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
Andreola Bolle Spumante Extra Dry
$24.99
A fantastic dry sparkling wine from Italy's Andreola Orsola. Located in Col San Martino, a hamlet in the province of Treviso situated in the hills of the production zone for Prosecco di Valdobbiadene, this crisp sipper is made from 100% Glera, an ancient grape used in the production of Prosecco. Serve slightly chilled; it makes a wonderful aperitif and will pair with a variety of simple appetizers, including smoked salmon, shrimp and scallops.
Hansel North Slope Pinot Noir 2021
$79.99
The North and South Slope vineyards of Hansel face each other, side by side, but show very different characteristics despite their proximity. The North Slope's Pinot Noir plantings are from clone 115. Stephen Hansel states "...115 exhibits the most fruit-driven flavors and appears more "New World" then French." This is might be the most expressive of the Pinot range, a lush, plush wine with notes of cherry, cranberry, spice and forest floor. It's a great example of Burgundy meets California, in other words the best of both worlds. The vibrant acidity will allow it to age gracefully for another decade but it's hard to resist right now.
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
Quintarelli Amarone 2015
$559.99
A must for collectors and fine wine lovers! Quintarelli produces its Amarone only in exceptional vintages, and in doing so, crafts the benchmark for all Amarone. Giuseppe Quintarelli passed away in 2012, and the estate now rests in the capable hands of his wife and children. "The 2007 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico was bottled seven months before I tasted it. Grapes undergo a four-month appassimento for extra concentration and intensity. Despite this heavy-handed winemaking technique (in which the clusters lose up to 30% of their water mass in the air-drying process), this is a surprisingly delicate and nuanced wine. The ageing process has definitely broken down and assimilated any of the hard edges that come from dried grapes. In its wake, the wine is polished and tight with a long, silky texture." Monica Larner from Wine Advocate