Country: | Italy |
Region: | Piemonte |
Winery: | Ferraris Agricola |
Vintage: | 2019 |
Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
Cardinale Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot.
Super structured and with minerality to spare, this Cabernet Sauvignon offers a real presence on the palate from start to finish. Generous notes of dark chocolate balance beautifully with a blue and black fruit flavor explosion, finishing with a subtle whisper of rose petal.
Reviews:
- James Suckling 98 Points
Rinaldi Panta rei Monferrato Rosso is a blend of 50% Barbera and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon.
This wine is quite tasty, smooth, silky and powerful.
It is loaded with dried red fruit notes from the appassimento of the grapes and it also has a lot of spicy aromas and flavors from the oak ageing.
Grown on limestone soils.
The average age of the vines is 30 years old.
10% of the wine is appassimento. Appassimento is an Italian term for drying harvested grapes, traditionally on bamboo racks or straw mats, for a few weeks up to several months to concentrate the sugars and flavors. This process is used in making Amarone, Recioto and Sforzato.
This drying method is not traditional in Piemonte but is popular in other part of Italy like in the Veneto region.
Thanks to this new method the wine is rounder and softer, boasts beautiful notes of red dried fruits.
Pantarei is aged 14 months in French oak ((the wood is Allier, medium toast) barrels and 6 months in bottle before release.
Delicious with wild game, grilled meat and strong cheese.
Rinaldi Panta rei Monferrato Rosso is a blend of 50% Barbera and 50% Cabernet Sauvignon.
This wine is quite tasty, smooth, silky and powerful.
It is loaded with dried red fruit notes from the appassimento of the grapes and it also has a lot of spicy aromas and flavors from the oak ageing.
Grown on limestone soils.
The average age of the vines is 30 years old.
10% of the wine is appassimento. Appassimento is an Italian term for drying harvested grapes, traditionally on bamboo racks or straw mats, for a few weeks up to several months to concentrate the sugars and flavors. This process is used in making Amarone, Recioto and Sforzato.
This drying method is not traditional in Piemonte but is popular in other part of Italy like in the Veneto region.
Thanks to this new method the wine is rounder and softer, boasts beautiful notes of red dried fruits.
Pantarei is aged 14 months in French oak ((the wood is Allier, medium toast) barrels and 6 months in bottle before release.
Delicious with wild game, grilled meat and strong cheese.
Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino is made from 100 percent Sangiovese.
Quite intense ruby red color with garnet highlights. Intense and complex aromas at the nose, rich in ripe fruits, spices and toasted notes. Smooth and bodied at the palate, with great persistence, elegant and wide concentration. Tannins are dense and velvety.
Reviews:
Blackberry, black-truffle and black-cherry aromas follow through to a medium body with juicy fruit and a long, flavorful finish. Polished, pretty tannins here. Nicely crafted. Drink after 2026.
-James Suckling 94 Points
In the bottle with the burgundy-colored label, the Tenute Silvio Nardi 2019 Brunello di Montalcino is a layered and generous wine with black fruit, cherry, spice and a hint of Provençal mixed herbs on black olive. There are further hints of underbrush, crushed slate, petrichor from schistic soils, and toasted almond that adds some sweetness from French oak. The tannins are velvety and soft, but this wine is regularly balanced throughout. It's well made in an ample production of 150,000 bottles.
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 94 Points
A spicy version, whose black pepper and Szechuan peppercorn notes highlight the core cherry and strawberry flavors. Underbrush and iron accents also enter the mix, while this stays balanced and long as the tannins leave their grip on the finish.
-Wine Spectator 94 Points
Andrew Will Winery Sorella 2019 is made from 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petite Verdot.
Sorella means sister in Italian and was named after Chris Camarda late sister Jane Camarda. This first vintage was from 1994. This wine is made from 100% Champoux Vineyard fruit and represents the nature of the vineyard by highlighting the Cabernet Sauvignon, which is considered some of the best in Washington State. The picture on the label is a portrait of Annie Camarda (Chris’s late wife).
Review:
Flirting with triple digits, and perhaps the best Sorella yet, the 2019 Sorella explodes from the glass with a fantastic mineral essence that sways between dark red fruit tones, oak essence and freshly opened flowers. Medium to full-bodied, the wine is impeccably balanced with a silky-smooth mid-palate that bestows a stunningly beautiful wine with gobs of complexity and a ripe frame of glossy black raspberry and blackberry fruit tones. Unwinding across the finish, the wine unpacks gorgeous layers that seduce me for a second, third and fourth sip and finally begs me to finish the glass. Buy this ASAP!
-Wine Advocate 99 Points
TYPE: DOCG
GRAPE VARIETY: 100% Sangiovese harvested from the oldest vineyards.
VINIFICATION: Alcoholic fermentation with maceration of the skins (25-30 days) at a controlled temperature and spontaneous malolactic fermentation, both in truncated cone-shaped Slavonian oak vats.
REFINEMENT: In Slavonian oak barrels from 10 to 32 hl for approx. 34-38 months; followed by bottle refinement of at least 6 months.
ON SALE BY:January of the 5th year after the harvest.
NOTE:
Color: intense ruby with garnet reflections.
Perfume: ethereal, of red fruit and vanilla, persistent.
Taste: harmonious, with excellent tannins and structure, very persistent.
Food pairings: roasted red meats, game, mature cheeses.
Review:
A jeweled ruby color, the 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino is forward with licorice spice on the nose and opens to notes of fresh black cherries, pine, and toasted rosemary. Medium to full-bodied, it offers wonderful energy from the start, with balanced, angular structure, ripe tannins, crunchy fresh acidity, and a long finish. Avery well styled Brunello, it will be in its prime in the coming 10-15 years.
-Jeb Dunnuck 95 Points
Aromas of redcurrants and red flowers, followed by a touch of pie crust and sandalwood. Full-bodied with steely and sturdy tannins and vivid acidity. Dried-herb character at the end. Masculine and structured. Hold until 2027.
-James Suckling 95 Points
Ruchè Clasic is obtained from grapes coming from the best-exposed vineyards, which means the southwest side of the hills. Because a heavy pruning, these vineyards never produce more then seven tons per hectare. Fermentation is done in 54-hectoliter temperature-controlled French oak vats for 15 to 20 days, according to the quality of the grapes at the time of pressing. A controlled temperature of 23 degrees enables the fermentation time to be lengthened and to keep the must in contact with skins for longer. During this period, the skins give the must more structure, tannin and color. This is important, particularly for Ruchè, whose precise aromas are its main characteristic. Once fermentation is finished, the wine rests for six months in the same vats where malolactic fermentation also takes place, perfect containers because they allow the exchange of oxygen necessary for a quicker maturation of the wine and for developing more elegant scents without imparting too much oak flavor.
Color: Ruby red
Bouquet: The wood is perfect for providing a natural level of oxygenation, without much oak flavor, very intense aromas of flowers
Taste: Also at the palate, intense aromas of flowers, balanced, elegant, with tannins that work hard at being soft
Alcohol: 14 %
Residual Sugar: 1.17 g/l
Total Acidity: 4.74 g/l
Grape Varietal: Ruchè 100%
Production Area: Castagnole Monferrato, Asti District
Soil: Clay and tuff
Growing System: Long Cordon Spur
Yield: 6 tons/ha-260 meters above sea level
Alcoholic Fermentation: In temperature controlled stainless steel rotofermenters for 10-15 days
Malolactic fermentation: In 54 hectoliters oak foudre
Truffles, game, medium aged cheeses, red and white meats, pasta
The Ferraris Estate produces about 130,000 bottles of wine (about 50,000 of Ruchè) from 18 vineyards covering 25 hectares. Luca Ferraris Agricola is the largest family owned agricultural company in the seven municipalities of the Ruchè-growing region.
Date Founded: 1999
To understand how the Luca Ferraris winery came about we must trace the story back to the nineteenth century when Luca’s great-grandfather Luigi Ferraris emigrated to America during the gold rush. Striking gold, he sent the money back to his wife Bruno Teresa, giving her the chance to realize her dream. After her husband passed away in 1921, she bought the house in Via al Castello that until recently housed Luca’s winery. Two years later, Luca’s grandfather Martino purchased II Casot, at the time nothing more than a simple rural hut in the middle of 40,000 square meters of land. Martino planted vines and bought barrels to make wine with his own grapes in his own cellar. He started by selling his wine to wholesalers in the area, then later began to increase his business by selling larger bottles to individuals traveling back and forth to Turin every week on horseback. Today on that land we have one of our most representative vineyards: Vigna del Casot.
Following the footsteps of Luca’s grandfather Martino, it was up to his father to decide what to do with the family’s passion for wine. In the time of the great industrialization by Fiat in Turin, he moved to the city as his peers did, but he also decided to keep his passion for the vineyards alive by collecting and giving its grapes to the agricultural cooperative in the village. That continued every year until 1999, when after graduation as an agriculturist, Luca began working at the family business, restoring the old cellar and starting to make wine from the vineyards. It was the turning point for the operation, and perhaps even for the Ruchè variety. In the area of the seven municipalities producing Ruchè, Luca was the first to thin vineyards to improve their quality. He wanted the company to specialize exclusively in high-quality production and also began to travel the world looking for new customers and markets. Production was raised from 10,000 bottles in the 2000 vintage to 60,000 in 2003 thanks to a partnership with Randall Grahm, the Californian winemaker founder of already famous for his Bonny Doon Vineyard. Today the Ferraris estate produces about 130,000 bottles of wine (about 50,000 of Ruchè) from 18 vineyards covering 25 hectares. Luca Ferraris Agricola is the largest family owned agricultural company in the seven municipalities of the Ruchè-growing region.
Winery:
The new Luca Ferraris winery was built in 2009. It was finished on August 31, just in time to press its Viognier harvest the following day. The switch to a more modern winery was necessary – despite the global economic climate, the company was growing rapidly, thanks in no small measure to the increasing popularity of Ruchè. The building, 1,000 square meters wide and three stories high, is on the main road between Asti and Castagnole Monferrato. The cellar and storage room are underground, where the temperature and humidity are constant year-round. The ground floor is where all production, from pressing to bottling, takes place. Advanced machinery allows Ferraris to produce the best possible wines without interfering with their natural characteristics. This is possible only through the combination of modern technology and the knowledge of old winemakers. Luca’s family taught him not to pander to a wider but less-educated public by producing wines that betray the typical characteristics of each variety. Also on the ground floor, behind the bottling line, are the company offices where the Luca Ferraris team meets to discuss production and marketing strategies. Above the offices on the first floor is the wine tasting room that seats up to 30 people. Large windows overlook the production area allowing tasters a view across the winery – illustrating the total transparency in Ferraris’ production.
Scattered Peaks Small Lot Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
The wine displays amazingly deep dark color. Aromas include dark, ripe cherries with a touch of cassis, licorice and brambly sage. The new French oak adds a bit of mocha toastiness. On the palate the wine is very powerful with firm but approachable tannins, great complexity and a long finish.
Review:
Celebrated winemaker Joel Aiken is at his best with this masterfully crafted red sourced from both Morisoli Vineyard in Rutherford and Ridge Vineyard on Howell Mountain. Concentrated notes of cedar, slate, and a slathering of grainy-textured dark chocolate meld with black cherry and plum. Sophisticated and regally structured.
- Tasting Panel 96 Points
In 1992 the Hill-Smith family counted themselves amongst those fortunate enough to own a vineyard upon the famous Coonawarra terra rossa soil over limestone. Experimentation, innovation, minimalist intervention and small batch winemaking has resulted in The Menzies’ reputation as a wine of longevity, elegance and structure.
Deep crimson with a plum hue. Aromas of fresh blackcurrants, mulberry, ozone, violets and exotic spices. Take a sip and you will feel the poise and tension for which great Cabernet is renowned. A wine of great complexity with flavors of blackcurrant jubes, bitter chocolate and mulberries, wrapped in divine tannins and a lovely sweet, dark fruit finish. With decanting in its youth it is enjoyable as an elegant full-bodied red wine.
Wonderful with a chargrilled rib eye on the bone or porcini mushroom, thyme and quinoa risotto.
Review:
Prune plums and blackcurrants. Violets, lavender leaf and black cherry. Olive tapenade, rosemary and crushed black peppercorn. The wine is held together by a fine mesh of grape and subtle oak tannins, intertwined with pure Coonawarra cabernet fruit. It’s chiselled in its dimension, and you might miss it, as it has such great drinking pleasure. Fruit purity, lovingly handled equals total seduction.
- Australian Wine Companion 95 Points