A short-grained rice comes from Japan and is used to produce some of the highest quality sake today. Desired by sake brewers, Yamada Nishiki absorbs water and dissolves very easily. Labeled the King of sake rice, Yamada Nishiki is fragrant with a soft, well-blended flavor. Bred in 1923 Yamada Nishiki is truly the most popular rice for sake, and is a cross between Tankanwataribune and Yamadaho. Nishiki rice is usually harvested in the narrow valley of the Tamba Highlands, which are located in the north of the Rokko Mountains. Sake rice is classified into five groups with only three being used for premium sake. The highest class of rice is then divided into two classes. Yamada Nishiki rice has a large grain and a distinctive white core that contains an abundance of starch. This makes it perfect for creating koji mold. Yamada Nishiki produces sake that is characterized as refined and complex increasing its depth of flavor during the aging process. Yamada Nishiki is not easy to cultivate, even though it has favorable features for sake brewing. Farmers must make sure that the roots and stalks are strong enough to support the rice because of its size. Yamada Nishiki grows taller than any other rice.
No products found
All older vintage wines have been purchased from a single collectors cellar. Pictures can be requested before shipment.
Avennia Sestina Red Blend is made from 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc.
The Sestina is a poetic form from Medieval France. Just as a contemporary poet can use an old form like the Sestina to express modern ideas, we use the traditional Bordeaux blend to make modern wines that express Washington fruit. Sestina is our vision for an old vine blend where the focus is on structure, balance, and complexity. This wine is designed for the cellar, but is enjoyable now.
Sestina: This wine is a blockbuster, with black currant, black raspberry, saddle leather, freshly tilled earth, vanilla, and violet on the nose. Exceedingly rich and balanced on the palate, with great poise and structure for long aging. The finish echoes with fresh black fruits, minerally touches, and floral notes.
Review:
The 2021 ‘Sestina’ is a gorgeous blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon with smaller parts Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Needing about 30 minutes in the decanter to fully unwind, this yields beautiful black florals that mingle well with wet stone, Black Forest Cake and suggestions of huckleberry with garrigue notes. The palate is soft and refined with a silky texture and beautiful sense of elegance and weight. This is seamless throughout the drinking experience, loaded with black fruit flavors with dark chocolate shavings and suggestions of underbrush. Refined tannins frame this stunning heavyhitter of a Cabernet that is already drinking beautifully now at the three year mark. Savor this beauty now and over the next fifteen to twenty years.
-Owen Bargreen 96 Points
"The book end to the Right Bank-inspired Valery, this is the Left Bank-inspired wine which blends 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 9% Cabernet Franc. Sourced from old vine Bacchus, Dionysus, Red Willow and DuBrul grapes, it’s given the rock star treatment with 21 months in 50% new French oak. I love the flavors of the well-chosen barrels, which match those spicy/toasty notes to fruit with both power and palate presence. Beautifully structured, powerful yet restrained, with ripe black fruits that trail into powdery tannins, this is a special wine with a long life ahead."
- Paul Gregutt 97 Points