Pago de Carraovejas El Anejon is made from 93%, Cabernet Sauvignon 5% and Merlot 2%.
El Anejon vineyard is a terraced plot on a steep slope, oriented toward the sun and with great views of the Castle of Peñafiel. The soil of the narrow terraces has a compact, loamy limestone texture. The presence of the white-colored limestone calcium salts contributes to a distinctive minerality in this wine. Only made in exceptional vintages.
Review:
"A single-plot wine from the top terraces of the site from an excellent vintage, the 2021 El Anejon is powerful and truly outstanding. Tempranillo is blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot to an exceptional end, aged 12 months in larger French oak barrels after a triple selection of the grapes. Sharp red fruit has an underbelly of herbal earthiness beneath the fruit, while tight, refreshing acidity accentuates the mineral-driven texture. Bottled in June 2023, this might be the producer’s best wine of the vintage, which is saying a lot, as they’re all of outstanding quality. This will hit a high point in 5-7 years and keep going another 20. - Virginie BOONE"
- Jeb DUNNUCK (August 2°25), 98 pts
Pago de Carraovejas El Anejon is made from 93%, Cabernet Sauvignon 5% and Merlot 2%.
El Anejon vineyard is a terraced plot on a steep slope, oriented toward the sun and with great views of the Castle of Peñafiel. The soil of the narrow terraces has a compact, loamy limestone texture. The presence of the white-colored limestone calcium salts contributes to a distinctive minerality in this wine. Only made in exceptional vintages.
Review:
"A single-plot wine from the top terraces of the site from an excellent vintage, the 2021 El Anejon is powerful and truly outstanding. Tempranillo is blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot to an exceptional end, aged 12 months in larger French oak barrels after a triple selection of the grapes. Sharp red fruit has an underbelly of herbal earthiness beneath the fruit, while tight, refreshing acidity accentuates the mineral-driven texture. Bottled in June 2023, this might be the producer’s best wine of the vintage, which is saying a lot, as they’re all of outstanding quality. This will hit a high point in 5-7 years and keep going another 20. - Virginie BOONE"
- Jeb DUNNUCK (August 2°25), 98 pts
In 2019, Chris Pearmund worked with sixteen Virginia wineries to create a blended wine with grapes from each participating vineyard to commemorate the 400th Anniversary of Winemaking in Virginia. A portion of the wine’s proceeds were donated to museums and events that would contribute to tourism in the Commonwealth and foster a broader understanding of Virginia’s cultures and cuisines. This idea sparked another movement to celebrate through wine, and Cameo seemed a perfect way to commemorate the milestone moment in history.
Cameo Wine Collection was created to highlight women in Virginia, and the memorable events that have unfolded in the Commonwealth that lead to the movement to secure women’s right to vote. Raise a glass and toast the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment. Cameo Rosé honors 12 of Virginia’s most influential women. Each bottle has a label depicting one of the chosen women, who’s contributions range from historic, business, entertainment, politics, and wine. The story of the suffrage movement in Virginia is an important part of the collective history. A variety of cultures and eras have been curated to share recollections of the fearless, passionate ways each woman lived so that a case of wine will contain twelve different individuals to celebrate. Women like Martha Washington, Pearl Bailey, and Ella Fitzgerald.
Cameo Rosé offers aromas of raspberry, strawberry, and peach. Dry on the palate, silky tannins and minerality are balanced by strawberry and orange zest flavors.
While Pieter Cuythoff humbly named the valley after his patron, Jan van Riebeeck, Riebeek Cellars feels it is only fitting that this wine, which expresses the best of its valley, should carry the name of its founder. So, in honor of Mr. Cruythoff, this range of fine wine bears his name.
Bright red berry notes and a hint of spice is balanced by a luxurious texture & an elegant, lingering, dry finish.
The Chardonnay & Pinot Noir grapes are crushed together. To ensure an array of layered fruit flavors and to capture freshness, we use only free run juice from the crushed grapes. The juice is cold fermented with selected Champagne yeast, blend with a touch of ‘spicy’ Shiraz and then left on the gross lees for 6 months where it undergoes malolactic fermentation and develops the distinct sparkling wine flavors. After the wine is stabilized and filtered it is bottled with CO2 for a Charmat style sparkling wine.
Perfect with a variety of dishes including rich chocolate desserts.
THE LEGEND
Dispatched by Jan van Riebeek in search of the perfect place to grow provisions for the Dutch East India Company, Pieter Cruythoff stumbled upon a beautiful valley. But it was more than just the scenic beauty of this valley that had caught his eye; situated in the lee of the majestic Kasteelberg, the winters were mild, the summers were hot and the soil was uncommonly fertile. What's more, ships spotted from the lookout point on Kasteelberg were just a day away from Cape Town, and so were the wagons that went to meet them, laden with the treasures of the Riebeek Valley.
TIMELESS JEWELS
While he humbly named the valley after his patron, Jan van Riebeek, we feel it is only fitting that our valley's most coveted treasure should carry the name of its founder. So, in honour of Pieter Cruythoff, this range of fine wine bears his name.
From the vibrant whites to the seductive reds, each one is a gem gently coaxed from the fertile soil of that same magical valley. Ironically, much of the valley's bounty still finds its way to Europe, and in particular to the Netherlands, the land of Cruythoff's birth.
Quinta de Fafide Reserva Branco is made from 50% Codega do Larinho, 30% Rabigato, 20% Viosinho
In this wine we look for an aromatic concentration and high acidity of the grapes from the very old traditional vineyards of high altitude in Douro Superior, about 550 meters above sea level, showing the full character of the varieties of indigenous Douro old vines, giving very mineral and creamy wines. Mineral aroma, citrus and tropical fruit, fresh and full-bodied on the palate, buttery texture and complexity provided by fermentation and ageing in barrels.
Quinta de Fafide Reserva Branco is made from 50% Codega do Larinho, 30% Rabigato, 20% Viosinho
In this wine we look for an aromatic concentration and high acidity of the grapes from the very old traditional vineyards of high altitude in Douro Superior, about 550 meters above sea level, showing the full character of the varieties of indigenous Douro old vines, giving very mineral and creamy wines. Mineral aroma, citrus and tropical fruit, fresh and full-bodied on the palate, buttery texture and complexity provided by fermentation and ageing in barrels.
Intense ruby color of high layer with garnet edge, clean and shiny. Intense nose that, from the beginning, transmits complexity, penetrating, with aromas of black fruits, blueberries and currants, undergrowth, roasted memories, toffee, coffee powder, liquorice, cloves, vanilla and lebanese cedar. Mouth with freshness and balance, with tannins ripe and creamy, which highlight its elegance, with a step harmonious and intense. Long and pleasant aftertaste, with a great variety of balsamic and spicy memories.
Review:
The old-vine component of the El Otero parcel, running to around seven hectares, supplies the fruit for this ageworthy Tinto Fino. After a frost-induced break in 2017, it's back with interest in 2018. Aged in new French oak, but not dominated by the wood, it's a finely judged red from Julio Sáenz with notes of blackberry and tangerine, filigree tannins and a long, textured finish. 2023-33
-Tim Atkin 96 Points
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Altesino Brunello di Montalcino Montosoli is made from 100 percent Sangiovese.
One of the most sought after wines from Montalcino, Montosoli is consistently a blockbuster red. Its intense ruby red color tends towards elegant garnet with age. On the nose, it shows a complex personality with a delicious blend of black cherry, raspberry, violet, licorice, vanilla and black pepper. Extremely enticing, opulent and elegant on the palate, with a warm, long-lasting finish, Montosoli is a wine for special occasions.
Pair this wine with beef bourguignon and stroganoff, lamb shank, and roasted rabbit.
Review:
A juicy and lightly austere young red with blackberry, cherry and bark character on both the nose and palate. It’s medium- to full-bodied with chewy tannins that soften at the end, but still make your mouth pucker. Give this two or three years to soften. Best after 2027.
-James Suckling 97 Points