Tasting Notes

Strong typical Pinot Noir characters are the distinguishing features of this wine, together with the balance of flavour. Made from just one small portion of Pinot grapes that are carefully spur pruned in winter, then meticulously looked after over the summer to eventually be handed from the vineyard team to the winemaking team to carry on the intense care and attention to detail that is needed to make the best Pinot Noir.

Winemakers Notes

The favourite wine of our winemakers to make as it really extends all of their skills from working with the small open-top fermentation tanks, which allow for constant hand plunging of the grape skins ( a small wooden plunger constantly pushes the skins below the surface of the juice) to selecting a variety of different French oak barrels that the wine will mature in for more than twelve months. The real skill is in the blending, as not all the barrels will make the grade for our top Pinot Noir. Days are spent tasting and re-tasting barrels and blends looking for the elusive blend that conveys the smooth velvet texture of Pinot Noir.

Alcohol %

14.5%

Food Matching

Best enjoyed with a leg of lamb on a Sunday with the family. 

Siegel Gran Reserva Pinot Noir Leyda is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir. 

The grapes for the Gran Reserva wines are the product of a careful selection of Siegel's best vineyards in the Colchagua Valley, harvested by hand, and revealing a strong expression of the land.

Our Gran Reserva wines represent the union of tradition and innovation in two generations. The grapes are sourced through careful selection of our best vineyards. Siegel Gran Reserva Pinot Noir is coming from Leyda Valley.

Siegel Gran Reserva Pinot Noir Leyda is made from 100 percent Pinot Noir. 

The grapes for the Gran Reserva wines are the product of a careful selection of Siegel's best vineyards in the Colchagua Valley, harvested by hand, and revealing a strong expression of the land.

Our Gran Reserva wines represent the union of tradition and innovation in two generations. The grapes are sourced through careful selection of our best vineyards. Siegel Gran Reserva Pinot Noir is coming from Leyda Valley.

Siegel Naranjo Orange Wine Viognier is made from 100% Viognier.

This wine has a nice gold color with some pink hues. On the nose, it shows some sweet notes of spices, dry nuts, white flowers, as well as some light notes of huesillo (dry peaches). In the mouth it shows a beautiful acidity, with a nice mouthfeel and structure and a good length to the finish. 

Pair with rich fish and meat dishes, cheeses, appetizer and dessert

Review:

"Deep orange hue with a brown tinge. Really perfumed and expressive on the nose, with lots of peaches, dried lychee, honeysuckle, kumquat and gingerbread. A hint of caramel. Medium- to full-bodied and slightly grainy in texture, with plenty of flavors rounded by fine, silky tannins before a rich, sleek finish. Consistently a flavorful and outstanding skin-contact viognier. Drink now."

- James Suckling (February 2023), 93 pts

Siegel Single Vineyard Los Lingues Petit Verdot is made from 100 percent Petit Verdot.

The grapes were grown on the Los Linques "Reserve" hillside, blocks 23, 24 & 25. The wine offers elegant notes of tobacco, mocha and roasted coffee beans. It presents soft tannins, wine of great balance with a persistent and long finish.

Pairs with red meat, particularly lamb.

Sonoma Bench Chardonnay is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.

Rich golden in color. Balanced oak and toast aromas transform into layers of vanilla and brioche amid pear and apple. A luscious wine on the palate; flavors progress with lime citrus, white peach and lemon curd. Texture is silky and rich with just enough firm acidity to achieve a balanced wine whose flavors linger on the palate. Enjoy now or cellar for 2 years.

Sonoma Bench Pinot Noir comes entirely from the heart of the Russian River Valley, and Green Valley AVA situated on Burnside Rd.

This Pinot Noir shows a deep ruby/garnet red color. The aromas are fresh with raspberry, red fruits with a soft earthy tone. There are vanilla notes from French oak barrel aging. The pallet is lush with roundness, texture, and fruit purity. Tannins are balanced and the finish is firm and refreshing. The length of the wine is elegant and shows harmony and textural balance. 2021 was an exceptionally short harvest in Russian River Valley.

Enjoy now or cellar for 3-5 years,

Sunset Hills Shenandoah Springs Chardonnay is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.

This is our first release of a clone-specific wine for Sunset Hills. The goal is to show you a specific terroir, one that year after year delivers excellent fruit quality. I chose clone 96 for its complexity both in ripening and barrel aging. During ripening, the fruit has notes of pineapple and pear with great acidity. I saw this wine as a chance to highlight not only the vineyard, but how detailed we can get in growing and making wine.

100% Chardonnay:

75% Clone 96
20% Clone 76
5% Clone 17

Notes of light honeysuckle, Asian pear, raw almond, and lemon custard. Medium body and medium acid.

Thibaut-Janisson Virginia Fizz is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.

Virginia Fizz is a fun and festive sparkling wine, great for all life’s celebrations. It is cremant style made of 100% Chardonnay. Packed with apples and peach flavors, the wine has a very creamy and smooth texture. The myriad of tiny bubbles will tickle your taste buds.

Refreshing on its own, but perfect mixed as a cocktail!

Thorn Clarke Shotfire GSM is made from 51% Grenache, 39% Shiraz, 10% Mourvedre. 

The Shotfire range honors a family pioneer who worked the Barossa goldfields in the late 1800's. He had the hazardous job of being a 'Shotfirer'; one who handled the explosives to be used in finding that rich vein of gold.

A classic blend of the traditional stalwarts from the Barossa, this blend of Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvèdre is sourced from older low yielding vines.

Each variety was destemmed and fermented separately - in small 6 tonne open fermenters - to allow full expression of varietal character. To ensure optimum extraction of tannins, color and flavor the Grenache was pumped over twice daily for a duration of 10 days and both the Shiraz and Mourvedre spent 7 days on skins with pump overs twice daily. Fermentation temperatures were maintained between 22-25 degrees to retain fruit purity. All batches were pressed off and once both primary alcoholic fermentation and secondary malolactic fermentation were complete the wines were then racked to new (10%) and 10 year old French hogsheads where the wines matured for a period of 18 months. Bench blends were created to ensure a harmonious final wine.

Pairs best with slow Cooked Lamb or Roasted Vegetable Medley.

Rich aromas of honeycomb, baked apple and toasted bread. The palate is firm yet rich — a seamless expression of restraint and elegance. The silky texture extends through a lingering finish with hints of Mandarin orange peel and sweet Asian spice. This Chardonnay will continue to develop over the next five to seven years.

Trouillet Lebeau Macon Solutre Pouilly is made from 100 percent Chardonnay. 

The Macon-Solutre-Pouilly is produced from the 2 hectare-parcel called "Au Rompay", which is the highest of the estate, located at the southern tip of the Mâconnais in the Mont Pouilly, across the famous Solutré Rock. The grapes are usually harvested in the very last days, bringing freshness and minerality to the wine.

The nose opens generously with sweet notes of candied and citrus fruits. The maturity and ripeness of the fruit combine with an aromatic freshness and a real delicacy in the mouth. The wine is structured, but still lively on the finish.

Secure your taste of this limited release. If bright and fresh fruit flavors are your thing, our small-production wine is definitely your type. Sourced from a single vineyard in Santa Ynez Valley, this release showcases what makes the Central Coast such a special place to grow Cabernet Sauvignon.

Our Santa Ynez Cabernet Sauvignon is full of wild blackberries and blackcurrants, layered with nuances of cassis, tobacco and allspice adding complexity to the fruit. The palate is deliciously long, carrying the core of dark fruit on the palate through to the finish with fine supple tannins.

Valminor Albarino Rias Baixas is made from 100 percent Albarino. 

Albariño is a Portuguese grape, native to the Miño River region, which separates Galicia & the Rias Baixas DO from Portugal. Albariño has a characteristic citrus aroma & high acidity.

Valminor Albarino presents a yellow straw color. On the nose, the wine shows a wide fruity range of aromas, with notes of fresh grapefruit, apricot and melon. In the mouth, Valminor combines fruity flavors and freshness with a rounded acidity, resulting in a balanced wine that boasts an opulent taste and slight spritziness. 

 Review:

"Elaborate swirls of lime, lemon, passionfruit and white peach entice the nose whilst the pristine purity of acidity and mineral freshness disarms the terroir-driven palate. Salty, linear and tangy, demonstrating Atlantic style at its best."
- Decanter World Wine Awards 2025, 97 pts and Platinum Medal

Vermont La Grande Cuvee Rouge is made from 90% Merlot and 10% Petit Verdot.

Produced from the best parcels of the estate, with low yields and optimal maturity, the wine reveals the expression of the Entre-deux-Mers terroir.

The Grande Cuvee boasts a deep ruby color and displays a pleasant bouquet of red berries and plum highlighting the expression of the dominant Merlot. Rich, refined, fruity and deep in structure, the palate shows good concentration and a harmonious balance. Long flavors of ripe fruits and vanilla nuances give way to an elegant cuvee.

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Vinsacro (Valsacro)( Rioja 2011  is predominately 70yr old 55% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, 10% Mazuelo, 10% Graciano and 5% Monastrell aged in American oak. 

Dark cherry color. Intense and elegant sweet spices, chocolate and ripe fruit with suggestive toasty aromas that tell us about the aging in good oak. Tasty, powerful, meaty and structured and at the same time easy to drink, very round.
The slogan of our winemaker "Wine is to enjoy". Vinsacro red wine is a wine to be stored, so that positive developments are expected for at least 15 years.

Xavier Vignon Cotes du Rhone Rouge Cuvee Vieilles Vignes Organic is made from 50% Grenache, 40% Mourvèdre, 5% Syrah and 5% Cinsault.

The diversity of terroirs used in this blend allows this wine to combine freshness and balance.

We used Clay and limestone plots located on the hillside where old Grenache naturally express roasted hints. We could obtain in this wine empyreumatical hints without the use of barrels. These plots particular soils and orientation allowed grapes to reach an optimal level of ripeness while conserving a good acidity level.

We also integrated grapes coming from plots located on red rocky clay soils also named “garrigues”. These big red stone are restituting heat coming from the sun at night and bring power and structure to the wine.
Also the blend features vines coming from sandy clays, which are light and rather fresh soils: this allowed the wine to maintain a freshness and vivacity.

Bouquet of cassis, blueberries, lavender, cured meats, and graphite. It's deep, rich, medium to full-bodied, and has a great finish. The Mourvèdre keeps this tight and fresh.

Pairs with grilled beef rib - Veal Columbo - Pork ribs slightly spiced

Review:

"The spicy nose with a slew of red-fruit aromas pulls you into this full-bodied but lively and very well-balanced Cote-du-Rhone. Lovely, creamy texture that’s neatly supported by fine tannins. Long, supple finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold."

- James Suckling (March 2022), 92 pts

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.

Review:

"This prototypical Mosel Kabinett has depth and vibrancy all packed into a light-bodied frame. Not super-sleek, but enormously refreshing with super-expressive white peach, yellow apple and honeysuckle aromas. Super-crisp finish. Delicious now, but excellent aging potential too! From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold. Screw cap."

- James Suckling (November 2023), 94 pts

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