Review:
Fresh violets, lilac, wild plums, allspice and wild herbal aromas pour from the glass. The focused palate shows tart cherry preserves, warmed cloves, roasted coffee and dark chocolate that finishes with a crushed chalk minerality. Fine tannins are present but in balance, working with fresh acidity to keep this wine in harmony. Drink now–2045.
-Wine Enthusiast 97 Points
Mordoree La Remise Mordoree Rose is made from Marselan 35% (Marselan is a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache) , Merlot 35% Syrah 15%, Grenache 15%.
Color : light rose
Aromas : flower : roses, fruits : strawberry, red currant and citrus
Palate : mouthful, rich.
Best to drink 2 years.
Pairs well with white meats, Asian cuisine and excellent as an aperitif.
Murray Cabernet Sauvignon Red Mountain is made from 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10%, Merlot , 6% Malbec, 6%, Petit Verdot.
A beautiful ruby color, this wine is very fruity with lots of plum and just a hint of characteristic Red Mountain minerality. It is very smooth with a slight texture of tannin on the back. This wine is a real Cab crowd pleaser.
As much as possible, winemakers Tim and Kelly Hightower take a non-interventionist approach to winemaking. They place great emphasis on vineyard selection, picking, pressing, and blending so that Hightower wines are naturally beautiful and free from pretense. They let the powerful and concentrated fruit from Red Mountain speak for itself. The result is a collection of well-balanced, nuanced wines that reveal something new and interesting each time you open a bottle.
They age in the oak barrels until they are ready to bottle.Neutral Oak 52%, New Oak 48% (American 57%, Hungarian 15%, French 14%, European 14%).
After primary fermentation, all wines are pressed directly into 59 gallon oak barrels. Aging for 19 months.
Estate Vineyard 75%, Shaw Vineyard 21%, Red Willow 4%
Red Mountain AVA 100%
A deep and rich hue of golden straw gives the first clue that this is a serious Chardonnay. Aromas of pear, green apple, and lime peel jump out of the glass followed by more nuanced fragrances of orange blossom, ginger root, and brioche. The sensation on the palate casually demonstrates both broad depth and laser like focus. An assertive core of acid and saline minerality rests completely ensconced in rich flavors of pie crust, clotted cream, and burnt caramel. Drink now for fresh vibrance, or in ten years for wild complexity. This wine is a perfect white to be enjoyed year-round.
Review:
The 2021 MFN Blanc Chardonnay is very ripe in style with scents of banana chip, apple pie, jasmine, allspice and brown sugar. The full-bodied palate is packed with ripe, spicy fruits and plenty of refreshing acidity, and it finishes long with a satiny, mouth-coating texture. It's an old-school style reminiscent of Napa that fans of ripe, oaked Chardonnays will enjoy.
-Robert Parker 97 Points
Palacio del Burgo Crianza is made from 90% Tempranillo & 10% Graciano
Palacio de Burgo's Crianza blends the concept of the intense fruity young wines traditionally made in Rioja and the old world wine making style that has made the region famous. The result is a complex wine that impresses for its intensity right from the moment it is poured in the glass.-Mike Good, Timeless Wines
Alcoholic fermentation in stainless steel vats at controlled temperature; aged in American oak barrels for 12 months.
Red ruby colored wine with violet tones; well-balanced, black fruit, vanilla and coconut flavors. Powerful, complex and silky smooth…classic old style Rioja at a bargain price.
Pairs well with aged cheeses and grilled meats
Review:
"A fruity and easy red with cherries, lemon rind and berries. Medium body. Drink now."
- James Suckling (August 2021), 91 pts
Paradigm Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc
20 months in French oak (only about a third of that is new oak) and for 20 more months in bottle before release
Our winemaking "style" is solely determined by this place or terrior we call "Paradigm." Winemaking is agriculture when you own your vineyards and are able to farm them to promote the very best Earth will give you. All of our selections of wines are made from five varietals on the estate. Every wine is 100% farmed and grown by us.
Complexity in our wines supported by luscious fruit and acidity is our hallmark. Our efforts during harvest and barrel cellaring concentrate on maintaining the freshness from the first day we handpicked each vineyard block. Simple winemaking protocols are employed while crucial “timing” oriented winemaking decisions rule each day.
Paradigm Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc
20 months in French oak (only about a third of that is new oak) and for 20 more months in bottle before release
Our winemaking "style" is solely determined by this place or terrior we call "Paradigm." Winemaking is agriculture when you own your vineyards and are able to farm them to promote the very best Earth will give you. All of our selections of wines are made from five varietals on the estate. Every wine is 100% farmed and grown by us.
Complexity in our wines supported by luscious fruit and acidity is our hallmark. Our efforts during harvest and barrel cellaring concentrate on maintaining the freshness from the first day we handpicked each vineyard block. Simple winemaking protocols are employed while crucial “timing” oriented winemaking decisions rule each day.
Paradigm Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 90% Cabernet Sauvignon 4% Merlot 4% Petit Verdot 2% Cabernet Franc.
20 months in French oak (only about a third of that is new oak) and for 20 more months in bottle before release
Our winemaking "style" is solely determined by this place or terrior we call "Paradigm." Winemaking is agriculture when you own your vineyards and are able to farm them to promote the very best Earth will give you. All of our selections of wines are made from five varietals on the estate. Every wine is 100% farmed and grown by us.
Complexity in our wines supported by luscious fruit and acidity is our hallmark. Our efforts during harvest and barrel cellaring concentrate on maintaining the freshness from the first day we handpicked each vineyard block. Simple winemaking protocols are employed while crucial “timing” oriented winemaking decisions rule each day.
Dark Cabernet color with beautiful aromas of black cherry, cassis, plus 5-spice, vanilla. Big, ripe and mouthcoating across the palate. The flavors are similar to the aromas with ripe fruit, berry/cherry pie, moderate tannins, and nice length. This wine shows enough structure to be age-worth, yet soft and balanced enough to enjoy upon release. Flavors linger in this tasty, dense wine. Tastes like Oakville. -Heidi Barrett
Paradigm Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc
20 months in French oak (only about a third of that is new oak) and for 20 more months in bottle before release
Our winemaking "style" is solely determined by this place or terrior we call "Paradigm." Winemaking is agriculture when you own your vineyards and are able to farm them to promote the very best Earth will give you. All of our selections of wines are made from five varietals on the estate. Every wine is 100% farmed and grown by us.
Complexity in our wines supported by luscious fruit and acidity is our hallmark. Our efforts during harvest and barrel cellaring concentrate on maintaining the freshness from the first day we handpicked each vineyard block. Simple winemaking protocols are employed while crucial “timing” oriented winemaking decisions rule each day.
Dark Cabernet color with beautiful aromas of black cherry, cassis, plus 5-spice, vanilla. Big, ripe and mouthcoating across the palate. The flavors are similar to the aromas with ripe fruit, berry/cherry pie, moderate tannins, and nice length. This wine shows enough structure to be age-worth, yet soft and balanced enough to enjoy upon release. Flavors linger in this tasty, dense wine. Tastes like Oakville. -Heidi Barrett
The nose here is brilliantly red fruited, with layer upon layer of subtle spice, bright floral notes, herbs, and stone. Its not all poetry and pageantry, though, and the first impression of the wine was simply, “oh that’s goooood.” A fair assessment, and sometimes that it all one requires. Further tastes show fine tannin throughout, a juicy, vibrant mouthfeel that is very likeable, and deft, long-developing layers of fruit that reveal themselves severally.
Patton Valley's flagship wine, The Estate is the most comprehensive expression of their vineyard site, and the wine that truly defines their place in a given vintage.
Review:
"Glistening red. Vibrant red fruit, floral and spice scents show very good clarity that picks up subtle hints of succulent herbs and smoky minerals with air. Juicy and energetic in the mouth, the 2017 offers gently sweet cherry raspberry and rose pastille flavors and a touch of spicecake. Smooth, well-integrated tannins make a late appearance on a long, floral-tinged finish that shows no rough edges.
- Josh Raynolds" - Antonio Galloni's Vinous (August 2020), 92 pts
Patton Valley Petillant Naturel Riesling is made from 100 percent Riesling.
Good friends and good wine make this funny world go ‘round, right? Without those friends letting us buy some of their precious Riesling, we couldn’t make this delicious wine. Even if we did have to beg. A little.
We are using some really great vineyard sites to make this wine, and they are as diverse as they are excellent. Preserving the inherent “riesling-ness” is as important here as making this sparkle, so we’ve been extra careful to be clean, true, and simple with this. Native yeast ferments and minimal handling with fastidious cleanliness make this an absolute natural wonder. A small dosage of organic sugar kicks off the bottle ferment to make it sparkle.
This smells like apples, pears, apricot, and the sea. Not kidding. The palate is fizzy, fun, and fresh with an appley bite and pear - almond lushness. All angles and elbows, the lees and sediment widen the palate with pleasing breadth.
VINEYARDS:
25% Norris McKinley, Ribbon Ridge AVA - LIVE
50% Windridge, Chehalem Mountains AVA - LIVE
25% Wascher, Dundee Hills AVA - USDA Organic
pH: 3.04
Paul Hobbs Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
Farmed with a unique precision to match the unparalleled terroir of this historic Oakville site, this vintage is ethereal, delicate, and nuanced. An attractive deep garnet in appearance, this wine expresses soft red cherry, strawberry, floral, and graphite. The palate is full and lively with flavors of blueberry, blackberry, sandalwood, and dried herbs, supported by a lovely grip of tannins and well-tensioned texture that leads to a long, refined finish.
Review:
More expressive and open-knit, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard sports a similar ruby/purple to go with an incredible array of black raspberry, cassis, flowery incense, orange blossom, smoked tobacco, and exotic spice. As are all To Kolans, it's incredibly perfumed and complex aromatically, and it's one of those wines that changes every time you come back to the glass. Full-bodied on the palate, it offers beautiful richness and depth, a light, graceful mouthfeel, silky tannins, and a heavenly finish. It's another magical wine from this talented winemaker that readers will absolutely love.
-Jeb Dunnuck 99 Points
Paul Hobbs Coombsville Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Since our inaugural release last year, this wine has quickly become one of the most compelling in their portfolio. Offering a gorgeous deep purple hue, our 2019 captivates with a bouquet of crushed blueberry, summer savory spice, and a delicate tobacco leaf note. The palate is remarkably balanced with well-integrated
tannins and fresh acidity that wraps around boysenberry and black fig along subtle notes of rosemary and a crush rock minerality, which lends tension through the long finish.
Review:
With an attention- getting purple-black hue, this astound- ing red is silky but manages to eke out teeth-grabbing, dusty black-tea tannins. A host of flavors, among them graphite, black raspberry, violets, and Worces- tershire, sends a message of intensity. Earth and soil notes are apparent, sur- rounding a mineral component within the wine's deep core.
-Tasting Panel 98 Points
In 2019, Chris Pearmund worked with sixteen Virginia wineries to create a blended wine with grapes from each participating vineyard to commemorate the 400th Anniversary of Winemaking in Virginia. A portion of the wine’s proceeds were donated to museums and events that would contribute to tourism in the Commonwealth and foster a broader understanding of Virginia’s cultures and cuisines. This idea sparked another movement to celebrate through wine, and Cameo seemed a perfect way to commemorate the milestone moment in history.
Cameo Wine Collection was created to highlight women in Virginia, and the memorable events that have unfolded in the Commonwealth that lead to the movement to secure women’s right to vote. Raise a glass and toast the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment. Cameo Rosé honors 12 of Virginia’s most influential women. Each bottle has a label depicting one of the chosen women, who’s contributions range from historic, business, entertainment, politics, and wine. The story of the suffrage movement in Virginia is an important part of the collective history. A variety of cultures and eras have been curated to share recollections of the fearless, passionate ways each woman lived so that a case of wine will contain twelve different individuals to celebrate. Women like Martha Washington, Pearl Bailey, and Ella Fitzgerald.
Cameo Rosé offers aromas of raspberry, strawberry, and peach. Dry on the palate, silky tannins and minerality are balanced by strawberry and orange zest flavors.
Pierinvaletta Barbaresco is made from 100% Nebbiolo
Rich, Full bodied, Intense.
Pierin Valetta is one of the ancestor of the Family and these wines are dedicated to him as we would like to thank him for giving us vineyards that reach up to 70 years old.
Made from 70 years old vines planted on clay soils.
Aged 30 months in French and Slovanian Oak barrels.
Wine wasn't filtered before bottling.
Produced with Nebbiolo grapes from one of the highest plots in the area, at over 500 meters above sea level.
This is an elegant Nebbiolo - fresh and fruity with simple tannins (thanks to the white calcareous soil) and good minerality.
No oak. Aged on the lees for 4 months in Stainless Steel Tan
Fresh, fruity, mineral.
Pierin Valetta is one of the ancestor of the Family and these wines are dedicated to him as we would like to thank him for giving us vineyards that reach up to 70 years old.
Made from 20 years old vines planted on Limestone soils.
No Oak. The wine was aged on the lees for 4 months in Stainless Steel Tanks.
Wine was slightly filtered before bottling.
Produced with Nebbiolo grapes from one of the highest plots in the area, at over 500 meters above sea level.
This is an elegant Nebbiolo - fresh and fruity with simple tannins (thanks to the white calcareous soil) and good minerality.
No oak. Aged on the lees for 4 months in Stainless Steel Tan
Fresh, fruity, mineral.
Pierin Valetta is one of the ancestor of the Family and these wines are dedicated to him as we would like to thank him for giving us vineyards that reach up to 70 years old.
Made from 20 years old vines planted on Limestone soils.
No Oak. The wine was aged on the lees for 4 months in Stainless Steel Tanks.
Wine was slightly filtered before bottling.
Pierre Olivier Brut Vin Mousseux NV is made from 100% Airen.
A value sparkling brut, made with Airen grapes from around the French/Spanish border (next to the Pyrenees). This is a new Kysela Project.
The bubbles are obtained using the Charmat method, named after Eugene Charmat, where the second fermentation takes places in a large, closed pressurized tank. It is different from the Methode Champanoise as the secondary fermentation doesn't take place in the bottle.
While Pieter Cuythoff humbly named the valley after his patron, Jan van Riebeeck, Riebeek Cellars feels it is only fitting that this wine, which expresses the best of its valley, should carry the name of its founder. So, in honor of Mr. Cruythoff, this range of fine wine bears his name.
Bright red berry notes and a hint of spice is balanced by a luxurious texture & an elegant, lingering, dry finish.
The Chardonnay & Pinot Noir grapes are crushed together. To ensure an array of layered fruit flavors and to capture freshness, we use only free run juice from the crushed grapes. The juice is cold fermented with selected Champagne yeast, blend with a touch of ‘spicy’ Shiraz and then left on the gross lees for 6 months where it undergoes malolactic fermentation and develops the distinct sparkling wine flavors. After the wine is stabilized and filtered it is bottled with CO2 for a Charmat style sparkling wine.
Perfect with a variety of dishes including rich chocolate desserts.
THE LEGEND
Dispatched by Jan van Riebeek in search of the perfect place to grow provisions for the Dutch East India Company, Pieter Cruythoff stumbled upon a beautiful valley. But it was more than just the scenic beauty of this valley that had caught his eye; situated in the lee of the majestic Kasteelberg, the winters were mild, the summers were hot and the soil was uncommonly fertile. What's more, ships spotted from the lookout point on Kasteelberg were just a day away from Cape Town, and so were the wagons that went to meet them, laden with the treasures of the Riebeek Valley.
TIMELESS JEWELS
While he humbly named the valley after his patron, Jan van Riebeek, we feel it is only fitting that our valley's most coveted treasure should carry the name of its founder. So, in honour of Pieter Cruythoff, this range of fine wine bears his name.
From the vibrant whites to the seductive reds, each one is a gem gently coaxed from the fertile soil of that same magical valley. Ironically, much of the valley's bounty still finds its way to Europe, and in particular to the Netherlands, the land of Cruythoff's birth.
Prager Smaragd Klaus Riesling is made from 100 percent Riesling.
Franz Prager, co-founder of the Vinea Wachau, had already earned a reputation for his wines when Toni Bodenstein married into the family. Bodenstein’s passion for biodiversity and old terraces, coupled with brilliant winemaking, places Prager in the highest echelon of Austrian producers.
Smaragd is a designation of ripeness for dry wines used exclusively by members of the Vinea Wachau. The wines must have minimum alcohol of 12.5%. The grapes are hand-harvested, typically in October and November, and are sent directly to press where they spontaneously ferment in stainless-steel tanks.
Klaus sits adjacent to Achleiten and is one of the Wachau’s most famous vineyards for Riesling. The vineyard is incredibly steep with a gradient of 77% at its steepest point. The southeast-facing terraced vineyard of dark migmatite-amphibolite and paragneiss produces a tightly wound and powerful wine. The parcel belonging to Toni Bodenstein was planted in 1952.
Tasting Notes:
Austrian Riesling is often defined by elevated levels of dry extract thanks to a lengthy ripening period and freshness due to dramatic temperature swings between day and night. “Klaus is not a charming Riesling,” says Toni Bodenstein with a wink. Klaus is Prager’s most assertive and robust Riesling.
Food Pairing
Riesling’s high acidity makes it one of the most versatile wines at the table. Riesling can be used to cut the fattiness of foods such as pork or sausages and can tame some saltiness. Conversely, it can highlight foods such as fish or vegetables in the same way a squeeze of lemon or a vinaigrette might.
Review:
What a stunning example of cool climate riesling. It’s full-bodied and deep, but so cool and delicate, packing in sleek layers of honeysuckle, apricots, lemons and grapefruit married to thyme and crushed rock. So long and seamless, with tension and focus that just keeps going. Sustainable. Try from 2025.
-James Suckling 98 Points
Quails Gate Chardonnay Okanagan Valley is made from 100% Chardonnay.
Quails’Gate Winery takes great pride in our portfolio of Chardonnays. As one of the original wineries in the Okanagan, our first Chardonnay clone was planted more than 30 years ago, and we have cultivated some of the oldest and most sought-after Chardonnay blocks in the region. The Estate Chardonnay is crafted to be bright, fresh, vivid and celebrated by all who drink it.
Tasting notes:
Fragrances of lemon, yellow flower, peach are accompanied by subtle hints of beeswax and vanilla. A bright-entry on the palate with medium acidity leads t o vibrant tastings of pear, lemon meringue crust and lime zest ending with a long and creamy finish.
This is a wonderfully versatile food wine. Try pairing with lemon roasted chicken, rich seafood risotto or creamy butternut squash soup.
All older vintage wines have been purchased from a single collectors cellar. Pictures can be requested before shipment.
Luis XIV Vino Noble is a naturally sweet red wine, made from very late Monastrell harvests. All of its sugar and alcohol comes from the grape itself and has been subjected to a long aging in semi-new American oak barrels. In the mouth it is very intense, sweet without cloying, with aromas of stewed plums and a very long finish of spicy oak wood. RATING: Noble Alicante sweet wine