Maddy Txakoli Bizkaiko Txakolina 2015 Who is Maddy? Maddy is a Mythological Goddess from the Basque Country and has appeared in local rural legends since time immemorial. She is a deity with a woman’s body and face, who is described as attractive and elegantly dressed. She is said to be able to fly over the peaks of the mountains, where she lives and from which she foretells and ordains the climate. As the Queen of Nature, she wields her magic over the earth, the wind, the sun and the water, decisively influencing the quality of the harvest. Maddy captures the best qualities of the Ondarrabi Zuri variety of grape. This…
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Juvé y Camps Reserva De La Familia 2013 Cava Juvé y Camps has been a family run company for three generations and has garnered an international reputation. Over two hundred years ago, Joan Juvé Mir, a bold and enterprising vine grower laid the foundations of what would become the family firm. He began the task which was carried on by his son, Antoni Juvé Escaiola, who, amongst other challenges, had to confront the effects of the terrible phylloxera plague. Advocating replanting, with other leading figures of the Penedes, he led a drive to restore the vineyards and to rebuild the wine production of the region. A man respected and loved…
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Freixenet Cava Carta Nevada N.V. It’s Valentine’s Day, so grab a bubbly and share with someone special! The first bottle of Freixenet was released in 1914, the creation of a couple named Pedro Ferrer & Dolores Sala who were both from winemaking families. In 1889, Pedro Ferrer married Dolores Sala, whose family had been making wine at their Casa Sala property since 1861. Pedro’s nickname was “El Freixenet”, named after his family’s ranch “La Freixeneda”, which means ash tree grove in Catalan. Dolores’ keen interest in the winemaking process was easily complemented by Pedro’s business savvy and sense of community. Their marriage coincided with the arrival of the Phylloxera plague…
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Clendenen Family Vineyards Aligoté 2014 I recently took a trip to CA to visit my daughter to celebrate her birthday and wanted to taste some great wines I cannot readily get back east. We visited Au Bon Climat, and I was introduced to some of Jim Clendenen’s, (the “Mind Behind” Au Bon Climat since 1982), projects of passion that allow him to make artisan, small lots of distinctive wines from a wider spectrum of grape varietals under different brands, for example his Aligoté. There are few legacy wineries in America. A legacy winery is a winery where the owner is committed to the future, thinking long term, taking actions and…
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Ewald Gruber Grüner DAC Muhlberg 2013 At the age of 16, Ewald Gruber senior then decided to turn the farm into a model winery. He wanted to become one of the leading winegrowers – passionate and using the latest technology available. Despite the fact that he is retired now, he still looks after the vineyards together with his son Christian. His wife Hermine does the bookkeeping. The Gruber Family Winery has been growing wine in Röschitz since 1814. Until the middle of the last century, the wine was grown almost solely for private consumption. And this passion is contagious. Three of his six children took over the winery in 2012. And…
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Baumard Savennières Clos du Papillon 2010 Savennières is a tiny region located on the northern banks of the Loire River, just across from the town of Rochefort Sur Loire. The entire appellation consists of fewer than 200 acres (77 hectares) of vines, all planted to Chenin Blanc. The South/Southeast facing vineyards are planted on unique soils composed of schistose volcanic debris mixed with sandstone and granite, imparting a strong, intensely original minerality to the Chenin Blanc grape. Maximum permitted yields are the lowest in France for dry whites (25 Hectoliters per Hectare), resulting in wines of stunning concentration and perfume. The combination of this concentration with the naturally high acidity…
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Emmolo 2013 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc Jenny Wagner has taken the reins of Emmolo (m–oh–low) Winery from her mother, Cheryl Emmolo, the owner and founder of this lovely Rutherford estate. Jenny’s great-grandfather, an Italian immigrant, Salvatore Emmolo, planted virgin soil to grapevines, such as Carignane and French Columbard in the 1920’s. After becoming an established grape grower, he started a grapevine rootstock nursery and opened up Palermo Winery in 1934, named after the city from which he immigrated. Throughout the years Jenny’s grandfather, Frank Emmolo, found out that Sauvignon Blanc was best suited to that soil. Today, her grandparents continue to enjoy life farming on this Rutherford property. A marriage…
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I Frati Càdei Frati 2014 Lugana The company Ca’ dei Frati has been around since 1782, according to a document that refers to a House with a cellar located in the place of Sermione hotels in Lugana tener Fratti. It was in 1939 when Happy Dal Cero, son of Domenico already grower in Montecchia di Crosara, near Verona, moved into that House, Lugana di Sirmione. After thirty years, in 1969, his son Peter starting to bottle its first label of Lugana House of Friars. In 2012 Pietro Dal Cero leaves the company to his wife Santa Rosa and children Igino, Gian Franco and Anna Maria who run the company with…
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Landmark Vineyards 2013 Overlook Chardonnay Sonoma County Landmark Vineyards was founded in 1974 in Windsor, California, by a group that included Damaris Deere Ford, the great-great-granddaughter of John Deere, inventor of the first steel plow and founder of the world’s largest tractor manufacturer. In 1989, Damaris Deere Ford, became sole proprietor and relocated the winery to Sonoma Valley. Landmark Vineyards is located at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain in Sonoma Valley. In 1993, world-renowned consulting enologist Helen Turley was hired to work with former winemaker, Eric Stern. In addition to the estate vineyard, Landmark sources grapes from a range of different vineyards and those selected are the finest in the…
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Zarate Rías Baixas 2015 Albariño This small well run cellar was established in 1920 by the Zarate family and is located in the Salnes Valley. Eulogio Pomares currently oversees the vineyards which are planted on granitic rock, and now beginning to replant some vines to biodynamics. The Zarate is sourced from 11 vineyards with an average age of 35 years. Only two Rias Baixas producers make reds and Zarate is one of them. Caino Tinto and Loureiro Tinto are both made from indigenous grapes of the same name and are both tiny production around 300 bottles. They are noted to be wines with an elegant, floral, tart, almost salty character…