Vanessa

9.2

🤩 Benanti is an iconic, family run estate with a front-seat majestic view of Etna’s terrain, founded by Giuseppe Benanti in 1988, now carried forward by Giuseppe’s two sons Antonio and Salvino. Preserving the heritage of Etna’s unique terroir, the Benantis devote themselves to making wine with local varieties. 🍇

After delicate pressing, the free-run juice underwent fermentation with an indigenous yeast and aged on the fine lees in stainless steel for 30 months with regular bâtonnage (stirring). 😆

📝 The result is divine with a bouquet of harmonious aromas and flavors featuring ripe papaya, mango, cantaloup, white nectarine, kumquat, bergamot, lemon oil, cherry blossom, cream, toast, gunflint, fresh tarragon, sage, crushed stones, oystershell, sea spray & blanched almond notes.

💫This wine has verve & elegance!

😋 On the palate, it’s dry, with electrifying acidity, a medium body, textured mouthfeel, medium alcohol (12.5% ABV) & persistent finish. — 2 months ago

with Deked1

Travis Ladd

9.2

The pear flavor really punches thru. Very flavorful. — 2 years ago

Willie Carter

9.0

Light shimmering gold in the glass with a plethora of small, profuse bubbles. Primarily Pinot Noir and that’s clearly evident on the nose. Peaches and plums with a strong infusion of dried strawberries and red cherries. Apples aplenty with cinnamon rolls and toasted nuts.

One of the more esteemed growers, Paul Bara produces nothing but exemplary champagnes including this entry level bottle. Unmistakably Bouzy, their wines always represent the terroir and terrain so very clearly. 80/20 PN/CH with a dosage of 7 g/l and disgorged in September of 2020. The kicker here is the 50% of reserve wines they use for the final blend. Just astonishing and makes a huge difference.

The acidity here is tight with a bit of zip but mellows out over time given air. Nice harmony and balance, as usual. Apples and cherries dominant on the tongue. Creaminess abounds with medium spice and hazelnut. Amongst entry level grower champagnes, there just aren’t many better than this. Always an instant buy. — 4 years ago

Vanessa

9.1

Ribeira Sacra is a breathtaking region in Galicia, Spain, where the pigmented grape ‘Mencía’ plays a key role in winemaking, producing beautifully perfumed & ambrosial reds.

Just close your eyes & imagine steep slopes plunging down into deep river canyons, with historic terraced vineyards perched along the hillsides, gently curving & weaving along and above the Miño and Sil rivers.

Hopefully this helps paint a picture of Ribeira Sacra’s spectacular terrain but it’s worth searching for actual images (if you’ve never seen it).

The term ‘heroic viticulture’ aptly describes the type of farming that takes place here, where vignerons must perform all vineyard tasks by hand, risking life & limb, to bring these unique and authentic wines to our tables.

This 2019 ‘A Ponte’ is a prime example, thanks to Pedro Rodríguez of Guímaro (meaning “rebel” in Gallego), named after his grandfather with a nod to the fiercely independent & self-reliant local identity.

This wine is made with 30% Mencía accompanied by local, heirloom varieties Sousón, Brancellao, Merenzao, Caiño Redondo, & Caiño Longo) grown on granite, slate and sand.

After harvesting by hand, the grapes underwent a wild ferment using 100% whole clusters, contributing to the fruit-driven profile. This wine was then racked into large (and old) Burgundian oak barrels for about 14 months and bottled without fining or filtering.

The result is gulpably delicious, balanced, & complex. It is overflowing with expressive notes of muddled strawberry, ruby red grapefruit, leather, raspberry, plum, blueberry, mulberry, rhubarb sauce, rooibos tea, violet, bacon fat, forest floor, black cherry, black forest cake, fennel, black licorice, anise seed, and wet moss.

On the palate, it’s dry with an energetic acid profile, soft & fine tannins, medium alcohol (13% ABV), overall medium body, & a lingering finish.

This wine tells a story of heroism, history, & place. Not to mention it’s a highly versatile food-pairing wine, which begs for a shared meal with loved ones. Cheers! — 3 months ago

with Deked1

Gabby

9.0

Liked this a lot - I think there was a distinct rose on the nose. These Pinots were all uniquely herbal and driving through the terrain made this make sense — 4 years ago

Niccolò Bertoldi

9.0

Mellow taste but indicative of a mineral rich terrain — 4 years ago

Carlo Maria Rossotto

9.0

Surprise Pinot Noir from Sicily. It has blackberry and licorice hints. Slight burnt terrain flavor, reminding us of Etna Rosso. A balanced Pinot Noir leveraging the terrain advantages — 5 months ago

Vanessa

9.3

Hello, California Syrah!!

From everything we’ve read, the Alder Springs Vineyard sounds like a truly majestic place.

It’s isolated in an undeveloped part of northern Mendocino County, situated in California’s North Coast region, where the steep and rugged terrain meet sweeping views of the ocean, bordered by rivers, redwoods, and snowcapped mountains… elevation stretches up to 1,800 feet above sea level.

It’s no wonder so many acclaimed producers, like Pax Mahle, source their fruit from here, where vines are sustainably farmed and cared for by Stuart Bewley. We were fortunate to visit Pax in Sebastopol in 2022, where we picked up this 2011 Cahto Ridge Alder Springs Vineyard Syrah. We’ve been waiting patiently to taste it. And here we are.

100% Syrah. Whole cluster fermented. Aged 12 months in neutral French oak barrels.

This wine is deep ruby trending towards garnet. The aromas are concentrated with ripe boysenberry, black cherry, blackcurrant, next to violet, black peppercorn, licorice, cured meat, peat moss, smoke, clove, leather and olive notes. On the palate, it is dry with medium (+) acidity, a medium (+) body, high alcohol (14.6% ABV), medium (+) fine-grained tannins, and a long, elegant finish.

It’s both elegant and wild all at the same time and we love it.

Cheers! — 2 years ago

with Deked1

Marcus Weber

9.3

Pure cortese grape, typically from south Piedmont!
Grown on sandy terrain, macerated three days, then spontaneously fermented. Matured in Acacia cask, unfiltered. Very dynamic, citrus, herbs, perfect balance, sandy and chalk notes.
— 4 years ago

Stas Medvedev

9.1

🏅 Rating 91+/100 (4,15⭐)

Yellow color. Bigger volume, complex. Nuanced with secondary aromas, richer. Oak adds layers and nicely integrates with wine. Stone fruits, touch of almonds. Good balance between oak and steel maturation. Very Chablis with signature acidity and salinity. Balanced and charming.

Bougros lies at the very western end of the Grands Crus area, 130-170m on fairly deep marl and clay terrain with a SW exposure.

William Fèvre owns 6.2ha out of 12.6ha. Over 50% of the wine are matured in old French oak barrels for 6mo and then transferred in steel tanks. Total maturation takes about 15mo.

---
Instagram: @wine_talks_club — 5 years ago