Search results for: 'marin t'

95 Points! Wild bramble fuit, deep spices and wild berries on the nose, with cleansing bright red fruit. This is a solid, medium-bodied Sonoma County wine with fresh, minerally acidity that dances across the palate. Nicely integrated fine tannins frame abundant fruit. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! A bright medium ruby color, the nose of the 2023 Pinot Noir Lyra is lifted and fresh, with focused, bright spice notes of ripe cranberries, cinnamon, fresh roses, and bright herbs. Medium-bodied, this carries seamlessly to the palate, with vibrant, fresh energy, fine tannins, and salty fresh accents. A phenomenal value. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

93 Points, Tim Atkin's Wine Value of the Year! Wild and floral, with notes of rose petal, tarragon, and spring meadow herbs, this 100% Monastrell from Jumilla’s Valle Estrecho shows bright grip and chalky tannins. Aged seven months in old concrete tanks from the 1960s, it’s textured, vibrant, and deeply rooted in the fruit character of Monastrell and the stony, calcareous soils. It finishes with a bright lemon peel twist. - Tim Atkin

This is sourced from a handful of select sites throughout Santa Barbara County. 2021 was a pretty normal year down there with a couple early July heat spikes into the upper 70s low 80s. The marine influence and the wind buoy and temper the bright fruit flavors in the resulting wines. Harvest September 9th-25th. 25% new French oak aging.  

93 Points! The Corpinnat sparkling white 2023 Lucidity is their youngest sparkling wine, produced with Xarel.lo and Macabeu from four different plots—there was less Macabeo in 2023—on limestone of marine origin. It fermented by plot in stainless steel and 300-liter French oak barrels, where the wine was kept with the lees for 11 months, until it was put in bottle to referment. It's a Mediterranean sparkler with energy, structure and freshness, though it has ripeness. It's aromatic, with notes of herbs and even some traces of red fruit, and the palate is a lot sharper and very tasty, with a slate-like, tasty and bone-dry finish and small bubbles that give it texture. It was put in bottle in July 2024 and disgorged in January 2026, after 18 months with the lees. It comes in at 12% alcohol, with a pH of 3.02 and 6.1 grams of acidity. It's very impressive for an entry-level wine. - Luis Gutierrez, robertparker.com

Stellar new release from 'Cava country' in Spain. Xarel-Lo & Macabeu from deep marine-limestone bedrock beneath limestone-clay topsoil. Whole-bunch pressed at low pressure, racked lightly preserving the fine solids. Fermented in stainless steel & 300L french oak barrels. Aged in barrel & tank sur lie for 11 months prior to tirage. Aged in bottle on the lees for 18 months, prior to disgorgement. Zero dosage, zero sulfur added, topped with the same wine.

96 Points! The 2023 Chablis 1er Cru La Forest is nothing short of superb in bottle and ranks among the year's most authoritative wines. A pure, marine-inflected opening—iodine, lemon peel and oyster liquor mingled with beeswax and dried apricot—precedes a concentrated yet tensile palate of taut muscularity. Bright acidity and abundant chalky extract lend the wine a bracing, kinetic edge, culminating in an intensely saline, persistent finish. Dauvissat here once again affirms its status as one of the site's greatest interpreters. - Kristaps Karklins, robertparker.com

97+ Points! An example of purity and stony tension, Vincent Dauvissat’s 2022 Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses is the crowning achievement of an extraordinary portfolio. With an understated Chablisien character, it opens in the glass to reveal a marine bouquet of oyster shell and iodine mingling with lemon zest and white flowers. Refined and laden with incisive acids, an abundance of chalky structuring extract and with a persistent, searingly saline finish, it is more ethereal and elegant than Les Clos yet possesses all the prerequisites to age as gracefully. - Kristaps Karklins, robertparker.com

Sourced from Spanish Springs and Norgrove Gardens, 12.9% alc. 9 months aging in 34% neutral 500L barrels, 17% stainless steal tank, 49% neutral 228L barrel.

From the winery: Our Central Coast Chardonnay is sourced from notable vineyards in the Sta. Rita Hills of Santa Barbara County and the SLO Coast of San Luis Obispo County. Of particular note are the Spanish Springs and Norgrove Gardens Vineyards, both just over two miles from the ocean. These sites provide vibrancy and marine freshness that benefit from the textural boost of Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay to create a balanced, delicious wine.

97 Points! A cuvée I would never bet against, Vincent Dauvissat’s 2022 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos is generously structured and leaps from the glass with a bouquet of kaleidoscopic complexity, featuring notes of white peach, beeswax and lemon oil blending with marine flavors. Multidimensional and concentrated, it is supported by racy acidity and concludes with a long, chalky finish. At present, it is more fruit-forward and muscular than Les Preuses but not at the expense of the tension and chalky extract one expects from it. Which will ultimately prevail is open to interpretation, so at this early stage, I'll refrain from premature coronation. - Kristaps Karklins, robertparker.com

91 Points! A medium red color, the 2023 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley offers an elegant perfume and spiced profile with aromas of red cherries, roses, forest herbs, and mossy earth. It’s a very pretty and elegant red with a refined texture and an even, floating feel through the finish. It’s a very attractive wine to enjoy now or over the next 4-6 years. - Audrey Frick, jebdunnuck.com

From the winery: Our 2023 Russian River Pinot Noir is a beautifully complex expression of this renowned region, blending fruit from four distinct vineyards to create a wine of depth, elegance, and balance. Bommersbach Vineyard (29%) lends rich cherry cola notes, while Bode Vineyard (38%) provides a silky, seamless texture. The cooler Rogaway Vineyard (14%) in the Sebastopol Hills and Monroe Vineyard (19%) south of Sebastopol contribute vibrant floral and spice notes, with Monroe’s sandy Goldridge soils intensifying the wine’s structure and acidity. Aged in 24% new oak with 15% whole cluster fermentation, this 225-case production Pinot Noir (13.9% ABV) is a harmonious blend of power and finesse, showcasing the best of Russian River Valley terroir.

93 Points! This is the first vintage of the 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Mulino from Pertimali, a lower-elevation cru that’s noted for the high level of marine fossils found in its soils. Here I find a classic display of dried roses, black cherry, dusty earth and freshly-tanned leather. It envelopes the palate in fleshy textures offset by a mix of tart wild berries, zesty acids and savory spice, as building tension puckers the cheeks, seeding them with fine-grained tannins. This comes across as structured yet remarkably balanced, and it’s a beautiful expression of the vintage. Lose your bottles in the cellar for two to three years, and then reap the rewards. - Eric Guido, Vinous Media

From the winery: The fruit for this Gamay was harvested from several vineyards surrounding our winery in the Arroyo Seco AVA. This AVA is recognized as having the longest growing season in California. Strong daily winds that bring cool fog from the Monterey Bay allow the grapes to spend more time on the vine building flavor, complexity and acidity. Extremely rocky well-drained alluvial soils are the base for creating wines processing freshness & minerality. The combination of sand, granite, and shale loam soils with the ever present marine influence provide the perfect conditions for growing Gamay. 100% whole cluster using ambient yeast and native malolactic aged in 100% nuetral french oak puncheons, bottled unfined and unfiltered, 12.1% ABV.

92 Points! The Klein Constantia 2023 Constantia Sauvignon Blanc is extremely linear and sharp with a mineral quality the persists throughout. Winemaker Matthew Day says it took him a long while to understand what the soils mean to this wine. He works with ancient decomposed granite and reddish sandstone from Table Mountain and along the riverbeds. With 42 blocks to choose fruit from, the blending possibilities are enormous. He can pinpoint the best blocks each year. He starts blending after the wine has seen six months in tank, but he wants to extend that to nine months. A salty marine theme is dominant, but the wine also offers white fruits and light floral nuances. A tiny part of declassified wine from oak may work its way into this blend, but you would never know. If you enjoy Sauvignon Blanc, as I do, I enthusiastically direct your attention here. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

The Castello di Castellengo’s Coste Della Sesia ‘Rosso della Motta’ has a shocking price, in the best possible way. It’s very inexpensive, but it’s also very serious. What it’s best at is how much joy it unfurls compared to so many other Alto Piemontese reds that have forgotten wine is also to be enjoyed; to be fruity and merry. It’s made entirely from Nebbiolo grapes harvested from 70 to 80-year-old vines planted between 300-350 meters on the rolling hills of marine sand and clay. To keep the fruit profile upfront during its two-week natural fermentation in steel, Magda keeps the temperatures maxed out at 22° C. It’s then aged on lees for 24 to 30 months in concrete without racking before a light filtration at bottling. With only 40 mg/L of total sulfur, added only at bottling, its years of refinement under all the natural bacteria, yeast and microorganisms that survived and even grew in fermentation make this a truly authentic wine, at a great price.

Because of the intense tropical humidity and protection from the marine layer over the estate on Martinique in the Lesser Antilles, the sugarcane at Habitation Bellevue, the home of Rhum J.M., grows in a full 12 month cycle and is harvested each Spring. Because they harvest only their own sugarcane, the sugarcane is pressed in less than 1 hour from when it was cut, delivering the freshest possible juice to be made into rhum. The sugarcane juice naturally ferments slowly into a sugarcane wine (Vin de Canne) of around 5% abv over the course of 36-48 hours. The sugarcane wine is then distilled into Rhum Agricole in a Créole Copper Column at or near 70% alcohol, retaining the natural flavor and aroma of the Habitation's cane and terroir. The distillate is then rested in stainless steel tanks for at least three months, before being reduced to bottling strength and bottled.

J.M Blanc 100 Proof displays the raw power of what is regarded as the best sugarcane on the island and speaks of mango, overripe bananas, and papaya. The higher proof retains more of the vibrant freshness for which rhum agricole is praised.

A blend of Malbec from their three different soil types picked at different times within a 10 to 12-day span, it is for this that Laurent’s mid-range Cahors, Les Calades, is the most accessible and widely appealing. He describes it as the flagship of their range, “a pure Malbec with power and freshness that represents the king grape variety of our appellation on limestone, and the new generation of Cahors: more fluid, rich and balanced with a distinct and very present mineral and marine finish.”

Each plot has an average age of around 40 years (2023) and naturally ferments in separate concrete vats with 10% of whole bunches between three weeks to a month. Because Malbec already provides a lot of substance from its very thick skin, he does a single short pump-over every two days to preserve the hygiene of the cap of about 300 liters in total of the 50hl vat. After fermentation, the grapes are pressed and mixed with the free-run wine and aged for 11-13 months equally between Italian terracotta amphora, old 30hl French oak vats and six-year-old 225l French oak barrels. They’re lightly filtered at bottling without any added sulfites.

A blend of Malbec from their three different soil types picked at different times within a 10 to 12-day span, it is for this that Laurent’s mid-range Cahors, Les Calades, is the most accessible and widely appealing. He describes it as the flagship of their range, “a pure Malbec with power and freshness that represents the king grape variety of our appellation on limestone, and the new generation of Cahors: more fluid, rich and balanced with a distinct and very present mineral and marine finish.”

Each plot has an average age of around 40+ years and naturally ferments in separate concrete vats with 10% of whole bunches between three weeks to a month. Because Malbec already provides a lot of substance from its very thick skin, he does a single short pump-over every two days to preserve the hygiene of the cap of about 300 liters in total of the 50hl vat. After fermentation, the grapes are pressed and mixed with the free-run wine and aged for 11-13 months equally between Italian terracotta amphora, old 30hl French oak vats and six-year-old 225l French oak barrels. They’re lightly filtered at bottling without any added sulfites.

98 Points! The captivating Baricci 2019 Brunello is another gorgeous wine from this storied producer. It offers enticing scents of woodland berry, new leather, camphor, pipe tobacco and dog rose while the full-bodied, elegantly structured palate delivers juicy Morello cherry, red plum, licorice and cake spice before a flinty mineral finish. A backbone of tight, refined tannins and fresh acidity provide support and racy tension. While it’s still youthfully austere, it already shows great balance and precision. - Kerin O' Keefe

97 Points! The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino is youthfully inward and darkly floral with an herbal tinge and hints of crushed ashen stone that give way to vivid black raspberry and exotic spice. This is juicy and spry, with racy cherry-berry fruit and stimulating acidity that creates a sensation of boundless energy, even as a saturation of primary concentration settles in toward the close. The 2019 finishes with incredible length and youthful tension, leaving balsamic spice, sage and licorice notes lingering over a bed of dusty tannins. - Eric Guido, Viinous Media

97 Points! Baricci shines with this stunning 2019, from the estate’s south- to southeast-facing plots at 300 metres on the Montosoli hill. It is still far too young, but everything is in place for a long and gratifying life. Preliminary cedar and vanillin nuances melt into sumptuous cherry, and there's a pronounced stony, mineral edge along with juicy blood orange to impart further intricacy. Refined and graceful with layered substance, it has long, chalky, perfectly ‘al dente’ tannins and sappy, mouthwatering acidity. - Decanter Magazine

95 Points! The 2019 Bellevue Mondotte, picked at 18hL/ha on a single day (October 5) has a tightly wound bouquet of blackberry, briary, blueberry and light violet petal scents, but less of the marine aromas that I picked out from the barrel sample. However, there are some lovely orange pith scents that percolate through with continued aeration, and these are accentuated after a couple of hours. The palate is medium-bodied with gentle grip, good acidity and fine backbone. This is quite a sturdy Saint-Émilion with impressive density toward the finish. It needs just a little more charm and personality, though they may develop with time. Very fine, but patience required. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

98 Points! More seamless and elegant than the more powerful, structured Pavie Decesse (these all emerge from the Perse team), the Merlot-dominated 2019 Bellevue Mondotte just about jumps out of the glass with its ripe, spicy red, blue, and black fruits as well as spring flowers, graphite, chalky mineral, and violet-like aromas and flavors. Almost Pomerol-like with its seamless, polished tannins and gorgeous mouthfeel, it's flawlessly balanced, has a deep, layered mid-palate, and a great, great finish. This stunning Saint-Emilion will benefit from just 4-6 years of bottle age and cruise for 30+ years in cold cellars. - Jeb Dunnuck