• Cabernet Franc,  Cabernet Sauvignon,  Cellar Selection,  Italy,  Super Tuscan

    Cellar Selection

    Batzella Bolgheri Tam 2009 Located in Bolgheri, on central coast Tuscany, the Batzella Winery Estate was founded in 2000 by Khanh Nguyen and Franco Batzella. The commitment of this husband-wife team is to make elegant and genuine wines, with a personality that expresses the best of their terroir. The Bolgheri area is enchanting, surrounded by soft rolling hills and by the Tyrrhenian sea. Its soils and micro climate are perfect for the Cabernet varietals, by now considered local to Bolgheri, to reach full maturation, resulting in wines that can be distinctively elegant. In this land, the Batzellas are pursuing their passion: to find that elusive harmony between elegance and power…

  • California,  Cellar Selection,  Chardonnay,  Russian River Valley

    Cellar Selection

    Jordan Chardonnay 2013 In 1972, Tom and Sally Jordan, a young couple from Colorado who shared a passion for French food and wine, followed their hearts to California’s wine country. When the two married in 1959, they dreamed of being vintners together. They drank virtually only French wines, enjoyed French food that Sally diligently learned to cook, and traveled throughout France, wining and dining their way through every region. In the 1950s there weren’t any restaurants of note in their home town of Denver, so the Jordans either traveled abroad or entertained at home for culinary experiences. The two knew a winery would one day be in their future, but…

  • Cabernet Franc,  Cabernet Sauvignon,  Cellar Selection,  Knights Valley,  Merlot

    Cellar Selection

    Beringer 2010 Knights Valley Reserve Caberinet Sauvignon Beringer Vineyards roots date back about 140 years ago when Jacob Beringer sailed from his home in Mainz Germany to New York.  After arriving in the “new world”, Jacob heard that the rocky hillside soil and fertile valley floor of Napa Valley resembled that of the vineyards back home in Germany.  Jacob, and his brother Frederick, headed for Napa and purchased 215 acres of land in 1875, becoming one of the first wineries in Napa.  A lot of time has passed and Beringer has perfected its craft of making fine wines, balancing time-tested traditions with modern technology, resulting in a portfolio of admired…

  • Australia,  Barossa Valley,  Cellar Selection,  Shiraz

    Cellar Selection

    Two Hands 2013 Bella’s Garden Barossa Valley Shiraz This is the final installment from the private wine tasting where one of the Founders of Two Hands Wines, Michael Twelftree opened four of his wines and provided some in depth commentary on his wines and his winery. I already reviewed three of his wines and today I will talk about Bella’s Garden Barossa Valley Shiraz.  Michael was generous enough to have his picture taken with me, see below.  Michael is the “good looking one” on the left! Michael thank you for spending time and sharing your vast knowledge of wine! As I previously commented, Two Hands Wines was founded in early…

  • Cellar Selection,  Oregon,  Pinot Noir

    Cellar Selection

    Penner-Ash 2012 Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir Penner-Ash Wine Cellars embodies the spirit and passion of a small producer focusing on Pinot Noir in the northern Willamette Valley, Oregon.  After working for some of Napa’s premier wineries and Rex Hill Vineyards in Oregon, winemaker Lynn Penner-Ash and her husband, Ron, started Penner-Ash Wine Cellars in 1998.  In the winery, the focus is on small-lot indigenous yeast fermentation with extended cold soaks to extract a rich, fruit-focused, textured mouth feel.  Each lot is treated individually and depending on the outcome, either blended into their reserve quality Willamette Valley Pinot Noir or bottled separately as a vineyard designate. The Penner-Ash Winery was completed in…

  • Cabernet Sauvignon,  Cellar Selection,  Italy,  Sangiovese

    Cellar Selection

    Terrabianca 2007 Campaccio Toscana Red In the medieval times, Podere Terrabianca found itself in the ambiguous situation of being situated in the part of the countryside under the rule of Florence and, at the same time, also in the diocese of the Bishop of Siena. The very first documents mentioning its presence, dated 1085, describe it as being a country estate as, in fact, its name clearly implies. Today the winery Terrabianca is located at the heart of the Chianti Classico region, in the middle of Tuscany, 12 km from Siena and 50 km from Florence. The soil which consists of layers of chalk, sand and clay from the palaeozoic…

  • Brunello,  Cellar Selection,  Italy,  Sangiovese

    Cellar Selection

    Solaria Patrizia Cencioni Brunello di Montalcino 2003 The Azienda Agricola Patrizia Cencioni is a family owned and run winery that is located on the southeast slope of the Montalcino hillside. The property is almost 50 HA of which 8ha are vined growing DOCG Brunello. The vines were planted in 1989, the year Solaria was founded; though its origins go back to the family estate created in the 1950’s by Giuseppe Cencioni, one of the founders of the Consorzio del Brunello di Montalcino. With Solaria, the estate has vastly improved thanks to the considerable family experience and the entrepreneurial ability of the owner Patrizia Cencioni who adds a feminine touch! A…

  • Brunello,  Cellar Selection,  Italy,  Sangiovese

    Cellar Selection

    Caparzo 2005 Brunello Di Montalcino The name of the estate apparently derives from “Ca’ Pazzo”, as shown on some ancient maps. The estate covers an area of 190 hectares, 54 of which are vineyards, 4 are of olive groves, 87 of which are wooded and 45 of which are to be planted with new vines. Caparzo is the only estate-bottled producer of Brunello di Montalcino to have estate vineyards on all five sides of the hill of Montalcino, ensuring that no matter what climatic challenges effect one side, the other vineyards will more than compensate. More than thirty years have passed since the first vines were planted and the first…

  • Cellar Selection,  Ribera del Duero,  Spain,  Tinto Fino

    Cellar Selection

    Bodegas y Viñedos Alión 2008 In April 1982, the Alvarez family purchased Vega Sicilia from its previous owner Hans Neuman, a Venezuelan businessman.  Wine thus became the cornerstone of the family’s new business project. In 1991, the Alvarez family created Alión, a modern up-to-date wine, quite unlike the classicism of Vega Sicilia. Coming under the same denomination of origin, just 15km from the earlier brands, it marked a turning point in wine production in Ribera del Duero. Opening a bottle of “modern” Ribera del Duero was an absolute joy. The color was a glistening dark Ruby red with concentrated aromas of dark fruits, floral scents and some oak spice. The…

  • Cabernet Franc,  Cabernet Sauvignon,  Cellar Selection,  Italy,  Sangiovese

    Cellar Selection

    Antinori Toscana Tignanello 2005 The Antinori family has been involved in the production of wine for over six centuries, ever since, in 1385, Giovanni di Piero Antinori entered as a member, the “Arte Fiorentina”, the Winemakers’ Guild of the city of Florence. During this entire long period, thorough twenty six generations, the family has always directly managed this work with courageous and, at times, innovative decisions, but always maintaining, unaltered, a fundamental respect for tradition and for the territory in which they have operated. Today the firm is run by Marquis Piero Antinori with the support of his three daugthers, Albiera, Allegra, and Alessia, directly involved in the work of…