Spinona Bricco Faset Barbaresco 2012
| Country: | Italy |
| Region: | Piemonte |
| Grape Type: | Nebbiolo |
| Winery: | La Spinona |
Spinona Bricco Faset Barbaresco is made from 100 percent Nebbiolo.
This single-vineyard Barbaresco comes from Pietro Berutti's 8 hectares of coveted vineyards on the top of the historic hill, Faset. It is 270 meters above sea level with a south, south-east exposure. The vines are an average of 35 years old. Only organic farming practices are used. The natural fertilizer comes from the 100 head of cattle that they have and no herbicides or pesticides are used.
Barbaresco shows a deep ruby red color with garnet reflections. An intense bouquet with hints of ripe cherries, wild berries and spice. White pepper, licorice and mint blend with enticing floral notes. Mouth-filling and well-structured with a full, velvety body and an austere and long finish.
HARVEST: late October. The grapes are harvested by hand in perforated baskets to allow air to pass through the bunches. The pressing is soft. Cold maceration for 24 hours at 12°C (for certain years).
WINEMAKING: Soft pressing with an initial cold maceration on the skins for 24 hours at 12C. Specially selected yeasts are used. Fermentation takes place for 12 to 14 days in stainless steel at 28-29 °C under temperature controlled conditions. There is a pumping over on the skins. After malolactic fermentation, the wine is racked and goes through a delicate pressing to obtain only the best wine.
AGING : 12-15 months in large 25 hectolitre wooden barrels of Allier and Slavonian oak.
REFINING: in the bottle for 12-15 months in a temperature-controlled environment.
Excellent with game, red meats, truffle dishes and aged cheeses.
Review:
This classically crafted wine opens with earthy aromas of rose, violet, leather and a whiff of game while the juicy palate offers black cherry, cinnamon and star anise. Chewy tannins provide support. It's already approachable but will continue to drink well over the next several years. Drink through 2022. - Wine Enthusiast 91 Points
Fenocchio Barolo 2010 is 100 percent Nebbiolo.
Claudio and Albino Fenocchio own 10 hectares of vineyards. This Barolo comes from a blend of Bussia in Monforte d'Alba and Castellero in Barolo. The soil in Bussia is helvetian ( limestone and clayey blue marl) which contributes much to the fullness and excellent aging potential of these wines. The Castellaro vineyard is of tortonian soil (blue marl and sandstone mixed with sand) which gives a velvety mouth feel and exceptional aromatics. The vines are an average of 30 years old.
Color: Ruby red with garnet reflections
Bouquet: Rich bouquet with hints of blueberries, roses and liquorice.
Taste: Densely structured with a full, complex flavor. It is an elegant wine with firm tannins and good acidity that will become velvety and graceful with age. This wine is generous and bold. The finish is long and lingering.
Long slow natural fermentation without the addition of yeasts for 30 days. Closed stainless steel vat fermentation with frequent pumping over maintains the temperature at a constant 29°C. This extracts greater aromatics while causing the heavier tannins to break down and to precipitate out.
Acidity: 5.2
Alcohol by Volume: 14.5 %
Game, grilled and roasted red meats and ripe and mature cheeses. Dishes with truffles.
This limited release wine is created from the fusion of two exceptional parcels of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. This classic blend is matured in the finest oak crafting an intriguing unison that captures the essence of the vineyard and highlights its unique varietal expression.
Vintage Overview
2012 was a very good season with predominantly mild, dry days. Yields were generally low and this did result in some excellent parcels of fruit being harvested. Vine-balance was carefully monitored, resulting in fruit that demonstrates the vibrancy and fruit-derived characters that the family strives for in its wines. By all accounts it was a textbook vintage.
Tasting Notes
Deep inky purple in color. Aromas of blackberry, mocha, mint and spices. Lush, ripe palate dominated by black fruits, cherry and chocolate. An expansive palate with black fruits and nicely balanced by oak.
Made with the greatest dedication and care, select parcels were matured in new and seasoned French and American oak for up to 20 months prior to being selected for this blend. Individual barrels from our family estate that best demonstrate the intensity of our fruit, balanced by integrated oak were selected for the final blend, which was then bottled with minimal filtration.
Pairs well with venison, ribeye steak, lamb.
Review:
"A 60-40 blend of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2012 The Bryson Barrel Select offers minty notes layered over dark fruit. Roasted meat, blueberry and cassis also play roles in this full-bodied but structured wine that appears to be at or near peak maturity. - Joe Czerwinski"
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Interim end of September 2018), 93 pts
Begali Amarone Classico is made from Corvina 65%, Rondinella 30%, other native grapes 5%
This wine is obtained from the drying of grapes that have been left to rest for 100 days, after a first careful selection in the vineyards and a second in the fruithouse. The wine is aged for about three years in oak big barrel, small barrel and then in the bottle.
Color: garnet red.
AROMA: intense, ethereal, spicy.
FLAVOUR: soft, dry, “warm”, solid and robust. S
ERVING SUGGESTIONS: ideal with second courses such as roasts, game, grilled meats and red meats in general.
Produced with Nebbiolo grapes exclusively from the best positions in the zone of Barbaresco. The vines, trained with the “guyot” method, are an average of 30-35 years old.
Appellation: Piedmont
Composition: 100% Nebbiolo
Tasting Notes: Deep garnet-red color with orange highlights. Rose petals and licorice aromas surrounded by blackberry and characteristics tar notes. Dry, full-bodied and austere, thought velvety and balanced.
Produced from the oldest planting of grapes on Lee Hudson’s heralded vineyard in the Napa Carneros, this latest offering of Arietta Merlot is one for the ages. Certainly a classic vintage, 2012 delivered fruit with brilliant purity, structure, and a strong sense of place. This unique—one might say historic—block of Merlot shows the best that this variety has to offer in California. Well-proportioned, fresh, flavorful, dark and complex, this wine is sure to impress lovers of Pomerol, and show that California is capable of producing Merlot wines with strength, yes, but also nuance, delicacy, and multiple layers of interest. This wine should continue to open and develop over the next decade, and age gracefully for another decade or two.
Review:
Arietta's 2012 Merlot emerges from the oldest vines on Lee Hudson's vineyard in Carneros. A dark, super-expressive wine, the Merlot is endowed with serious depth, power and structure. Brambly red fruit, smoke, tobacco and grilled herbs emerge from a surprisingly big, structured wine that should drink well for many, many years. -Antonio Galloni Vinous 95 points
Blend: 50% Grenache Noir, 15% Mourvedre, 10% Carignan, 10% Counoise and 15% various: Cinsault, Vaccarèse, Syrah, Clairette Blanc and Terret Noir.
It is loaded with chocolate, black raspberries, and kirsch, intermixed with dusty, loamy soil notes, pepper, and the telltale chocolate that comes from the old vine Grenache that bakes in the sun in this high elevation appellation. This is a beauty, slightly rustic but enormously endowed.
Review:
A true blockbuster, the Grenache-dominated 2012 IGP Vaucluse comes all from clay and limestone soils around Rasteau, and spent 24-36 months in a combination of foudres and demi-muids. Loaded with notions of black cherries, black currants, crushed rocks, licorice and roasted herbs, this beauty is full-bodied, voluptuous, sexy and gorgeously textured. And while it has tons of richness, it also has notable purity, good freshness and ripe tannin that frame the finish nicely. It’s already hard to resist, but it will continue to knock your socks off for another 10-15 years.
- 95 Point Wine Advocate
"Made from 50% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre and 20% Syrah (from 45 to 95-year-old vines) that was aged half in smaller barrels, the Grand Veneur 2012 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Origines offers up a knockout bouquet of black raspberry, toast, spice box and graphite. Full-bodied, layered and seamless, with sweet tannin, it should drink well for 15-20 years. Drink 2015-2027. -JD"
- Wine Advocate (Issue #209, October 2013), 92-94 pts
"The 2012 Châteauneuf du Pape Les Origines (45% Grenache, 35% Syrah and 20% Mourvedre) is a polished, medium to full-bodied effort that has superb concentration, lots of tannin, and a ripe, textured feel. Showing plenty of black raspberry, toasted spice, creamy licorice and hints of violets, it's a classic example of this cuvée that will benefit from a year or two in the cellar, and have no problem evolving gracefully through 2027. - Jeb Dunnuck"
- Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate (Issue 215, October 2014), 93 pts
Keermont Red Blend 2012 is made from 37% Merlot 29% Cabernet Sauvignon and the remainder Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Malbec
Venetian red in colour, this wine exudes complex aromas of ripe cherry, wild berries, and dusty 'fynbos'. The palate has an array of ripe berries, cherry sherbet, crushed herbs and spices. Elegant but firm tannin affords the wine a long dry succulent finish. Drink 2015-2025.
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Bright and light golden-yellow in color. Exotic and sweet vanilla bean aromatics backed by pear and kiwi with a slight orange peel. The palate resonates with texture and depth as stone minerality and cream brioche to match. Flavors of roasted plantains, gravenstein apple, and lemon zest frame the wine for a long yet soft finish.
Planted in the early 90’s, this is the coolest vineyard site in the Russian River Valley, located at Lee Martinelli Sr.’s home ranch in Forestville, CA. After riding around with Lee in his pick-up truck when we visited his Woolsey Road, Zio Tony, and River Road Vineyards, he decided to take me to this gem. He kept this particular vineyard in his back pocket until we hit it off. We did, and I think you’ll enjoy the ride as well.
Review:
Elusively crisp and inviting on the nose, this is a thickly intriguing wine, floral in orange blossom and fresh apple. Structured and lengthy, it retains a tangy acidity and structured finish, the grapes sourced from a dry-farmed vineyard. - Wine Enthusiast 92 Points
Short Street Chardonnay is made from 100% Chardonnay
Situated at the very heart of South Africa’s Swartland wine region, Short Street is the shortest street in the Riebeek Valley. A melting pot of creative energy, gourmet fare, farm fresh produce and the vibrant, uncomplicated lifestyle of the people, Short Street captures the essence of the Swartland, where passion, creativity and simplicity are distilled into a captivating experience.
Made in a rich, full-bodied, wooded style, this has an intense aroma of ripe apples, lime and pears with hints of tropical fruit, beautifully enhanced by subtle tones of well-integrated oak.
Although upfront and bold, the secret of this wine is in its exceptional balance.
Only free-run juice was settled and was inoculated with selected yeast to ferment in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks between 13-14 degrees Celsius. After fermentation the wine is matured in French oak for 3 – 6 months to integrate flavors and enhance a luxurious mouth-feel.
erve slightly chilled with to rich seafood dishes like scallops or creamy crab chowder.
