El Ganador translates to "the winner", and given its quality-to-price ratio, we consider this Malbec a win!
Rich ruby-purple color. Displays elegant flavors of blackberries, ripe plum and robust spices, with good balance and structure. A delightful & versatile red.
El Cismatico Garnacha is 100% Garnacha.
The wine is produced from 3 single vineyards: El Mimbreral, Piedra Blanca, Cerro Merino - situated between 850 to 900 meters high. These parcels share the same geological characteristics of pebble stones, red clay, marl and limestone which impart a precise and floral profile to the Garnacha grape that has achieved a balanced acidity and a low pH.
The grapes were harvested into 20 kg cases and fermented together in cement with gentle punching down only. Afterwards a long maceration occurred and malolactic fermentation took place on skins. After pressing the wine remained sur lie in 500 liter fine-grained French oak barrels for 12 months.
El Cismatico offers an intense ruby red in color. The nose is still very youthful, deep and complex with aromas changing every minute. Its starts out with notes of roasted meat, beets, wild red fruit, cloves, pepper. Little by little, as the wine opens the nose displays touches of crushed violets, pencil lead, black cherry and a light touch of mountain herbs. Fine, elegant and bold, the ripe fruit is exquisitely balanced by fresh acidity achieved from growing Garnacha at altitude. The tannin is firm but polished with an extremely long finish. Drinking 2022 and onwards for many years.
Dutton-Goldfield Rued Vineyard Chardonnay is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
The nose leads with tangerine, apricot, and kiwi fruit, accented by lemon oil, orange blossom, and hazelnut. In the mouth, the fruit/floral and bright/rich theme continues, with the lychee and Meyer lemon top notes joined by Asian pear and Gravenstein apple, framed with honeysuckle and gardenia.
The dual nature of the wine makes it pair well with both rich and light fare, like lobster roll, roasted pork, or sautéed sole.
Review:
From a clone once called the Chardonnay Musque selection, this wine is highly aromatic and fresh. Juicy tropical fruit and tangerine flavors remain crisp and brilliant, leading to a complex midpalate of Meyer lemon and pear. The finish is topped by lasting, lingering layers of hazelnut.
- Wine Enthusiast 94 Points
Dunn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet.
This Napa Valley wine is a blend of their Howell Mountain fruit and a small quantity of valley floor fruit that they purchase. This valley floor fruit contributes to the wine’s earlier approachability and softer tannic structure.
Review:
I loved the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, which I think is a step up over the 2018, although both 2019s show a much more elegant profile. Ripe currants, plums, roasted herbs, violets, and incense notes all shine in this medium to full-bodied, ripe, supple, layered beauty, which has fine tannins and a gorgeous finish. Enjoy bottles any time over the coming 15 years.
-Jeb Dunnuck 94 Points
This signature wine contains only fruit farmed on Howell Mountain. The wine comes in a distinctive bottle that is hand dipped in red wax. 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. aged 32 months in 100% new French oak.
Vinous 97 Points
The wine’s aromas and flavors are akin to red and black cherry, briary wild berries, pomegranate, dried rose, pepper and licorice. Significant umami notes develop with time, and it offers a chewy core of fruit on a lovely expanding palate. Despite its obvious richness, there’s polish and definition to the flavors and structure. The wine turns spicy and savory on its long finish. Drink between late-2024 and 2032.
We’ve produced Ryan Pinot Noir since 2002, and it has always focused upon the mature dry-farmed Dutton-Widdoes Vineyard, deep in the heart of Green Valley. Widdoes produces a wild berry, truffley style of rich, dark Pinot that offers substantial hidden complexity which is revealed over time. In recent years we’ve balanced this power style with a block of vibrant, elegant, and red-fruited Pinot from Dutton-Jentoft, located at higher elevation closer to the coast. Both vineyards are sensitively farmed by our long-time partners, the multi-generational Dutton Family. Traditionally our most fruit-filled and approachable Pinot bottling, history shows that the wine ages gracefully for a decade-plus, revealing all its quintessential Green Valley Pinot beauty as it develops in bottle.
Review:
From the oldest vines of the estate, the 2022 Pinot Noir DuMOL Ryan is fantastic on the nose, with notes of fresh leather, Asian spices, sandalwood, and fresh cherries. The palate is vibrant and salty with green valley character, revealing finely coiled tannins, mouthwatering acidity, a saline mineral flourish, and a long finish. This one of the most compelling wines in the vintage for me, and it’s going to age gracefully over the next 15-20 years.
-Jeb Dunnuck 98 Points
Dominique Piron Morgon Cote du Py is made from 100 percent Gamay.
The Morgon Cru is based in the heart of Northern Beaujolais. Côte du Py is the heart of Morgon, a little hill of very old blue stone rocks - the oldest soils of Beaujolais (around 430 millions years old), with a typical blue color.
Côte du Py has been known for centuries for being the best terroir of the village, producing long lived wines with strong structure and flavors.
Wines of the Côte du Py are very dark, profound and dense. Classic aromas of red berries, cherry, kirsh. Fruity, structured and mineral in the mouth with graphite flavors and spicy notes of black and white pepper. Wine can age up to 10 years.
Hand picked grapes are sorted manually and destemmed for 50 to 70%. Fermentation starts in concrete tanks and lasts for 18-25 days with remontages and pigeages. Then after pressurage starts the aging, for 2/3 in concrete tanks, and 1/3 in recent French oak barrels with batonages on fine lies only. After 10 month we do the blending, keeping only the best cuvees and best barrels, and do the bottling.
Pairs well with red meat like beef, duck and game (Hare, Dear, Wild Pork,…), cheses.
Demoiselles Sancerre Blanc is made from 100 percent Sauvignon Blanc.
The name "Les demoiselles" (translate as "The young ladies"), refers to the beautiful migratory birds (Cranes) that fly over the town of Sancerre twice a year (in the Fall going South to spend the winter in the African continent, and in the Spring going back North to spend the Summer in Northern Europe). These graceful birds offer a unique and impressive show when they sometimes land on the banks of the Loire River. The Fleuriet family wanted to highlight this exceptional grace and express an elegant and refined bouquet in this Sancerre Demoiselles cuvée.
The wine shows a bright yellow color with green highlights, a fruity nose with aromas of white flowers and acacia. Light-medium bodied in the mouth, supple and well structured, its concentration and crisp acidity make it a harmonious and food-friendly wine.
Pairs nicely with fresh goat cheeses, oysters with lemon, grilled lemon chicken breasts and Mexican dishes. Serve these whites at 46 °F (8 °C).