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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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 Bosque Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

2021

Casas del Bosque Gran Bosque Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

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 acidity is higher in this 2021 vintage, a result of a cooler season, and this is a sign of aging potential.


For more info, visit Casas del Bosque website.

VARIETALS
100% Cabernet Sauvignon

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

2020 –  Download Tasting Note

2021 –  Download Tasting Note

 

Château Cantenac Brown Margaux Grand Cru Classé AOC

2021

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.

The 2021 vintage will remain in memory as a year that constantly tested the ability to adapt to varying weather conditions. The good weather (except for a few scattered showers), accompanied the harvest, cold and dry, perfect for the Cabernets. Good things come to those who wait…

For more info, visit Château Cantenac Brown website.

VARIETALS
73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot

VINTAGE

2021 – Download Tasting Note

Château Carbonnieux Grand Cru Classé de Graves Pessac-Leognan AOC

2021

Château Carbonnieux Grand Cru Classé de Graves Pessac-Leognan AOC

Château Carbonnieux is a land of Graves, the largest wine estate in the Pessac-Léognan appellation in the Bordeaux region, marked by 7 centuries of history. We are a family, the Perrin family. For 4 generations, we’ve been passionately cultivating a taste for beauty. To taste the wines of Château Carbonnieux is to travel through its history.

The 2021 vintage will be remembered with pride by Carbonnieux’s winegrowers, who had to outwit Mother Nature’s nasty tricks. For this vintage, a new packaging for Carbonnieux red, based on the new identity unveiled in 2022, using the same graphics as the white label.

Certified sustanaible HVE (High Environmental Value).

For more info, visit Château Carbonnieux website.

VARIETALS
60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot

VINTAGE
2021

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Château Chasse-Spleen Moulis en Médoc Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel AOC

2020, 2021, 2013

Château Chasse-Spleen Moulis en Médoc Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel AOC

Château Chasse-Spleen is the leading Moulis estate along with Château Poujeaux. Although it is classified only as a Cru Bourgeois, it regularly outperforms many of the Médoc’s more renowned classed growths. There are numerous stories trying to explain the name of Chateau Chasse Spleen. The first version is that the name was inspired from a visit by Lord Byron in 1821, which was so moved, that he quoted, “Quel remede pour chasser le spleen”, which when loosely translated means, “What remedy to remove the spleen?”. The other equally poetic explanation is attributed to the poem Spleen, whose author Charles Baudelaire also visited Château Chasse-Spleen.
A very elegant, fresh and classical wine with a lot of energy and drive on the finish with great aging potential.

For more info, visit Château Chasse-Spleen website.

VARIETALS
60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot

VINTAGE
2013 –  Download Tasting Note

2020 –  Download Tasting Note

2021 –  Download Tasting Note

Château Clerc Milon Pauillac Grand Cru Classé AOC

2021, 2015, 2016

Château Clerc Milon Pauillac Grand Cru Classé AOC

Tied to the Seigneuries of Lafite and Mouton (future First Classified Growths belonging to two different branches of the Rothschild family), Château Clerc Milon derives its name from its historic owners, the Clerc family, who acquired it when it was sold as a national asset after the French Revolution.

Today, the third generation, represented by Camille and Philippe Sereys de Rothschild and Julien de Beaumarchais de Rothschild, perpetuates Baron Philippe de Rothschild’s values ​​and expertise and continues to develop Château Clerc Milon with the same dynamism and desire for modernity. Thanks to over 50 years of continuous work and a dedicated team with cutting-edge technical facilities, Château Clerc Milon is more than ever a benchmark of Médoc excellence.

2015 vintage in Pauillac is very similar in its heft and opulence to the 2005 vintage. The wines immediately showed plenty of colour and a complete array of very intense aromas ranging from red and black fruit to spice and incense.

For more info, visit Château Clerc Milon website.

VARIETALS
51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot, 1% Carmenère

VINTAGE 
2015 – Download Tasting Note

2016 – Download Tasting Note

2018 – Download Tasting Note

2021 – Download Tasting Note

2023 – Download Tasting Note

Château Franc Couplet Bordeaux Supérieur AOC Limited Edition

2021

Château Franc Couplet Bordeaux Supérieur AOC Limited Edition

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.

VARIETALS
60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon

VINTAGE
2021

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Château Haut-Vigneau Pessac-Leognan

2021

Château Haut-Vigneau Pessac-Leognan

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.

Certified sustainable HVE (High Environmental Value) 

For more info, visit Château Haut-Vigneau website.

VARIETALS
60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot

VINTAGE
2021

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