Dumangin Cuvee 17 3L Double Magnum
$424.99
A grower-producer in the heart of Chigny-les-Rose, Giles Dumangin has champagne coursing through his veins. Dating back to the 1650's, the Dumangin's have always worked with the vines of Champagne, but it wasn't until 1890 when Hippolyte Dumangin created Champagne Dumangin in the 1er Cru vineyards of Chigny-les-Roses. Five generations later, Champagne Dumangin is producing an array of wines, from their classic feminine style to their newer, high-end cuvees. This Cuvee 17 is (almost) an equal blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, and is one of their newest additions to their line. Cuvee 17 is a natural style champagne, but this is serious wine! With 33% of the bottle consisting of reserve wine, it creates a fierce complexity and opulent notes of elderflower, banana, lemon cream and hints of brioche. Perfect as an aperitif, with appetizers or with fresh seafood.
Taylor Fladgate 2003 Vintage Port
$289.99
The 2003 vintage: Winter preceding the 2003 harvest was very wet. Flowering took place in bright warm weather at the end of May in some of the best conditions seen for several years. The first two weeks of August provided the intense summer heat which often precedes a great Port vintage. The picking season in September was warm and dry and the yields were even across all grape varieties, ensuring balance and complexity in the wines.
The 2003 Vintage Port is an absolute blockbuster, which according to Robert Parker, ‘will proudly stand shoulder to shoulder with the finest ever crafted by Taylor Fladgate.’
Castell`in Villa Chianti 1971
$659.99
Castell’in Villa is one of the most historic estates in Chianti Classico. Princess Coralia Pignatelli della Leonessa and her husband found the property in 1967 and purchased it the following year. Initially, Princess Coralia and her husband thought they would make wine for fun. Her father, a Greek aristocrat, demurred at the thought of his daughter becoming a peasant. At the time, there was just one hectare under vine, but planting began in earnest in 1968 following the suggestions of the Chianti Classico Consorzio, which included the white grapes that ended up being used for the first vintages.
Taylor Fladgate 50 Year Tawny Port
$419.99
Taylor Fladgate is launching a 50 Year Old Tawny Port, in place of the the 50 year old Single Harvest Ports we've been getting for the last decade. 97pts Robert Parker
Producer Description
"After half a century in cask, this exceptional wine has reached its ‘Golden Age’ of maturity, the point at which it achieves perfect balance, a magical complexity and a seductive smoothness and density. Notes of scorched pineapple, passion fruit and lychee balance beautifully with the toasted coconut, almonds and butterscotch. The texture and weight of the wine wraps the palate and finishes bright, fresh and poised. The wine lingers for an eternity, beckoning you in for more."
Roederer Cristal
$519.90
Wonderful, just wonderful! And the critics agree, too! Robert Parker's Wine Advocate gave this beauty 93 points. The review: "Roederer’s 2006 Brut Cristal is striking in its sense of lift and delicacy, serving as one of many instances where those bringing preconceptions of this vintage’s warmth and ripeness of fruit to their experience may be pleasantly surprised. A nose of fresh apple, fennel and cucumber sets up associations with a slaw or salad that are crisply, lusciously and refreshingly redeemed on the palate. A garland of honeysuckle and heliotrope complements subtle suggestions of raw almond and vanilla, while alkaline and iodine notes as well as cooling but pungent green herbal notes add to the soothing yet stimulating finish. This exceptionally poised, refined, and buoyant performance is apt to gain depth with a few years’ bottle age."
Dominus Napa Cabernet 2019
$574.99
The Dominus Napanook vineyard is nestled in a natural amphitheatre at the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains on the west side of the Napa Valley. Fed by winter rains, its underground springs flow through ancient riverbeds and provide a natural supply of water to its grapevines, allowing them to develop deep roots which in turn allow them to dry farm. It was here, in 1838, that George Yount planted Napa Valley’s very first vines. In 1983, Christian Moueix - of Chateau Petrus fame -began producing Dominus from this historic Napanook vineyard in Yountville, and within a short period of time, it has risen to become one of the most sought-after and highly awarded wines in Napa Valley.
Confuron Gindre Vosne Romanee
$149.99
Highly collectable and age-worthy Pinot Noir from one of the most prestigious sites in Burgundy.
Clerget Volnay
$174.99
The 2019 Clerget Volnay is matured in 20% new oak and is completely de-stemmed. It offers darker fruit compared to the Volnay Village with raspberry wild strawberry and cranberry. Hints of briary and sous-bois develop in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with a vibrant element of blood orange suffusing the bright red fruit with a slightly chalky textured finish. Very good tension throughout this Volnay that should give 15-20 years of drinking pleasure. (Drink between 2022-2040).
Sassicaia 2022
$447.99
From a previous vintage:
In the 1920s the Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta dreamt of creating a ‘thoroughbred’ wine and for him, as for all the aristocracy of the time, the ideal was Bordeaux. This is how he described it in a letter to the esteemed wine critic, Luigi Veronelli dated 11 June 1974:
“…the origins of my experiment date back to the years between 1921 and 1925 when, as a student in Pisa and often a guest of the Salviati Dukes in Migliarino, I drank a wine produced from one of their vineyards…which had the same unmistakable “bouquet” as an aged Bordeaux….”
In the 1940s, having settled with his wife Clarice on the Tenuta San Guido on the Tyrrhenian coast, he experimented with several French grape varieties (whose cuttings he had recovered from the estate of the Dukes Salviati in Migliarino) and concluded that the Cabernet had "the bouquet I was looking for."
A wine made mainly from Cabernet Sauvignon was a fundamental change to the Tuscan and Piedmont tradition of Sangiovese and Nebbiolo, respectively. The innovative decision to plant this variety at Tenuta San Guido was partly due to the similarity Mario Incisa had noted between Tuscan terrain and that of Graves in Bordeaux.
‘Graves’, or ‘gravel’ in French refers to the rocky terrain which distinguishes the Bordeaux area; similarly, the gravely vineyard sites in Tuscany impart the same characteristics on Sassicaia, "stony ground", as its cherished French brother.
The Marchese's first vintages were not warmly received. Critics accustomed to light, local wines were not encouraging; it was not taken into consideration that wines made from the more complex Cabernet Sauvignon grape would need more time to mature and develop.
And thus from 1948 to 1967, Sassicaia remained a strictly private affair, only to be consumed at Tenuta San Guido.
Each year, a few cases were stored to age in the Castiglioncello di Bolgheri cellar. The Marchese soon realized that by ageing the wine it improved considerably.
Friends and relatives now urged Mario Incisa to experiment further with his project and perfect his revolutionary winemaking style. It was not until 1968 that Sassicaia was first commercially released – the welcome was worthy of a Bordeaux Premier Cru.
Over the next few years, the cellar was moved to a temperature-controlled location, steel fermentation vats replaced wooden vats, and French barriques were introduced to the aging process.
Tenuta San Guido's newest release is the 2021 Bolgheri Sassicaia.
"This is a classic vintage of an Italian icon now celebrating its 50th vintage. The Tenuta San Guido 2018 Bolgheri Sassicaia lays out a familiar blueprint that borrows from the proven track record of this landmark estate that extends into the hills just beyond the Tyrrhenian shores of Tuscany. This vintage is crystalline and pure in its delivery, and if you are familiar with previous editions, it is impossible to mistake this wine for anything but Sassicaia.
The growing season started off cool and wet but turned to warm and dry conditions comfortably before the harvest. Cabernet Sauvignon with Cabernet Franc in a supporting role deliver a graceful mid-weight texture that holds back style-wise in terms of phenolic density. The wine's careful balance is achieved thanks to the nuanced character of the fruit, the present acidity, the well-managed structure and the contained alcohol. The palate is lifted and bright, the finish is polished and long, and the wine skips over any heaviness on the mid-palate. The bouquet is especially intriguing with a very lively plummy fruit element that is enhanced by baker's chocolate, pepper spice, iron ore, caramel and pie crust. There is also a green character that adds positively to the bouquet with aniseed, tea leaf, soya, menthol rub and black olive. The fruit maturity is spot-on with no elements that feel over or underripe. Overall, the 2018 Sassicaia weighs in with a svelte frame and long persistence. Moreover, it is distinguished by the archetypal elegance and pedigree of the classic vintages of the past. This new release gives you much pleasure to await."
- Robert Parker - 100 Points