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For centuries, the finest Sangiovese has been produced from within Chianti Classico, the historic heart of the Chianti region in the hills of Tuscany. Tenuta di Arceno lies among these hills and is home to this special wine. A modern Tuscan estate with a rich history, the winery is situated in the commune of Castelnuovo Berardenga on one of the regions’ most historic estates, comprised of 2,500 acres, only 220 of which are planted to vines.
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2020 Tenuta di Arceno Chianti Classico, Tuscany, Italy (750ml)
2000 Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port, Douro, Portugal (750ml)
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Smith Woodhouse is a specialist producer of premium quality Ports. The uniformity of this quality is underpinned by Smith Woodhouse’s own Madalena vineyard from where the wines are largely sourced. This small Quinta (vineyard property) has the highest “A” quality rating and is located in the Rio Torto district, acknowledged as one of the finest Port growing areas. Over the coming years, the recently acquired Quinta do Vale Coelho, further upriver in the Douro Superior, producing full and elegant wines, will gradually form an important component of Smith Woodhouse’s Ports.
2001 Quinta do Vesuvio Vintage Port, Douro, Portugal (750ml)
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This wine, in our view, has always been a bit of a sleeper (meaning overlooked) in the context of vintage Port. Especially now, with 20 years of bottle age, it is stunning and delicious in its developed complexity. It still has cellar life ahead, too, if that is your inclination.
2015-C Altanza Reserva, Rioja DOC, Spain (750ml)
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A Monthly Wine Club Selection
100% Tempranillo. 18 months in French oak barrels followed by 3 months in 22hL Allier French oak foudres. The 2015 Altanza Reserva is a gorgeous expression of Tempranillo. Beautifully textured with layers of supple fruit, this wine is drinking beautifully right now and illustrates all the things we love about an optimally developed Rioja. An impressive effort, to say the least—a Rioja in its prime!
2016 Mestres Visol Brut Nature Cava, Gran Reserva, Spain (750ml)
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A blend of Xarel-lo, Macabeo & Parellada, but unlike any Cava we have tasted. The base wines were aged in a combination of stainless steel and chestnut barrels for 6 months. After the second fermentation the wines rested on the lees in cork-finished bottles for 6 years. Periodic agitation contributes to the yeast autolysis and complexity. The result is a remarkably elegant and graceful Cava, bone dry but by no means austere, and with a creamy mid-palate, light toast and a hint of fennel on the long finish. Mestres is a family firm now being run by the 30th generation.
2016-C Pietro Beconcini Reciso Toscana Sangiovese IGT, Tuscany, Italy (750ml)
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A Quarterly Red Cellar Trio Wine Club Selection
Made from 100% organically-farmed Sangiovese fermented with indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled, glass-lined cement vats. The must underwent a five-week maceration on the skins. The resulting wine was aged for 24 months in large Slovenian oak barrels and an additional 12 months in the bottle before being released. Dark garnet color. Complex, layered aromas of dark berries and black cherries with notes of fennel and dusty earth. The palate is dry with flavors of brandied cherries, blueberry chutney and dark chocolate. It is structured wine with firm tannins, balanced acidity, and a long, spiced finish.
2017 Guadagni Family Wines 'Rocca' Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, California (750ml)
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Dark ruby. Scents of raspberry, blackberry and bramble. The palate shows ripe flavors of blackberry, blueberry and strawberry preserves with a rich toffee thread, and a hint of spice. Well-balanced, with ample acidity and savory tannins on the finish. The Zinfandel block is a pre-prohibition planting in Dry Creek Valley dating back to the 1880’s. The vineyard is 100% head trained and dry-farmed, with vines that are up to 140-years-old. The vines endure natural stress without water, creating incredibly concentrated fruit in a beautifully structured form. 99% Zinfandel and 1% Petite Sirah aged in French oak barrels, 25% new.
2017 Il Carpino Ribolla Gialla, Collio, Friuli, Italy (750ml)
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This Ribolla Gialla is an "orange wine", having spent some 80 days in contact with the skins. The technique gives white wines more of the texture on the palate of a red wine, and diminishes the impression of acidity. It also deepens the color, and contributes a range of slightly oxidative flavors that suggest citrus rind, blood orange and spice. Some orange wines can be quite funky as well. This Ribolla Gialla is not.
2017 Vignerons Les Matheny Chardonnay, Cotes du Jura, France (750ml)
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Quite a few parcels comprise Les Matheny’s Chardonnay. Emeric vinifies each one separately, deciding on the final blend only after each individual wine develops its personality with time in barrel. Tasting Notes: Produced from vines averaging 45 years of age, the wine soars from the glass, a storm of ripe green apples, freshly blasted quarry, and musky honey. The palate is both firm and expansive, with a generous pinch of telltale Jurassic salt lengthening the complex, penetrating flavors of greengage and candied lemon. Emeric’s “partial sous-voile” approach shows in the wine’s gently oxidative edge—one that bows to the veil without making a virtue of it. For such a bold and assertive wine to remain so straightforwardly delicious is a difficult balancing act.
2018 Christophe Billon Cote Rotie "Brocarde", Rhone Valley, France (750ml)
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A very rich and deeply flavored Northern Rhone red. The Syrah was co-fermented with 3% Viognier, an approach which adds aromatic lift to the nose and softens the tannins a bit. Cellar-worthy for 10-20 years with the promise of greater complexity in time. Christophe Billon farms 10 hectares of vines in Côte Rotie, Condrieu and VdP Colline Rhodanniennes. The average vine age in the Côte Roties is 30 years, but the oldest block was planted by his grandfather in 1942.