Country: | France |
Region: | Beaujolais |
Winery: | Manoir du Carra |
Grape Type: | Gamay |
Organic: | Yes |
Vintage: | 2015 |
Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
SonVida Malbec is made from 95% Malbec and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon
SonVida Malbec is a single vineyard wine, the supreme expression of the award-winning zone of Altamira, in Argentina's Uco Valley. Altamira's smooth tannins shine through, and the combination of acidity and minerality lead the wine to a long, integrated finish.
"The wine is proud to be ripe and generous. Aromas dominated by smokey mulberry and blueberry. It's plush and coats the palate with bramble, blueberry and liquorice and the scent of vanilla. Immediately muscular and broad-shouldered in the glass, with a savory note, perhaps tapenade, running through the dense palate with mint and dried herbs on the finish. The oak will integrate over time, mixing its spice with the warm spice of fruit. - Joe Fattorini - The Wine Show"
Sunny Summer with moderate nighttime temperatures, followed by an early Fall.
Grapes come from the Mendoza region, in the Paraje Altamira area.
YIELD: 35 Hl/HA
MACERATION: Total 25 days, first cold-soaked 5 days, 14 days fermentation at 24° C, plus 7 additional days. No filtration.
SonVida Malbec can be enjoyed on its own, and matches perfectly with meats, chicken, turkey and hard cheeses. It is enjoyed best in good company. ‘Would you like another glass?’ The answer, almost always, is ‘yes’.
Review:
"Former diplomat and journalist David Smith doesn’t make much wine, alas, but the quality is extremely good indeed. Subtle, refreshing and marked by the chalky terroir of Paraje Altamira, it’s a nuanced, skilfully oaked Malbec with precision, focus and impressive palate length. 2020-25"
- Tim Atkin, Argentina Special Report 2018), 93 pts
"A gorgeously rustic, complex wine packed with blossom, dark fruits and Christmas spices. Rich and satisfyingly rounded with soft tannins."- Decanter World Wine Awards 2018, 93 pts - SILVER MEDAL
"The 2015 Malbec has an old-world style in its balance, elegance and smoothness but with the chalky texture of the Altamira soils. It's very harmonious and young, as classic as it gets, medium-bodied and very drinkable. It has developed some extra complexity in the bottle and comes through as complex and layered. Terrific right now. 4,800 bottles were filled in 2017. - Luis Gutiérrez" - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue #245, October 2019), 92 pts
Thorn Clarke William Randell Cabernet is made from 100 percent Cabernet
Deep red in colour. The nose is lifted and expressive with lovely Christmas cake and mint characters along with black olives and tobacco leaf adding complexity. The palate is medium to full bodied with blueberry and hints of cassis as the primary fruit flavours. The palate has great poise with the vibrant fruit, spicy French oak and fine tannin structure all wonderfully balanced, and the wine finishes with great length of fruit.
Review:
GOLD MEDAL
- International Wine & Spirits Competition 2017
"The 2015 William Randell Cabernet Sauvignon is a single-vineyard, Eden Valley bottling with plenty of intensity and varietal character. Mint and cassis notes dominate, but there's a healthy portion of new French oak that shows as well, adding lovely notes of baking spices and vanilla. Full-bodied and velvety in texture, it still shows enough delineation and length to please purists. - Joe Czerwinski"
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue #238, August 31st 2018), 93 pts
Aged in French oak barrels for 8 months in our cellar. Lovely deep red color, with ripe blackberry fruit. The spiciness of the nose is echoed on the palate and combines well with juicy red fruit flavors. Well integrated oak and fine tannins ensures a long and classic finish.
Coming from a sustainable 50-year old plot, grapes are crushed, destemmed and go through pre-fermentative maceration at 11ºC for 24 hours. Alcoholic fermentation in tanks. 4 weeks of maceration with must. Aged in French oak barrels for 8 months, Malolactic fermentation in contact with fine lees.
Review:
"A good introduction to Argentine cabernet sauvignon, thanks to its vibrant blueberries and fullish, supple body. The soft tannins have a chocolatey edge and fill out the medium-full body nicely. Drink now."
- James Suckling (March 2019), 90 pts
Maipe Bonarda Reserve is 100 percent Bonarda.
This purple-colored Bonarda offers a fruity, Beaujolais-like nose featuring plums and mulberries. A smooth, complex wine with intense, savory fruit flavors, great length and elegance.
SALE!
SonVida Alegria Red Blend is made from 60% Malbec, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Syrah.
We named our vineyard in the Andes of Argentina after our daughter Alegría. When we first saw the land, she was a baby in our arms. Now, as she goes to college, this wine celebrates her journey.
From a single vineyards, 1,029 meters (3,000 feet) above sea level near Paraje Altamira, Mendoza.
Age of the vines is 13 years (planted in 2002).
Aged 15 months in French and American Oak Barrel
Red meat, pork, grilled chicken.
Review:
Pago de Carraovejas Cuesta Liebres is made from 90% Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. The plot is located on a terraced hillside located at 900 m above sea level with slopes that range between inclines of 30% and 40%. Red cherry color with purple hues. Ripe fruit aromas, vanilla notes. Suave and unctuous in the mouth. A strong and noble character.
The harvest is carried out by hand using small crates and after passing through a refrigerated container it is transferred into tanks via gravity. The alcoholic and malolatic fermentation is carried out in small French “Haute Futaie” Oak casks with unique and original local yeasts and fermenting bacteria from the vineyard itself, to bring out the very best of the terroir, respecting the uniqueness of each and every vintage. Clarified with egg whites and bottled by gravity with natural cork stoppers.
This has a very rich and assertive feel with ripe dark plum sand red cherries, leading to a flavorful palate that carries plenty of deeply fleshy fruit flavor. Impressive wine with good depth and fullness. Drink or hold." - James Suckling (July 2019), 93 pts"
Beautiful deep ruby color. The bouquet displays aromas of rose, iris, spice and ripe fruit. The wine has a good structure and a good aging potential of 5-10 years.
The vineyards are located in the lieu-dit "Les Burdelines" on manganese granite soil with Eastern sun exposure. The wine is produced from 50 year old vines.
Enjoy with game, red meat and strong cheeses.
Review:
"The 2015 Moulin A Vent les Burdelines undergoes the same vinification as the Fleurie. I love the aromatics here: detailed redcurrant, mulberry and rose petal aromas that burst from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, very supple in the mouth with great tension and just the right amount of spiciness on the vivacious finish. What a great Beaujolais. This comes highly recommended.- Neal Martin "
- Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate (Issue #232, August 31st 2017), 93 pts
The Domaine Manoir du Carra Estate
Domaine Manoir du Carra is located in the small town of Denice, 5 km from Villefranche-sur-Saone, 45 km south of Mâcon and 40 km north of Lyon. The property dates back to 1850, and has been bequeathed from father to son for five generations. It is now owned by Jean-Noel Sambardier and his wife. Like many Beaujolais producers, part of their wine is sold to negociant, to which they sell at least 25% of their production each year.
The Domaine Manoir du Carra Vineyard
30 hectares (74.10 acres) total, divided along the North-South axis between Beaujolais A.O.C (10 ha= 24.70 acres) and Beaujolais-Villages A.O.C. (20 ha=49.40 acres). The Sambardiers own 50 vineyard plots. The vines are 50-100 years old. Yields are 55 hl/ha.
Betz Family La Serenne Syrah is 100% Syrah
La Serenne is the most reflective of the site/vintage dynamic of our three single-site 2012 Syrahs. Lovers of this wine know that its source, the Boushey Vineyard, is the highest altitude of the three vineyards and is typically the latest harvested. This cool site was accentuated by the cooler season and the results reflect the seriousness of this vineyard and its care.
An extraordinary, nearly impenetrable black purple color leads to a concentrated, inky aromatic impression: smoky black cherry and wild blackberry dominate, but a litany of supporting aromas is already emerging: smoke, violet, mushroom, roasted meat, Chinese 5 spice and minerals. It has a full attack on entry and a big, rich mouthfeel that goes on and on.
2012 is our 13th harvest from this site and these rows. We continue to be impressed with the chameleon nature of this vineyard, in cool years and hot, in heat spikes and cool springs: it provides us with surprises and opportunities at every harvest. While the themes of deep black fruits and pliant structure always surface, the nuance of this vineyard and its care (thank you, Dick Boushey) make it some of the most satisfying fruit we work with every harvest.
Review:
"The pure, elegant and textured 2014 Syrah la Serenne offers that classic violet and floral characteristics of the cuvee, as well as medium to full-bodied richness, lots of black raspberry fruit, fine, sweet tannin and a great finish. It’s not as powerful or concentrated as the La Cote Rousse, yet it’s a joy to drink and will cruise for a decade or more on its balance and purity. - Jeb Dunnuck"
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue #225, June 2016), 93 pts
Argot Bastard Tongue Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Sonoma Pinot Noir.
Inheriting an unbroken string of success, the “Bastard Tongue” arrives fully-formed and ready to impress. Always a blend from multiple Pinot Noir vineyards, this iteration of “BT” was selected from three distinct sites, each making their own unique contribution of Sonoma County terroir to the wine’s character.
Exploding forth on a tidal wave of high-toned, intense red and black fruits, this is a Pinot Noir that no stemware can contain. The palate’s profound depth is balanced by an inherent freshness, allowing the wine to crackle with brambly energy, while sustained by bass notes of underbrush, black tea, pie spice and baker’s chocolate. A formidable rendition of “Bastard Tongue”, and a deserving successor to its line.
Night harvested by hand throughout September, cluster and berry sorted by hand, de-stemmed, no crushing. 7-day cold soaks, followed by native fermentation in open-top bins. Average time on the skins, 14 days. Aging 20 months in French oak, 100% new. Never racked prior to bottling. Bottled unfined, unfiltered.
Very versatile for pairing. Goes well with grilled meat, vegetable, fish, poultry and cheese.
Review:
"A more limited production cuvée, the 2018 Pinot Noir Bastard Tongue is a big, ripe, sexy beast of a Pinot Noir delivering loads of black cherry and black raspberry fruit intermixed with plenty of spring flowers, sappy herb, and forest-like nuances. Full-bodied, it has a hedonistic, sweetly fruited style, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It doesn’t pull any punches yet stays balanced, textured, and a joy to drink. It should keep for 5-7 years or so.”
- Jeb Dunnuck, 95 pts