Intense, brilliant garnet-red colour. It reveals lovely fruit, loads of body and a heady bouquet of ground peppers, raspberries cherry liqueur, currants, and spice box. Full-bodied and dense, it tastes more like a "baby Châteauneuf" than a Côtes du Rhône.
A complete wine, rich and elegant, thanks to the harmony of all the elements which make it up.
Drink between 1 and 6 years.
Soil type DOMAINE GRAND VENEUR “Les Champauvins” stretches on 34 ha classified in Côtes du Rhône. The plots are located in the northern border of Châteauneuf du Pape, exactly from 3 meters outside the appellation. A small lane of rocks going through the rocky plateaux has been decided to be the AOC limit in 1936. Here, soils are made of red clay and rocks (pebbled stones of quartz). The quantity of rocks can be amazing as they can completely cover the soil (see picture). In summer and during the day, the rocks temperature will increase to 55°C. This accumulated heat will be get back to the vines during nights . Day after day, this unique phenomenon allow the grapes to reach a perfect maturity and produce a unique wine. Winemaking & Ageing Traditional, in stainless steel vats. Harvest crushed and destemmed. Fermentation in temperature controlled vats at 28°C. Eighteen-day vating period with “pigeage”. Grenache is aged in concrete vats, Syrah and mourvèdre in 4 year old barrels. Intense, brilliant garnet-red colour. It reveals lovely fruit, loads of body and a heady bouquet of ground peppers, raspberries cherry liqueur, currants, and spice box. Full-bodied and dense, it tastes more like a “baby Châteauneuf” than a Côtes du Rhône. A complete wine, rich and elegant, thanks to the harmony of all the elements which make it up.
Reviews:
"A very serious Cotes-du-Rhone with deep forest-fruit aromas, as well as hints of smoke and dried herbs, the full, soft tannins filling out the full body very neatly. Nice, spicy and earthy depth at the long finish. Drink or hold."
- James Suckling (February 2022), 92 pts
- Challenge Millesime Bio's World Contest for Organic Wines (January 2025),
-95 pts & Gold Medal
Château Grand-Puy Ducasse will seduce lovers of great red wines from Pauillac with its exceptional quality marked by a very beautiful aromatic richness. A classic vintage, complete, complex, rich and unctuous, this cuvée promises superb aging potential.
Aging 18 months in French oak barrels (35% new for the 2020 vintage).After manual harvesting in crates and an initial sorting in the vineyard, the grapes are sorted again using the latest generation optical sorting system. Vinification is then carried out in stainless steel temperature controlled tanks however for some of the batches, malolactic fermentation is also carried out in new barrels.
Graviere La Rouge Cuvee les Terrasses is made of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon
Deep red color with a narrow purple rim. Attractive aromas of ripe, juicy cherry and blackberry over spice, integrated toasted aromas. The palate is balanced and full-bodied with supple tannins, displaying rich cherry flavors combined with gentle toasting characters and a touch of spice. The finish is lasting with a bitter almond aftertaste.
Average age of the vines is 25 years.
Upon arrival at the winery, only the best grapes were selected using a sorting table.
Skin contact maceration during 2 weeks in temperature controlled vats.
75% of the final wine was aged in stainless steel tanks with French oak staves and blended with 25% of wine aged in barrels.
Serve with red, white meats, poultry and fine cheeses.
Green & Social Rueda Organic Tempranillo is made from 100 percent Tempranillo.
The launch of green & social is a step forward in pursuit of the sustainability by Cuatro Rayas and the starting point of new environmental initiatives in support of the social economy that the Cooperative launched. Lightweight recycled glass to reduce emissions. Aluminum capsule free of plastics and 100% recyclable. Sugar cane cap with zero carbon footprint. The Green and Social Organic Tempranillo has a bright and clean, mid-depth ruby red color and purple hue. Intense aroma with hints of ripe berries. Soft and velvety on the plate, perfect balance between tannins and acidity, round and long finish.
Red wine made with a blend of the Listán Negro and Syrah grape varieties. Listán Negro brings an Atlantic character that’s fresh and lively while Syrah, grown on our family vineyards, provides the necessary structure for ageing in barrels. Limited production of 17,940 bottles.
Both varietals are made separately and a blending of the two is done prior to malolactic fermentation. This second fermentation takes place in 500-litre French oak barrels with different toast levels in order to increase the complexity and balance between the fruit and the wood. This wine is then aged for six months. It’s then bottle aged for six months, adding roundness and smoothness.
Appearance: Deep burgundy color with medium intensity, clear and bright.
Aroma: Complex thanks to the blending of varietals and its ageing in oak barrels. Notes of red fruits (blackcurrant or raspberry), toasted hints of toffee or caramel, with a decidedly Atlantic character. The Listán Negro grape variety gives it balsamic notes (mint or eucalyptus), making it an even more complex wine.
Taste: Ariana is a fresh, well-balanced, long-lived wine with smooth, round tannins providing structure
El Grifo Lias Malvasia Volcanica is made from 100% Malvasia Volcanica.
Color: Straw yellow, with light golden hues. Clear and bright.
Aroma: Medium-high intensity of a wine in evolution. Fresh, citrus (orange peel) and tropical (passion fruit and mango) fruits. Flowers (orange blossom, jasmine, violets), fennel, and complex aromas such as silex or flint (phosphorus). Yeast autolysis is reminiscent of the aromas of baked goods and yeast. Bottle ageing brings out hints of dried fruits, honey and caramel.
Taste: Full-bodied, with a lengthy and unctuous texture, very strong natural acidity, citrus freshness, mineral notes and saltiness. Persistent finish.
Residual Sugar 0.5 g/L
Total Acidity 6.02 g/L
pH 3.36
Total SO2 91 mg/L
Weingut Prager Achleiten Riesling Smaragd is made from 100 percent Riesling.
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 a 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.
Achleiten sits east of Weißenkirchen and is one of the most famous vineyards in the Wachau. The steeply-terraced vineyard existed in Roman times. Some sections have just 40 cm of topsoil over the bedrock of Gföler Gneiss, amphibolitic stone, and slate. “Destroyed soil,” as Toni Bodenstein likes to say.
Tasting Notes:
Austrian Riesling is often defined by elevated levels of dry extract thanks to a lengthy ripening period and freshness due to dramatic temperature swings between day and night. Wines from Achleiten’s highly complex soils are famously marked by a mineral note of flint or gun smoke, are intensely flavored, and reliably long-lived.
Food Pairing:
Riesling’s high acidity makes it one of the most versatile wines at the table. Riesling can be used to cut the fattiness of foods such as pork or sausages and can tame some saltiness. Conversely, it can highlight foods such as fish or vegetables in the same way a squeeze of lemon or a vinaigrette might.
Review:
The 2020 Ried Achleiten Riesling Smaragd offers a well-concentrated, fleshy and spicy stone fruit aroma with crunchy and flinty notes. It needs some time to get rid of the stewed fruit flavors, though. Full-bodied, fresh and crystalline, this is an elegant, complex and finely tannic Riesling that needs some years rather than a carafe to polymerize the tannins and gain some finesse. Tasted at the domain 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 94 Points
Light yellow-green, silver reflections. Yellow stone fruit nuances with a mineral underlay, notes of peach and mango, a hint of tangerine zest, mineral touch. Juicy, elegant, white fruit, acidity structure rich in finesse, lemony-salty finish, sure aging potential.
-Falstaff 95 Points
Fefinanes Albarino de Albarino is 100 percent Albarino
Fresh fruit aromas of apricot and peach slices with notes of lemon and green apple. Pretty notes of honey and wet nutmeg, and the mouth is round, clean, and pleasant with baked apple, honey, and lemon.
This is a classic Albariño which is good young, but actually improves over two to three years and remains quite drinkable for up to five years. Owner Juan Gil comments that the wine really starts to come into its own in June/July, and he actually prefers it 18 or more months after it's made. A Fefiñanes "vertical" of three or four vintages can provide some most interesting surprises.