Georges Vernay Cote Rotie Maison
$334.99
Founded by Francis Vernay in 1937, Domaine Vernay is located in the heart of Condrieu. Francis Vernay was instrumental in establishing the official Condrieu appellation in 1940. His son Georges succeeded him, helping to define the appellation's geographical boundaries. In 1996, Christine Vernay, Georges's daughter, took over as winemaker and General Manager. Recognized as one of France's top winemakers, several of her wines have received perfect 100/100 ratings in leading wine publications.
Testalonga Chin Up Cinsault
$37.99
Craig and Carla Hawkins are two of the most important, pioneering icons of South African wine. Their label, Testalonga, was born in the Swartland in 2008, at a time when the Swartland Revolution put the region on the map and proved it is much more than a land of cheap plonk. Winemakers like Adi Badenhorst, Eben Sadie, and Chris and Andrea Mullineux set the scene for true terroir-based winemaking, and then the young(er) guns like Craig, Carla, Johan Meyer of Mother Rock, and Jurgen Gouws of Intellego came along, pushing boundaries even further. They began playing with skin contact on their whites, earlier picking dates, lower sulphur levels, etc., in a way that their predecessors hadn’t.
Synchromesh Cabernet Franc
$49.99
Synchromesh is a boutique, family run winery that focusses on exploring their unique and complex vineyard blocks through the lens of Riesling and Cabernet Franc. They farm over 30 acres of vines ranging from the North end of Naramata to the Golden Mile in Oliver with the bulk of theirvineyards situated on 107 acres in Okanagan Falls. They practice a holistic philosophy in both farming and winemaking, meaning no synthetic inputs and following organic methods. Wines are fermented naturally to capture the expression of each property and vineyard block in it's purest form.
Le Chiuse Brunello di Montalcino
$127.99
Hardly any other Tuscan winery is as closely related to the founding fathers of Brunello di Montalcino as the small business of Simonetta Valiani and her husband Nicolò Magnelli. Le Chiuse is located south of Montalcino between the villages of Montosoli and Canalicchi and belonged to the aristocratic Biondi-Santi family from the 18th century onwards, whose Sangiovese wine made history in 1888 as the very first Brunello di Montalcino.
Strictly speaking, Simonetta is the niece of Franco Biondi-Santi, the last representative of this Tuscan wine dynasty, who had a special knack for single-varietal Sangiovese wines. In his opinion, the vineyards of Le Chiuse were among the best situated in the whole of Montalcino, which is why he had leased Simonetta's vineyards for the production of his legendary and long-lived Brunello Riserva wines for many years.
Moraine Estate Pinot Noir
$37.99
Moraine Winery is a family-owned winery and vineyard overlooking Okanagan lake minutes away from the city of Penticton. From its shelf-like location above striking clay bluffs, Moraine peers over the landscape and water. These glaciated white clay cliffs comprise the breathtaking Naramata Bench and inspire the winery’s land-formed name.
The winery owners are the husband-wife team of Oleg & Svetlana. In 1995, the couple moved to Canada from Europe to give their family a better quality of life. They first moved to the city of Edmonton where they lived for 15 years. They were charmed by the beauty of the Okanagan and vineyards which made them relocate from Alberta in 2009. The couple believes that wine offers one of life’s most simple, enjoyable, and accessible pleasures; and this philosophy spurred their leap into the wine industry.
L'Orme de Rauzan Gassies
$51.99
Property of the Quie family, Chateau Rauzan-Gassies is on 30 hectares of vines in the Margaux appellation and 30 hectares in the Haut-Medox appellation. It is this famous terroir of Haut-Medox where l'Orme de Rauzan-Gassies comes from. This story began in 1936, when Paul Quie offered Chateau Bel_Orme as a wedding gift to his wife, Lucienne, and continued a few years later, when they purchased together Chateau Rauzan-Gassies. Since then, the Orme residence has been the new generation's family home, revisiting with l'Orme de Rauzan-Gassies, the finesse of a great wine, charming and fruity.
Le Vieux Pin Syrah
$61.99
Named for the solitary majestic old growth pine of their Oliver estate, Le Vieux Pin sits perched amidst the famed vineyards of the Black Sage Bench: Canada’s sole pocket desert, located in the South of British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. Since releasing their first vintage in 2005, Le Vieux Pin has captured the essence of traditional French winemaking, along with the bold New World character distinct to the region. They are considered to be a leading Syrah producer, the winery uses low input viticulture and non- interventionist winemaking to make exclusive vintages that carry with them a sense of time and place.
Mayu Pinot Noir Gran Reserva
$27.99
400 kilometres north of Santiago, Chile, sits the Elqui Valley, effectively a high-altitude desert (the Atacama Desert) in the Coquimbo Region. The vineyards extend from the Pacific Ocean to the Andes, and the arid region relies on the Elqui River for irrigation, which is essential if grapes are to flourish here. At 2000 metres above sea level, it draws a parallel to the vineyards of Mendoza, Argentina, on the other side of the Andes.
The soils are composed mainly of clay, silt and chalk, and the hot, clear days and cool nights offer near-perfect growing conditions. It's also one of the darkest places on earth to stargaze, and as such, it's a World UNESCO Heritage Site, drawing both wine lovers and stargazers alike. Viña Mayu was established in 2005 as a separate winery from the Elqui Valley’s first fine wine producer, which was founded in 1998.
Mauro Olivier was one of the pioneers planting vines for fine wine production, sourcing the grapes from the different parts of the valley. He started working on his family vineyards for table grape production at a young age, and years later, he began working in Pisco production (the national Chilean spirit, made from white wine). In 2000, he planted the first Carménère and Syrah vines in the valley. Five years later, he decided it was time to embark on his own wine project, under the Mayu label. Mayu is an ancient INCA name for the Milky Way, meaning "creek of stars."
Bret Bros Julienas La Bottiere
$79.99
he Bret Brothers story goes back to 1947, when Jules Bret purchased the first plot of vineyards in Pouilly-Vinzelles. The parcel was called 'les Quarts' and the Bret family's total vineyard size was a whopping one hectare. Jules and his wife Louise set out to expand their small domaine by purchasing rows of vine adjoining their one hectare of land. At this time, all grapes still went to the cooperative in Vinzelles.
In 1969, Jules and Louise's son Jean-Paul took over, and continued increasing the size of the domaine, up to 4.5 hectares of vineyards, and in 1991, his sons Jean-Philippe and Jean-Guillaume (the current generation to own the domaine) started their studies in wine, preparing themselves to take over the domaine. 1998 saw the Bret Brothers withdraw from the cooperative, and in 2000 they began producing their own wines from estate fruit - it was also the first year that the vines were treated organically and biodynamically. This was extremely cutting edge as 17 years ago there weren't any producers in the region who were working with biodynamics. In 2001 the Bret Brothers label was created (separate from La Soufrandiere, which is the official name of the domaine), with a commitment to buying top quality grapes from the best terroirs of the Macon and in 2004 they took back the Macon-Vinzelles vineyard of 'Clos de Grand Pere', which belonged to their grandfather. These are arguably the best wines of the Macon, whether from the estate of La Soufrandiere or from the Bret Brothers negociant label. They give some of the top wines of the Cote de Beaune a run for their money in blind tastings, and in the past few years the Bret Brothers have been continually recognized for their commitment to quality, farming and care for the land.