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| Product Name | Region | Qty | Score | Price | |||||
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Piedmont | 1 | 95 (VN) | $695.00 | |||||
Vinous (95)The 2017 Barbaresco Riserva Asili is a real stand out. It captures all the sensuality of the year while retaining the translucence and freshness of Nebbiolo. Rose petal, crushed red berry fruit, cinnamon and spice develop with a bit of coaxing. This is another gorgeous wine from the Produttori. Asili is widely regarded as one of the best vineyards in Barbaresco, maybe the best. This wine shows why. |
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Piedmont | 2 | 92+ (GS) | $133.00 | |||||
Greg Sherwood MW (92+)Produttori del Barbaresco makes its Langhe Nebbiolo with declassified Barbaresco fruit (often from parcels on lower slopes) so production volumes are notably reduced in the better vintages when more of the prime fruit finds its way into their delicious village Barbaresco DOCG or indeed one of the classy nine Cru Riservas. This young 2020 Nebbiolo certainly shows great promise with an immediately attractive array of aromatics that boast dark cherry, damson plum, sweet herbs, blood orange and a slight menthol top note. Always wonderfully intense and potent, the palate displays a medium bodied weight of red and black berry fruits, macerated strawberries and sweet cherries with an underlying cool, suave elegance and a fresh acid vitality. The finish is creamy and plush with soft plump tannins, subtle piquant black liquorice notes and a pure, weightless length. Delightfully streamlined and accessible, this 2020 continues a fine run of vintages for Produttori del Barbaresco. Drink from release and over 5 to 8 years. |
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Piedmont | 1 | - | $515.00 | |||||
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The collection case contains of one bottle each of:
More Info
1. 2017 Barbaresco Riserva Pora 2. 2017 Barbaresco Riserva Pajè 3. 2017 Barbaresco Riserva Ovello 4. 2017 Barbaresco Riserva Rio Sordo 5. 2017 Barbaresco Riserva Asili 6. 2017 Barbaresco Riserva Rabajà 7. 2017 Barbaresco Riserva Muncagota 8. 2017 Barbaresco Riserva Montefico 9. 2017 Barbaresco Riserva Montestefano |
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California | 1 | 99 (WA) | $1,885.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (99)The best wine so far (although I suspect the 2015 may ultimately enter the picture as well) is the nearly perfect 2013 Promontory Estate. It is simply richer and fuller, with greater integration of tannin, and tastes spectacular. With an opaque, dense purple color and notes of graphite, wet rocks, blackberry and blueberry fruit, some charcoal, and again, loads of spice and loamy soil nuances, the wine has great intensity, a full-bodied texture, and finely grained, sweet tannin. This is a stunner and again, accessible, but its best days are probably a good decade away, as this could very well turn out to be a 40- to 50-year wine. |
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Bordeaux | 1 | 94 (WS) | $978.00 | |||||
Wine Spectator (94)This has serious density for the vintage, with layers of raspberry and plum pâte de fruit, lined with singed spice and framed by well-integrated apple wood and black tea notes. Very, very solid. Tasted non-blind. Score range: 91-94 -JM |
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Rioja | 1 | 95 (TA) | $360.00 | |||||
Tim Atkin MW (95)Pujanza wasn't hit by the hail that affected Rioja in 2017, but this is still a pretty concentrated number, made entirely from Tempranillo grown at 630 metres and aged in 25% new wood. Chalky, dense and youthful, it's a wine that's made to mature in bottle, combining intensity with focus, freshness and serious tannins |
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Bordeaux | 1 | 17 (JR) | $154.00 | |||||
Jancis Robinson (17)Owned by the Thienpont family, the wine made by Nicolas Thienpont. Includes 15% Sauvignon Gris. Only a third of the vines survived the frost. Sauvignon Blanc (85%) clones from the Loire. Fresh herby citrus and some nice notes of orange peel. Almost peachy on the palate but excellent freshness and intensity, clean cut. Bright and lively and deliciously mouth-watering. Persistent, too. Orange-peel aftertaste. Lovely. |
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Porto | 4 | 98 (JS) | $349.00 | |||||
James Suckling (98)This is a superb baby Noval that reminds me of the 1966. Chewy yet so polished. The light sweetness suggests an overall dialing back of the sugar content. Stemmy and lightly green. A truly classic Noval. Almost all from Pinhao. Buy. Better in 2025. |
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Galicia | 1 | 96 (WA) | $517.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (96)The super elegant and austere 2021 As Sortes has a sense of harmony and subtleness that is moving. I found great purity, precision and symmetry in the wine. It has marked granite sensations in the palate; it's very tasty, long, fine-grained and textured, with the cold texture of the year. Palacios compared 2021 with 2012, which was very cold and dry before the harvest. It has to be one of the most elegant vintages of As Sortes. |
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Galicia | 1 | 93 (WA) | $207.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (93)The 2019 Louro comes from a vintage that Rafa Palacios compares with 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016, the best vintages for him. The vines are on sandy granite soils, but there are some vineyards where there's a little more clay, and the vines are worked organically. It fermented in 3,500-liter oak foudres, where the wine matured with lees for four months. It always has a small percentage of Treixadura, around 4% this year, and in 2019, it reached 14% alcohol, so it's not a shy wine. It might seem incredible, but Treixadura is a very aromatic and balsamic grape and that small percentage is clearly noticeable in the aromatics, which gives Louro a very different profile from the AS Sortes, with a more herbal and balsamic touch. But Palacios tells me that's the freshness of the year (Godello can also be herbal), as they have regrafted a lot of Treixadura. In 2019, there is less Treixadura than in previous years, and there's only one hectare of Treixadura left in his vineyards. The wine does have very good freshness, plus a very salty finish and the granite sensation that gives it an electric touch, complex, powerful and with a profile of a serious wine with very little bitterness; Palacios says it reminds him of the 2005 As Sortes. This has to be one of the best vintages of Louro, a clear step up from previous vintages. 180,000 bottles produced. It was bottled between April and May 2020 from a single master blend. |
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Coastal Region | 1 | 97 (VN) | $368.00 | |||||
Vinous (97)The 2021 Syrah Ava comes from two schist vineyards, the main component from the parcel that forms the Rall Syrah, in a corner where the clusters are very small. It has a compelling bouquet with dark berry fruit, slate-like scents, hints of broom and Provençal herbs. The palate is medium-bodied with a dense yet paradoxically elegant frame of tannins, precise peppery black fruit with a persistent, beautifully proportioned finish. All this at just 11.9% alcohol. Brilliant. |
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Western Cape | 4 | 94 (TA) | $135.00 | |||||
Tim Atkin MW (94)Sold as a Coastal red because it includes fruit from the Swartland as well as Darling - the vineyards are only two kilometres apart - this is a delicate, yet focused red with some whole bunch spices and sap, black cherry and raspberry fruit, nuanced tannins and a floral, tapering finish. 2022-27 |
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Coastal Region | 1 | 95 (TA) | $163.00 | |||||
Tim Atkin MW (95)Donovan Rall only used the first pick for this stunning Piekenierskloof Grenache Blanc in 2020, fermenting and ageing it in a combination of concrete eggs and amphoras. It's a salty, complex, dialled back white with notes of gunflint, wild herbs and greengage and high-altitude minerality and precision. |
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Coastal Region | 1 | 97 (TA) | $281.00 | |||||
Tim Atkin MW (97)'White Wine Discovery of the Year' - Donovan Rall has made a habit of winning one or more or my discovery of the year categories and he's done it again with this Chenin Blanc from a Paardeberg vineyard planted in the 1960s. Picked in four stages, it’s a stunning expression of the site, with saline grip, lots of extract and concentration, hay, pear and lime flavours and wonderful energy. |
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1 | 94 (CE) | $161.00 | ||||||
Christian Eedes (94)65% Syrah, 13% Grenache, 13% Cinsault and 9% Carignan. The nose is particularly expressive with notes of red and black berries, cured meat, lavender, herbs and pepper while the palate is rich and flavourful but equally not short of freshness – a bit less foursquare than preceding vintages have tended to be. Complex and satisfying. |
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1 | 94 (VN) | $154.00 | ||||||
Vinous (94)The 2020 Red Blend is 100% whole bunch matured in old French oak. It has a lovely, quite bold and expressive, succulent dark cherry and cassis-tinged bouquet that bursts from the glass. The palate is the ripest of Rall's portfolio with grippy tannins that frame the layered dark berry fruit laced with white pepper and black tea. Nicely proportioned and very persistent on the finish. Excellent. |
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1 | 95 (VN) | $167.00 | ||||||
Vinous (95)The 2021 Syrah is a maiden release from a 10-hectare parcel on schist soils that Rall took two weeks to track down the owner. It was cropped at 2 tons/hectare as it is so rocky. This comes from the early-picked fruit and matured in concrete only. The bouquet is very endearing with raspberry, wild strawberry and a very slight confit-like scent. The palate is very harmonious with fine grip, a little tertiary in style, beautifully proportioned and elegant on the finish. Outstanding. |
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2 | 96 (TA) | $174.00 | ||||||
Tim Atkin MW (96)The Swartland and Stellenbosch are the twin sources of this consistently outstanding white blend from Donovan Rall, made from a cuvée of Chenin Blanc with 32% Verdelho and a splash of Viognier. Nuanced, understated and focused, with wax, lanolin and aniseed top notes and a palate of citrus, pear and peach skin. Taut and refreshing. |
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1 | 95 (TA) | $167.00 | ||||||
Tim Atkin MW (95)Donovan Rall is a consummate blender of grapes, crafting seamless assemblages like this one of Chenin Blanc with 34% Verdelho and 1% Viognier. Dominated by fruit from the granite soils of the Paardeberg, it has aromas of oatmeal, wet stone and white flowers, peach, pear and lemongrass fruit and the tangy acidity of the vintage. |
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1 | 97 (CE) | $181.00 | ||||||
Christian Eedes (97)72% Chenin Blanc, 24% Verdelho and 4% Viognier – includes a portion of Chenin from the vineyard from which Noa below is sourced. Expressive aromatics of citrus, peach, floral perfume, herbs and a subtle reductive note while the palate has a dense core of fruit, invigorating acidity and dry finish. Poised and rather thrilling drinking. |
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Champagne | 2 | 97 (IWSC) | $385.00 | |||||
IWSC (97)An expressive buttered brioche nose, gun smoke reduction, red fruit and toasted almond and pistachio notes. This very precise and elegant Champagne has a piercing acidity that underscores the long finish of lime zest, quince and apple. |
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Champagne | 1 | 98+ (JD) | $687.00 | |||||
Jeb Dunnuck (98+)The 2008 Champagne Rare Rosé is straight-up sensational. Only the second time they’ve produced this cuvée, it offers a deep, full-bodied, powerful yet chiseled and laser-focused style carrying loads of wild strawberry fruit as well as notes of orange blossom, spice, and crushed rocks. Backward, austere, yet simply loaded with potential, it needs a solid 4-5 years of bottle age and will drink brilliantly for two decades or more. |
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England | 1 | 16 (JR) | $382.00 | |||||
Jancis Robinson (16)Classy. Some sweetness. Delicate nectarine and white-peach sweetness. I wonder if the dosage is quite high here? Lots of fully ripe orchard fruit – apples and peaches and greengages. Rounded with fine fizz. A gentle English fizz, if not the most complex. (TC) |
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England | 1 | 17 (JR) | $274.00 | |||||
Jancis Robinson (17)Full bottle 1,664 g. 100% estate-grown grapes, 85% Pinot Noir, 15% Pinot Meunier. Dosage 3.5 g/l. Disgorged 24 January 2022. The Rathfinny vineyard is in Cradle Valley on the South Downs of Sussex. South facing, three miles from the sea, light thin clay loam over chalk. The winery runs on solar energy and deploys waste-water recycling. They've planted indigenous hedging and trees for windbreaks and biodiversity, and are working with Natural England, the National Trust and South Downs National Park to improve local habitat, regenerated the natural chalk grass downland and create wildlife corridors. Liquorice nose. It's hard to believe the dosage is so low, because the ripeness and roundness of fruit on this wine is exceptional. Pin-point-fine bubbles snap the lemon and blueberry fruit into taut lines. There's a cool stoniness, like mossy concrete; an almost imperceptible peppery nuttiness; and then the wine momentarily widens into sweet pear before narrowing into a piercing finish. |
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England | 1 | 93 (FS) | $250.00 | |||||
Falstaff (93)The nose is a wonderful combination of ripeness and freshness, of crushed, white strawberry and citrus zestiness, wrapped up in creaminess. The palate comes in with briskness that speaks of the estate's customary low dosage, but it sits well with the beautifully sunny from from the ripe 2018 vintage. There is an inherent balance and a beautiful depth of fruit that makes the mid-palate serene, elegant, chalky and taut. Lively bubbles enhance that feeling. There is concentration here and a whole lot of elegance. Lovely and bright now but certain to benefit from further bottle age. |
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Castilla y Leon | 1 | 93 (WA) | $171.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (93)La Gundiñas is the wine that shows the most differences between 2017 and 2018. The 2017 La Vizcaína Las Gundiñas is dark and concentrated, a wine of sun, while the 2018 is delicate and feels like a mini Bonnes Mares! This is quite like a Cornas—meaty, juicy, a little reticent and powerful, with abundant tannins. This is one wine that behaves better in 2017 than in 2016. This is a plot that has ups and down; it might be more regular in the future, as they finally bought it in 2018. Some 5,500 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2019. |
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Castilla y Leon | 2 | 95 (WA) | $256.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (95)I was impressed by the 2017 La Vizcaína El Rapolao, but the warm vintage was very good for a warmer vineyard like El Rapolao. This is hands-down my favorite of the 2017s from La Vizcaína, the wine that shows more freshness. It's harmonious and perhaps was harvested a little earlier than the others. Like the other wines from the range, this 2017 has more color than the 2018, as well as more power and a little more concentration, and it's also denser than the 2018, with tannins that are grittier and a little drier. But if I didn't have the 2018 next to this, I would only be praising it, because the 2017 is truly impressive, all in place and simply one step up in power and all the rest to keep the balance. 10,000 bottles were filled in May 2019. This is a late-budding vineyard, and it didn't suffer the effect of the spring hail from the year. |
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Castilla y Leon | 1 | 95+ (WA) | $192.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (95+)There is a bit of an animal hint on the nose of the 2018 La Vizcaína El Rapolao, which Raúl Pérez tells me is always part of the character of the wine when it's young. The difference with the 2017 is the quality of the tannins, which rounder and more elegant here, and the concentration, which is lower here, so this 2018 comes through as more fluid, fresh and elegant, with a silkier mouthfeel. They finally bought the vineyard in 2018, and the change in viticulture resulted in lower yields: they produced 6,000 bottles of this 2018, compared with the 10,000 bottles of the 2017. They have bought three more plots for this bottling, so volumes will grow in the future. The initial sensation fades after the wine has been in bottle for one hour, and it makes sense that it's gong to disappear with some more time in bottle. Pérez thinks it might be related to the recent bottling. It was bottled in May 2020, a few weeks before I tasted it. |
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Castilla y Leon | 1 | 95 (WA) | $169.00 | |||||
Wine Advocate (95)Raúl Pérez has purchased the plot of El Rapolao that he uses for La Vizcaína, close to 1.3 hectares, and they expect the wine to have a big change as they are taking over the viticulture and want to lower yields. The 2019 La Vizcaína El Rapolao has plenty of tannin and is more concentrated than the 2020. 5,000 bottles produced. |
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