Search results for: 'mostly a one plot'

94 Points! I loved the 2023 Sauvignon Blanc, a vibrant white offering ample Meyer lemon, honeyed flowers, and crushed stone-driven aromatics, as well as a crisp, clean sense of reduction. Medium-bodied, nicely concentrated, and elegant, it might be my favorite of the lineup. I love it today, yet it should have at least a decade of longevity, if not more. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! A solid sauvignon blanc with Meyer lemons, light grapefruit, peach stones and just a touch of flint on the nose and palate. Creamy texture. So caressing. Very Loire-like in a Touraine sort of way. Made from old vines planted in the 1940s and 1960s. Nine months or less in concrete tanks, used large barrels and 80-gallon stainless steel drums. Made by the fourth generation of the Mondavi family. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

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This is a special bottling released by the Shinshu Mars Distillery and is a vatting of malt from two distilleries, "Komagatake" and "Chichibu", which has been matured at Mars Shinshu Distillery in a variety of Bourbon Barrel, American White Oak and Sherry Oak for more than 5 years. In 2015, Mars Shinshu Distillery and Venture Whisky (Chichibu) Distillery began exchanging their new make spirit, which was subsequently matured in their respective locations. 10,918 Bottles were released. Nose: sweet maple syrup, oak spices and some notes of varnish along with plum and a hint of caramelised orange peel Palate: Sweet caramel, some brandy cake, cacao and nutmeg with a hint of smoke and spiciness Finish: Gentle tannins along with some black tea on the finish. With water, more caramel and toffee notes are evident along with oak spices. Learn More

95 Points! This opens with aromas of dried apricots and salted lemons, lifted by a floral note of chamomile. The palate is medium to full-bodied with tension, subtle salinity and pleasant fleshiness. A blend of fruit from the Adrianna and Domingo vineyards, this is a deeply comforting chardonnay combining a generous texture with incisiveness. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! The 2023 Chardonnay Catena Alta Historic Rows was sourced from Villa Bastías and Gualtallary in Tupungato. Aged for up to 14 months in new and used French oak barrels, this bright yellow wine offers notes of pear and mint, complemented by subtle oak nuances. Dry, creamy and broad, the oak plays a significant role on the palate. However, it remains refreshing, with a long-lasting hazelnut finish. This is a classic continental-style wine. - Joaquin Hidalgo, Vinous

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Eden Mill, located in Guardbridge near the historic town of St Andrews in Scotland, presents their 2024 edition of the Art of St Andrews series—an annual release that pairs craft whisky-making with local artistry. This edition is matured in Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez sherry casks, finished in first-fill Amarone wine casks from Italy’s Veneto region, and bottled at 46.5% ABV.

Tasting Note:
In the glass it shows a rich copper hue. The nose opens with mulled wine aromas, vivid red fruits, and gentle clove spice, followed by hints of cherry bakewell tart and rum-and-raisin ice cream. On the palate red fruits give way to dark fruits such as blackberry compote and fig jam with a whisper of cracked black pepper. The finish lingers, offering glazed cinnamon bun and glacé cherries with sweet-spicy depth.

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95+ Points! Fruit selection for this wine casts a wider net in the celebrated Vorbeg vineyard that also fuels the exceptional Rarity bottling. This 52-hectare site has incredibly steep (70%) inclines at 450 to 650 meters above sea level with south and southwestern exposures. The 2022 Alto Adige Terlano Pinot Bianco Riserva Vorberg is a creamy, mid-weight expression from a warm and dry vintage. The wine offers pretty aromatic highlights of melon, Golden Delicious apple, pie crust and crushed oystershell. This is a beautiful and more accessible taste of the best of Alto Adige. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

94 Points! Fairly neutral with vibrant apricot fruit, aromatic herbs and a touch of almonds. Tight and tense acidity on the medium-bodied palate, tingling and electric. The citrusy finish is long and salty. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

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95 Points! The 2005 Les Pavots (3,600 cases of 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Cabernet Franc, 12% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot) is a sensational wine, with a style that suggests a hypothetical blend of a great St.-Emilion and Pomerol. Chocolatey cassis notes intermixed with incense, licorice, and a hint of black olive are present in this wine. When it hits the palate, it comes across as very Pomerol-like, with lushness, full body, and opulence. The tannins are sweet, the pH high, and the wine gorgeously full, pure, dense, and long. It’s a terrific example of non-interventionalist winemaking that has turned out a beautiful, silky-textured wine that should age effortlessly for 15+ years. Like so many 2005s, this wine has really put on weight since I tasted it last year. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

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94 Points! This traditional style Chateauneuf has a complex nose of leather, dry earth, candied orange peel and licorice. More red-berry fruit on the expansive yet delicate palate, where there’s a wonderful interplay of super-fine tannins and restrained richness through the very long, silky finish. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Moving to the red, the 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape is brilliant stuff, offering lots of kirsch, peppery garrigue, and sandalwood aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, pure, seamless, and just classic 2020 with its soft, charming style, it’s delicious today and will be delicious in a decade as well. The blend is 65% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, and the rest Cinsault, brought up 90% in concrete and 10% in old barrels...this is an estate I consistently purchase for my personal cellar. - Jeb Dunnuck

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97 Points! Nervy and complex nose with excellent depth. Oranges, nutmeg, steel, mineral and a touch of white pepper and oyster shell. Broad and expansive on the palate with very structured, chalky tannins that extend to a lengthy, mineral finish. Long and youthful. From organically grown grapes. Can drink now, but better from 2027. - JamesSuckling.com

97 Points! The E. Pira e Figli - Chiara Boschis 2020 Barolo Cannubi is a fine and delicate wine, although there is a little more grit and richness in this warm vintage. The quality of the fruit is exceptional, especially its crisp ripeness. Dark cherry, blackcurrant, rose blossom, pink pepper and white limestone add considerable high-toned notes. The freshness is great and the fruit stays juicy, fueling a long, elegant finish. Only 4,000 bottles were made. - Monica Larner, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

 

 

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93 Points! The 2022 Gigondas checks in as 78% Grenache, 14% Syrah, and the rest Cinsault and Mourvèdre, raised in foudres, with the Syrah in demi-muids. It's a killer effort offering beautiful darker fruits supported by some meaty, garrigue, and iron-like nuances. This carries to a medium to full-bodied, gamey, exotic, balanced Gigondas that's just about overflowing with character. I love it today, yet it has another 10-12 years of prime drinking. - Jeb Dunnuck

93 Points! The 2022 Gigondas is gorgeous, bundling intense orange blossom, licorice, ripe strawberry, leafy tones and a touch of graphite on the aromatic composition. Tightly structured by ripe tannins and balanced by a lifting freshness, the full-bodied 2022 requires at least four more years in a cool cellar to mellow. That said, it’s an outstanding Gigondas worth seeking out. - Nicolas Greinacher, Vinous

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Mulholland California Gin is a handcrafted gin that embodies the spirit of California with its vibrant and complex profile. Distilled in small batches, it brings together traditional gin botanicals like juniper and angelica root with a selection of Californian ingredients such as Valencia orange, lemon, and lavender. The result is a smooth, balanced gin with a citrus-forward aroma and a hint of floral sweetness.

On the palate, Mulholland California Gin offers a crisp and refreshing taste with bright citrus notes at the forefront, complemented by a subtle herbal depth. The lavender and other botanicals give it a unique floral touch, while the finish is clean and lingering. This gin is versatile, making it an excellent base for classic gin cocktails or enjoyed simply with tonic. It's an ideal choice for those seeking a refreshing, aromatic spirit with a distinctly Californian character.

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Château Jolys, the largest estate in the Jurançon AOC with its 36 hectares, nestles on the superb hills of Chapelle de Rousse village. The gentle slopes are exposed South / South-West and form amphitheatres facing the Pyrenees moutains. Soils are chalky and clayey. 

Cuvée Jean is made from 100% Petit Manseng grapes. The grapes are surmatured using the passerillage method, and the resulting concentration of sugar gives for perfectly healthy, golden and extremely ripe grapes. 

After total destemming and maceration before fermentation, we keep only the free-run juice to make this wine (juice obtained before pressing), in order to obtain the best of the richness and the aromas of the Petit Manseng grapes. After cold settling, alcoholic fermentation is carried out in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks (at around 20°C so as to preserve the aromas). Barrel ageing for 9 months in French oak barrels.

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Lagrimas del Valle is a Vintage, “Rancho Unico” (Single Ranch) Tequila — celebrating the unique and distinctive characteristics of the very best single ranches of Agave.

Lagrimas is produced in collaboration with the Rosales family, of Tequila Cascahuin, lead by current Master Distiller, Salvador “Chava” Rosales Trejo – the fourth generation of his family, their distilling tradition dating back to 1904 in El Arenal, Jalisco; within the heart of the “Valley” of Tequila. Lagrimas del Valle translates to “Tears of the Valley” – representing the tears that form both on a tasting glass from high quality Agave spirits, as well as the “tears” or condensed spirits falling into the still, the transformation of Agave into Tequila itself.

This Reposado "El Sabino" hails from Rancho Teuchitlan in Jalisco. Elevation is 1,261 Meters with an average agave brix at 40%. Maturation takes place for 3 months in 3rd & 4th Fill Ex-Bourbon Casks.

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From the importer: Bush-trained Cannonau (also known as Grenache) from a vineyard called Sas de Melas, at 600 meters (about 2,000 feet) above sea level, near the village of Mamoiada. This altitude is unusual for red wines, and gives the wine uncommon freshness (cooler night-time temperatures at altitude mean higher acidity in the grapes). The vines were planted in 2004 and 2010 in soil based on decomposed granite.

The grapes are picked in late September or early October, de-stemmed and crushed, and fermentation begins using indigenous yeasts only, encouraged by a a ‘pied de cuve'* (Luca believes that cultured yeasts don’t give a wine that truly is representative of place.) The wine is left in contact with the skins for 10-12 days, then pressed off. The wine is aged for about 6 months in stainless steel tanks, lightly fined, then bottled without filtration.

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Gotha Spiriti Nobili is a vermouth and spirits maker based in Bologna, Italy, founded by Ergin Allko. He draws inspiration from his origins in Albania and his adopted home in Italy, using local herbs and botanicals, plus a signature touch of Adriatic seawater, to create products with distinct character. DOK ’61 was developed as a nod to history and craftsmanship, made with Sicilian wines (mainly Zibibbo and a bit of Frappato) and infused with botanicals like chinotto peel, dandelion root, wormwood, star anise, and a hint of plum distillate for roundness.

Tasting Note:
Fresh and delicately spicy, this vermouth opens with bitter orange and chinotto aromas edged by allspice and warm herbal roots. On the palate it is layered with sweet-tart plum, bright citrus peel, bitter herbal undertones, and a subtle saline minerality. The finish is long, balancing sweetness and bitterness with aromatic complexity and a touch of warmth.

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From the inporter: Mainente’s Garganega and Trebbiano di Soave vines are planted on steep terraces overlooking the town, and with 60-80 years of vine age, the flavors they coax from the patchwork terroir of clay, black volcanic fossils, and pure, white limestone conjure up a “steelier” Bourgogne Blanc, but with the flavors of white melon, orange zest, and bitter almond, so prized in the whites of the misty Po Valley. Work in the cellar is clean, but no-frills, with the Mainente brothers preferring concrete over inox (when possible) but experimenting with larger casks for certain cuvées. For our opening order, they agreed to let us pick our favorite Soave vineyard from their holdings, and create a bottling exclusively for the US, which we chose to declassify to “Bianco Veronese IGT” to highlight the larger Verona region over the Byzantine Soave and her 33 recognized crus.

 

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92 Points! So vivid, bright and light-bodied, offering fragrant aromas and brilliant citrus flavors at quite low alcohol. Fresh and almost steely, strong in acidity, mouthwatering and detailed. Minerals, flint, chalk, lemons and lime zest on the palate. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

From the winery:

Ribolla Gialla 42%, Tocai Friulano 35%, Chardonnay 23%, Pinot Bianco 6%. Our flagship white wine blend is sourced from small vineyards around Napa and Sonoma. The four grape varietals, Tocai Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, Chardonnay, and Pinot Bianco, are harvested separately and fermented independently in French oak and stainless steel tanks until blending six weeks before bottling. The Tocai, Ribolla, and Pinot Bianco build the aroma and flavor profile of the wine, while the Chardonnay adds to the wine’s structure. Annia is subtle, elegant, and fresh and fulfills the promise set forth years ago to bottle memorable white wines unique among the wines of California.

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Enjoying J.Rose is like attending a Premiere at the Teatro alla Scala.

On stage there is a work composed of nine precious botanical elements who, united, perform by delighting the palate with grace and elegance to offer an intense and pleasurable experience.

An author's work that we hope will be accompanied by a long applause from exclusive spectators. The predominant notes of J.Rose are those of juniper.

In the nose it is warm and pungent. The delicate citrus scents of bergamot and mandarin peel are refreshing and provide a soft and silky balance. The aroma of prickly pear blossoms bounces from the nose to the palate and releases a fruity aftertaste. The woody essence is given by the oak bark, characterised by toasted notes that evoke those of hazelnut and walnut.

Its 43% alcohol content enhances the nine botanicals, making it a perfect gin for the most exclusive cocktails.

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92 Points! I've always liked this wine, sitting pretty as a double-fermented expression with a lighter framework of tannins melded to the density serviced by the double fermentation approach devised here: fresh wine re-fermented with 30% whole, semi-dried grapes. Notes of cherry amaro, porcini, lilac and riffs on the larger format wood, conferring an earthy breadth to the wine without detracting from freshness. Highly versatile and delicious. Drink now. - JamesSuckling.com

91 Points! Remarkable balance in this wine refermented to dryness with 30% whole semi-dried grapes of the same varieties in the original blend (Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara), and aged in a combination of Slavonian and French oak barrels. Refined yet robust structure with intense fruit (cherry, plum, bramble) layered with dry herbs and spices. Floral overtones (dried wildflowers and roses) a fragrant lift to the deep fruit core. - Decanter Magazine

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92 Points! A proprietary red blend of Petite Sirah, Grenache, Syrah, and Zinfandel aged eight months in 31% new oak. Orin Swift has opened a new, lovely tasting lounge in the town of St. Helena, CA and is worth a visit for those coming to the Napa Valley. Dave Phinney, the founder of Orin Swift, calls all the picks and continues working and honing these wines in the cellar. Rich black cherry, toffee, and caramel spices lead to a full-bodied wine with red berry fruit and chocolatey, robust, chewy tannins. The long fruit driven finish offers ample brown spices and toasty cedarwood. - Decanter Magazine

91 Points! Potent and dense, with brooding flavors of blackberry and cherry accented by bitter chocolate, cracked pepper and savory meat tones as this builds tannins on the finish. Grenache, Syrah and Petit Sirah. Best after 2025. - Wine Spectator

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97+ Points! Between the Pajana and the Ciabot Mentin, I have a preference for the latter. The Domenico Clerico 2021 Barolo Ginestra Ciabot Mentin comes from the higher part of the slope (with vines planted in 1978) and offers an extremely precise and finely stitched bouquet that incorporates elements of cassis, wild berry, herb, blue flower and crushed stone. The mineral signature is a little more pronounced in this wine, and it leans into iron ore and rusty nail. Like the Pajana, the tannins are quite firm, and the wine will need more time in bottle to integrate. - Monica Larner, robertparker.com

96 Points! Aromas of sweet violets, potpourri, dried cherries, pomegranates and hints of chocolate, licorice and blood oranges. Full-bodied on the palate, it shows delicate, ripe and velvety tannins that are tightly knit with acidity, pushing the finish in a sophisticated way. - JamesSuckling.com

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