Country: | France |
Region: | Loire |
Winery: | Ecu (Guy Bossard) |
Grape Type: | Melon de Bourgogne |
Vintage: | 2018 |
Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
The Grade Cellar Kingly Project Cabernet Sauvignon is made from Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
"This is a noble expression of Cabernet Sauvignon" in full regalia, with decadent aromas and a mouthfeel viscous and sleek. "This vintage of the Kingly Project Cabernet Sauvignon enters the scene" -- Thomas Rivers Brown
Review:
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Kingly Vineyard is endowed with tremendous richness and concentration. It emerges from the best spots within Block 5, which is a bit more protected from the elements. The 2018 is a bit closed today, but it has a lot of promise. Time in the glass brings out layers of inky dark fruit and the savory, minerally notes that are such signatures. This potent Calistoga Cabernet needs time to shine, but it is impressive today just the same.
-Vinous 96 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 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Winfield Vineyard is an absolutely gorgeous wine that conveys a striking interplay of richness, power and nuance. Silky and restrained for this site, the Winfield offers up a compelling melange of red fruit, iron, cedar, tobacco, rose petal and dried herbs, all in a mid-weight style that is incredibly appealing. The Winfield is a selection taken from Blocks 1, 4 and 5.
-Vinous 94 Points
All older vintage wines have been purchased from a single collectors cellar. Pictures can be requested before shipment.
Delas Hermitage Domaine des Tourettes is made from Syrah.
The wine has a brilliant, deep red hue. The nose is powerful and complex, expressing blackberries, spices and leather. On the palate the wine is firm but silky, with a tightly-knit tannic structure that is the hallmark of wines that have a good future.
Pair this wine with rare or medium-cooked games, marinated meats and spicy stews. We recommend opening this bottle between one and three hours before drinking
Review:
A blend of fruit from the lieux-dits Les Bessards, Le Sabot and L’Ermite, this 2019 draws together a picture of the Hermitage hill in all its grandeur and complexity. At its center, it’s bright and juicy, filled with ripe berry flavors; around the edges, it’s stony and firm, with herbal notes that accent its cool reserve. It shows some vanilla and spice tones from its time in oak (a mix of new and barrels) but the fruit handles it well, absorbing it into a warm, rich density of flavor. This should age well for 20 years or more.
-Wine & Spirits 96 Points
Domaine de Beaurenard Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc is made from Clairette blanche & Rose, Grenache Blanc & Gris, Bourboulenc, Roussanne, Picpoul and Picardan.
Gold bright green color. Expressive nose with pear and stone fruits aromas (peach, apricot) with jasmine and roasted almonds notes. The mouth is smooth and fleshy like stone fruit we can smell, with a long a nice finish.
Review:
Bright golden yellow, silver reflections. Delicate herbal spices, a hint of chamomile and mandarin zest, pears and blossom honey are underneath. Juicy, elegant, white peach, delicate honeydew melon, mineral and harmonious, fine fruit sweetness, good ripening potential.
-Falstaff 92 Points
A bright, high-pitched style, with makrut lime, green apple and green melon flavors laced with a jasmine note. A subtle mineral edge provides balance on the finish. Drink now through 2024
-Wine Spectator 91 Points
Domaine de Beaurenard Chateauneuf-du-Pape is made from 65% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre.
Domaine de Beaurenard’s flagship wine is a quintessential blend, reflecting all the diversity of the terroir and the perfect synergy that exists between the soils and the grapes. It offers a supple and refined texture associated with a delicate aromatic palette that is the result of a constant quest for freshness.
Review:
Checking in as a blend of 65% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre, and the rest a handful of varieties, the 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape was brought up in a mix of foudre and older barrels. This deep ruby/purple-hued effort has a pure, vibrant, incredibly seamless, medium to full-bodied style that carries classic notes of black raspberry and black cherry fruits as well as peppery herbs, violets, spring flowers, and sous bois. This straight-up gorgeous, seamless, ultra-fine 2019 should be snatched up by readers. It has a rare mix of elegance, purity, and power, and it’s going to have two decades of prime drinking.
-Jeb Dunnuck 95 Points
SALE!
Guy Bossard Domaine de l'Ecu Muscadet Granite is made from 100% Melon de Bourgogne sourced from a 3 hectare vineyard.
ub-soil: granite
Yield: 40-45 hl/ha
Soil ploughing and soil scraping. Canopy management.
PRUNING: Simple Guyot.
Orientation of the slopes is SOUTH WEST. Stony soil. Sub-sol: Two-Mica Granite.
Production: 555 cases
It is the color of white gold. An elegant nose with pronounced notes of mineral, flint, silex, and notes of citrus fruits and oyster shells. The attack is sharp and straight, the mouth crystalline imparting a great purety, fresh with the ambiance of the sea; mouth slim, fleshy and complex, very salty notes and notes of chalk and citrus fruits. A wine equipped with a long life with a persistant ambiance of the sea. A wine essentially to keep....
Organically farmed since 1975. Biodynamic – Demeter certified since 1998. 100 % hand-picked grapes Reception of the grape harvest by gravity, no use of pumps. Pneumatic gentle press No racking of the must Fermentation: 100 % natural yeast • Temperature control: 15 °- 17 °. Aged "ON THE LEES" in underground vats
A perfect match to the following dishes:
Tartare of langoustines, zest of lime and mandarin.
Sushi and sashimi of white fish, sea bass and sea bream...
Shellfish, refined oysters, crayfish.
Carpaccio of ScallopS with kaffir lime zest.
Turbot, John Dory, Monkfish in sauce, Skate with capers, beurre noisette.
Eels "à la Provençale". Wild Sea Bass with an oyster sauce and seaweed butter.
Grilled Rabbit Leg with rosemary, tian of courgettes
Cheeses: Livarot, Epoisses, Curé Nantais
Review:
"Named after the rock upon which the vineyard sits, this wine is textured, very mineral and concentrated. Ripe apple flavors are part of this structure and tangy character. A little young it will be better from late 2019. - ROGER VOSS”
- Wine Enthusiast (October 2019), 92 pts, Editors' Choice
The Domaine de l'Ecu Guy Bossard Estate
The domaine is located in the hamlet of Le Landreau in Sevre et Maine, Muscadet's best region of production. The family has been producing wine there for 5 generations, but current owner Guy Bossard defies the prevailing view that organic producers can't make great wine. The estate became organic in 1975, and biodynamic in 1986. Guy Bossard makes his own compost using algae, forest brush and basalt. He produces 3 different cuvees, each masterfully crafted to highlight the expression of the specific soil types.
The Hermine d'Or designation is given to specially selected Cuvees of Muscadet, (tasted blind) that score highly. Hermine d'Or wines are picked for:
1. Typicity - Trueness to type (no oak here).
2. Ageability - The ability to improve in the bottle.
3. Minerality - Classic feature of wines of this region.
This insignia, Hermine d'Or, is as near a guarantee of quality as can be found in the region.
Matt Kramer, the Wine Spectator - My Wines of the Year -
"Ah, my beloved Muscadet always pops up on this list, as I like to buy'em and age'em for upward of a decade. Guy Bossard, the owner-winemaker of Domaine de l'Ecu, is obsessed with Muscadet. His vines and winemaking are fully biodynamic. If Burgundy's Domaine Leroy made Muscadet, it would be Domaine de l'Ecu. In the classic 2002 vintage, Bossard offered multiple bottlings based on soil types. His Expression de Granit is all about intense minerality; Expression d'Orthogneiss is spicier, richer and denser. Both need 10 years of age. The prices are absurdly low."
"The gifted, highly regarded Guy Bossard produces serious Muscadets, built to age; fully biodynamic since 1986." - Anthony Dias Blue's pocket guide to wine 2006
The Domaine de l'Ecu Guy Bossard Vineyard
Guy Bossard farms 17 hectares (42 acres) entirely using biodynamic methods. The average age of the vines is 45 years.
The wines are fermented "sur lie", on the yeast, to prevent oxidation and impart full flavor and a slight spritz to the finished product.
Weingut Prager Stockkultur Achleiten Gruner Veltliner Smaragd is made from 100 percent Gruner Veltliner.
Franz Prager, co-founder of the Vinea Wachau, had already earned a reputation for his wines when Toni Bodenstein married into the family. Bodenstein’s passion for biodiversity and old terraces, coupled with brilliant winemaking, places Prager in the highest echelon of Austrian producers.
Smaragd is a designation of ripeness for dry wines used exclusively by members of the Vinea Wachau. The wines must have minimum alcohol of 12.5%. The grapes are hand-harvested, typically in October and November, and are sent directly to press where they spontaneously ferment in stainless-steel tanks.
Stockkultur is a 0.3-hectare plot at the top of Achleiten and was purchased by Toni Bodenstein in 2005. The name refers to the old style of training each vine to a single stake; the traditional method of vine cultivation in the Wachau before the 1950s. The vines planted in 1938 are among the oldest in the Wachau.
Tasting Notes:
Prager’s stylistic signature is that of aromatic complexity coupled with power and tension. High-density planting and long hang times ensure ripe fruit flavors and concentration, yet allowing leaves to shade the fruit lend vibrant aromatics of grasses, herbs, and wildflowers. Minerality is a constant feature of any Prager wine.
Food Pairing:
With minimum alcohol of 12.5%, Grüner Veltliner Smaragd is a concentrated and full-bodied dry white wine. Its intensity of flavor and ripeness of fruit make it ideal with high-integrity ingredients such as seared white fish or sautéed spring vegetables. Grüner Veltliner is a classic accompaniment to Wiener Schnitzel.
Review:
From vines planted in 1937 and picked as the first of the Smaragd wines, the 2020 Ried Achleiten Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Stockkultur (planted with 15,000 vines per hectare) opens with a spectacular deep and complex but refined, fresh and flinty bouquet with intense, ripe pear and biscuit aromas. On the palate, this is a dense and lush yet pure, elegant and complex, wide and powerful but also mineral Achleiten with a long, finely tannic and still sweet finish (due to more than 30 grams per liter of dry extract). Tasted at the domaine in June 2021.
At Prager, I could not determine that 2020 would be inferior to the 2019 vintage; on the contrary, the 2020 Smaragd wines fascinated me enormously in their clear, cool, terroir-tinged way. A 38% loss had occurred mainly because of the hail on August 22, although predominantly in the Federspiel or Riesling vineyards. There was no damage in the top vineyards such as Ried Klaus, Achleiten or Zwerithaler. "Interestingly, the vines are in agony for about two weeks after the hail. There was no more growth, no development of ripeness and sugar," reports Toni Bondenstein. The Veltliner then recovered earlier, while even picking a Riesling Federspiel in October was still a struggle. "Why Riesling reacted more intensively to the hail, I don't know myself either," says Bodenstein. Whole clusters were pressed to preserve acidity and to compensate for the lower extract, and compared to 2019, the 2020s were left on their lees longer. In June, however, the 20s in particular showed outstanding early shape.
-Wine Advocate 96 Points
Leindl Riesling Zobinger Heiligenstein Kamptal is made from 100 percent Riesling.
Medium yellow green. Fine nuances of ripe apricot, a hint of yellow apple, delicate herbs and spices, mineral Touch, hints of candied orange zest. Juicy, elegant, fine stone fruit, touch of finesse acidity, salty minerality in the finish, remains long, already well to drink.
Cold Fermentation.
Aged on the lees for 12 months in Stainless Steel tank. No Oak.
No ML
Review:
"Anything but dramatic, this is a concentrated and beautifully crafted Heiligenstein dry riesling with the racy acidity and stony minerality we expect from this site. Very sleek and straight finish that some may find a bit tart, but we find very exciting. Sustainable. Drink or hold. - Stuart PIGOTT"
- James Suckling (Top 100 wines of Austria 2023, December 5th 2023), 94 pts