El Castro Valtuille Mencia
$27.99
As early as 1752, the ancestors of the (Raul) Pérez family were vine growers in Valtuille, making wine from some of the plots that today form part of the winery. Tradition, experience, and respect for the terroir and for the work of their ancestors define the character of their work, mark the profile of their wines and the life of nine generations of the family linked to the family business. The winery is located in Valtuille de Abajo, t the foot of the western slope of Castro de la Ventosa, a Roman site that gives its name to the project.
Escala Humana Credo Malbec
$87.99
Germán and Ayelén Masera are leading lights in Argentina's Uco Valley. The couple currently sources grapes from the El Zampal section of Tupungato and has recently established an estate vineyard and winery in Gualtallary. The range begins with the Livverá line, each representing fantastic value and offering a glimpse into the clean, vibrant and impressively transparent profile that permeates the lineup. As impressive as this introductory range is, the centerpiece Credo Sémillon and Malbec bottlings are in another league, each beautifully exemplifying the richly textured, vinous pedigree of which the Uco Valley is capable.
Amaranthe Chinon
$31.99
Bernard Baudry is unquestionably one of Chinon’s most outstanding producers. Not only does he have the talent to make delicious and consistent wines, vintage to vintage, but he is also fortunate enough to have vineyard land that showcases many of the varied soil types of the appellation. After completing his studies at the viticultural school in Beaune, Bernard returned to the Loire Valley to consult in Tours. By 1975, he had purchased his first two hectares of land in Cravant-les-Coteaux, a village from which almost half of the production of A.O.C. Chinon is sourced. Over the years, the domaine has grown to twenty-five hectares. The Baudrys are staunch traditionalists, and you would have a hard time finding a Chinon more classic than theirs.
Duplessis Chablis 1er Montmains
$96.99
The 2017 Chablis Montmains 1er Cru has a crisp and taut, slighty austere bouquet that takes time to get warmed up in the glass, retaining those classic flint and smoke aromas. The palate is fresh and vibrant with a fine bead of acidity, touches of orange rind and dried apricot with a gentle, caressing finish that seems to just " wash over" the senses.
Organic farming and natural winemaking are not the first things to come to mind when thinking of Chablis. Industrial farming is commonplace, with chemical pesticides and mechanical harvesting in the vines and lab yeasts and other winemaking tricks in the cellar. There are, however, a few producers working against the norm, farming with respect for the earth and employing traditional methods in the cellar. Lilian Duplessis not only farms organically (certified as of the 2013 vintage), he continuously succeeds in making some of the most profound, energetic, and simply delicious wines that Chablis can offer.
Chablis is a region well-known for its unique Kimmeridgian soils. Light gray in colour (almost white, in fact) and limestone based, the soils formed around 150 million years ago. These soils are rich with Exogyra virgule – tiny oyster fossils from when the region was underwater, which give a sharp, mineral aspect to these famed wines.
Lilian is the second generation of vignerons to farm 9 hectares of old vines planted by his father, Gérard, and produces wines from the Village level as well as some of the most prestigious Premier and Grand Cru vineyard sites. His philosophy for working in harmony with the earth translates to how he works in the cellar: native yeast fermentations, long lees ageing in stainless steel tank followed by a six-to-eighteen month (depending on the vintage) elévage in neutral oak barrels before being bottled with a minimal addition of sulphur.
These are powerful wines that are built for ageing and will reward patient cellaring.
Dagueneau Pouilly Fume L' Odyssee Cuvee
$79.99
This domaine has expanded considerably since the time Serge Dagueneau took on his handful of hectares. Today, there are 23 hectares of vines, of which 18 hectares are dedicated to Sauvignon Blanc in the Pouilly-Fumé appellation. Many of the vines are ancient, with some up to one hundred years old. Most of these vines are planted on Kimmeridgian marl, one of the classic terroirs of the Pouilly-Fumé and Pouilly-sur-Loire appellations. He is the nephew of the late Didier Dagueneau, a legend in the wine world. The L'Odyssee is their flagship wine, a stunning example of Pouilly-Fume.
From The Producer
"Along the roman road of Pouilly-sur-Loire, the vineyards of Les Chailloux present a beautiful vein of flint which gave Valérie the idea to express the vividness and the purity of this terroir. Vinification takes place in an ovoid concrete vat referred to as “the egg”, in order to enhance and embellish the fresh richness of this cuvée. L’Odyssée, an invitation to a journey and a reference to her son Ulysse…"
Peregrins Chablis
$56.99
Eléonore Moreau Chablis comes from the small, picturesque village of Poilly-sur-Serein, located 15 minutes away from the the town of Chablis. Within this village, Eléonore is the only winemaker to commercialize and bottle her wine (only about 15% of her production is bottled for export), and we are so glad she decided to share her wines with the world! This Chablis is a remarkable wine for the price point. It is elegant and refined; Notes of yellow apple, lemon, lime and expressive minerality! A fantastic wine to pair with delicate seafood, goat cheese and cucumber salad.
Paul Zinck Gewurztraminer
$36.99
Paul Zinck's wines have always been synonymous with great value and his Gewurz is no exception. This is a family owned winery in the small Alsace village of Eguisheim, just south of Colmar. Respect for the environment is part of the ethic of the Zinck family. For that reason, the winery is heading progressively towards organic agriculture on nearly all of the surface area. Today, the vines are grown respecting a belief in sustainable production, along with organic and biodynamic agricultural methods. In the Vineyard, the growth of natural grasses is encouraged in order to get the deepest root growth from the vines and also to deal with extreme weather conditions. The expression of the soil and the flavours it provides is optimal.
Alois Lageder Dolomiti Pinot Grigio
$28.99
The Alois Lageder winery in Alto Adige comprises fifty-five hectares of the family's own vineyards, which are managed on the basis of biodynamic principles. Their roots go back to 1823 when the young craftsman Johann Lageder set himself up as a wine merchant in Bolzano. His successors started to produce their own wines and acquired a number of vineyards. Alois III, the great-grandson of the founder of the business, saw the variety of climate zones in Alto Adige as one of the region’s strengths and in 1934 purchased the Löwengang wine estate in Magrè, in the southern part of Alto Adige. Soon smaller winegrowers also began to supply him with grapes. When Alois III died unexpectedly in 1963, Alois IV was only 12 years old. His wife Christiane and his eldest daughter Wendelgard accordingly managed the inheritance on an interim basis. Then, since the middle of the 1970s, Alois IV - together with his sister and her husband and oenologist Luis von Dellemann – set about repositioning the winery with a strict focus on quality and innovative methods in the vineyard and cellar. Today, the 50-hectare family-owned vineyards are farmed biodynamically.
Eleonore Moreau Chablis Magnum
$114.99
Eleonore Moreau's family had been farming grapes from their vineyards in Chablis since the 1980s and in 2011 she made the decision to produce their own wines rather than selling the fruit to other producers. There's a classic Chablis purity that runs through her wines, in part due to the Kimmeridgian limestone soils that are part of Chablis' claim to fame. Aged in stainless steel (without the influence of oak), the wines remain on their less for 12 - 18 months prior to bottling. The extended lees times lend them richness and complexity with the classic Chablis minerality at the forefront.