In the heart of Bolognano, a small town in Abruzzo region, Zaccagnini company has been established in 1978. Starting from a family-run business, the Winery has grown rapidly and steadily with the goal of “absolute quality, from cluster to glass”, reaching the current condition of an international reality with more than 300 hectares of beautiful vineyards, well-kept and monitored at every production stage. Excellence, passion and devotion to job have made Tralcetto’s wines the pride of Abruzzi’s wine production appreciated all over the world.
Zaccagnini Montepulciano d’Abruzzo ‘Tralcetto’ Riserva is made exclusively from Montepulciano grapes grown on medium-textured clay soils and crafted to showcase the finest qualities of this Abruzzo indigenous grape. It embodies a distinctive character, where robust structure meets the grape’s signature aromatic elegance.
Cap Royal takes its name from the royal Cordouan lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse of Europe, situated at the entrance of Gironde Estuary. This 14th century beacon once signalled safe passage to Bordeaux wine merchants, returning home after sharing the great wines of Bordeaux with the world. Cap Royal benefits from the expertise of Jean René Matignon, winemaker of Château Pichon Baron, Grand Cru Classé Pauillac.
Juan Cúneo Solari founded Casas del Bosque in 1993, at a time when the Chilean wine industry was pursuing quantity over quality. His commitment to quality is evident in the Gran Reserva Cabernet, a wine which is a great exponent of this characteristic variety of Chile that finds one of its most typical expressions in the Maipo Valley.
The Private Reserve are a limited edition wines with great body and balanced structure, with soft and elegant tannins. A unique terroir. Old vines. Grapes hand harvested at optimum ripeness. Only French oak barrels selected by the winemaker.
The origins of Château d’Armailhac date back to 1750. At that time, the vineyard was called “ Mouton d’Armailhacq ”. Fifth Cru Classé in 1855, Château d’Armailhac shines on the lands of Pauillac. In 1931, the young Baron Philippe de Rothschild became a minority shareholder in the Mouton d’Armailhacq estate company. Subsequently, the château will become the entire property of the Baron Philippe de Rothschild company. In 1989, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild decided to rename the estate with its original name: Château d’Armailhac.
With that wealth of complementary terroirs, each grape variety can be grown in conditions that enable it to achieve its full qualitative potential. Likewise, their diversity helps to moderate the potential weather-related excesses of certain years. This unique characteristic of Château d’Armailhac is reflected in an elegant classicism that is a regular feature of the wine’s style, whatever the vintage.
Although yields were less than generous, the quality of the wines suggests that the 2020 vintage will be one of the great successes of the decade.
The Meynaud family owns both Château Franc Couplet and Château Laussac on the right bank of the Gironde. The young and talented Eric Meynaud took over the vineyard from his father in 1995 right after he finished his studies. Since then, the winery has grown from 10 to more than 100 hectares. Eric has always tried to get the best out of his vineyards and regularly sends his wines to competitions where they have won numerous awards, not only in France but all over the world.
Château Franc Couplet is spread over limestone and clay land in the Entre-Deux-Mers region, on the east side of Bordeaux. The natural quality of the wines comes from the excellent quality of the soil. This “Limited Edition” is a unique selection of the best plots in the vineyard, corresponding to a limited quantity of bottles of Château Franc Couplet. It is matured in French oak barrels for 12 months, softening the palate and making outstanding wine.
Situated in the commune of Martillac, this 20-hectares property once belonged to Baron de Montesquieu. Today, the estate is owned by Mr. Eric Perrin which also owns the famous Château Carbonnieux. Because of its special localization, its terroir and the choices of winemaking in the vineyard and the cellar, the Château Haut-Vigneau plays between the greatest ones.
This Haut-Vigneau blanc is quite characteristic of the terroir and the appellation of the AOC Pessac-Léognan.
Château La Plaige sits on a hillside overlooking the river Dordogne on the eastern edge of the Bordeaux appellation. The combination of clay and limestone in the soil means that the owner Frédéric Naud can make a wine that is powerful and elegant at the same time. Since 2000, Frédéric Naud and his wife Lise have been managing the vineyard with passion and respect for the family’s winemaking tradition, established by the Naud family for five generations.
Demanding and passionate, Alain Bessette gave his father’s property the means to produce quality wines. Accessible and worn on the fruit, they tell the revolution undertaken in the vineyard and the cellar.
A good control of the vegetation and a rigorous follow-up of the maturity allows to obtain healthy and ripe grapes, of a great richness, while a careful aging for 18 months in barrels and vats allows this wine to express power and elegance.
Since 2012, Château La Verriere has embarked on an environmental approach by integrating the certification scope of the SME (Environmental Management System) and HVE (Exploitation of High Environmental Value).
Wines have been made at Château Macquin since 1885, when the first cellar was developed by François-Albert Macquin. François was the first to re-plant vines in the Saint-Émilion region following the phylloxera outbreak in the 19th century.
Château Macquin is located just three kilometres north of Saint- Émilion, in the small village of Saint-Georges, the smallest of all Bordeaux appellations. However, at its peak of 89 metres above sea level, Saint-Georges enjoys one of the best elevations on the right bank, giving the wines freshness and concentration.
The south facing vines are planted on clay and limestone soils and range from 15 to 60 years old. The vines are sustainably farmed, without the use of herbicides, fertilizers, or other harmful chemicals.
VARIETALS
80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc
Near Bordeaux, discover the 7 centuries of history of a mythical Grand Cru Classé of the Graves surrounded by vines and a sumptuous garden. The unique castle, whose first grape harvest took place in 1252, gives life to a wine that was reserved for ecclesiastical ceremonies for almost 400 years, and wasn’t available publicly until after the French Revolution. Bernard Magrez acquires the prestigious estatein the 1980s. It was then his very first vineyard.
The winemaking here epitomises the phrase ‘attention to detail’. Every bunch of grapes is de-stemmed by hand and chemical fertilizing and aeration rejected in favour of horse-drawn ploughing. All this has resulted in an extremely strong brand identity. Pape Clement is known as one of the jewels of Bordeaux and though its appellation, Pessac-Leognan, was overlooked in the 1855 Classification, exchange platform Liv-ex has marked it as a probable Second-Growth estate in its reimagining of that classification.
Château Prieuré-Lichine’s history is an amazing mix of different eras and styles. From the Roman origins of the property to its rebirth under the Ballande group, 500 years of historic figures and events at this estate have combined to forge its special spirit, perfectly embodied by the Pope of Wine, Alexis Lichine.
Voluptuous and classic, the Grand Cru Classé of Château Prieuré-Lichine fully expresses the fine characteristics of its terroir with the elegance, subtely and breeding of great Margaux wines.
For more info, visit Château Prieuré-Lichinewebsite.
VARIETALS
65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot
This property is located in Etauliers, north of the Gironde 1er Cotes de Blaye, on a clay soil and sandy grave on 13 hectares in production. The wines of Chateau Thomas Laurent are predominantly from the Merlot grape that gives soft and round structure to the wine.
VARIETALS
70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc
Château Vieux Pourret is very well located on the Saint-Emilion plateau, on the locality called “Pourret”. Vieux Pourret’s vines are for the most part in the town of Saint-Emilion itself (with a clay/sand mix in the soil) but also in Saint-Hippolyte, where the soil consists of clayey limestone. Château Vieux Pourret has been created for over 50 years and now the property is owned by Emmanuel Coudroy and run by his wife Nathalie, being the estate manager, which, starting from the vintage 2012, didn’t continue to make this wine organic but they rather elaborated a fruity wine with a melted and elegant mouth, really worthy of a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru.
Corte S. Anna is the name of the courtyard located in front of the restored tufa country house. It is symbolized by the weathervane in the courtyard, which features a rooster.
The line Corte Sant’ Anna, which is vinified and bottled by Rubinelli Vajol, identifies this younger Ripasso, which has a shorter ageing period.
Finca La Emperatriz is a winery with an extensive vineyard estate in Rioja Alta.
Viñedos Hermanos Hernáiz is the new project of brothers Eduardo and Víctor, who in 1996 acquired Bodega La Emperatriz, named as such because the first owner of these plots was Eugenia de Montijo, wife of Napoleon III and Empress of France. With this new emphasis and with new projects at hand, the winery changed its name but its high-end wines retain the Finca La Emperatriz signature, the name of the ‘viñedo singular’ they come from, which is given to small, old plots with limited but high quality production and which, in summary, must comply with a series of strict standards to prove their quality. The grapes used to make El Jardín de la Emperatriz Tinto come from plots where the soils are mostly composed of white boulders over a sandy-loam structure and where the vines have an average age of 25 years old.
Since January 2020, the range of Classic Blends and Single Plot wines have disappeared, giving way to four new labels: a high-end red and white called “Finca la Emperatriz Gran Vino”, a blend of traditional Rioja varieties from a “viñedo singular”, a pure expression of terroir, like the great chateaux of Bordeaux; and their respective younger brothers also from the same estate, called El Jardín de la Emperatriz.
For more info, visit Finca La Emperatriz / Hermanos Hernáiz website.
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