Garage Wine Co. Cinsault
$47.99
Contrary to what many wine labels champion, most old vineyards are neglected and for three simple reasons.
- too far from a paved road
- too small to fill a truck
- too narro
Contrary to what many wine labels champion, most old vineyards are neglected and for three simple reasons.
- too far from a paved road
- too small to fill a truck
- too
Garage Wine was literally started in a garage in 2001, by Etobicoke expat Derek Mossman and his wife Pilar Miranda. Since then, the dynamic duo handcraft wines from a series of individual vineyards located in the Maule and Itata Valleys, in the south of Santiago, Chile.
Garage Wine Co makes wines from a series of individual parcels, small lots/bottlings of 8-22 barrels that include a series of dry-farmed field blends of Carignan, Garnacha, Monastrell, País, Cinsault and Cab Franc grown on pre-phylloxera rootstock with small farmers in the Maule and Itata. Each wine is from a 1-2 hectare parcel in a different place. Over the years working in the community they have raised a veritable posse of vineyard hands whose skills are working the vineyards the old way / the traditional way, or as they say originario. The vineyards are on the old coastal range of mountains closer to the Pacific and have granitic soils with cracks for roots to get deep down into.
When GWCo. speaks of the provenance of these wines they mean more than just the geological terroir. Derek and Pilar think the farming practices that have evolved over generations have as much to do with the wines’ personalities as the soils. All the wines are made by hand with native yeasts in small tanks, punched down manually and pressed out in a small basket press. GWCo is still very much a DIY operation and we still tow much of the crop back to the winery in trailers behind trusty pickup trucks 2,000 kilos at a time narrow [between the rows] for a tractor to work gorgeous fruit, from age-old vines, simply passed over for not being efficient enough!
St Cosme Les Deux Albion
$41.99
In the heart of the appellation Gigondas, the Château de Saint Cosme is an exceptional estate, with its Gallo-Roman fermentation vats perfectly preserved. This fantastic historical site gives a good idea of how their ancestors, the Gallo-Romans, were living. The property has been in our family since 1490 and we have been vignerons for 14 generations. They have 15 hectares of old vines (average 60 years old) with a yield of around 27Hos/Ha. The terroir is homogeneous but it’s geologically very diverse as the Dentelles de Montmirail makes it very complicated. Saint Cosme is exceptionally located at the crossing of two geological faults, which is very rare. This gives them an extraordinary diversity of soils. The microclimate is cool and late ripening. Their Gigondas can be powerful and refined at the same time. The Saint Cosme’s Chapel, located in the heart of our vineyard is a pure example of Roman art. It was built in the XI and XII century. Purity, balance and beauty: the chapel is a witness of the medieval times and it gives an intense and special atmosphere to their vineyard.
Paolo Conterno Langhe Nebbiolo
$34.99
It all started way back in 1886 when Paolo Conterno founded the Casa della Ginestra, dedicated to the production of Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto wines. An indefatigable worker with a mind of great intuition, he devoted the most favourable parts of the Ginestra hillside to the growing of the grapes, subdividing them by type, exposure and terrain. Furthermore, he had the foresight to predict the existence of a market of connoisseurs of superior quality products, selling his own wine in wooden kegs and produced by himself in his own cellar. Paolo was succeeded by his son Carlo and his wife Giuseppina. The company was subsequently run by Paolo and Caterina Conterno and today the company is managed by their son Giorgio.
Roux St. Aubin V. V. Rouge
$55.99
Under the leadership of the 3rd and 4th generation, Marcel Roux and his son Christian, the family’s proprietary vineyard holdings have expanded to include more than 70 hectares located throughout the Côte d’Or, most extensively in the sub-region of Côte de Beaune. Today, Domaine Roux is one of the top 10 largest landholders in the region, wholly owned and operated by the 4th and 5th generations. Its vines are planted exclusively on eastern and southern-facing slopes, benefiting from premium exposures. Their vast holdings are comprised of varying soils. All grapes are harvested by hand at optimal ripeness and vinified in accordance with the appellation’s regulations. With steadfast attention to detail, Domaine Roux combines valuable traditions with the most advanced technology to produce a vast portfolio of terroir-driven, varietally accurate expressions of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir renowned for superior quality. Domaine Roux Pere & Fils was founded in 1885 with a mere 4 hectares in the village of Saint-Aubin in the heart of Burgundy, France.
Roux Hautes Cotes de Beaune Rouge
$47.99
Under the leadership of the 3rd and 4th generation, Marcel Roux and his son Christian, the family’s proprietary vineyard holdings have expanded to include more than 70 hectares located throughout the Côte d’Or, most extensively in the sub-region of Côte de Beaune. Today, Domaine Roux is one of the top 10 largest landholders in the region, wholly owned and operated by the 4th and 5th generations. Its vines are planted exclusively on eastern and southern-facing slopes, benefiting from premium exposures. Their vast holdings are comprised of varying soils. All grapes are harvested by hand at optimal ripeness and vinified in accordance with the appellation’s regulations. With steadfast attention to detail, Domaine Roux combines valuable traditions with the most advanced technology to produce a vast portfolio of terroir-driven, varietally accurate expressions of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir renowned for superior quality. Domaine Roux Pere & Fils was founded in 1885 with a mere 4 hectares in the village of Saint-Aubin in the heart of Burgundy, France.
Dalrymple Swansea Pinot Noir
$69.99
Tasmania's rugged coastal beauty and cool climate terrain first ignited a passionate pursuit to craft the perfect single-site wines back in 1987, well before the rest of the world caught on. Such inspired the founding of Dalrymple Vineyards on the sloping hills of Pipers River, overlooking Bass Strait. Since then, people around the world have fallen in love with the Tasmanian landscape, wild and breathtaking, and the finest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that thrives here. From every patch of land comes the demand for meticulous attention that, when granted, awards exceptional Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines perfectly reflective of the pristine beauty of every single site.
Pra Amarone Valpolicella
$146.99
Graziano Prà had a calling to become a vine grower, and it is a road he followed with commitment and honesty: from the family vineyards, managed by his grandfather and father, to his training as an oenologist. The true change came in the Eighties, when the establishment of the company f.lli Prà began to take place. The company was initially run by Graziano and his brother, who worked in the vineyard. In 2007, however, Graziano became the sole owner, under his direction the company grew and the territories – Monte Grande (the company cru), Monte Bisson in Soave, and Morandina in Valpolicella – became more important. Today they are in the top tier of wines from the Veneto, second (or third) only to Quintarelli and Dal Forno.
Rockford Grenache Mataro 2019
$64.99
Rockford Wines feature high-quality traditional wines made from some of the best old Barossa vineyards. The winery and cellar door sales are part of a paved courtyard surrounded by stone buildings dating back to the early settlement of Krondorf. Founder and winemaker Robert O'Callaghan is a legend among Aussie winemakers and his wines have had a profound influence on winemaking philosophy and wine style in the Barossa. In addition to the small home vineyard, Rockford works in partnership with several independent wine growers around the Barossa, with vineyards in Kalimna, Ebenezer, Moppa Springs, the Eden Valley and central Barossa. This gives Rockford a wide variety of soil types, mesoclimates and altitudes for its grapes. Many of the vines are planted on their own rootstocks and range between 60–100 years old, giving intense, concentrated grapes that translate into the wines. Winemaking is largely done using traditional methods such as basket presses, open-topped concrete fermenters and an 1880s Bagshaw (grape) crusher that was found on site when O'Callaghan purchased the property in the 1970s.
Becker Family Pinot Noir
$43.99
We sourced these wines a year ago after reading the rave reviews from numerous publications, in Germany and beyond. The Pinot Noirs are prized and will give Burgundy fans a solid alternative.
The Becker family owns more than 30 hectares and produces over 12,000 cases annually. Positioned on the very border with France in the town of Schweigen, the Beckers have witnessed that border shifting throughout history. Today, they have vineyards on both the French and German sides, at the edge of the Palatinate (Pfalz) forest—with 50 percent of their land situated on the French side in Alsace.
The soils in the area are composed of deep layers of shell limestone, with various topsoils, which in combination with the region’s mild climate, provide the ideal growing conditions for Spätburgunder. Hence, the logical focus is on the variety. As one of the pioneers, Fritz Becker Sr. was also one of the first winemakers in the region to mature his Spätburgunder in barriques.
Their most prestigious vineyard is Kammerberg, a steep single vineyard on deep marl and limestone near Wissembourg, recovered by Fritz Sr. in 1967. The old vines are mostly German clones and some French and grow on deep marl lime soils that produce powerful but also refined, mineral-driven Pinot Noirs (it is all about the dirt here!); St. Paul cultivated here in the 14th century by the Cistercians of Wissembourg, which had since become overgrown but the Beckers uprooted trees and bushes in early 2000 and planted Spätburgunder; and Sonnenberg, with poor limestone soils ideal for growing Riesling.