Capanna Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2015
TYPE: DOCG
BLEND: 100% Sangiovese carefully selected in the oldest vineyards and only of the best harvests.
VINIFICATION:
Alcoholic fermentation with maceration of the skins (30-35 days) at a controlled temperature and spontaneous malolactic fermentation, both in truncated cone-shaped Slavonian oak vats.
AGEING:
In Slavonian oak casks of 10 to 25 hl for over 40 months; followed by ageing in bottles for at least 15 months.
NOTES:
Colour: deep ruby red, strong, lively.
Bouquet: very intense and complex, fruity and spicy, with red fruit, jam and liquorice shades; great prospects of future development.
Taste: great structure in the acid-tannin components, well supported by the soft ones; extremely persistent.
Food pairings: roast red meats, game and very aged cheeses.
Review:
Powerful, sparkling garnet red. Rich, very appealing nose with notes of ripe raspberries and fresh plums, some liquorice and fine spice notes in the background. Grippy, fine-meshed tannin on the palate, builds up in many layers, salty, good tension, very long finish in the finish.
- Falstaff 98 Points
Castelmaure Col des Vents Corbieres is made from 50% Carignan, 30% Grenache, 15% Syrah and 5% Cinsault.
"Col des Vents" means "Windy Mountain Pass" as it is quite windy and located at the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains.
Originally, the label was a replicate of a Max Savy's painting.
Brambly berry, cherry and raspberry, spices, black pepper ... all are present in this authentic French country wine. There are also some aromas of Garrigue (Rosemary, thyme and lavender) giving a minty, herbal notes, that are quite refreshing as well.
Castelmaure Corbieres Vin-Gris (Rose) is made from 80% Grenache, 10% Carignan, 10% Cinsault.
Pale pink rose color, a classic gris de gris wine with salmon hues.
Delicate strawberry nose, seamless and fine pointed.
Delicious as an aperitif, it is also great when paired with seafood, salads, Asian-Thai cuisine, grilled fish and tajines.
Charles Krug Peter Mondavi Family Vintage Selection Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
Review:
The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Vintage Selection has a deep garnet-purple color and features exuberant notes of crushed black cherries, mulberries and blackcurrant cordial with touches of unsmoked cigars, menthol, yeast extract and pencil shavings. Full-bodied, concentrated and opulent in the mouth, it has a solid line of plush tannins and plenty of backbone freshness to lift the generous fruit to a long fruity finish.
-Wine Advocate 95 Points
Chateau Bourdieu Absolu Blaye Cotes de Bordeaux is made from 79% merlot, 17% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Malbec.
When Luc Schweitzer was joined by his two sons Richard and Ludovic at the estate, he wanted to embrace this new chapter in the family history and launched in 2016 a special cuvée from Château Bourdieu called "Absolu". This top-of-the-range cuvée is the best of what their terroir has to offer. The 35 year-old facing south vines benefit from a meticulous care: regular maintenance of the soil, yield control, manual leaf stripping, sorting of the berries - all practices that ensure the quality of this great Bordeaux wine.
A deep garnet color with magnificent purple highlights. The nose is intense and full, revealing notes of ripe black fruits and subtle hints of vanilla and roasted coffee. Great structure with finesse and tannic density that brings depth and length to the mouth. The aromatic purity of the perfectly ripened grape varieties is magnified by the complex and subtle oak flavors.
Pair: Rib of grilled beef and tournedos Rossini - butter pan-fried beef filet served on a crouton, and topped with a hot slice of fresh foie gras.
Review:
"A rich, opulent wine, this is full of dark tannins and powerful fruit. It's a big wine, with licorice and dense wood flavors that give a smoky character and reflect some serious extraction. The wine needs to smooth out to showcase its concentrated richness. Drink from 2024. - Roger VOSS"
- Wine Enthusiast (May 2021), 91 pts
Chateau Larroque Bordeaux Superieur Rouge is a blend of 51% Merlot and 49% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Nose : Red fruits, almond and hazelnut, with a faint vanilla aroma.
Mouth : The silky, velvety attack reveals a pleasant, concentrated and well structured wine. It offers a combination of fruits pastes’ flavors, licorice and toasted notes, and an elegant finish.
The 60-hectare vineyard was rapidly replanted and the château building, which dates from 1348, was restored.
Our family now produces three different-colored wines there: red, white and rosé.
Fermentation : Alcoholic fermentation in thermo-regulated stainless steel vats at around 26°C / 78°F then a gentle vatting for 3 weeks at 30°C / 86°F. Running off and pressing,separation of the press and free-run juice. Malolactic fermentation in thermo-regulated stainless steel vats at around 18°C / 64°F
- 2017 Decanter World Wine Awards Decanter 95 Points
Color : Dark garnet hue
Marie-Christine, the daughter of Henri Ducourt, purchased this prestigious left-bank property in 1979, which lies on the border of the Graves appellation.
Grown on loamy-clay soil.
Macération : Pre-fermentation cold maceration of 24 to 48 hours
Enjoy this wine with charcuterie, roasted meats, BBQ, cheeses.
There are afternoons with indigo skies when we approach one of the oldest plots of the estate. Our stroll from the winery follows a line of cypress trees to the corner of a path. This angle gives its name to our most exceptional vineyard.
El Picón is the great symbol and the most profound reality. The sum of enigmas in a beautiful, pure fruit. The wine of silence and intimate joy, an eternal taste in which generations, labours and nature’s favors culminate.
Grapes from the plot of El Picón, one of the oldest at the Pago de los Capellanes estate in Pedrosa de Duero.
22 months in 225-litre, extra-fine grain French oak barrels dried over 60 months.
Pago de los Capellanes Finca El Picón is a mature red wine with intense aromas of red and black fruit from the forest accompanied by deep balsamic notes and spicy touches provided by aging. In the mouth it is meaty, deep and very balanced. A medium to full-bodied wine with vibrant acidity and fine, velvety tannins. The finish is long and very persistent.
1.6 hectares of clay loam soil with surface gravel. Very poor fertility and very low vineyard yields.
Avennia Sestina Red Blend is made from 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc.
The Sestina is a poetic form from Medieval France. Just as a contemporary poet can use an old form like the Sestina to express modern ideas, we use the traditional Bordeaux blend to make modern wines that express Washington fruit. Sestina is our vision for an old vine blend where the focus is on structure, balance, and complexity. This wine is designed for the cellar, but is enjoyable now.
Sestina: This wine is a blockbuster, with black currant, black raspberry, saddle leather, freshly tilled earth, vanilla, and violet on the nose. Exceedingly rich and balanced on the palate, with great poise and structure for long aging. The finish echoes with fresh black fruits, minerally touches, and floral notes.
Review:
The 2021 ‘Sestina’ is a gorgeous blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon with smaller parts Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Needing about 30 minutes in the decanter to fully unwind, this yields beautiful black florals that mingle well with wet stone, Black Forest Cake and suggestions of huckleberry with garrigue notes. The palate is soft and refined with a silky texture and beautiful sense of elegance and weight. This is seamless throughout the drinking experience, loaded with black fruit flavors with dark chocolate shavings and suggestions of underbrush. Refined tannins frame this stunning heavyhitter of a Cabernet that is already drinking beautifully now at the three year mark. Savor this beauty now and over the next fifteen to twenty years.
-Owen Bargreen 96 Points
"The book end to the Right Bank-inspired Valery, this is the Left Bank-inspired wine which blends 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 9% Cabernet Franc. Sourced from old vine Bacchus, Dionysus, Red Willow and DuBrul grapes, it’s given the rock star treatment with 21 months in 50% new French oak. I love the flavors of the well-chosen barrels, which match those spicy/toasty notes to fruit with both power and palate presence. Beautifully structured, powerful yet restrained, with ripe black fruits that trail into powdery tannins, this is a special wine with a long life ahead."
- Paul Gregutt 97 Points