90+ Point Wine Club - June 2012
Learn the finer points of all of the incredible wines we deliver, from reviews to food pairings and wine characteristics. All of the wines included in our wine clubs are expertly researched and selected for quality, value and uniqueness.
Cantina Giovanni Chiappini - Italy
2007 Felciaino Rosso Bolgheri Superiore DOC
Giovanni Chiappini is a winemaker who owns a small family run estate in the rich countryside of Bolgheri. Giovanni Chiappini believes that it is the vine that makes the wine and therefore everything around them has to be looked after perfectly. Together with Bordeaux varieties traditional Sangiovese and Vermentino are also cultivated. His wines, due to the position of his land, reflect Bolgheri style, matching structure, perfume and elegance. Chiappini is in his way a “simple-guy” winemaker, who succeeded to transform his vast agricultural experience into ability to create noble wines, connecting modern Bolgheri style with an old Tuscan tradition. Today Giovanni works together with his daughter Martina; himself he manages the work in the vineyards and cellars, while Martina is responsible for administration. The Felciaino is made from 50% Sangiovese 25% Merlot, and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s refined in stainless steel vats a for 6 months at least before bottling. The Sangiovese is fresh and bright while the Merlot is intensely floral and elegant. The Cabernet Sauvignon adds depth and body. Together the wine delivers dark chocolate and black cherry flavors with subtle background notes of spice and black olive.. This blend is particularly pleseant in the first five years of its life, when the Sangiovese can express all its positive characteristics. As the wine ages the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon notes will become more evident. The Felciaino goes well with simple Italian meat dishes: “affettati” (sliced ham and salami), as well as “primi piatti” (noodles in soup). Drink now through 2017. 90 Points Wine Enthusiast.
Seresin Estate - New Zealand
2010 Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough
The sentinel stone at the entrance to Seresin's Home vineyard in Marlborough signals the path to both their winery and their philosophy. The stone bears a subtle handprint, a symbol of the individual and of creative endeavor; it represents their philosophy to work traditionally with natural elements and elicit a true Marlborough character in their wines. Organically and biodynamically grown, hand-tended and hand-picked, the grapes from Seresin's estate are transformed into artisan wines through gentle, traditional winemaking – wine of passion grace and spirit. Their 2010 Sauvignon Blanc is comprised of Sauvignon Blanc (94%) and Semillon (6%) from certified organic fruit that was hand-picked from their three vineyards. Grapes were sourced from the upper terraces of the Home vineyard, which comprise varied Waimakiriri type soils of alluvial origin. This was supplemented by portions from the Tatou vineyard which is made up of a mixture of alluvial shingles, and the clay rich Raupo Creek vineyard. Twenty-five different parcels of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon from the different vineyard blocks were pressed and then fermented separately so that they had a greater range of options when creating the final blend. The wine was naturally fermented using wild yeast for added complexity and texture, and the Semillon and approximately ten percent of the Sauvignon were fermented in aged French barriques. The wine displays tropical and citrus aromas framed by a fresh acidity and underpinned by a chalky mineral complexity. The palate is finely textured with gooseberry, subtle lychee and mineral flavours leading to a persistent finish. This wine is drinking well now but will develop well over the next five years. 91 Points Stephen Tanzer.
Charly Thévenet - France
2010 Regnie Grain & Granit
Growing up the son of famous “Gang of Four” Morgon producer Jean-Paul Thévenet, Charly Thévenet was exposed quite early on to traditional, more natural viticulture—a philosophy that his father and friends helped to resurrect in Beaujolais in the early eighties. Though only in his twenties, Charly has already started a dynamic career. A few years ago, with extensive experience working for his father and in Marcel Lapierre’s winery already under his belt, he purchased a parcel of eighty-year-old vines in Régnié, west-southwest of his hometown of Villié-Morgon. Régnié is a terroir enjoying something of its own renaissance in the hands of talented growers like Charly and his dad’s pal, Guy Breton. In fact, Regnié has joined the short list of Grand Crus in the Beaujolais. Situated on a plateau of seabed stone in the foothills of the Côte du Py, it gives a fresh wine with solid acidity. As the next generation of the natural wine movement, Charly seems to have inherited his father’s savoir faire. He uses biodynamic farming techniques in the vineyard, never adding synthetic herbicides, pesticides, or fungicides to the vines. He harvests late, with an aggressive sorting of the grapes, adds minimal doses of sulfur dioxide, ages the wine in four-year-old Burgundian barriques, and bottles his wines unfiltered. Add a dose of that Thévenet talent, and you have a recipe for excellent wine! Made from 100% Gamay from 80+ year old vines with naturally low yields. It has complex aromas of dark berries, violet and minerals, with slow-mounting smokiness. The wine is very suave and velvety on entry, then tight and energetic in the mid-palate, with dense dark berry and bitter cherry flavors, chewy texture and a medicinal nuance. The finish is firm, gripping and very long that suggests plenty of ageing potential for a Beaujolais. The 2010 has yet to be rated. The previous vintage received 92 Points from Stephen Tanzer and 90 Points from Robert Parker.
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