Black Oak Pinot Noir is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir.
The Black Oak Pinot Noir is a glowing example of what they do best in Puglia, make great wine. Deep ruby in color with a lovely bouquet of sweet spices, even a dusting of cinnamon and nutmeg. The flavors are flowing with ripe black cherry. This medium-bodied wine with its fresh acidity will complement many meal selections.
Our 2021 Gaspare Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is made from our grapes grown on the BSEW Estate in the Gaspare Vineyard blocks. Our vineyard is located in the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley, which is known for it’s moderate growing climate which encourages consistent ripening throughout the growing season. Our 2021 vintage exhibits aromas of blackberry, brown sugar and cedar. It has a dark fruit flavor finished by powerful but elegant.
Review:
The 2021 Gaspare Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon has a deep garnet-purple color. The nose is a little trapped behind the oak at this youthful stage, allowing glimpses and blackcurrant jelly and juicy plums notes with hints of menthol and anise. Full-bodied, the palate similarly sports a good amount of oak, backed up by the seductive black fruits and approachable, grainy tannins, finishing with a spicy kick.
-Wine Independent 93 Point
Black Stallion Napa Valley Limited Release Red.
The winery takes its name from a major equestrian area that once occupied the grounds. Its calling card is Cabernet Sauvignon, made in a classic Napa Valley style that offers richness and finesse. While single-vineyard wines are occasionally bottled, most Black Stallion wines are made from small lots cherry-picked from the valley’s disparate winegrowing zones. These are then painstakingly blended to create luxurious, unforgettable wines that capture the depth and brilliance of Napa Valley’s diverse growing regions.
Review:
This blend is softly layered in dense, rich tones of plum and cherry, with a rounded approachability and well-integrated tannin and oak. Chocolate, leather and clove accent the finish.
-Wine Enthusiast 90 Points
Blind Justice Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Cabernet Franc.
The dream team does it again. Melka, Koschitzky and Sands have collaborated on a compelling Cabernet. The creamy mouthfeel is almost decadent, but there’s always a balance kept between opulence and energy. Wonderfully expressive in its aromas and flavors, it’s just swimming with dark cherry and plum on a bed of dried flowers and gravel with a hint of mint. Complex and impressive, as always.
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Blind Justice Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard is creamy and super-expressive from start to finish. The balance of opulence and ‘energy here makes for an absolutely compelling Cabernet. Dark cherry, plum, tobacco, dried flowers, menthol and gravel lend quite a bit of complexity throughout. Impressive.
~ Antonio Galloni 95 Points
Cellar for up to 8 years. No need to decant before serving.
El Enemigo was founded by historian Adrianna Catena, who is also Nicolas Catena’s youngest daughter, and Catena Zapata’s chief winemaker Alejandro Vigil in 2009. These two legendary figures on the Argentine wine scene came together over a mutual love for literature and philosophy, and decided to create their own wine label that would offer a unique taste of Argentina’s exceptional terroir and its Old World winemaking heritage.
Today the brand is responsible for many of the most exciting wines coming out of Argentina, including this sensational single vineyard Bonarda. Bonarda is little-known in Europe these days, but it has a special place in Argentina where it’s considered the nation’s second red wine after Malbec. La Esperanza is a very special 150 year old vineyard that was about to be uprooted when it was discovered by Alejandro Vigil. Luckily he was able to save 5 hectares from which he makes a few hundred bottles of this wine each vintage.
Once in the winery this precious fruit is vinified with wild yeasts and the young wine ages in large foudres that are over 100 years old. The result is a remarkably elegant and vibrant red that’s bursting with luscious red cherries, plums and blackberries as well as hints of dark chocolate. A charming wine to serve with tomato-based dishes thanks to the refreshing acidity, smooth tannins, and bright fruit flavours.
Review:
Blackberry, red-plum and graphite on the nose, as well as herbal and smoky notes. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm tannins. Fleshy texture on the palate with structure and a ink-like feel. Savory finish. Hints of chocolate at the end. Try after 2023.
-James Suckling 94 Points
Varietal-100% Bonarda
Vineyard- El Mirador Vineyard in Rivadavia, 2,132 ft. Elevation. Soil composed of mostly sand.
Ageing & Vinification- Wild Yeasts with 25 days maceration , 12 Months ageing in 100-year-old foudre.
Tech Data- 13.5% ABV, Acidity 6.1, pH-3.7
Review:
Sour cherries, blueberries and spice box on the nose. Medium-to full-bodied with firm tannins. Savory and fleshy on the palate with some structure, leading to a flavorful and fruity finish. One of the best bonardas out there. Try after 2023.
-James Suckling 94 Points
Opus One is made from 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 1% Malbec, 1% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot
Opus One 2021 is made from 93%, Cabernet Franc 4%, Petit Verdot 2%, Merlot 0.5%, and Malbec 0.5%.
The Opus One 2021 effuses seductive, dark-fruit aromas of crushed cassis, blackberry, and black cherry with subtle hints of violet, vanilla, and baking spices. Bright and fresh on the attack, concentrated flavors mirror the aromas and are coupled with an exceptionally plush, creamy texture in the mid-palate from the fine-grained tannins. Poignant notes of black tea, licorice, and dark chocolate lead to
Of the great European wine families, the Rothschilds are perhaps the best known. And Baron Philippe de Rothschild is perhaps the best known of this great family. At the age of 20, Baron Philippe took on the management of Château Mouton Rothschild from his father Baron Henri. Philippe’s vision changed the world of wine: he invented Château bottling, commissioned great artists to illustrate his wine labels – and, in partnership with Robert Mondavi in 1979, created Opus One.In the 1980s, after her father’s death, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild left a stage career that included the Comédie Française and the Renault-Barrault Theatre Company, bringing her own exquisite style and creativity to the design, construction, and operation of Opus One.Among great New World wine pioneers, Robert Mondavi is an international icon. Bringing a passion for excellence to everything he did, Robert Mondavi led a renaissance in California fine wine for over six decades. Among other accomplishments, he introduced temperature-controlled fermentation, French oak barrel aging, and high-density viticulture to a fledgling American wine industry. But life was not only wine for Robert Mondavi: he broadened the American cultural palate by marrying fine wine to food, music, and the arts. One of few Americans to have received the French medal of the Legion of Honor, Robert Mondavi showed extraordinary vision as co-founder of Opus One.
Review:
An enticing aroma of violets, cherry blossoms, fresh blue and black fruit and great structure define this beautiful, age-worthy wine. Subtle layering of fruit and oak spices between firm, fine-grained and supportive tannins gives it a calm intensity. So elegant and polished. Hints of cinnamon and graphite accent blackcurrant and blueberry flavors that linger and grow in a long finish. Already attractive to drink, but best after 2029.
-James Suckling 99 Points
Bastgen Kestener Paulinshofberg Riesling Kabinett is 100 percent Riesling.
Kesten is a small village right by the Mosel surrounded by steep vineyards called Paulinsberg (=hills of Saint Paul). The vines grow on bridle clay slate near the river - a classic terroir that has been cultivated with vines ever since Roman times. Riesling is the most typical grape of the Mosel region that produced a fruity Kabinett with beautiful peach aromas on the nose, rich and ripe fruits on the mouth with honeyed notes and a refreshing acidity. This is a very pleasing wine.
They meticulously tend 4.5 ha (11.11 acres) of which 80% is Riesling. The soil is made of slate. Their vineyards are located in Kesten and Brauneberg, on a steep terrace, and planted to 50-year old vines. Fortunately for Bastgen, they own part of the famous Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr. The vines produce very small, ripe berries that are very tasty.
The grapes are strongly selected, only minimal amounts of botrytis are tolerated. At time of the harvest the grapes are fully ripened with a golden color and tart acidity. After a natural sedimentation process the fermentation occurs in stainless steel tanks under cool conditions. The wine remains on the lees until April, then is gently filtered once, and bottled.