Country: | Australia |
Region: | Western Australia |
Winery: | Grace Town |
Grape Type: | Chardonnay |
Vintage: | 2020 |
Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
Grace Town Petite Sirah is made from 100 percent Petite Sirah.
The Lodi Appellation has a classic Mediterranean climate, featuring warm days and cool evenings. Situated 100 miles directly east of the San Francisco Bay, at the edge of the San Joaquin/Sacramento River Delta, cool delta breezes provide the region with reliable, natural air conditioning throughout the growing season. This perfect climate allows one to consistently craft a diverse set of delicious, full-flavored wines that display a refreshing natural acidity.
Petite Sirah, aka Durif, is French in origin and originally a seeding cross of Syrah and Peloursin, which yields wines that are dark, rich and bold. Grace Town Petite Sirah is dark in color with prunes, cherries, vanilla, long flavors. A complex red wine that complements a variety of dishes.
Grace Town Old Vine Zinfandel Lodi is amde from 98% Old VIne Zinfandel + 2% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Ruby red in color, with red fruit, raspberry, and spice on the nose. This wine is medium in body, with notes of ripe cherry, cedar box, cinnamon, anise, black pepper, and hint of smoke on the palate. It has a long, silky finish.
Grace Town Red Blend is made from 49% Zinfandel, 37% Merlot, 14% Petite Sirah
Historically, Lodi vineyards were developed in the fine sandy soils surrounding the community of Lodi. The area is noted for producing uniform and balanced vineyards that deliver fruit-driven wines with a rich silky texture.
Grace Town Red Blend is a harmonious fusion of three grape types: Zinfandel, Merlot & Petite Sirah. Hints of clove and vanilla on the nose combine with a background hint of cinnamon, and the fruity flavors remind you of Christmas. Smooth and fruit-forward.
Pair with light fare, such as a mixed green salad or a toasted flatbread. Best served with a slight chill.
Paul Hobbs Chardonnay Russian River Valley is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
Crafted with precision from six pedigreed sites comes a wine that beams with pale straw hue. The newest vintage brings wonderful aromatic intensity: candied lemon peel, white florals followed by crisp green apple. A creamy and viscous texture on the palate is buoyed by white nectarine and dried apricot that’s balanced with a vibrant acidity, bringing focus to the wine’s finish that lingers with hints of flinty mineral notes.
Russian River Chardonnay Bacigalupi is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
An unmatched heritage. This wine is made from the budwood of the vines that produced the California Chardonnay that rocked the industry by winning the infamous “Judgment of Paris” wine tasting in 1976. And the quality has persisted.
Starting out with aromas of white peach, honeysuckle, crème brulee and jasmine. The palate is fruit driven from beginning to end. Apple pie, melon and stone fruit flavors linger on the tongue. The mid-palate is full and rich, with a touch of minerality. This wine finishes for days with plenty of fruit on the palate, balanced by a delightful pop of acidity.
One of the few Chardonnays built to age, age this beauty over the next 5-10 years - or even longer!
Review:
"A beautiful, intense chardonnay with lots of ripe red apples and some mineral and lemon-rind character, as well as just the right amount of vanilla and cream. Full-bodied, dense and layered with lovely intensity and focus at the end. Drink now or hold."
- James Suckling (November 2020), 94 pts
Russian River Chardonnay Petersen is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
Pear, peach, apple and a hint of flint.
Flavors of gorgeous baked apples with golden raisin and brown sugar, comice pear tart, apricot scone with clarified butter. What a fabulous creamy texture this wine has, despite no oak influence at all. This is testament to the incredibly lush fruit from the Petersen Vineyard, along with hands-off winemaking. So fresh, lively and mouthwatering, it’s like biting into an apple right off the tree. You can feel the juice dripping down your chin.
Grace Town Chardonnay Margaret River is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
Coastal influences in the Margaret River area yield chardonnay with tropical fruit notes. Hints of passion fruit and guava, with balanced acidity results in a delicious chardonnay.
Wine was slightly filtered before bottling. Malolactic fermentation was partially done.
A portion of the wine is aged in new and used French Oak barrels.
Grace Town is a special project by Fran Kysela and Kysela Pere et Fils, highlighting impressive terroirs and fruit-driven wines. The project currently features a Chardonnay from Australia’s famed Margaret River, and three red selections – Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and a Red Blend – from the diverse Lodi region.
Maipe Malbec Rose is 100 Malbec.
Intense pink color with violet hints.
Fresh red fruit bouquet, strawberry and cherry flavors, balanced acidity, dry and lingering finish.
Excellent with tuna or green salad, pasta, spicy Asian dishes.
SALE!
Lodi, American Viticulture Area (AVA) – The Lodi AVA is located in the northern end of the San Joaquin Valley, Central Valley California, east of the San Francisco Bay. Lodi has warm days and cool nights, similar to the Mediterranean climate. The lower temperatures that occur in Lodi result in fruit with good acidity. A wide range of soils are found in the Lodi AVA, but they generally are deep, loamy, sandy, rocky soils similar to that found in southern Rhone valley.
The Lodi appellation totals almost one half million acres, and the approximately eight hundred growers farm roughly 90,000 acres. Lodi produces more Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, and Zinfandel than any other wine region in California, but it is probably best known for its old vine Zinfandel. The vines are often head trained giving them a classic old world appearance.
Zinfandel – The Zinfandel grape is a hearty variety that produces grapes with high sugar levels, often resulting in wines with a high alcohol content. Thought to be a relative of Primitivo that is found in southeast of Italy (the boot heel), Zinfandel can be made into a wide range of wine styles, including White Zinfandel, light or full bodied red wines, and even late harvest desert style wine. However Zinfandel, especially Old Vine Zinfandel from Lodi, is usually made into a full bodied, spicy red wine with characteristics of red fruit, raspberry, and cherry.
Produced in the heart of Lodi AVA.
Rubus Zinfandel Lodi is made from 98% Zinfandel + 2% Cabernet Sauvignon
Bottled after aging in French and American oak for 9 months.
Rubus Zinfandel Lodi presents with ruby red in color, with red fruit, raspberry, and spice on the nose. This wine is medium in body, with notes of ripe cherry, cedar box, cinnamon, anise, black pepper, and hint of smoke on the palate. It has a long, silky finish.
Selected by Fran Kysela MS.
Hickinbotham Brooks Road Shiraz is made from 100 percent Shiraz.
After the hand-picked Shiraz clusters were delivered from high country (210-230 meters) by Viticulturer Michael Lane, the winemaker destemmed and sorted the whole berries into open fermenters. The cold soak was four days, the skins plunged three times daily, and the minimum time on skins was eighteen days. The wine was then basket pressed; its free run and pressings kept separate. To minimize filtration at bottling, three rack-and-returns were conducted over fifteen months as the wine seasoned in a mixture of Burgundy-coopered barrels.
This Shiraz shows the characters this vineyard has displayed since the start, but perhaps in a more elegant, harmonious and balanced form. Its consistency is comforting and reassuring, buttressed by blue and black fruit notes throughout. It is readily enjoyable but has all the structure, acid and tannin to offer decades of rewards from cellaring.
Review:
A rich, succulent mix of dark chocolate, spiced plum, wild blackberry and black licorice notes. Showcases both power and elegance, with chai, cigar box, violets and dried sage notes, velvety and generous, on the long, generous finish. Drink now through 2035. 1,900 cases made, 370 cases imported
-Wine Spectator 95 Points
Viejo Isaias Don Isaias Sparkling is made from 50% Chardonnay and 50% Chenin Blanc
Charmat method.
The wine is produced from grapes that grow in the highlands of the Mendoza River. Its second alcoholic fermentation with a prolonged contact with yeast brings complex aromas of stone fruits, such as white peach, and citrus aromas such as pink grapefruit and tropical pineapple. The palate reveals good acidity and freshness.
Siegel San Elias Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
Fresh and delicate cassis tones, a great structure. Draw the cork half an hour before serving and serve at room temperature.
Smooth and fruity on the palate, the wine goes well with pasta, salads.
Zombie Zin Zinfandel is made from 95% Zinfandel and 5% Syrah
Be careful if you go out at night. The Zombie Zin is designed to be consumed in hiding with the only friends you have left... post apocalypse.
The Zombie Zin is sporting a new label design with a torn look, that suggests a window into another world. The colors are more vibrant earth-tones and the capsule is a deep red.
The Zombie Zinfandel is very dark in color, almost a black-purple. The aromas are of ripe, dense black fruits and a hint of dried herbs. The flavors are complex and rich, sporting succulent blackberries, powdered cinnamon, cola and cherry jam. Just a hint of black pepper in the long finish.
The grapes for the Zombie are sourced throughout California, mostly from the dry, hot sandy soils of the Delta region and the Central Valley. The final blend benefitted from some inky Syrah grapes that came from the Central Coast. The wine was fermented in Stainless Steel and aged for about a half a year in American oak.
Pairs well with bloody BBQ meats, sinister soups with eye of newt, bubbly caldron of fleshy stew.
Vincent Girardin Puligny-Montrachet Vieilles Vignes is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
Heady bouquet of dried almond, butter, and mineral notes. Once the wine is opened, we have fine notes of white flower, butter, and toasted bread. The touch of sugar on the palate reveals the fruit was very mature. Its mineral structure brings purity and freshness.
Avennia Sestina Red Blend is made from 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc.
The Sestina is a poetic form from Medieval France. Just as a contemporary poet can use an old form like the Sestina to express modern ideas, we use the traditional Bordeaux blend to make modern wines that express Washington fruit. Sestina is our vision for an old vine blend where the focus is on structure, balance, and complexity. This wine is designed for the cellar, but is enjoyable now.
Sestina: This wine is a blockbuster, with black currant, black raspberry, saddle leather, freshly tilled earth, vanilla, and violet on the nose. Exceedingly rich and balanced on the palate, with great poise and structure for long aging. The finish echoes with fresh black fruits, minerally touches, and floral notes.
Review:
The 2020 Sestina showed beautifully, with lots of ripe black fruits, tobacco, and spring flower notes in a medium to full-bodied, fresh, focused, elegant style. It has fine tannins and a great finish and should drink nicely right out of the gate. The tannins here are terrific.
Jeb Dunnuck 94-96 Points