Rinaldi Eramare Piemonte Cortese is 90% Cortese and 10% Sauvignon Blanc.
The Cortese grapes are coming from the Estate's vineyard located at the best exposures between Ricaldone and Maranzana at about 220 meters above sea level.
A salty and tasty white wine; fresh, simple and juicy.
After the alcoholic fermentation the wine refines on yeast for 4 months just to have a better color and taste.
A lot of minerality and notes of grapefruit.
Ideal for an aperitif, or with seafood appetizers, fish first courses, grilled fish, and vegetable pies.
Robert Mondavi The Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon To Kalon Vineyard is made from 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot.
The story of Robert Mondavi Winery begins here, with the To Kalon Reserve. This tier represents the pinnacle of the wines produced by the winery. The 2021 vintage offers fresh black fruit with dark chocolate, dried herbs, and hints of vanilla and violet. Flavors of black plum and blackberry with red fruit and a hint of graphite on the finish. Elegant and plush with sweet, beautifully integrated tannins and a lengthy finish.
Review:
2021 Robert Mondavi The Reserve To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is a beautifully crafted wine with impressive intensity, depth, and a balanced structure that carries the day. From the To Kalon Vineyard in Oakville, the portion owned by Constellation, comes this blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot. Pure blackberry fruit, cassis, graphite, and violet aromas leap from the glass, nuanced by fragrant, toasty new cedar wood. Full-bodied, framed by an array of plush dark black fruit notes, currants, crème de cassis, and polished tannins that are firm and elongated, with ironstone mineral accents. Dynamic in its length and texture, it is utterly intriguing, with a beckoning quality that lingers after each sip. You want to know precisely where this wine is going—demanding your attention.
- Decanter 98 Points
Roche Redonne Bandol Rouge Les Bartavelles is made from 95% Mourvedre and 5% Grenache.
This cuvée is named "Bartavelles" which is French for the "Rock Partridge".
The wine is quite aromatic, with boysenberry, blackcurrant, peppery and graphite notes. Ample in the mouth with a creamy structure, soft, harmonious and elegant tannins. The finish is long and juicy.
Excellent with grilled red meat or game. Also excellent with cheese
Review:
The 2016 Bandol Cuvee les Bartavelles is lush, open and inviting. Marked by hints of pencil shavings and boysenberries, this 95% Mourvèdre cuvée is medium to full-bodied, creamy textured and easy to drink. It should be consumed over the next decade. - Joe CZERWINSKI"
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (May 16th 2019), 90 pts
Deep red with a slight purple hue on release. The wine has a rich mix of dark chocolate infused with coffee bean and black liquorice, then scents of tar, aniseed, raw (pure) soy and black olive on the nose. The palate is expansive, and yet balanced and finessed. An amalgam of dark berried flavors and textural sensations. The 100% new oak is completely absorbed, meshed with ripe tannins, completing a palate of impressive length and youthfulness.
Parcels of fruit for this wine were identified in the vineyard by the winemakers. Daily fruit inspection led to the fruit being harvested at optimum flavor ripeness. The fruit was harvested at night and quickly transported to the winery. The fruit was destemmed to 6T open fermenters for fermentation. A Shiraz specific yeast was selected to ferment the wine and fermentation was carried out at a maximum of 28°C. The fermenter was manually pumped over twice daily in the first half of fermentation to give the winemakers control of color, flavor and tannin extraction. Pump over regimes were adjusted toward the end of fermentation to suit the tannin and flavor extraction of the wine. The cap was completely broken up on each pump over. The wine remained in fermenters for 6-8 days (dependent on parcel) before being pressed, inoculated with malolactic bacteria and filled to American oak (100% new barrels). The wine was racked post malolactic fermentation and returned to the same barrels. The wine was topped every month and after six months racked and returned to the same barrels again. Prior to bottling the parcels were emptied from oak and blended. Minimal fining and filtration was carried out prior to bottling.
Review:
Only made in top vintages, the 2019 Shiraz Ron Thorn is 100% Shiraz from the St. Kitts Vineyard in Barossa. Killer notes of blackberries, black cherries, smoked tobacco, chocolate, and subtle menthol all define the aromatics, and it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a round, layered mouthfeel, huge mid-palate depth, and a salty, decadent style on the finish. This monster of a Shiraz stays balanced and light on its feet and is beautifully done.
-Jeb Dunnuck 96 Points
The aging is as Mounir ages his Burgundies: extremely long, never racked, no fining, no filtration. It would be easy to say that we expected the experience running one of Burgundy’s leading producers, Lucien Le Moine, would show in Mounir’s wines. But the actual results need to be tasted to be believed and understood: a wine with beguiling fruit and savory richness, yet extraordinary finesse and detail.
Mounir Saouma likes to describe Châteauneuf-du-Pape as a mosaic, with all the wild traditions and differences together making for very different interpretations. Omnia, Latin for “all,” is his attempt to encompass the entire region’s terroir and winemaking history (and perhaps future) in one glass. The fruit comes from 9 vineyard parcels across all 5 of the Châteauneuf communes, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Courthezon, Sorgues, Bedarrides and Orange (in early vintages, when the Saoumas did not have all the vineyards they have today, they would purchase fruit; today, Rotem & Mounir Saouma is 100% Estate). The wine is then vinified and aged in foudres, cement and 500 liter barrels – a little bit of everything.
2019 was another warm and dry vintage in the southern Rhône, marked by insistent drought and repeated heat waves during the season. With little disease pressure or frost, the crop was close to normal size, but bunch and berry-size was reduced during the growing season by the lack of water. The grapes were thus concentrated and rich in sugar and acidity, although potential alcohol levels were often quite high. Vineyards at higher elevations – Châteauneuf du Pape and Gigondas in particular — handled the heat better, and the wines from those AOPs are rich yet also remarkably fresh and energetic. Despite the initial concerns about the growing season, 2019 looks to be a watershed vintage in the Southern Rhône, producing rich wines with exceptional concentration and aging potential
Inviting aromas of sliced strawberries, red cherries and rose. Full-bodied with vibrant acidity and succulent fruit. Fine, structured tannins are vertically aligned with the fruit. More dark-fruited than the nose lets on and entirely delicious. I love the subtle spice here.
-James Suckling 94 Points
Very refined, with silky and fine-grained structure carrying alluring bergamot, rooibos tea, incense, dried cherry and lightly mulled raspberry notes along. A long sanguine thread weaves through the finish. Hard to resist now with so much charm, but this will benefit from cellaring. Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre.
-Wine Spectator 94 Points
Rubus Chardonnay Colchagua Valley is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
Attractive yellow color with some green tones. Its intense varietal character reminds one ripe fruits like pineapple, with notes of melon and honey well harmonized with oak. In the mouth it is full, rich and buttery.
Grapes are harvested in the morning in order to avoid high temperatures.
At the winery, the grapes are gently pressed.
Alcoholic fermentation is held between 15º and 16º Celsius.
Then, 25% of the wine goes into American Oak barrels for 3 months.
After this, the blend is made, clarified, cold stabilized and filtered. Right before bottling, the wine goes through an on-line filtration system (plate and sterile membrane) to ensure microbiological stability
As far as the food pairing, it is delicious with pasta, fish, seafood and mild cheeses. It is also delicious on its own as an aperitif.
K Vintners Rockgarden Syrah is made from 100 percent Syrah.
Black plum, Asian five spice, warm turned river stone and taut with tension. Seamless Syrah that persists with black olive, high-polished black shoe leather and beef jerky that keeps going and never gives in.
Review:
Iodine and licorice with crushed-stone and dark-berry character. Full-bodied with chewy tannins that are structured and intense. Flavorful and polished at the end with just a hint of coffee. Drink or hold.
-James Suckling 96 Points
Avennia Cabernet Franc Champoux Vineyard is made from 100% Cabernet Franc.
This very limited bottling shows the compelling potential of Cabernet Franc from a top vineyard. Though it’s often used as a spice in Avennia's Bordeaux blends, this wine, from the legendary Champoux Vineyard, has its own unique character and complexity that convinced them to feature it alone.
Review:
A stellar Cabernet Franc. Gorgeous, effusive aromas of roasted hatch pepper, smoked sea salt, dried violets and candied red fruit. The palate is nicely integrated but will knit together further with time. Red-fruited and full with pomegranate molasses, tart cherries and savoury notes of smoky sage. Beautiful.
- 96 points, Decanter