins. It was superb.” In 1998, when this wine was 102 years old, he awarded this Port an exceptional 98 points.
Review:
Based on fruit from the predominantly south-facing Quinta do Bomfim in the Cima Corgo and Quinta Senhora da Ribeira in the Douro Superior, with Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca making up 80% of the blend. This is opaque and closed in but powerfully ripe with underlying pure berry fruit. It's seemingly quite introverted compared to some of its peers at this stage, but it's still full, rich and opulent on the palate. It also shows the latent power of the vintage, made as it is in a slightly drier style (3.4 Baumé), with lovely minty fruit and full, ripe sinewy tannins all the way through the finish. Long and lithe, and very fine.
-Decanter 97 Points
A dense, thickly textured version, dripping with warm salted licorice, tar and açaí paste notes, while plum and blueberry pâte de fruit, chai spice and chocolate elements fill in behind. Lots of brambly grip flows underneath. Shows a very sappy feel on the finish. Best from 2035 through 2055. 5,250 cases made, 1,092 cases imported
-Wine Spectator 96 Points
This is a dry while also floral wine, perfumed and enticing with its juicy acidity. At the same time, the structure is very present, showing power and dark black fruits. The balance is coming together with the rich fruits and tannins melding into one. Drink from 2028. ROGER VOSS
-Wine Enthusiast 96 Points
Deep dark ruby garnet, opaque core, violet reflections, delicate brightening of the edges. Black wildberry jam underlaid with delicate herbs and spices, tobacco nuances, hints of blueberry jam and elderberries, schisty notes. Powerful, full-bodied, sweetness present, carrying tannins, dark nougat in the finish, very good length, an imperious style, built for a long life.
Falstaff 98 Points
Dense purple hues, with evocative aromas of black cherries, ripe plums, nectarines, boysenberry, wild bramble and exotic oak spice. The juicy and sweet-fruited palate entry, combined with crunchy tannins, lures one into a sense of overtness, yet the wine is sublimely elegant and poised. The complex layers of fruit is in perfect harmony with the oak, all bound together by a lively seam of acidity. The finish is pleasantly dry and savory, with lingering notes of Christmas cake and vanilla pod.
Pair with barbequed meats, especially venison and beef / bobotie / lamb curry / seared tuna / spicy Asian-styled cuisine / aromatic curries / duck with sweet plum sauce / beef or lamb burgers / pizza