Paul Zinck Gewurztraminer Grand Cru
$50.99
91 points from Wine Spectator for the 2011 vintage of the Grand Cru Eichberg! The review: "A rich version, with a creamy palate of ripe green melon, spicy lychee, smoky mineral, candied ginger and orange zest notes. Lightly sweet, yet juicy and fresh, with a fine balance. Drink now through 2021. 500 cases made."
Felton Road Bannockburn Chardonnay
$78.99
Lovely nose of stonefruits, with lemon and a distinct mineral edge. The palate leads with nutty stonefruit, followed by crisp acid and cleansing minerality. Very rich and mouth-coating, yet with a bracing clean finish and plenty of grip. The tension is evident despite the riper flavors than one would normally see in this wine; certainly no sign of New World fatness. A wine with considerable ageing potential.
Pegasus Bay Sauvignon Blanc
$40.99
Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon make terrific blending partners. The tart and cheek pinching characteristics of the Sauvignon are tamed by the round and mellow flavors of the Semillon generally increasing the richness of the wine. This white, from the Canterbury region of NZ, offers aromas of passionfruit, melon and gooseberry. These are supported by savoury hints of roast capsicum (pepper) and aubergine. It is rich and concentrated in the mouth but retains a tight-knit, refined structure with a zesty, dry, crisp finish. Enjoy this charmer with grilled prawns, pasta and seafood, or grilled oysters.
Duplessis Chablis 1er Montmains
$96.99
The 2017 Chablis Montmains 1er Cru has a crisp and taut, slighty austere bouquet that takes time to get warmed up in the glass, retaining those classic flint and smoke aromas. The palate is fresh and vibrant with a fine bead of acidity, touches of orange rind and dried apricot with a gentle, caressing finish that seems to just " wash over" the senses.
Organic farming and natural winemaking are not the first things to come to mind when thinking of Chablis. Industrial farming is commonplace, with chemical pesticides and mechanical harvesting in the vines and lab yeasts and other winemaking tricks in the cellar. There are, however, a few producers working against the norm, farming with respect for the earth and employing traditional methods in the cellar. Lilian Duplessis not only farms organically (certified as of the 2013 vintage), he continuously succeeds in making some of the most profound, energetic, and simply delicious wines that Chablis can offer.
Chablis is a region well-known for its unique Kimmeridgian soils. Light gray in colour (almost white, in fact) and limestone based, the soils formed around 150 million years ago. These soils are rich with Exogyra virgule – tiny oyster fossils from when the region was underwater, which give a sharp, mineral aspect to these famed wines.
Lilian is the second generation of vignerons to farm 9 hectares of old vines planted by his father, Gérard, and produces wines from the Village level as well as some of the most prestigious Premier and Grand Cru vineyard sites. His philosophy for working in harmony with the earth translates to how he works in the cellar: native yeast fermentations, long lees ageing in stainless steel tank followed by a six-to-eighteen month (depending on the vintage) elévage in neutral oak barrels before being bottled with a minimal addition of sulphur.
These are powerful wines that are built for ageing and will reward patient cellaring.
Peregrins Moreau Chablis Sur Vaucorme
$68.99
Eléonore Moreau is not only the only female bottler in the tiny village of Poilly sur Serein, but the only bottler, period - all other producers instead sell their fruit to the Chablisienne. Low yields in 2019 threatened Moreau's production, but they did not prevent her from releasing this truly transcendent vintage of her flagship Petit Chablis. With the ultimate goal of avoiding intervention in order to allow the Petit Chablis to speak for itself, Pérégrinations is a tour-de-force with amble richness and depth.
Marto Wines Weiss
$47.99
Marto Wörner burst on the scene after learning with natural wine royalty Gut Oggau and Matassa. He works his wines organically in the Rheinhessen, the largest of Germany’s 13 quality wines regions known for acid-driven and precise Muller Thurgau and Riesling. Here Marto leaves these classic grapes on their skins a touch longer for added texture and flavour. A complete non-interventionalist, this is made from native yeast with no filing and filtration and no added sulphur.
Blue Mountain Pinot Gris
$37.99
Blue Mountain is the wild and respected territory of which the Mavety family are blessed to be the guardians. As a family business with a strong connection to the South Okanagan site, the goal of Blue Mountain Vineyard and Cellars is to realize the potential of the individual sites of the land in which the grapes are grown. Overlooking and tending, the Mavety’s life work is an ongoing process of creating something simple yet powerful, to be expressed in the glass and enjoyed. The philosophy of Blue Mountain is to focus on the potential of each variety, continually improving its range across Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gamay Noir, and Traditionnelle Methode sparkling wine.
Blue Mountain’s strong focus on viticulture across the site allows for an increased representation of individual terroir when the grapes reach the winery.
Meyer Gerwurztraminer
$27.99
Meyer is one of BC’s top wineries focusing on small premium Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Each wine reflects the single vineyard of its origin, the soil, the meso-climate, the aspect and the people that hand tend the vines. All wines are Hand-harvested and hand-crafted, with great attention to detail and minimal winemaking intervention. Meyer Family Vineyards wines are produced from two main vineyards, the 1.62-hectare “Old Main Road” vineyard on the Naramata Bench and the 6.9-hectare “McLean Creek Road” vineyard in Okanagan Falls
Corofin Chardonnay Brawn Vineyard
$49.99
Corofin is the artisan winemaking project of Mike and Anna Paterson, dialing into the details of Marlborough through small-batch, single block wines. Their ambition with all Corofin wines is to transmit a sense of place and season first, over fruit intensity or winemaking ambition. Their growers all farm with organic and/or biodynamic principles and it is their commitment to maintain the integrity of these practices through the winemaking process. Hand-harvesting and sorting, whole berry/cluster ferments, fermentation with Indigenous yeast, no fining nor filtration.