Brian McMahon

Sales Polaner Selections

9.4

Varietals: Gamay
Organic: Certified
Vineyard: A true clos (walled vineyard) and eight hectare monopole of Dutraive's. Vine age ranges from 30-70 years old. A true clos (walled vineyard) and eight hectare monopole of Dutraive's. Made from the oldest vines in the vineyard, planted in the 1940s.
Orientation: South, southeast-facing
Soil: Pink granite shingles
Viticulture: No herbicides or pesticides, organically farmed, certified since 2009 vintage.
Vinification: Traditional vinification without sulfur and with natural yeast at very low temperatures. Carbonic maceration and little or no filtering.
Aging: 100% in 1-5 year old french oak barrels

Rating: 92 JG
The old vine bottling from Monsieur Dutraive hails from a parcel of sixty-five to seventyfive year-old vines and is raised entirely in Burgundy barrels, ranging from one to five years of age, so there is a little wood influence to this cuvée. The 2013 is outstanding, offering up a deep and nascently complex bouquet of cherries, raspberries, coffee, gamebird, lovely soil tones, spice elements redolent of clove and mace, a bit of mustard seed and a nice touch of cedary new wood. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and youthfully structured, with a sappy core, fine soil signature and a bit of tannin to resolve on the long, youthful finish. This is emphatically not a classic style of Fleurie, but it is an extremely well-made wine whose inspiration seems to be as much Vosne-Romanée as it is Fleurie. The focus and balance here are impeccable and I see no reason this wine will not age superbly well, and for those who are looking for a gateway Fleurie to make the transition from the Côte d’Or to Cru Beaujolais, this is a perfect wine! 2017-2030+. - John Gilman — 11 years ago

Ross Williams

8.9

Merlot and Cab Franc. Garnet to the edges. Medium viscosity. Strong nose of cherries and red licorice. Needed forty five minutes to loosen up. Cherries,, raspberry, faint mushroom, slight menthol drying the tongue. Acid medium plus. Could probably successfully age another 10-15 years based on tannin. — 12 years ago

Jim Weaver

10

2013/02/01 $16.00 Full body red. Blackberries, plum blueberry. Chocolate vanilla finish. — 12 years ago

Lars Covintree

9.1

Looks like a winner. Thanks Ted! — 11 years ago

Martin Kelly

9.7

80% granache, 20% shiraz. 100% yum! — 11 years ago

with Ania

Rahul Sagar

9.7

Very port-style liquor-ish style wine, cherry flavor but not overpowering. — 12 years ago

Dirk Pitt.

10

Cherry, chocolate liqueur. Coating tannins and acid? Asian five spice. — 12 years ago

Gale Oldford

10

Love love love this lightly bubbly and fruity Michigan wine — 11 years ago

Wayfarer Vineyard

10

The soulful expression of a single “suitcase clone”, The Traveler pays homage to the legendary journey of the original vine cutting from Burgundy’s most revered vineyard. Deep ruby red in hue, the nose on this wine opens gently with fresh floral notes of lavender and violet segueing to blackberry, boysenberry, cranberry and raspberry. Exceptionally focused, the structure is elegant with fine-grained tannins that present grip and finesse in concert. With time in the glass, the wine blooms and deepens, displaying notes of wild red berries, roasted nuts and vanilla bean while sustaining its bright acidity. The intriguing finish lingers long with minerality and ringing aromatics. This focused, complex wine invites further aging to fully reveal its remarkable eloquence and power.

We hand-picked and hand-sorted the fruit, reserving 22% for whole-cluster fermentation prior to de-stemming. The remaining berries were de-stemmed and hand-sorted again before transfer to tank. Five to seven days of cold maceration preceded more than two weeks of 100% native yeast fermentation. The fruit was then gently pressed, its free-run juice transferred to 63% new French oak barrels for 15 months of aging.
— 11 years ago

Rahul Sagar

9.8

Apricot wine, dash of brandy sweet and delicious from all perspective a different punch compared to regular desert wines - a 45 north speciality ! — 12 years ago