Blason d'Issan Margaux AOC (Château d'Issan GCC 2nd wine)

2021, 2014

Blason d’Issan Margaux AOC (Château d’Issan GCC 2nd wine)

The history of Château d’Issan consists primarily of a long list of property transmissions and legacies. By inheritance and marriage, the estate has been handed down from owner to owner, and all of them have contributed in their own way to its renown and helped to forge its unique character. Over a period of nearly three centuries, the estate was passed down along a line involving a number of families with names such as Noailhan, Meyrac, Ségur, Salignac, de la Vergne, Escodeca de Boisse, etc. From 1575 onwards, the property was owned by five generations of the Essenault family, who ended up renaming it, contracting their name to “Issan” and thus Château d’Issan was born…

Blason d’Issan, the second wine, was introduced from 1995 onwards to enable selection amongst our vines growing in the Margaux appellation area. Fruit from the youngest vines is used to produce this wine, which respects the identity of its terroir, while offering a tasty round fruitiness, which can be enjoyed earlier.

This is a very well-crafted Blason d’Issan that follows their very fine deuxieme vin in both 2010 and 2012. Therefore 2014 vintage cannot be compared with any other one but is clearly identificable to its original terroir.

For more info, visit Château d’Issan website.

VARIETALS
53% Merlot, 47% Cabernet Sauvignon

VINTAGE
2014 – Download Tasting Note

2021 – Download Tasting Note

Bodegas del Medievo Monte Araya Tempranillo Rioja DOCa

2021

Bodegas del Medievo Monte Araya Tempranillo Rioja DOCa

Illusion, esteem for the land and commercial will encouraged a group of farmers and wine experts to establish Bodegas del
Medievo. Medievo wines are the fruit of the work of generations of farmers who form Medievo and from the hands and knowhown of winemaker Santiago Garde.

Bodegas del Medievo “Monte Araya” Tempranillo is an exquisite red wine, from calcareous soils  located at an altitude of 500 meters above sea level.

For more info, visit Bodegas del Medioevo website.

VARIETALS
100% Tempranillo

VINTAGE
2021

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Bodegas Vegalfaro Caprasia Bobal Ánfora

2021

Bodegas Vegalfaro Caprasia Bobal Ánfora

Andrés Valiente and his son Rodolfo formed Viñedos & Bodegas Vegalfaro in 1999. The name Vegalfaro comes from a combination of the word “vega,” meaning a lowland meadow or stretch of alluvial soil, with the historic name of their winery property, Casa Alfaro.

Bodegas Vegalfaro cultivates 60 hectares (148 acres) of low-yielding vines that fully conform to the strict requirements of Ecological Farming established by the European Union. The winery has never utilized artificial products in its vineyards, so soils are alive with a prolific variety of microfauna. These microscopic organisms are very important for the decomposition of organic material, as well as for the absorption of nutrients through a symbiotic relationship with the vine roots.

Caprasia in Iberian meant “the land of the goats.” The Caprasia brand pays tribute to a time when wild goats ran free and the native Iberian people practiced viticulture between the Sierra Cabrillas mountains and the Cabriel river. Situated at an altitud of 680m in the Vega del Rio Magro, this wine comes from a plot of red loamy clay soil adjoining the bodega and another small plot of limestone. The entire Bobal plantation is grown in the traditional bush vine style comprised of old vines with an average age of 85 years.

Certified organic.

For more info, visit Bodegas Vegalfaro website.

VARIETALS
100% Bobal

VINTAGE
2021

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Bodegas Vegalfaro Vino de Pago de Los Balagueses Syrah

2021

Bodegas Vegalfaro Vino de Pago de Los Balagueses Syrah

Andrés Valiente and his son Rodolfo formed Viñedos & Bodegas Vegalfaro in 1999. The name Vegalfaro comes from a combination of the word “vega,” meaning a lowland meadow or stretch of alluvial soil, with the historic name of their winery property, Casa Alfaro.

Bodegas Vegalfaro cultivates 60 hectares (148 acres) of low-yielding vines that fully conform to the strict requirements of Ecological Farming established by the European Union. The winery has never utilized artificial products in its vineyards, so soils are alive with a prolific variety of microfauna. These microscopic organisms are very important for the decomposition of organic material, as well as for the absorption of nutrients through a symbiotic relationship with the vine roots.

The Pago de Los Balagueses estate is a privileged vineyard site in a solitary location entirely surrounded by forests within the mountainous Parque Natural de las Hoces del Cabriel, an ideal microclimate and soil for vine growing.

Pago de Los Balagueses is Vegalfaro’s top-echelon wine brand, entirely sourced from one of only seventeen wine estates in Spain awarded the DOP Vino de Pago designation to date. Spain’s “vino de pago” system is an appellation structure that was legally created in 2003 by the Spanish government, in coordination with Spain’s winemaking community, to indicate a higher qualification of excellence than DO or even the top-level DOCa. It is comparable to the French-wide Grand Cru system.

Certified organic.

For more info, visit Bodegas Vegalfaro website.

VARIETALS
100% Syrah

VINTAGE
2021

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Bosio Boschi dei Signori Barbaresco DOCG

2021

Bosio Boschi dei Signori Barbaresco DOCG

In the heart of Langhe, Italy, where technology and rural tradition coexist, lies the Bosio Family Estates Winery. The winery, founded in 1967, is an official Unesco Human Heritage and prides themselves in keeping authentic winemaking traditions and excellences. Bosio’s wines are vinified in small parcels to produce vintages with great varietal character and are some of the best value from the Piedmont region.

The vineyards of Bosio ‘Boschi Dei Signori’ Barbaresco are located in the villages of Neive and Barbaresco on clay-limestone soils, giving a classic Barbaresco with real power made in a modern, accessible style.

For more info, visit Bosio website.

VARIETALS
100% Nebbiolo

VINTAGE
2021

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Caccia al Piano Bolgheri Superiore DOC

2021

Caccia al Piano Bolgheri Superiore DOC

The Caccia al Piano tenuta, or wine estate, is set into the enchanting winegrowing environment of Bolgheri, where the perfect combination of Mediterranean climate and limestone-clay soils has created a terroir ideal for yielding world-class wines. The romantic Via Bolgherese, with its vineyards and olive groves, is the background for winemaker Franco Ziliani’s new adventure in creating wines that always leave their mark.

It is a careful and meticulous selection of the best grapes from the San Biagio vineyard, the most important cru of the Estate and among the most suitable in the entire Bolgheri territory. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, two vines that have found in this small paradise protected by the woods the ideal conditions to express character, structure, elegance and propensity for aging. This is the identity card of Caccia al Piano Bolgheri Superiore DOC, the new excellence created by the Ziliani family.

For more info, visit Caccia al Piano website.

VARIETALS
60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Cabernet Franc

VINTAGE
2021

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Cantina di Negrar Garganega Verona IGT

2021

Cantina di Negrar Garganega Verona IGT

The Cantina di Negrar brand is the soul of Cantina Valpolicella Negrar and pays homage to the philosophy of cooperative production while also recalling the territory’s historical vestiges: the effigy of St. Mark’s Lion standing tall on a column in the centre of Negrar is testimony of the Venetian Republic’s domination in the sixteenth century. The Cantina di Negrar wines are rooted in the wine-making tradition of Valpolicella and the Veronese wine-growing areas, with a modern reinterpretation to guarantee the best price/quality ratio.

Garganega is the queen of white Veronese grape varieties, typical of Soave, on foothills 80 metres above sea level with soils of volcanic origin.

The catchy and interesting label depicts Ulysses’ 10-year journey home from Troye to Ithaca. Every facet of his journey captivates the sense of discovery, self-discovery, and world discovery Ulysses experiences in those enchanted 10 years.

For more info, visit Cantina di Negrar website.

VARIETALS
100% Garganega

VINTAGE
2021

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Cantina Zaccagnini Tralcetto Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC

2021

Cantina Zaccagnini Tralcetto Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC

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.

Even in the simplest version, the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo of Zaccagnini maintains all the integrity that distinguishes this extraordinary grape variety. The Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC “Tralcetto” is a wine that stands out for drinking and for depth, never predictable in expressing all its natural characteristics.

For more info, visit Cantina Zaccagnini website.

VARIETALS
100% Montepulciano d’Abruzzo

VINTAGE
2021

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Cantine Pirovano Collezione Nero D’Avola Sicilia DOC

2021

Cantine Pirovano Collezione Nero D’Avola Sicilia DOC

Amadio Pirovano opened the tavern “Da Pirovano” in the mid-800s, selling wine bought mainly from small farmers in southern Italy, especially in Puglia and Sicily, from where this fruity and generous Nero d’Avola comes from. Today, the fourth generation, with commitment and dedication, continues the growth and development of the family business.

For more info, visit Cantine Pirovano website.

VARIETALS
100% Nero d’Avola

VINTAGE
2021

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Capo Zafferano Primitivo di Manduria DOC

2021

Capo Zafferano Primitivo di Manduria DOC

Capo Zafferano is a famous promontory, with a magnificent view of the gulf with turquoise water and a centuries-old white lighthouse, so characteristic to represent the best expression of the wines of Southern Italy: the wines of Puglia.

For more info, visit Capo Zafferano website.

VARIETALS
100% Primitivo

VINTAGE
2021

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Casas del Bosque Gran Reserva Syrah

2021

Casas del Bosque Gran Reserva Syrah

Juan Cúneo Solari founded Casas del Bosque in 1993, at a time when the Chilean wine industry was pursuing quantity over quality. All fruit of this cool climate Syrah was sourced from vineyards located within the coolest, westernmost reaches of the Casablanca Valley.
A blend of 11 to 16 year old vines sourced from hillside blocks with northern exposure, planted on 110 million year old decomposed granite with a thin topsoil of red, iron-rich clay.

For more info, visit Casas del Bosque website.

VARIETALS
100% Syrah

VINTAGE
2021

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Château Bel Air Bordeaux AOP

2021

Château Bel Air Bordeaux AOP

Family owned for three generations, the The A. de Luze & Fils estate covers 20 hectares of vineyards located a few kilometers from Saint-Emilion. In a single piece, it surrounds house and cellar with an exceptional exposure on a clay-limestone hillside, facing south, with a superficial rock that gives the wines of the castle a typicity much appreciated by connoisseurs.

The Château Bel Air presents itself to the wine lover as pleasantly dry, red Bordeaux wine.

Certified sustainable HVE (High Environmental Value) 

VARIETALS
75% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc

VINTAGE
2021

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Château Brane-Cantenac Margaux Grand Cru Classé AOC

2021, 2013, 2018

Château Brane-Cantenac Margaux Grand Cru Classé AOC

Château Brane-Cantenac stands proudly in the heart of the prestigious Margaux appellation.
Renowned for its wines of remarkable elegance and finesse, this 75-hectare property is an emblem of quality and excellence in the world of fine wines.

Since Henri Lurton took over in 1992, he has made it his mission to produce the best possible wine, reinforcing Brane’s position as a second classified growth in 1855. The result is a fine wine that perfectly expresses its remarkable terroir.

The rainfall marked this vintage. Despite their very low yields and their natural precocity, Merlots did not provide a sufficient level of quality, hence their historically low proportion in the Brane-Cantenac blend. Conversely, thanks to the precocity of the Brane plateau, the Cabernet Sauvignon was able to achieve good quality on this 2013 vintage.

For more info, visit Château Brane-Cantenac website.

VARIETALS
84% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc

VINTAGE
2013 – Download Tasting Note

2018 – Download Tasting Note

2021 – Download Tasting Note

Château Cantemerle Haut-Médoc Grand Cru Classé AOC

2020, 2021, 2013

Château Cantemerle Haut-Médoc Grand Cru Classé AOC

Located in the southern part of the Bordeaux Medoc peninsula, Château Cantemerle, designated a great growth in the famous 1855 classification, thanks to its unique terroir, produces complex well-balanced and refined wines.

The wine’s structure displays reserve and complexity, with a welltempered richness and great length. It represents a perfect model of elegance, balance, and the fine flavors typical of Cantemerle’s greatest wines.

This 2013 is so easy to enjoy that your glass is ready to be refilled before you know it…

For more info, visit Château Cantemerle website.

VARIETALS
50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot

VINTAGE
2013 –  Download Tasting Note

 

Château Cantenac Brown Margaux Grand Cru Classé AOC

2021, 2016

Château Cantenac Brown Margaux Grand Cru Classé AOC

At the beginning of the 19th century, John-Lewis Brown (1769-1851), bought a vineyard and designed in the village of Cantenac, a traditional Tudor style château, reminding him of his Scottish origins. His name is forever linked to the Grand Cru Classé. After the 1855 Grand Cru Classification, Louis Armand Lalande (1820-1894), Bordeaux winemerchant and owner of several estates in Médoc, extended the building. Surrounded by a remarkable British style park, Château Cantenac Brown is since then among the most original in Médoc and of the wines to watch out for, getting better vintage after vintage.

All the elements to an exceptional vintage unite in 2016. Perfect alcohol, acidity, and round tannins: the balance is there. It’s harmonious and natural, without excess. Truly a rare vintage.

For more info, visit Château Cantenac Brown website.

VARIETALS
68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot

VINTAGE
2016 – Download Tasting Note

2021 – Download Tasting Note