Tamarack Ciel de Cheval Vineyard Reserve holds dark and chocolate nauces, spiced with pretty notes of allspice and clove, this wine is round and rich, bursting with ripe berries, combined with an earthy complexity and a velvety finish.
Cabernet Sauvignon makes up half of this blend, with the balance Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Merlot
The wine spent 22 months on 75% new French oak with the remaining 25% second vintage French oak. Select barrels from the best forests of Taransaud, Boutes, Quintessance, and Vicard cooperages.
Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port.
On the palate, the wine has beautifully ripe tannins, which integrate perfectly into the mid-palate, providing both structure and volume, and then break out on the finish with a firm wiry, grip. The palate closes with a powerful tide of fresh, complex fruit flowing endlessly through the finish. In the 2018, the Taylor traits of fine fruit and inner power combine seamlessly with the ripeness and depth typical of the vintage.
Tenuta di Nozzole La Forra Chianti Classico Riserva is made from 100% Sangiovese.
Located north of the village of Greve in the heart of the Chianti Classico region, the Nozzole estate covers a striking, rugged, mountainous area of about 1,000 acres at 984 feet in elevation. In order to obtain concentration and complexity in the wine, yields are kept low. The grapes are hand harvested, destemmed and crushed. Fermentation is initiated on the skins in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, followed by a maceration period to draw out color and tannins. The wine is racked into stainless steel tanks for malolactic fermentation before aging in oak vats and in bottle before release. The wine is bottled on the estate.
The 2020 vintage was characterized by a basically cold period between April and May and by a generally warm and dry climate until July. The initial slight delay of the vegetative cycle has been recovered since the summer. The sudden increase in temperatures, especially for the later varieties where the fruit set had not yet ended, has favored a production characterized by sparse and light bunches. The stable and sunny climate of the months of August and September allowed the grapes to complete ripening in optimal conditions.
Review:
Attractive on the nose with cherries, red berries, dried herbs and baking spices. It’s medium-bodied with fine tannins. Harmonious and poised with a refined character. Weightless and agile. Polished and succulent finish.
-Wine Enthusiast 93 Points
Tenute Cisa Asinari Marchesi di Gresy Gaiun Martinenga Barbaresco 2016.
Bright garnet red with slight orange reflections. Intense and pleasant hints of plum and cherry blend sinuously with balsamic nuances of mint, tea leaves, dried flowers and blond pipe tobacco.
.
Intense ruby red color. Aromas characterized by hints of ripe red fruits, and hints of spices. On the palate it is warm, soft, and full with strong but velvety integrated tannins. Good persistence.
Pairs with meat, cheese, and game.
Bojola Vin Santo del Chianti Classico is a fortified dessert wine made from Malavasia del Chianti and Trebbiano Toscano varietals.
Amber in color, intense nose with strong notes of dried fruit, accompanied by hints of walnut and juniper. Dense mouth feel with notes of dried fruit and quince jam.
Pairs well with desserts, biscuits, dried fruits and cheeses.
The Gigondas appellation is naturally delimited by the Dentelles de Montmirail to the east and the upper plateaux of the Ouvèze River to the west. The rugged topography of the Dentelles, amazing limestone pyramids, protects the vines from excessive summer heat and the full force of the mistral. Our vines grow on steep terraces up to 400 metres in altitude.
This Cru Gigondas displays a fine balance between freshness and an impression of sweetness due to old Grenache vines planted at high altitude. The wine is big on the palate, with a dense texture of rich, ripe tannin. Its polished personality reflects a top-rate terroir.
Review:
"Very full, rich and luxurious in style with ripe red berries and some rich, meaty fruit coming through on the palate; grainy and gritty tannins, with plenty to chew on. Feels youthful and tight but harmonious. The lovely acid line brings precision and pep. Tapered finish. Very appealing!"
- Decanter WWA 2022, 96 points and Gold Medal
This limited release wine is created from the fusion of two exceptional parcels of 70% Shiraz and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. This classic blend is matured in the finest oak crafting an intriguing unison that captures the essence of the vineyard and highlights its unique varietal expression.
Vintage Overview
2013 was a very good season with predominantly mild, dry days. Yields were generally low and this did result in some excellent parcels of fruit being harvested. Vine-balance was carefully monitored, resulting in fruit that demonstrates the vibrancy and fruit-derived characters that we strive for in our wines. By all accounts it was a textbook vintage.
Tasting Notes
Deep inky purple in color. Aromas of blackberry, mocha, mint and spices. Lush, ripe palate dominated by black fruits, cherry and chocolate. An expansive palate with black fruits and nicely balanced by oak.
Made with the greatest dedication and care, select parcels were matured in new and seasoned French and American oak for up to 20 months prior to being selected for this blend. Individual barrels from our family estate that best demonstrate the intensity of our fruit, balanced by integrated oak were selected for the final blend, which was then bottled with minimal filtration.
Pairs well with venison, ribeye steak, lamb.
Review:
70% Shiraz and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. Fruit and oak combine here to produce a powerful, full-bodied red with coffee, toast, blackberry and rick plum flavours pouring through the palate. Tannin taps gently at the brakes: peppercorn and pine notes add lift: creaminess to the texture keeps everything running smoothly. Screwcap. 14.5% alc.
Halliday Wine Companion 2020 94 Points
The Grade Cabernet Sauvignon Serpent's Back Napa Valley is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
Review:
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Serpent's Back shows a more aromatic, high-toned side of this site. Bright red/purplish berry fruit, pomegranate, cinnamon and sweet floral accents are all laced together. The Serpent's Back is the most refined of these three Cabernets, but it has plenty of Calistoga punch.
-- Antonio Galloni 95 Points
The Grade Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Winfield Vineyard is made from Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
“2016 produced wines that are very giving, round, coating and streamlined. Year after this year, this bottling aims to highlight the best attributes of the Winfield Vineyard, and also creates a wine that possesses qualities that allow it to age well in the cellar and evolve over many years.
“This wine expresses a focused balancing act of dark, rich black fruit, and a fine tannin structure, illuminated through the core with a laser-like acidity. The wine displays a deep purple-red hue with a cranberry halo. Aromas of cassis, cinnamon, citrus oil, roasted meat, and lilac swell from the glass.
“The palate is marked by a wave of jet-black brambly fruit up front, followed by an exotic spice mid-palate and a long, complex finish that lasts and lasts expressing notes of flowering jasmine, and oolong tea. The silky tannins hold everything together and will certainly allow this wine to evolve in the cellar for at least 7-10 years.” - Thomas River Brown
Review:
Coming from the Winfield Vineyard in Calistoga, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon is another brilliant wine from the hands of winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown. This deep purple-colored effort boasts tons of blueberry and jammy blackberry fruits as well a medium to full-bodied, concentrated, yet elegant style on the palate. It has the purity of fruit that’s the hallmark of the vintage, ripe, sweet tannins, and no hard edges, and is already hard to resist.
-Jeb Dunnuck 94 Points
The Grade Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Winfield Vineyard is made from Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
“This wine expresses a focused balancing act of dark, rich black fruit, and a fine tannin structure, illuminated through the core with a laser-like acidity. The wine displays a deep purple-red hue with a cranberry halo. Aromas of cassis, cinnamon, citrus oil, roasted meat, and lilac swell from the glass.
“The palate is marked by a wave of jet-black brambly fruit up front, followed by an exotic spice mid-palate and a long, complex finish that lasts and lasts expressing notes of flowering jasmine, and oolong tea. The silky tannins hold everything together and will certainly allow this wine to evolve in the cellar for at least 7-10 years.” - Thomas River Brown
Review:
Coming from the Winfield Vineyard in Calistoga, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon is another brilliant wine from the hands of winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown. This deep purple-colored effort boasts tons of blueberry and jammy blackberry fruits as well a medium to full-bodied, concentrated, yet elegant style on the palate. It has the purity of fruit that’s the hallmark of the vintage, ripe, sweet tannins, and no hard edges, and is already hard to resist.
-Jeb Dunnuck 94 Points
The Grade Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Winfield Vineyard is made from Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
“This wine expresses a focused balancing act of dark, rich black fruit, and a fine tannin structure, illuminated through the core with a laser-like acidity. The wine displays a deep purple-red hue with a cranberry halo. Aromas of cassis, cinnamon, citrus oil, roasted meat, and lilac swell from the glass.
“The palate is marked by a wave of jet-black brambly fruit up front, followed by an exotic spice mid-palate and a long, complex finish that lasts and lasts expressing notes of flowering jasmine, and oolong tea. The silky tannins hold everything together and will certainly allow this wine to evolve in the cellar for at least 7-10 years.” - Thomas River Brown
Review:
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Winfield Vineyard is a blend taken from three blocks in the vineyard. A potent, layered Cabernet, the Winfield is super-expressive today. Dark red cherry, licorice, incense and savory herbs all flesh out in a potent, resonant Calistoga Cabernet that hits all the right notes. This is impressive, to say the least.
-- Antonio Galloni 95 Points
Exceptionally aromatic with aromas of violets, hints of blackberry, blackcurrant and black plum on the nose. There is some spice that is balanced with fresh acidity and minerality. A long finish with ripe but firm tannins.
Dow's Senhora da Ribeira can be enjoyed anytime and pairs wonderfully with chocolate desserts and soft cheeses like creamy Stilton or Roquefort.
Review:
Rich and fruity, this wine is packed with intense black-currant flavors. It is perfumed, ripe with a good tannic background. The density of the wine and the firm structure point to a long aging process. Drink this beautifully structured wine from 2026.
-Wine Enthusiast 93 Points
Winemaking:
Senhora da Ribeira has one of the most advanced specialist wineries in the Douro, combining the best of traditional winemaking practice, evolved over centuries, and the latest state-of-the-art automated systems. Three granite ‘lagares’ for foot treading are complemented by three ‘robotic’ lagares, designed by the Symington family and installed in the quinta’s winery in 2001.
It has long been recognised that traditional treading produced some of the finest Ports, but there are some drawbacks involved in traditional treading; temperature control is difficult, there is a limit to how long people are willing to tread and they need to sleep. The winemaker’s options are therefore limited, he or she cannot order treading at different times through the night, or pull people off the picking team at will. Furthermore, emptying the traditional lagar takes a long time; in the meantime the fermentation process is accelerating away. A further handicap arose over recent years, when an increasing scarcity of labour obliged producers to look for less labour-intensive vinification solutions. The Symingtons opted to devise a mechanical means of replicating the proven method of foot treading. The result was the Symington ‘robotic lagar’, an automated treading machine which exactly replicates the gentle action of the human foot and which has revolutionised winemaking in the Douro Valley. This equipment is very expensive but the results have been so good that an increasing proportion of Dow’s finest wines are now made in these automated lagares. Approximately half of the wines for Dow’s much praised 2003 Vintage were vinified in them.
The Senhora da Ribeira’s Quinta Vintage Ports have amassed a highly impressive number of awards: three Gold Medals at the International Wine Challenge, (2008, 2006 and 2001, for the 2005, 2002 and 1999 Vintages, respectively) as well as seven Silver Medals and two Gold Medals at the International Wine & Spirit Competition (London, 2008 for the 2005 Vintage and 2002 for the 1998 Vintage). In September 2006, Jancis Robinson MW wrote, “One very exciting new bottling is Dow’s Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira 2004...this single quinta bottling demonstrates superb quality with wonderful vibrancy. Great wine in any context - not that unlike some California reds! This is definitely a wine to look out for when it is released.”
Wine Profile
The very hot climate through the summer at this vineyard results in highly complex and concentrated wines but very low yields. Colours of the musts in the fermentation tanks are always purple-black due to the very high skin to juice ratio. The old vines add further to the intensity of the wine as they make up a very large percentage of the vineyard. The resulting wine can be described as being the essence of Vintage Port, with powerful wild red-fruit flavours, leading into rich black chocolate notes, the whole balanced by complex, attractive and peppery tannins.
One of the Douro’s most beautiful vineyards, Senhora da Ribeira is located 24km (15 miles) upriver from Quinta do Bomfim in the remote Douro Superior. The vineyard commands a magnificent north bank position, overlooking a broad sweep of the Douro, directly opposite another famous Symington owned vineyard: Quinta do Vesuvio. Senhora de Ribeira was built close to an ancient river crossing, guarded by two 12th century castles on either side of the river built by the Moors during their centuries long occupation of Iberia. A small chapel dedicated to the ‘Lady of the River’ (literally: Senhora da Ribeira) has stood here for centuries and gave the quinta its name. Travellers would pause here to ask for a safe river passage and onward journey.
Senhora da Ribeira’s wines are some of the finest in the Douro and they complement those from Bomfim in the composition of Dow’s classic Vintage Ports. The quinta’s high proportion of old vines (45% are over 25 years old) is of critical importance. The old vines are very low-yielding, producing on average less than 1Kg of grapes each, giving intense and concentrated musts which are ideal for classic Vintage Port. The remainder of the vineyard was replanted as follows: 21% in 2001 and 34% from 2004, the latter involving mainly Touriga Nacional vines. This grape variety - very important for Vintage Port - now represents almost exactly a third of the total planted at the quinta. The entire vineyard has the maximum ‘A’ rating.
As with Bomfim, the consistency of the climate plays a key role, although the rainfall is only half of that experienced at Bomfim: 448mm is the 10 year average. This more extreme climate, hot dry summers and cold, equally dry winters results in wines with unique depth of colour and complexity.
As with Quinta do Bomfim, the best Ports from Senhora de Ribeira are used to make Dow’s Vintage Ports in the great and rare ‘Declared’ years. In the good year’s when Dow’s does not ‘declare’ a Vintage, the best wines of ‘The Lady of the River’ are bottled as Dow’s Quinta de Senhora da Ribeira Vintage Port. They will tend to mature a little earlier than the very rare ‘Declared’ years, but can be every bit as good as some other Vintage Ports.
Sourced from premier California winegrowing regions, Conundrum Red features dark red varietals including Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Cabernet Sauvignon. It is serious yet lighthearted, complex and approachable. With lavish fruit flavors and baking chocolate, this wine has smooth tannins that provide a distinctive, soft character. Be daring and drink slightly chilled to enhance the fruit profile and enjoy any time of year.