Search results for: 'RAISE LEFT HAND CLASS'

Harvested at night, the fruit was rigorously hand sorted prior to partial destemming and then berry selected before open-top fermentation. This blend is a collection of heirloom clones of Pinot Noir like Calera, Swan, Pommard, Martini, Mt. Eden, and Chalone as well as newer French selections like Dijon 777 & 943

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Vines planted on steep slopes (with a grade of up to 55%) facing south by south-east. Grapes are hand picked and pressed gently in a pneumatic press. Fermentation in stainless steel cuves. Aged 11 months on lees, 10% new barrels, 30% 2 to5 year-old barrels, and 60% stainless steel.

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94 Points! Young and unevolved, the 2018 Chardonnay Estate offers fresh, lively bouquet of honeyed peach and lemon oil-like notes interwoven with plenty of toasted bread, spice, and white flowers. It’s clean, medium-bodied, and elegant on the palate, and it shows the supple, elegant, approachable style of the vintage nicely. It’s going to benefit from a year in bottle and should evolve nicely for 3-5 years. This estate continues to produce a brilliant, high-class Chardonnay well worth seeking out! - Jeb Dunnuck

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From the importer: Made of a blend of Nero d’Avola (Frappato 45%, Nero d’Avola 55%), estate-grown in vineyards near Chiaramonte Gulfi, in the Contradas Ponte, Biviere e Fegotto. The soils are a calcareous mixture of clay and sand, at just under 300 meters (1,000 feet) above sea level. The grapes are picked at moderate ripeness (with care to avoid over-ripeness, in other words, in this hot climate) around mid-October; fermentation is carried out with indigenous yeasts, and maceration with the skins lasts for about 3 weeks. After fermentation the wine is aged on the lees in the tank for a further 2 weeks, then racked and aged in a tank for 18 months. 

Nero d’Avola is the best-known Sicilian red wine grape when bottled on its own, but for my money, this blend is better. The Frappato lightens and lifts the meatiness of the Nero d’Avola, giving it juicier aromas and flavors and making it MORE DELICIOUS. See note above about temperature; stick the bottle in the fridge for 30 minutes for best results. Drink with red meats or more substantial pasta dishes. I bet this will age well, but I doubt I’ll have any left to find out.

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96 Points! So much black fruit, black walnuts, blueberries, wet earth, black truffles and some graphite. Medium to full body with lots of tension and focus. It runs very long with a salty undertone and some bitter, burnt lemon. Yet ever so subtle and refined. - JamesSuckling.com

96 Points! The 2020 Château Tour Saint Christophe showed spectacularly well, and based off past vintages, this shouldn't surprise anyone. Based on 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc raised in 40% new barrels (the balance is in second- and third-fill oak), it offers a full-bodied, incredibly pure, balanced style revealing subtle oak, terrific darker, almost blue fruits, lots of chocolate, leafy herb and mineral nuances, and gorgeous tannins. It's worth pointing out that this will be the last vintage made by the talented Jérôme Aguirre. This terrific Saint-Emilion will evolve for two decades. - Jeb Dunnuck

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Estate-owned vineyards are found across both terraced
hillsides above the Mediterranean coast and flatter lands near the town of Ortovero. Soils predominantly sandy, with limestone.
AGE OF VINES: 50 years, on average
WINEMAKING: Hand-harvested. Destemmed; cold macerated for 24 to 48 hours. Pressed then fermented on indigenous yeasts in temperature- controlled tanks. Aged in tank for one year.

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80% Bical, 20% Arinto. Bical is harvested in the beginning of September, the Arinto on the other hand, matures later and is harvested 2-3 weeks later. Vinification happens separately. The wine matures on the lees without batonnage. The wines stabilize naturally during the cold winter. The final blend is made in early springtime when the wine is stable.

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Dispense with that foil and get right to the goods! This clean-cut accessory has four sharpened blades to efficiently slice through any foil. Crafted in an elegant design, simply squeeze the sides and give it a quick turn for speedy, single-handed slicing. Plus 'Gunmetal' just sounds badass doesn't it?

• Gun Metal Plated Construction 
• Polished finish 
• 4 disc blades 
• Easy-squeeze design

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100 Points! Along with the Château Lafite, the 2016 Château Mouton Rothschild is the wine of the vintage from the Médoc and is a truly profound, magical, blockbuster wine in every sense. It’s based on 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, raised in new French oak. Boasting a saturated purple color as well as an extraordinary bouquet of thick black fruits, lead pencil shavings, new saddle leather, and burning embers, with just a hint of its oak upbringing, this beauty hits the palate with a mammoth amount of fruit and texture yet stays fresh, pure, and light on its feet, with a thrilling sense of minerality as well as building tannins on the finish. It’s one of the most profound young wines I’ve ever tasted, and while it will probably keep for three-quarters of a decade, it offers pleasure even today. Bravo! - Jeb Dunnuck

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98+ Points! The 2023 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese (Gold Capsule) was picked as early as September 20 at 115° Oechsle and with 20% botrytis berries and opens with a generously intense and concentrated bouquet with ripe, rich and lush yellow fruit and lemon aromas intertwined with flinty as well saline notes of crushed slate. Generous yet refined and very delicate on the palate, this is a fruit-intense and enormously saline and refined Auslese with highly delicate acidity and the finesse and fleshy fruit from 30- to 40-year-old vines raised on single poles in the second étage of the cru that was never consolidated. There has never been any drought stress here. In 2023, there was a low yield of just 20 hectoliters per hectare, and 500 liters were made (plus 30 liters of Trockenbeerenauslese). 7.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine from AP 22 24 in January 2025. - Stephan Reinhardt, robertparker.com

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Bright red fruit, cranberry, pink peppercorn, and rose hip. Savory herbs and a long finish of bright, tart fruit.

Hand-harvested grapes were immediately pressed whole cluster, and tank settled overnight. Fermented with native yeast and native malolactic fermentation in barrels, aged nine months in 40% new French oak and 60% neutral.

Unfined and unfiltered.

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98 Points! Always one of the top Crozes-Hermitage out there (although the case could be made that it's more Hermitage than Crozes), the 2018 Crozes-Ermitage Les Varonniers has a liqueur of rocks-like character as well as gorgeous blue fruits, violets, earth, and bouquet garni aromas and flavors. I'd unquestionably guess Hermitage in a blind lineup. This full-bodied beauty has a seamless texture, ample tannins, and a great finish. It's pure class and the finest Crozes Hermitage out there in 2018. It's a stunning value that readers should snatch up! - Jeb Dunnuck Learn More

100 Points! The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Vineyard has a Mission Haut-Brion-on-steroids character, as it seems to be all gravel pit. Loads of wet pebbles, graphite, blueberry and blackberry fruit, a full-bodied opulence, and just a killer, skyscraper-like mouthfeel and stunning finish make for one of the most provocative and fabulous wines in this portfolio. Drink it over the next 25+ years. This is world-class and can stand up against anything made in 2013, as could the following wines as well. - Robert M. Parker, Jr. , robertparker.com

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99 Points! Incredibly spicy and aromatic with pumice and cloves. Pops out of the glass. Cedar, too. Full-bodied with soft, polished tannins adding tension and creaminess. Long and beautiful. All about class and breeding. Try after 2025. - JamesSuckling.com

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From the importer: Defaix’s “Côte de Lechet” is a master class in mineral precision. This remarkably steep site (a 45% gradient) with very poor soil produces a wine that Danny describes as embodying “the real, true mineral expression of Chablis.” Freshly blasted chalk dominates the nose, with notes of lemon, honey, and fresh herbs lurking underneath; still, this is a wine of minerality first and foremost. The family owns a 3.5-hectare parcel of 45-year-old vines in this distinctive cru, most of which are planted within a parcel known as the Clos des Moines.

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Slightly peated French triple malt whisky. Powerful and expressive, the nose reveals the slightly smoky malt blends as baked apples begin to dance across. The nose evolves with subtle spicy hints of cinnamon and nut-meg, mingling with the beguiling class coming from a long ageing, with touches of orange peel and roast pineapple. The taste evokes the texture and richness of walnut oil. It is full and robust thanks to its gently salty freshness. Primary aging includes three to five years in French oak casks, with a secondary post-blend ageing in old Calvados casks.

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100 Points! Looking at the Grand Vin, the 2022 Château Smith Haut Lafitte checks in as a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot that was raised in 60% new French oak. Reminding me of a more elegant version of the 2010, it has a dense purple hue to go with a rich, powerful, full-bodied, sensationally complex nose of cassis and darker berries interwoven with woodsmoke, scorched earth, chocolate, and chalky minerality. Concentrated, deep, and layered on the palate with ripe, velvety tannins, it's a sensational, absolutely heavenly effort that will keep for 40-50 years. Along with the 2009, 2010, and 2020, this is one of the greatest wines to ever come from this address. Don't miss it. - Jeb Dunnuck

100 Points! Deep and evocative, this bursts with blackcurrants, milk chocolate and floral perfume. Instantly captivating, the palate is silky yet structured, with tannins seamlessly supporting vibrant red and black berries. Broad and powerful, yet it glides, showcasing Cabernet’s structure, Merlot’s generosity and cool spiced fruit. A mineral core adds complexity, with flint-like nuances. A masterclass in power and balance – and unmistakably Smith. 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot. Organic. - Georgina Hindle, Decanter.com

98 Points! The vivid fruit character here is so impressive for this hot and dry vintage. It's medium- to full-bodied, showing gorgeous crushed grapes and dark berries. With density, clarity and beauty, it really speaks of great cabernet sauvignon. The tannins are integrated and go long, taking you deep and complete on the palate. 64% cabernet sauvignon, 32% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot. Seems almost drinkable now but needs at least five years of bottle age. - JamesSuckling.com

97+ Points! The 2022 Smith Haut Latte is silky, elegant and nuanced. It's all there. A wine of precision and class, the 2022 is so impressive. Rened, supple tannins wrap around a core of blue/purplish fruit, lavender, espresso and mocha. I nd the 2022 a bit buttoned up today, but that is probably a very good thing for its long-term prospects. I look forward to seeing it age. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

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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.  

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Made and stitched by hand, start to finish, right here in Orange County, CA.

This premium, Catalina leather tote (drum dyed to give it a gorgeous high-gloss finish) is a must-have accessory for any wine enthusiast who wants to gift a bottle of fine wine or carry their own bottle in luxurious style! The wine tote is perfect for those who frequent dinner parties, wineries, brunches, or BYOB!

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