Ken Venezio

9.2

From the winemaker: Radian Vineyard is a radical and challenging site with high altitudes, vertical canyons, and difficult soil compositions. A stressed vineyard makes the best wines. Interesting cola or cherry cola on the nose. Earthy and medium bodied with a balance of fruit and a damp soil. Soft tannins and a nice finish. — 16 days ago

ESF

8.9

No formal notes: nice little red blend, well made, great QPR - tend to have good luck with wines from Lebanon — 3 months ago

Vanessa

9.1

Oh, hello, Friulano!! A local specialty of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region in the far northeast of Italy. 🇮🇹

This beautiful wine is the Livio Felluga Friuli Colli Orientali DOC Friulano (2021).

Livio Felluga was an early adopter and pioneer of modern production techniques in the region, employing the use of stainless steel tanks, delicate grape pressing, and temperature-controlled (cooler) fermentations to produce clean, varietal-driven and refreshing white wine styles the region is now known for 🙌🏻👏🏻

The fruit used to make this wine hails from the Colli Orientali DOC, situated on hillside sites, stretching along the border of Slovenia, benefiting from higher altitudes, and cooling Alpine breezes, in support of a firm acid structure.

👁️ This wine has a medium lemon hue with a medium (+) bouquet 👃🏻 of white peach, green apple, Meyer lemon, clementine peel, green mango, white blossom, mint, basil, rosemary, white pepper, and wet pavement (petrichor).

👄 On the palate, this wine has a rich texture and weighted mouthfeel, balanced by medium (+) acidity, supporting its structure, while adding freshness and lift. Flavors are consistent with the nose – well-defined and concentrated.  Alcohol is medium (13.5% ABV) with a warming presence.

We paired this lovely wine with smoked salmon canapés made with lemon-marinated cucumbers and crème fraiche, lemon zest, shallot, fresh dill and chives on Norwegian crispbread, and was a stellar match-up! 🤩

Cheers to the pioneers who’ve shaped the evolution in wine styles we’ve come to know and love! — 2 years ago

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Sipping Fine Wine

9.1

Vines are planted on small, steep cirques with an eastern/south-eastern exposure at altitudes of between 250 and 300 metres. Medium lemon color with muted aromas of citrus, stone fruits and nutty floral notes. On the palate flavors of apple, melon and lemon citrus with notes of honey and nutty oak. Medium+ finish, vivid acidity and ends with nutty mineral character. Nice! — 3 years ago

Freddy R. Troya

9.3

El Esteco – Torrontés 2024
Valles Calchaquíes, Salta – Argentina 🇦🇷

Overview
An expressive Torrontés sourced from two extreme high-altitude vineyards in Salta—Chañar Punco (+2,000m) and Cafayate Valley (+1,700m). These altitudes rank among the highest vineyards in the world, bringing extraordinary freshness and intensity to the grape.

Aromas & Flavors
Vivid notes of lime zest, orange peel, and honeysuckle, accented by white flowers and a touch of tropical lychee. The aromatic lift is both exotic and elegant.

Mouthfeel
Light yet rounded, with crisp acidity balancing a soft, fleshy texture. Clean, refreshing, and persistent on the finish.

Food Pairings
Excellent with ceviche, Thai curry, or empanadas salteñas. Also perfect as a standalone aperitif on a warm day.

Verdict
A vibrant, high-altitude Torrontés that captures both freshness and aromatic charm. Fans of Viognier will find familiar pleasure in its floral exuberance and rounded texture.

Did You Know?
Salta’s Valles Calchaquíes boast vineyards among the world’s loftiest, where strong sunlight and cool nights create wines of striking aromatic intensity and balance.

🍷 Personal Pick Highlight
For me, Torrontés is one of Argentina’s most distinctive calling cards. This 2024 bottling shows exactly why—it’s not just a white wine, it’s an experience of altitude, purity, and personality. — 9 days ago

KRISTIE

8.9

Style = Bold and fruit forward. Flavors = Fresh black and red fruit, with a long and supple finish.

This single vineyard Malbec was handpicked from the high altitudes and cool weather of the prestigious Valle de Uco. This exceptional terroir provides to this expressive Malbec bold and fresh fruit characters, with hints of spice and floral notes. — 2 years ago

Elyse King

8.9

Les Cassagnes de La Nerthe is produced in the Southern Rhône Valley in France by a property owned by the Richard family, who also manage the famed Château La Nerthe in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The same team creates this elegant and fruit driven wine.

The wine is a blend of organic Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre grapes grown in sandy and limestone soil containing shards of calcareous rocks, providing high quality natural filtration. The average age of the vines is over 40 years old. The vineyards are located at altitudes up to 600 feet above sea level. The gently undulating slopes produce high quality grapes that turn into fleshy and balanced wines. The grapes are harvested by hand and carefully sorted after arriving at the winery. The grapes are lightly crushed, and color and tannins are gently extracted with several daily pumping overs of the tanks. Co-fermentation of the three varieties occurs over a long maceration (3 to 4 weeks). The final blend is aged on fine lees in stainless steel tanks for 9 months before bottling. — 3 years ago

Her Mir Tage

9.7

DRC Richebourg 2017: A fragrance untainted by the world～

The 2017 DRC Richebourg is a perfume explosion—a captivating interplay of woody clove and spice, both flamboyant and impeccably controlled. As we tasted, I asked my friends if they knew of a perfume that echoed this wine's aroma. They replied they had never come across one, but would purchase it without hesitation if they did. To my nose, the closest relative would be L'Artisan Parfumeur’s Dzongkha.

It offers that bracing, airy coolness with smoky, peppery spices, laced with the subtle sweet-herbaceous touch of magnolia and clove—reminiscent of the complex scent that washes over you the moment you push open the massive door of an ancient, solitary temple: the crisp, thin air of the high altitudes meeting the first ethereal wisp of incense smoke. Then unfolds layers of ancient wood, the dust of old books, musk, and earthy vetiver. The overall character is intensely crystalline, spiritual, and weightless—evoking visions of high plateaus and vast wilderness, of isolated lamaseries. Some DRCs also possess a temple-like quality, but theirs is a temple down here among us, bustling with devotees and heavy with the common smoke of popular devotion— a more earthly presence. — 2 months ago

Pinotman /// Andreas

9.3

Great. Touch chardonnay like. Quite acidic. I kind of like it. Green Tea! Honey. From Etna - Sicily at 750 meters. 2500 feet. Very southern vineyard only altitudes allow them to make great wine. — 2 years ago

Vanessa

9.3

Let’s talk about VIÑA SASTRE!

This is a family-owned and -operated winery (since 1992) from Ribera del Duero DO, located in the broader Castilla y León region of Spain.  

Ribera del Duero is highly regarded for having many old vines (50-100 yrs + in age) and a quintessential “continental climate,” with extremely cold winters and hot summers, vineyards planted at high altitudes (a plateau called the Meseta Central), and thus a large diurnal range…

All of these factors help enable the production of highly structured and age-worthy wines (with deep concentration, tannins, alcohol, acidity). This wine is no exception!

It’s a deep ruby wine with medium (+) intensity in aromas / flavors including ripe red and black currant, blackberry, black cherry, red plum, violets, tobacco, nutmeg, clove, pencil shavings, coconut, vanilla, cocoa nibs, and mocha notes.

On the palate, it’s dry, with medium(+) acidity, a full body, high alcohol, and medium(+) tannins that are fine-grained, with a long, elegant finish.

Cheers to delicious wines that offer a sense of place! 

Viña Sastre Ribera Del Duero Reserva Pagos Viejos (2017). — 2 years ago

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