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Morlet Family Vineyards Billet Doux Late Harvest Semillon 2012 (half-bottle) is made from Sémillon (65%) Sauvignon Blanc (31%) Muscat à Petits Grains (4%)

rowing in the gravelly soil of an ancient riverbed in the beautiful Alexander Valley, the old vines benefit from hot afternoons and cool, foggy mornings, favorable for the development of Botrytis (Noble Rot). Extremely small yields in the Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscat vineyards lead to the immensely concentrated fruit. Just as one receives a note from one’s sweetheart, we present this wine as a precious ‘Love Note’ or ‘Billet Doux.’

Deep crystal clear gold. Intense and complex bouquet of dry apricot, pêche de vigne and Reine Claude yellow plum intermixed with notes of quince, honey, Muscat and a hint of sweet vanilla. Full bodied, the palate is reminiscent of the nose, with a creamy sweet texture and a great intensity. The large amount of sugar and glycerin creates a highlighted viscosity. Along with the wine’s great concentration, richness and opulence, the classical aromatic complexity reveals a flamboyant yet harmonious ensemble, leading to a very long, complex and smooth finish.

Proprietary name ‘Billet Doux’

Name meaning Love Note 

Type of wine Late harvest white wine

Appellation Alexander Valley

Vineyard singularity 25-60 year old vines Loamy and gravelly soils from an ancient river bed One cluster per shoot ‘de rigueur’

Typical harvest date November Picking Manual, small lugs, refrigerated truck

Sorting Cluster by cluster

Fermentation In barrel through native yeast

Upbringing 16 months French Oak from selected artisan Coopers

Bottling Unfined, filtered to prevent Malolactic

Cellaring time Decades

Serving Chilled and decanted

Review:

Produced from 65% Sémillon, 31% Sauvignon Blanc and 4% Muscat, the 2012 Billet Doux has a medium golden color and profoundly scented nose of beeswax, honeyed nuts, orange marmalade, Manuka honey and preserved lemons. Full-bodied, full-on sweet, rich, concentrated and oh-so-unctuous, it delivers powerful flavor layers and epic length. 175 cases were made.

-Wine Advocate 97 Points

Paul Hobbs Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.

Grown on the west side of St. Helena, this distinctive cabernet sauvignon clearly displays its origins with a rich garnet hue and sophisticated aromas of cacao bean, crème de cassis, and sweet tobacco on the nose. Layered, with a superb structure, the wine offers impressions of blueberry coulis, black raspberry, and savory herbs like Herbs de Provence. The weighty mid-palate unveils anise spice and a graphite mineral note that combines with a fresh acidity that extends the long finish.

Review:

Needing plenty of air to show at its best, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard is a sensational, gorgeous Napa Valley Cabernet that delivers the goods like only this region can. Pure Cabernet magic on the nose, with deep blackcurrants, smoked tobacco, lead pencil, and a kiss of spring flowers as well as a beautiful Pessac-Leognan-like scorched earth character, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, silky tannins, no hard edges, and a great, great finish. It's one of those wines that builds incrementally on the palate and it's only after the second or third sip that you realize how special this wine is. It also offers that rare mix of power and elegance that's the hallmark of all great wines. It needs a couple of hours in the decanter if drinking any time soon. Hats off to Paul Hobbs for an incredible Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

-Jeb Dunnuck 100 Points

In the far northwest corner of the Sonoma Coast appellation, near the town of Annapolis, the vineyard sits just five miles from the Pacific Ocean, and provides a poignant setting for producing pinot noir with elegance, great precision, and intensity.

Review:

The 2021 Pinot Noir Goldrock Estate is deep, rich and explosive. Dark red cherry, pomegranate, blood orange, menthol, spice and rose petals are all amplified in this dramatic Sonoma Coast Pinot. The complexity and intensity here are simply unreal. Give this time, there's a lot of wine in the glass.

-Vinous 96 Points

Hailing from the newly established West Sonoma Coast AVA, this inaugural release displays deep ruby in tint with Bing cherry, wild mountain berry, and an ethereal note of damp earth. Vibrant red and blue fruits dance on the palate, accompanied by oyster shell and a stony tension in character with its coastal influences. A silky texture and uplifted acidity add a sophistication and intensity to this wine, as well as a remarkably long finish.

Review:

The 2021 Pinot Noir (West Sonoma Coast), a new wine in this range, is lights out. Rich, ample and bold, the 2021 races across palate with layers of purplish fruit, lavender, spice, menthol, licorice and spice. A dollop of stems adds nuance, but without dominating the overall balance. There's terrific acidity and structure to play off the natural fruit richness that is such a distinctive attribute of the best sites in the appellation.

-Vinous 96 Points

Poggio San Polo Podernovi Brunello di Montalcino is made from Sangiovese. 

Intense ruby red in color with garnet hues, clear and glossy. The bouquet exhibits typical aromas of violets and small red berries. Subtle nuances of forest undergrowth, aromatic wood, a touch of vanilla and jammy mixed fruit then give way to subtle hints of coffee. This Brunello is intense, persistent, broad and heady. Full-bodied and warm on the palate, with a densely-woven texture and robust body, it has a persistent finish with well-rounded tannins. The particular features of the terroir at San Polo produce a Brunello with a capacity for lengthy aging, while patient cellaring enhances the wine during ageing in the bottle.

Review:

Lovely purity of fruit with ultra fine tannins and depth, finesse and complexity. Black cherries, cedar and some flowers. It’s full-bodied with very fine tannins that drive the finish. Give it a year or two to open more, but already so enticing. Drink or hold.

-James Suckling 96 Points

The San Polo 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva (with 8,000 bottles produced) is a textured wine with hearty fruit and touches of smoked meat and spice. At its core, the wine offers dark fruit, blackberry and ripe plum. The rich fruitiness of the wine cedes to campfire ash, mahogany and furniture wax. These results are sultry and even a bit flashy, with distant background tones of teriyaki and plum sauce. The wine is fermented in cylindrical oak fermenters and aged in oak for three years. We'll see this bottle hitting the market sometime after February 2021.

-Wine Advocate 95 Points

Proidl Senftenberg Riesling Ried Ehrenfels 1er Cru Kremstal is made from 100 percent Riesling

A concentrated and dense, almost introverted wine made from perfect clusters. Constructed without any ornamentation or hastiness. For connoisseurs who like to leave the vinous beaten path and go exploring.

From a monopol vineyard

The physiologically fully ripened grapes are harvested by hand in several passes at the end of October and beginning of November. A portion of the grapes is destemmed and left on the skins for 10–12 hours of maceration. The leisurely fermentation with ambient yeasts in stainless steel promotes a multilayered expressivity. Bronzite, marble, paragneiss & amphibolite give the wine its great complexity and individuality. After fermentation, extended maturing on the lees in a large wooden cask before bottling at the end of August.

In Austrian wine, "1 ÖTW" refers to the "erste Lage" (first location) quality tier of the Österreichische Traditionsweingüter (ÖTW), an association of quality-focused wineries that classify their wines from single vineyards in specific regions, similar to German vineyard classifications. Wines labeled with "1 ÖTW" represent high-quality wines from a recognized single vineyard site within a participating ÖTW region, like Kamptal or Kremstal. 

Review:

"This incredibly youthful and concentrated dry Riesling is a cool customer and needs a lot of aeration to reveal its great depths. Very delicate peach and apricot fruit with notes of chamomile and wild herbs. Really structured but also polished on the compact, medium-bodied palate. Extremely long, stony finish. Sustainable. Drink or hold. Screw cap."

 - James Suckling (October 10th 2024), 97 pts