Hacienda Monasterio Ribera del Duero 2014 Hacienda Monasterio is owned by Carlos del Rio whose family has been in the sherry business for decades. Being fortunate enough to own some prime, south-facing parcels on the right side of the river, Carlos hired Peter Sisseck, the owner/winemaker of the famed Ribera estate Pingus to take over the winemaking in 1995. Peter has helped to turn this old estate into a Ribera powerhouse with wines that can age for years. A blend of 80% Tinto Fino, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot and aged for 17 months in French oak (30% new). Deep bright red with ripe sweet berry fruits aromas and…
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Mount Eden 2014 Edna Valley Chardonnay Mount Eden Vineyards is a small wine estate perched at 2000 feet overlooking Silicon Valley in the Santa Cruz Mountain Appellation, about 50 miles south of San Francisco, founded in 1945. Mount Eden’s lineage of estate bottled Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is the longest in California. Planted in austere, infertile Franciscan shale on a cool, exposed mountaintop, these low-yielding estate vineyards have consistently produced great wines for over a half-century. In 2007 Mount Eden acquired an additional 55-acre wine estate in the Saratoga foothills, which was christened Domaine Eden. Opening a bottle, the color is a bright golden straw with aromas of stone and…
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Orin Swift Mannequin 2015 Chardonnay The history of Orin Swift Cellars dates back to 1995 when on a lark, David Swift Phinney took a friend up on an offer and went to Florence, Italy to spend a semester “studying”. During that time, he was introduced to wine, how it was made, and got hooked. A few more years of university led to graduation and eventually a job at Robert Mondavi Winery in 1997 as a temporary harvest worker. Deciding that if he was going to work this hard, it would eventually have to be for himself, so in 1998 he founded Orin Swift Cellars; Orin is his father’s middle name…
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R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Reserva 2004 It all started in the middle of the nineteenth century when French negociants visited the Rioja region to find alternative sources of quality grapes to transform into wine, since the phylloxera epidemic had decimated their vineyards. Don Rafael López de Heredia y Landeta, a knowledgeable and enthusiastic student in the art of wine making, followed closely in their footsteps. Don Rafael fell in love with the region and especially the area around Haro, the mythical capital of the Rioja Alta region. He observed that there was a magical combination of soil and climate that would offer the perfect environment for producing wine…
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Cakebread Cellars 2015 Two Creeks Vineyards Pinot Noir Over 30 years ago, Jack Cakebread came to photograph the Napa Valley for a book and while there, he casually mentioned his interest in one day owning a vineyard to some family friends who had a ranch in Rutherford. When he returned home that afternoon, the phone rang and it was the family friends offering to sell their property. He headed back up to the valley that same afternoon to make his best offer, and Cakebread Cellars was born. Today, the winery owns 13 sites totaling 982 acres, 460 of which are currently planted. The Cakebread Website is full of interesting information…
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Napa Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 The winery was founded by Charlie R. Woods on five and a half acres of prime Oakville soil. In the 1970s, he built a geodesic dome there to store barreled wine, and he concentrated on making reds, in particular Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon. The winery changed hands a number of times before being purchased in 1996 by Koerner Rombauer and Rich Frank. A decade later, the Trinchero family was looking for a winery property that would capture the essence of Napa. Napa Cellars, with its ideal Oakville location and fame for luscious Chardonnay and authentic Napa reds, was the obvious choice. Winemaker Joe Shirley came…
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Franck Bonville Grand Cru Les Belles Voyes Blanc de Blancs N.V. Franck and his wife Jeannine after the second war commercialized the first bottles of champagne from a vineyard already connected on the lands of Avize and Oger for over twenty years. Today, Giles and his wife Ingrid Bonville, together with their son Olivier spend time tending to the operation of the winery, including updating and modernizing the facility. Their goal is to grow grapes of the highest quality and produce great wines which are fresh, delicate and elegant. If you read the label, you will see the words “Récoltant Manipulant” or “RM” on the bottle of Franck Bonville, which…
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Cade 2013 Howell Mountain Napa Cabernet Sauvignon In 2005, John Conover, Gavin Newsom and Gordon Getty founded CADE Estate Winery on Howell Mountain as a complement to the valley floor terroir of PlumpJack Winery. Like PlumpJack, CADE takes its name from Shakespeare, who used the term to refer to the wine casks or cades used to transport wine from Bordeaux to England in Elizabethan times. Deep purple red with concentrated aromas of black berry fruit and subtle spice, a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot and 6% Merlot. The palate blackberry, plum and cacao flavors with pepper and cinnamon, very complex, with cedar notes. Well structured with firm…
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Robert Mondavi Oakville BDX 2012 Robert Mondavi established his namesake winery in 1966 with a vision to create Napa Valley wines that would stand in the company of the world’s finest. He chose To Kalon Vineyard in the heart of the Napa Valley as the home for Robert Mondavi Winery. This first-growth vineyard, located in Oakville, California, is renowned for producing some of the finest wines in the world. A special wine not produced every vintage, BDX presents a different expression of Oakville in a Bordeaux blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot. The wine sat on French oak (55% new) for 28 months. Aromas…
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Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rose Brut N.V. Founded in 1812, Laurent-Perrier has been crafting Champagnes for nearly two hundred years, making it one of the largest family owned brands. Located in the northeastern region of France, the Champagne region has one of the coolest possible wine producing climates, which is moderated by the Marne River and the region’s proximity to the ocean. Laurent-Perrier is based in the picturesque village of Tours-sur-Marne – an ideal location at the intersection between Champagne’s three foremost sub-regions: Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne and Côte des Blancs. The Cuvée Rosé from Laurent-Perrier is the most recognized rosé champagne in the world. It is also one…