Filippino Elio Barbera d'Alba Superiore is made from 100% Barbera.
This 100% Barbera shows an intense fruity bouquet with subtle vanilla and toasty notes. Full and spicy flavors, and a good body.
The grapes are pressed and the stalks are removed. The must ferments at about 26°C for 6-9 days. After racking, before the end of fermentation, the new wine is put in 225 liter Allier barriques for long months, depending on the vintage and the wine’s structure. It is subsequently moved into stainless steel vats to rest for some months before bottling.
Finca Sobreno Seleccion Especial Toro is now called Finca Sobreno Tempranillo Reserva Toro.
Finca Sobreno Tempranillo Reserva Toro 100% Tinta de Toro from selected old-vines plots and aged during 14 months in American oak.
Production: 8,500 cases/year.
Deep dark cherry red color with dark purple tones. Powerful yet elegant nose, refined and stylish with ripe berry fruit, spicy complexity with scents of clove, sandalwood, vanilla, chocolate. Muscular, elegant yet silky smooth taste shows fruit preserves/jam blackberry and chocolate truffle. Concentrated and rich but not sweet with superb length. A good match for venison or wild boar with a fruit-based sauce.
Soil types
The wine is 100% Tinta de Toro from selected old-vines plots (over 40 years old)
The soil is formed by sediments of sand, clay and lime-stone, which produce a dark lime-bearing topsoil, with fine and coarse sands.
Harvest: In Toro summer temperatures were lower than usual and only rose over 40°C on a few days, which compensated for the dry conditions. Fresher nights from mid August also helped vines to reach optimum ripeness in the six weeks leading up to harvest –which was carried out between September 19 and October 10- and tamed alcohol levels. Tempranillo (Tinta de Toro) grapes ripened well – bunches were small and clusters were loose and healthy. Yields were low but the wines show intense color, good fruit profile and ripe tannins, which will be help to achieve roundness and good mouth feel in the finished wines. The fresher summer also resulted in slightly lower alcohol levels and a slightly higher acidity and this bodes well for quality in wines destined for ageing.
Winemaking and aging: Following a careful selection, the grapes were destemmed, crushed and the must underwent cold maceration at 7º C for five days prior to fermentation, which took place at a constant 28º C. The total maceration period lasted approximately 20 days. This wine was aged in new and one year old American and French oak barrels for 14 months, followed by another 24 months minimum in the bottle.
Winemaker: Oscar Martin
Technical specification:
TA: 4.88 grams / liter
pH: 3.62
SO2 free: 76 mg/l
RS: 2.23 grams / liter
A good match for venison or wild boar with a fruit-based sauce.
The nose expresses small red and black fruits, blackcurrant, cherry, raspberry and violet. The mouth provides a rich, supple and elegant wine with a good structure.
Pork Filet Mignon, Pike Perch, Tomme de Morvan Cheese
4 Gatos Locos Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.
4 Gatos Locos is a project created by Gabriel Bloise, Facundo Bonamaizon, Mariana and Juan Pelizzatti - winemaker, viticulturist and founders of Chakana Winery (respectively). The project centers on a 20-hectare vineyard in Alto Gualtallary, the most prominent growing region in Argentina. The vineyard is situated 1,360 meters above sea level, on a 10% slope on the Sierra del Jaboncillo - a relatively old geological formation near the alluvial fan of the Las Tunas river, in the Tupungato area. The long exposure to arid conditions of calcium rich gravel has created one of the most calcium carbonate-rich areas in Mendoza. This combination of altitude, slope, gravel and the calcium carbonate create uniquely deep, textured wines, with intense color and mineral freshness. Moderate high temperatures controlled by high altitude in sunny conditions produce perfectly ripe grapes of unusually intense color and great vitality, balanced by the mineral freshness of calcium carbonate. Local aromatic plants, naturally occurring in native vegetation areas interspersed in the vineyard, give the wine a unique herbal touch that underline the character of the place.
Deep purple red colored with intense complex notes of red berries and spice, well integrated aromatic oak and very fine tannins structuring a powerful and elegant palate.
Fullerton Three Otters Pinot Noir is made from 100% Pinot Noir - 7-40 years old
This Willamette Valley blend hails mainly from three different vineyards in the north, east, and south of the Willamette Valley, with a smaering from five of Fullerton's other sites. The soils of the vineyards represent the breadth and diversity of the Willamee Valley with both sedimentary- and volcanic-based soils.
Blueberry and ripe strawberry with a dash of baker’s spice, bramble, and herbs. The palate carries the fruit forward elegantly with balanced tannins following. Intriguing complexity and depth—an impressive wine for all.
This wine comes from 100% destemmed rotator barrels fermented at ambient temperature reaching a peak temperature of 73° F. The rotator barrel spun twice daily during fermentation yielding a gentle extraction. After fermentation, the wine went through a three-week extended maceration, allowing the tannins to polymerize, soffening the wine. Aged for 12 months in French oak barrels and three months in tank, the wine was then bottled after filtration.
This wine is handled very gently in the cellar allowing the nuances of the delicate fruit to be preserved and the wine to be very approachable in its youth. We have a preference for pump-overs versus punch-downs for its smoother extraction and softening effect on the tannin. To retain freshness and verve we age most of the wine in tank. However, we softened up and rounded out about 25% of the blend in barrel. The result is a fresh, fruit forward, yet earthy and intriguing, Pinot Noir.
Serve this wine slightly chilled, and pair it with dishes of earthy mushrooms, like chanterelles and morels, light cuts of meat, charcuterie and cheese.
Gessinger Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Alte Reben Caldo Infernale made from 100 percent Riesling.
The Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Caldo Infernale was produced from over 100-year-old ungrafted vines in the Gewann “im Kalk,” the original part of the vineyard. This is a typical Devonian slate Riesling with fruity elegance and great durability.
Although riper elements of yellow peach, coconut, Victoria pineapple, and almond cream directly capture the attention, the nose maintains a fresh character with minty and zesty notes. The wine shows ripe and sweet elements on the palate, and has quite some creamy and juicy elements such as canned yellow peach and pineapple. The finish brings the right amount of zest to lift up the aromatics and adds focus and tension, while there is an almost Eiswein-type of acidity in the aftertaste. This is a gorgeous Auslese.
Boroli Cerequio is made from 100 percent Nebbiolo.
The Boroli family is a family of entrepreneurs, with roots in Piedmont dating back to 1831. The family started their winemaking business in1997, when Silvano and Elena Boroli felt an ardent desire to step away from the pressures of their publishing business and reconnect to nature. Silvano and Elena grew the company until their son, Achille, stepped in to run the wine-growing and production business in 2012.
With the 2012 grape harvest Achille decided to radically change the methods used in vineyards and wineries, aiming for the highest quality in Barolo and its crus. He cut production levels, updated the winemaking technology, and focused on low intervention methods to raise the quality of the Boroli wines be on par with the finest Barolo wines.
About the Vineyard
The Cerequio cru lies just across the valley from the Boroli winery in the commune of La Morra and is considered one of the most prestigious sites in the Barolo DOCG zone. It is known to produce Nebbiolo wine of enormous elegance and finesse.
Wine Production
Cerequio is distinguished by a careful selection of grapes, precise destemming, and a long maceration with submerged cap.
Tasting Notes
A clear bright ruby color with very light garnet red reflections; intense and persistent aroma of red fruit with notes of plum and cherry. A pleasant aroma of wood is noticeable after the fruity aroma, anticipating the full taste of a great wine suitable for long lasting life. A succulent, rich, full-bodied and pleasant taste emerges after the woody one, with the presence of slightly ripe red fruit.
Food Pairing
Thanks to its viscosity and body, Barolo is the ideal wine to pair with elaborate dishes and dishes like truffle dishes, meat dishes, pasta with porcini mushrooms, game, and aged cheeses. Cerequio is also perfect with dry pastries or chocolate.
Review:
Elegant bright ruby red. Fragrant and inviting nose of strawberries with whipped cream, icing sugar, elderflower and roses. Flattering palate with clear fruit and appealing acidity, unfolds into a complex style, punchy on the palate with a clear, slightly salty finish.
-Falstaff 95 Points
Gosset Grande Reserve Brut is made from 45% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir, 10% Pinot Meunier.
The color is bright and golden, the nose open and expressive, and the palate is dominated by a refreshing mineral tension.
Gosset Grande Reserve is a truly faithful expression of the Gosset style. To achieve a cuvee of this quality, the cellar-master has blended the best of the various champagne crus at the grape- harvest with wines specially chosen from our reserve stocks for their richness and maturity.
This champagne is the perfect accompaniment to mild and subtly spiced dishes with cooked fruit, sweet/savory dishes or tajines. A blend of three vintages, the Grande Réserve Brut is adaptable by nature — from apéritif to dessert.
Review:
The nose opens with the fresh ripeness of yellow apple and highlights of Granny Smith. It has beautifully subtle autolysis on the palate, deepening into notes of creamy apple crumble, Golden Delicious and Mirabelle plum, while remaining utterly strait-laced. Elegance, length and absolute freshness are inherent and quietly convincing.
-Decanter 94 Points