San Leonardo 2020
$179.99
At San Leonardo they consider the family’s first real winemaker to be Carlo Guerrieri Gonzaga, who was trained not only to produce great wine but also to manage the family's viticultural endeavours. With Bordeaux at the forefront, he was encouraged to pursue his healthy curiosity for the world’s great wines. This interest led to his decision to study oenology in Lausanne and to deepen his knowledge with research trips to France and Tuscany. The latter was where, on the San Guido property of Sassacaia, he began the long, endearing partnership with Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, who revealed all the secrets of the Bordeaux blend to Carlo and became his “oenological godfather”. Giacomo Tachis served as their consulting winemaker for many years before turning that job over to Carlo Ferrini, and in the Italian wine world, it doesn't get any better than those two. The wine is a brilliant ruby red with attractive depth. The aromas are alcohol and fruit-rich when the wine is young, mellowing with bottle aging into ripe plum fruit layered over a faintly grassy background note. Dry, soft and well-balanced on the palate, it reveals a pleasing bitterish twist in the finish. Ideal with rice and pasta in tomato or meat sauces, and filled pasta, as well as grilled meats, poultry, white meats and soft cheeses.
Leeu Passant Cabernet
$59.99
In 2013, husband and wife team Chris and Andrea Mullineux (they own the Mullineux winery in Swartland that they founded in 2007) partnered with Analjit Singh (BAS) and started the Leeu Passant winery on Analjit’s stunning Leeu Estates in Franschhoek. Leeu Passant is focused on expressing the South African landscape and climate as well as celebrating South African winemaking and viticultural heritage by working with some of the Cape’s oldest and most exciting vineyards.
The Mullineuxs set out with a shared vision to create fine wines that reflect the distinct terroir of the area while embracing reasoned, sustainable farming practices and modern minimalist winemaking. This stellar South African Cabernet Sauvignon is harvested from three vineyards in some of the cooler parts of the Stellenbosch region. The wine naturally ferments and is aged for 20 months in 500-litre French oak casks (30% new) before bottling. If you're looking for a substitute for a really good bottle of Napa cab, this fits the bill.
This stellar South African Cabernet Sauvignon is harvested from three vineyards in some of the cooler parts of the Stellenbosch region. The wine naturally ferments and is aged for 20 months in 500-litre French oak casks (30% new) before bottling. Pair with aged Gouda or Cheddar, steak, venison, or lamb.
Seghesio Barolo Ginestra 2021
$139.99
Renzo Seghesio has worn many shoes, farmer and winemaker, cartographer and former mayor of Monforte d’Alba: upon studying winemaking in Alba, Renzo has received a master's degree in biology from the University of Turin and, since returning to Monforte in the 1960s and founding his winery, his intent and focus have been dedicated to the single goal of growing and selecting the best possible fruit from the unique terroir of the family parcels.
Since 1968 Renzo has gone from making his first wine in his family's garage to producing over 70.000 bottles per year from the own-grown grapes of the family estates currently spanning over 14 hectares of land
La Colliere Cotes du Rhone Blanc
$29.99
Domaine La Colliere is a small negociant located within Rasteau, Southern Rhone. They produce an array of wines which are lucky to have had a chance to put them on our shelves. This particular wine is a white blend of Greanche Blanc and Clairette, two grapes native to the region. The wines is expressive, with notes of hot stones, yellow fruits, citrus zest and a touch of toast. A great wine to pair with lobster, scallops, or Mediterranean cuisine. A KWM exclusive!
Le Grand Verdus Reserve Blanc
$56.99
This Bordeaux white is produced entirely from Sémillon, from 80-year-old vines, a rarity in Bordeaux. There is an intriguing bouquet of tropical fruit aromas with delicate floral notes. Hints of honey and almonds add a velvety texture, while a subtle minerality underscores the wine's elegance.
In 1973, Philippe Le Grix de la Salle left the Créon cooperative and started up his winery. This was the birth of Grand Verdus as a wine Château in the classic Bordeaux mould. Under the courtyard of the 400-year-old structure are the wine cellars. At the same time, some Premiers Grand Crus Classés of the Médoc are also developed. With the help of Emile Peynaud, a famous professor at the Faculty of Oenology of Bordeaux and “mentor” of Philippe Le Grix de la Salle, a modern Bordeaux Château is born.
Greenock Creek Alices Shiraz
$71.99
Thrust into the international wine spotlight thanks to an unmatched eight perfect 100-point scores from the world’s leading wine publication, The Wine Advocate, Greenock Creek remains the proud standard-bearer for long-lived Barossa Valley red wines of deep colour, abundant flavour and great structure.
Their vineyards are situated in the sub-regions of Seppeltsfield, Marananga and Moppa located along the Barossa Valley’s western edge and are some of the oldest vines in the world. Thin, sandy loam topsoils lie sparsely scattered over ancient deposits of bluestone, marble stone, limestone, quartz and ironstone. Rainfall is limited, often to less than 400 millimetres a year falling through winter and early spring. Subsurface clay retains valuable moisture, sustaining the vines through the long, warm and dry summers and autumns. The perfect, low-disease-pressure conditions in which to grow small, healthy bunches of compact, flavour-packed berries.
Two Alices' are better than one! Alice's vineyard and the Shiraz it grows takes its name a mother and an aunt of Greenock Creek's owners Annabelle and Michael Waugh: Annabelle's mom and Michael's favourite aunt. Alices Shiraz is one of the iconic big reds in Greenock Creek's portfolio and is also the winery's largest vineyard with a total area of 15 acres. The vines on the site were planted in 1997.
Carlisle Alicante Bouschet
$74.99
In the last 20 years, Carlisle has bottled Alicante Bouschet only four times – 2004, 2013, 2016, and now, with this vintage, 2021. While the variety is one of their favourites for blending, providing ample colour and adding a bit of complexity, it can fall short as a complete wine, but in these particular vintages, every component is in place, a beautiful nose, delicious flavours, and a long finish. Aged in all neutral oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Tasting Note: Black as a moonless night deep in a bamboo forest (trust us, that’s black!) Blackberries and boysenberries abound in the deep, concentrated aromas. A touch of dark earth as well. Medium-full to full-bodied with plenty of fresh blackberry, ample acidity and suave tannins. While there is plenty of fruit to this wine, it is by no means jammy thanks to its low pH and high TA. This will age well.
Burgos Porta Mas Sinen Coster
$78.99
Mas Sinen is the name of the 15 hectares of organic vineyards and winery run by Poboleda native Salvador Burgos, a man of incredible energy and enthusiasm. Situated on a steep hillside outside the village, where only mules, not machines, work the land, Mas Sinen produces 4 wines, some from rare pre-phylloxera grapes which yield tiny quantities of juice. His friend, Sergi Mendez shows us around, explaining the mineral-rich content of the water that trickles down the hills through the llicorella soil is potable. “We try to put our terroir into the bottle,” says Burgos. The yield is so tiny, that 2 vines yield no more than a glass of wine. The grey stone-faced winery is small but old, boasting of basket-presses ranged alongside steel tanks. In the tasting room, we taste the 2018 Mas Sinen. It is still a baby, Burgos declares, “It will be ready in 2021, after 6 months in barrel.” Burgos’ wines are ageworthy, but he shrugs this away with “Yes, it can age. But wine is made to be enjoyed, and because Priorat production is so small, its wines are rarely aged. They are drunk very quickly.”
Mayu Pedro Ximenez
$19.99
This may be the only Pedro Ximenez grown in Chile, and it's unclear if it's the same PX as in Spain (responsible for the sweet style of Sherry). The vines are grown on decomposed granite, quartz-rich soils, and might be the highest vineyard in Chile. Unlike the Spanish versions, the wine is fermented fully dry, and the wines tend to keep good freshness and moderate alcohol. It offers appealing floral and fruit aromas, with flavours balanced by fresh acidity, minerality and a long finish. It would be great with shellfish, paella and other seafood.