Kershaw Smugglers Boot Pinot Noir is made from 100% Pinot Noir made from French clones PN667, PN115 and PN113.
The name derives from the time of trade embargoes in South Africa when growers & winemakers smuggled grapevine material into the country by hiding the cuttings in Wellington boots. The Smuggler’s Boot range celebrates that ingenuity.
Attractive strawberry, savory and star anise spice linger on the nose. Juicy and sumptuous on the mid palate with breadth of flavor offset by a nimbleness of fresh acidity, friable tannins and sinuous mouthfeel, this Pinot unwraps to earthy, fennel, chocolate and a hint of incense to a long supple finish.
Handpicked grapes were first bunch sorted on a conveyor before the stems were removed and the destemmed berries sorted to remove jacks and substandard berries. After a 3-day maceration in 500kg open-topped fermenters, the uncrushed grapes began a spontaneous fermentation. A gentle pigeage program was charted and the grapes remained on skins for 10-16 days.
The free-run wine was racked to a combination of 50% French oak barrels (10% new) and 50% breathable plastic eggs with the remaining pomace basket-pressed. Malolactic then proceeded followed by a light sulphuring after which the wine was racked off Malolactic lees and returned to cleaned barrels for an 11-month maturation. No finings, simply racked and light filtration prior to bottling.
Richard Kershaw’s personal suggestions for dishes include charcuterie, its salt and fat being complemented by the delicate spicy notes and fruit; Pork loin with honey, pepper, and lemon-zest glaze; Carpaccio; duck cassoulet; ovenroasted monkfish with garlic mashed potatoes; seared tuna; wild mushroom risotto; a simple beet salad with some hazelnuts and ricotta cheese; a slice of Brie or Gorgonzola dolce.
Kershaw Smugglers Boot Pinot Noir is made from 100% Pinot Noir made from French clones PN667, PN115 and PN113.
The name derives from the time of trade embargoes in South Africa when growers & winemakers smuggled grapevine material into the country by hiding the cuttings in Wellington boots. The Smuggler’s Boot range celebrates that ingenuity.
Attractive strawberry, savory and star anise spice linger on the nose. Juicy and sumptuous on the mid palate with breadth of flavor offset by a nimbleness of fresh acidity, friable tannins and sinuous mouthfeel, this Pinot unwraps to earthy, fennel, chocolate and a hint of incense to a long supple finish.
Handpicked grapes were first bunch sorted on a conveyor before the stems were removed and the destemmed berries sorted to remove jacks and substandard berries. After a 3-day maceration in 500kg open-topped fermenters, the uncrushed grapes began a spontaneous fermentation. A gentle pigeage program was charted and the grapes remained on skins for 10-16 days.
The free-run wine was racked to a combination of 50% French oak barrels (10% new) and 50% breathable plastic eggs with the remaining pomace basket-pressed. Malolactic then proceeded followed by a light sulphuring after which the wine was racked off Malolactic lees and returned to cleaned barrels for an 11-month maturation. No finings, simply racked and light filtration prior to bottling.
Richard Kershaw’s personal suggestions for dishes include charcuterie, its salt and fat being complemented by the delicate spicy notes and fruit; Pork loin with honey, pepper, and lemon-zest glaze; Carpaccio; duck cassoulet; ovenroasted monkfish with garlic mashed potatoes; seared tuna; wild mushroom risotto; a simple beet salad with some hazelnuts and ricotta cheese; a slice of Brie or Gorgonzola dolce.
Kershaw Syrah Deconstructed Lake District Cartref SH22 is made from 100 percent Syrah.
The inspiration for this Syrah stems from my belief that the Elgin region has both a signature grape as well as particular terroirs within its demarcated boundary that reflect regional credentials. This Syrah was selected from a sub-region of Elgin from a specific vineyard and an individual clone.
Sourced from a single parcel in the Western part of Elgin, the 22 clone produces fuller, well-colored yet finely structured wines. They tend to be more concentrated as yields are low with more black fruit, black pepper and meaty notes. The Cartref soils, a mixture of decomposed sandstone, pebbles and quartz, add gracefulness and heighten the fruit intensity.
The grapes were handpicked under autumnal skies into small lug baskets and then manually sorted on a conveyor before the stems were removed. The destemmed berries fell onto a vibrating table in order to remove jacks and substandard berries before dropping uncrushed into a small 500kg conical hopper and forklifted into open-topped fermenters. The grapes underwent a 3-day maceration before spontaneous fermentation began. A gentle pigeage (punch-down of the cap) program was charted and the grapes remained on skins for 26 days. The wine was then racked to barrel under gravity and the remaining pomace basket-pressed. Malolactic then proceeded in barrel followed by a light sulfuring and 17-month maturation. No finings were necessary and the wine was simply racked and bottled unfiltered.
Review:
"The 2017 Kershaw Deconstructed Lake District Cartref SH22, matured 50% in new oak for 17 months, is a little more open on the nose compared to the SH9c and delivers a touch more red berry fruit, quite candied in style and suggesting strawberry pastilles. The palate is medium-bodied with a saline entry, fine definition and a mélange of red and black fruit laced with licorice toward the poised finish. Excellent.- Neal Martin"
- Antonio Galloni's Vinous (April 2021), 93 pts
Bright fruit on the nose boasts notes of black cherry, black plum, violets, rose, orange, cocoa nibs, tobacco, mushroom and forest floor. On the palate, complex layers of fruit slowly melt into a bold, structured wine that impresses from start to finish. Velvety tannins interact gracefully with the wine’s fruit and acidity, all coming together to create a delightful wine and a beautiful expression of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir.
Review:
The 2021 King Estate ‘Domaine’ Pinot Noir was stored in 26% new French oak before bottling and represents the top one percent of Estate Pinot Noir barrels. Red currants combine with freshly tilled soils, Black cherry and shades of dried herbs. The palate is soft and refined with silky tannins that frame a core of red and dark fruit flavors. Finishing long, with good viscosity, this is already sgiwubg beautifully right now.
Owen Bargreen 94 Points
Kinsella Estates Heirloom Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
20 months in French Oak (75% New)
Organic made.
Intense was the first word that came to mind. Purely focused tannin weaves its way through the core of this wine. Has a savory characteristic that we have found in past vintages (2014 to be specific) with a slight licorice note on the exceptionally long finish. While this vineyard has been described as “feminine” in the past, that is certainly not the case for this bigger, bolder vintage!
Pure 100% cabernet Sauvignon, this vineyard continually astonishes. Loads of loamy soil notes followed by blue and black fruits give this cabernet massive depth and beautiful integrated tannins. Milk chocolate, crème de cassis and tobacco give this massive wine the depth you come to expect with Napa cabs, but it is all Sonoma County, all from our magnificent little private valley which sees sun all day! We buy no fruit; we sell no fruit.
Jersey Boys Vineyard (Kevin Kinsella is the largest individual investor in the hit Broadway show "Jersey Boys")
Jersey Boys is a six-acre vineyard that was replanted in 2008 with four different clones of Cabernet Sauvignon, handpicked by winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown.
“While it was the third consecutive year marked by limited rainfall, the 2014 vintage offered a perfectly temperate growing season characterized by long, moderate days and cool, clear nights. We began the year with warm spring conditions that gave way to an early budbreak and the consistent, dry weather afforded an optimal fruit set of small berries with incredible concentration. Crop yields were down a bit from 2013, but the quality was magnificent. It was a textbook growing season, every winemaker’s dream.”
- Winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown
Any vegetable or meat in the grill. Delicious with Chocolate as well.
Review:
"There are 645 cases of the 100% Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon Jersey Boys Vineyard (named after the fact that the Broadway Musical “Jersey Boys” was brought to the stage and screen by the owner of Kinsella). This wine and its siblings will do a lot to establish Dry Creek as more than another viticulture area better known for Zinfandel than Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a killer Cabernet Sauvignon with dazzling fruit levels and loads of loamy soil notes intermixed with black raspberry, blueberry and blackcurrant. The superripe and pure fruit hits the palate with a full-bodied crescendo. The wine offers up notes of underbrush, unsmoked cigar tobacco, pen ink and plenty of crème de cassis and blackberry, Drink it over the next 20-25 years. - RP"
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue #227, October 2016), 95 pts
'Belle Côte', French for “Beautiful Slope”, was named by Sir Peter after the famous ski run in Courchevel, France. The oldest of the four Knights Valley Estate Chardonnay vineyards, ‘Belle Côte’ consistently exemplifies the potential of crafting exceptionally high-quality Chardonnay from our mountain vineyards. Planted at 1,700 to 1,800 feet (518 to 549 meters), Belle Côte has a southeastern exposure and a western border of native trees, which shelter the vines from the hot afternoon sun. These unique attributes create a naturally cool microclimate that provides an extended growing period and slow-ripening fruit, resulting in a later picking schedule that often continues into October (two to three weeks longer than most Chardonnay vineyards in Napa and Sonoma Counties).
The combination of a wet winter with significant rains in December through March and cool weather delayed budbreak nearly a month. Flowering and fruit set were also pushed back and the weather during the later flowering was favorable resulting in decent fruit set and slightly above average yields for the Chardonnay vineyards—a marked improvement over the record-low yielding 2022 vintage. The growing season was temperate without major heat spikes allowing the berries to hold onto their acidity which carried through into the wines. Harvest was almost a month later than normal with the last Belle Côte block coming in on November 2nd.
As the oldest of the four Peter Michael Winery estate Chardonnay blocks, 'Belle Côte' exemplifies the consistent quality of Chardonnay these mountain vineyards produce. Due to the naturally cool climate of the site’s high elevation, and mitigated exposure to the hot afternoon sun by its southeastern exposure and a stand of trees on its western border, the vines are allowed to slowly ripen. The growing season for Belle Côte typically extends into October, two to three weeks longer than most Chardonnay vineyards in Napa and Sonoma Counties.
With highly expressive aromatics of orange blossom, jasmine, candied orange peel, and rose petal, the 2023 'Belle Côte' showcases its unique terroir and thirty-three-year-old vines with a rich, creamy entry, dense, broad, juicy mid-palate and a lengthy, refined finish. There is a seamless quality to this wine that matches power, gras, and intensity with structure and weightlessness. The 2023 'Belle Côte' can be enjoyed in its youth or after many years of cellaring.
Review:
This extraordinary estate-grown wine from a great vintage is super vibrant, energized and tangy, with vital acidity supporting luscious ripe pear and apple flavors on a silky texture. Can't think of anything it lacks. Seamless, layered, yet structured and fresh, boding well for longer-term aging. It has a melts-in-the-mouth quality and an extra long finish. Drinkable now and best from 2030.
-James Suckling 100 Points
Rinaldi Eramare Piemonte Cortese is made from 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 (90% cortese 10% sauvignon) fresh simple and juicy.
After the alcoholic fermentation the wine refines on his yeast for 4 months just to have a better color and taste.
A lot of minerality and note of grapefruit.
Ideal for an aperitif, or with seafood appetizers, fish first courses, grilled fish, vegetable pies, mixed Piedmontese appetizers, omelettes.