Lamadrid Malbec Matilde
$79.99
Hector and Pablo Durigutti were born in Mendoza, the cradle of Argentinian wine and were raised together. Their childhood and their home were always connected to a sensorial world, with aromas, ingredients and flavours that, over time, motivated them to choose the path to become enologists. As adults, they would find these familiar memories and similar passions. In 2002 they dedicated their efforts to the creation of a small family winey. Today the brothers have evolved to form a new generation of winemakers, leading an evolutionary change in Argentina’s viticulture. Their range includes the value-driven Abeja wines and the upper-tier Las Compuertas offerings produced from the oldest vineyard sites.
Matilde is the flagship wine of this up-and-coming Argentine venture and precious little is produced. Sourced from the same estate vineyard with vines dating back to 1929, Matilde spends 24 months in new French oak. This loaded effort displays more obvious (but well-integrated) oak. This is an unctuous and silky red with a long finish. In the nose, aromas of vanilla, white chocolate, mocha, and tobacco combine with ripened fruit, blackcurrant, and plum. Food pairings? Big red meats!
Ata Rangi Crimson Pinot Noir
$54.99
In Te Reo Māori, Ata Rangi means “dawn sky” or “new beginning”. It is a name that honours their land and reflects the work they do here. Making wine is all about working in sync with the changing seasons and conditions on the land. They strive to craft wines that capture the essence of Martinborough, Aotearoa-New Zealand. They are a small, family-owned organic winery with a reputation for pinot noir, located at the southern end of the North Island. Ata Rangi was founded by Clive Paton in 1980. The first vines were planted on a small, stony sheep paddock at the edge of the Martinborough Village. Clive’s sister Alison bought an adjoining block soon after and in 1986 Clive’s partner Phyll Pattie bought a share in the business after moving from Marlborough where she had been working as a winemaker. 40 years on, they continue to work diligently to nurture Ata Rangi’s enviable reputation as one of the new world’s most respected pinot noir producers. Today, Alison Paton heads up the day-to-day running of the business, with Helen Masters crafting the wines aided by the vital stewardship of vineyard manager Ian Ewart.
While the Crimson may be Ata Rangi's second label Pinot, it is superior to other wineries' top bottles made from the heartbreak grape! A terrific Pinot Noir from one of New Zealand's wine-making pioneers, a guy who sets the benchmark for quality. Always a top scorer with the critics, too! "A winery that needs no introduction for NZ Pinot lovers, there’s not much for me to add about the long-serving, dedicated team behind Ata Rangi – they just go from strength to strength," according to Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. "The Pinots have always been great!"
Coca i Fito Maragda
$41.99
A Kensington Wine Market exclusive, and fantastic value for a wine from Montsant, one of Spain's top wine regions!
Montsant (where the Coca i Fito brothers winery is situated), is a remarkably beautiful region with steep mountains that rise more than 3,300 feet above sea level. The climate is harsh: hot summers and bitter winters.The vines are planted directly on the steep hillsides, on what are called "costers" or terraces. This red wine from DO Montsant is crafted from carefully selected grapes of old vines, primarily grown on clay-limestone soils. Aged in oak barrels, the result is a wine with a marked identity—elegant, balanced, round, and smooth. It is a wine with character, filled with nuances, yet subtly refined. Fresh, fruity, and powerful, this is a wine to savour. A blend of 55% Red Grenache, 25% Carignan, and 20% Syrah .
Bassus Pinot Noir
$54.99
Yes, Pinot Noir from Spain. Check it out — it's fantastic. If it had a Russian River Valley appellation on the label, this thoroughly modern Pinot Noir would sell for a lot more than it does! You'll love its rich earthy full-blown Pinot character. Utiel-Requena is the Spanish wine region immediately east of Manchuela, a large growing area that is smack-dab in the centre of Spain. Pinot does well here due to the higher altitude which equates to a cooler climate, one best suited to the grape. Bassus is big in style and very satisfying. A Kensington Wine Market exclusive! Enjoy with seared duck breast, fois gras, creamy cheese or roasted chicken.
Kay Brothers Block 6 Shiraz 2019
$116.99
This historic McLaren Vale winery began producing wine in 1895, vinifying 9,000 litres of a (mostly) dry red blend, destined for export to Britain. During the 1890s they built the first part of the winery consisting of a crusher, fermenting tanks, press and storage tanks, most of which still stands today. By 1910 they had 35 acres in production. Export to Britain of dry red blends, mostly made from Grenache, Mataro and Shiraz, steadily grew. In 1906 they started buying grapes to increase production.
Fast forward to the beginning of the 21st century. Stelvin caps replaced corks, overseas trade of bottled wine expanded, the Basket Press varietal range was established and two of their icon wines, the Cuthbert Cabernet and Hillside Shiraz, became two of the most collectible wines in Australia. Block 6 is a blockbuster of a wine built for the long haul
Passenger Napa Cabernet
$95.99
Exclusive to KWM - and 90 points from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. The review for the 2012 vintage: "TThis blend of 84% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest equal parts Merlot and Petit Verdot is made by Realm’s fabulous winemaker, Benoit Touquette. The opaque ruby/purple-colored 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced mainly from Oakville vineyards, exhibits notes of baking spices, toast, blackcurrants and blackberries. Medium to full-bodied, round and juicy, it is best drunk over the next decade or more."
Leonetti Cabernet
$213.99
Leonetti was founded by Gary and Nancy Figgins, in 1977 as Walla Walla’s first commercial winery. What is far less understood is that the presence of this family in Walla Walla spans over a century-long into the deep silt loam of this valley. Gary was incredibly fortunate to know his grandparents, Francesco and Rosa Leonetti, and grew up making weekend trips the short distance down the old dirt road to the Leonetti farm they established in 1906. This is the same site where, with a few cuttings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Riesling, Gary would come to plant his first commercial vineyard in 1974 and unknowingly establish an entire industry for our valley. Building off the inspiration he gleaned from his grandfather’s bubbling fermentations on the farm’s dirt floor basement, the only logical thing to do to honour his family’s roots would be to name the winery Leonetti Cellar. Through these experiences, Gary and his son acquired a certain perspective and reverence for our family heritage that guides them to this day. The wine has become the benchmark for Washington Cabernet, capable of aging for 20 years or more.
Basilio Izquierdo B de Basilio Tinto
$87.99
The B de Basilio Red displays a brilliant, purple-hued ruby color. This suave, fruit encased red is brightly fragrant. Rich scents of black cherry and strawberry immediately greet you on the nose, followed by hints of clay and loam. The attack is supple, silky and juicy with additional notes of blackberry and raspberry. Fine, creamy oak tones emerge, adding roundness to the supple mouthfeel. Seamlessly integrated acidity and very fine ripe tannins provide structure. The long finish is capped by soft hints of spice and chewy strawberry.
Basilio Izquierdo is a truly iconic Rioja winemaker, responsible for dozens of true classics that bring Rioja aficionados to tears, such as the great 'Imperial' and 'Viña Real' Gran Reservas of the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, and the mythic Contino ’82 Reserva. In 2006, after more than 32 years as head winemaker at CVNE, he started his own personally inspired winery, Bodegas Basilio Izquierdo in a garage style cooperative winery space in the town of Laguardia within the Rioja Alavesa sub-zone of Rioja. His goal: to explore some of the lost art of Rioja winemaking in conjunction with his knowledge of the latest techniques and materials. In that first year his white wine production consisted of one new French oak barrel. Since then he has expanded to an annual production of about 5000 bottles of barrel aged red and 700 bottles of barrel fermented white.
Basilio's understanding of many of the lost traditions of Rioja form the basis for his methods and philosophy. He uses only grapes from old vine vineyards planted with massally selected vines pre-dating modern clones, which contributes to their character and complexity. Masal selection involves using a vineyard's existing plant material when replanting, thus maintaining the genetic heritage of the vineyard. Honouring earlier traditions, he employs more Garnacha in the Red and Garnacha Blanca in the White, which lend a juicy, fruity suppleness to the Red and rich tropical notes to the White, respectively. However, underneath their fruit laden exteriors these wines offer beautiful and harmonious structure that makes them worthy of long aging.
Heartland Shiraz Langhorne Creek
$22.99
The Heartland story began in the late 1990s when winemaker Ben Glaetzer became excited about the outstanding quality of fruit being grown in some of South Australia’s lesser-known regions, in particular Langhorne Creek.
Together with industry veterans Scott Collett, Grant Tilbroo, and more recently Nick Keukenmeester, they grew Heartland into an award-winning winery. Ben Glaetzer makes Heartland Wines at Barossa Vintners in Tanunda, South Australia, some 100 kilometres from Langhorne Creek. The winery was conceived as a state-of-the-art winemaking facility with the capacity to make wines for a core group of top-end producers whose fame and demand had grown beyond their winemaking capacities. Completed in 1995, Barossa Vintners was developed to make wines in the most natural possible way. The natural slope of the land allows the winery to be gravity fed and avoid a harsh pumping of the grapes juice (Ben also makes his range of Glaetzer wines at this facility, most famously his Amon-ra Shiraz). The growing conditions in Langhorne Creek are predominantly shaped by the onshore southerly winds blowing directly from the Southern Ocean across Lake Alexandrina. The prevailing southerlies reduce daytime temperature fluctuations, making it one of the cooler growing regions in South Australia