Vinopolis Newsletter 1-10-25

 

 

 

 
 

 

“Haden Fig is about a shared passion for making exceptionally complex and balanced wines in the heart of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. We are guided by an uncompromising commitment to crafting non-irrigated Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Rosé.” -Founder and Winemaker, Erin Nuccio
 
 HOT DEAL  Haden Fig Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon 2022 750ml $21.90 special, 36 bottles available
Clive Pursehouse- Decanter 94 Points “Bright and spritely aromatics of tea tree oil, pine bough and sumac buoy notes of crushed red florals and tart cherries. The palate shows gobs of early-season wild strawberries, steaks of wild wintergreen, and a dash of white pepper delivers the finish. An incredible wine for around $25.”
 

 
“Proprietor Erin Nuccio and his wife purchased Evesham Wood from founders Russ and Mary Raney in 1986. The estate is centred on the vineyard called Le Puits Sec, which is just under 5ha. The site is located on the eastern ridge of Eola-Amity Hills, and Nuccio produces wine from the estate vineyard and from purchased fruit from top sources in the Willamette Valley. The Pinot Noir is normally punched down twice daily, and there is usually an inclusion of whole clusters that varies according to the vintage and the vineyard. Ageing is typically in 25% to 30% new casks from François Frères.” – Charles Curtis MW, “Oregon Pinot Noir: top producers to know and wines to try,” Decanter.
 
Evesham Wood Cuvee J Pinot Noir 2022 750ml $59 special, 6 bottles available
Erin Brooks- Wine Advocate “The 2022 Pinot Noir Cuvée J comes mainly from own-rooted Pommard vines planted in 1986 on Nekia and Jory soils. Matured for 21 months in 25% new French oak, it takes significant coaxing to reveal pomegranate, bergamot and forest floor aromas. The light-bodied palate pairs concentrated, fragrant fruit with chalky tannins and juicy acidity, and it has a long, spicy finish. 148 cases were made.”
 
Evesham Wood Eola Amity Pinot Noir 2022 750ml $31.90 special, 24 bottles available
James Suckling 92 Points “Charming nose of cherries, wild currants, dried herbs and forest floor. Medium-bodied with crisp acidity. Vivid, nervy and crispy throughout. There is a spicy dimension with a transparent, succulent character at the end.”
 
Evesham Wood Pinot Noir La Grive Bleue 2022 750ml $39 special, 36 bottles available
Eric Guido-Vinous 94 Points “The 2022 Pinot Noir La Grive Bleue is distinctly savory. It opens with an herbal thrust of rosemary and sage before evolving into wild blueberries, wilted violets and flowery underbrush. This is youthfully lean and compact, washing across the palate with silken textures and a refined blend of red berries and spice. It tapers off with tense tannins, a firm acid spine and hints of tangerine, leaving the taster completely enamored. Readers should wait another year or two to indulge in this bottle. (Drink between 2026-2032).”
 
 STAFF PICK  Evesham Wood Le Puits Sec Pinot Noir 2022 750ml $51.90 special, 24 bottles available
Clive Pursehouse- Decanter 97 Points “What a beautiful Pinot Noir from the Evesham Wood estate Le Puits Sec, with 85% of this wine coming from the older vine, 1986 plantings. Aromatics of smoky rose petals and dried violets are buoyed by notes of wild mint, tea tree oil and a seaspray saline note that goes on and on. The palate is delicate, refined and yet so energetic. Mouthfuls of vibrant red cranberries, a spritz of blood orange and delightfully spiced wild strawberries. The cool 2022 vintage has set this wine up perfectly, it’s brilliantly harmonious now, and it will age for aeons. Burgundy, eat your heart out.”

 

 
 
France

 
“Champagne Ulysse Collin is one of the great success stories in Champagne of the last twenty years.” –Antonio Galloni
 

 
Ulysse Collin Blanc De Blancs Enfers, Champagne NV (2017) 750ml $599 special, 2 bottles available
William Kelley- Wine Advocate 96 Points “Disgorged after 60 months on the lees, and incorporating 20% reserve wines, the NV Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Enfers (2017) 60 months is based on the 2017 vintage. After the volume and breadth of the 2014 and 2015 iterations, and after the structure of 2016, the 2017 remains impressively vinous and intensely flavored, but it’s more charming and immediate in style. Offering up aromas of mango, pear, spices, beeswax, dried white flowers and fresh bread, it’s full-bodied, layered and giving, with a deep core of fruit and a resonant, saline finish. Often, it’s Les Roises that’s the more exotic of Collin’s two Congy cuvées, thanks to its virused vines and more southerly exposition, but in 2017, that dynamic seems to have been reversed.”
 
Ulysse Collin Blanc De Blancs Pierrieres, Champagne NV (2019) 750ml $399 special, 2 bottles available
(Not Reviewed yet, 2018 base vintage review provided for context)
Antonio Galloni- Vinous 96 Points “The NV Blanc de Blancs Les Pierrières (40% 2018 base, 60% reserve wines) is a rich, layered wine that shows all the explosive energy that makes these Ulysses Colin Champagnes so alluring. Peach, apricot, crushed rocks, chamomile, hazelnut and a touch of reduction race across the palate. This is an especially dense, heady vintage for the Pierrières. This only needs a few more months to recover from its relatively recent disgorgement. Time in the glass brings out notable crystalline purity. This is so impressive. Dosage is 1-2 grams per liter. Disgorged February, 2023.”
 
 
California
 
Ridge Grenache Blanc Paso Robles 2023 750ml $36 special, 12 bottles available
James Suckling 93 Points “Brilliant acidity backs up subtle, savory and fresh citrus flavors in this full-bodied and well-balanced Rhone-style white. Aromas like a hay field, lanolin and dry earth meet tangy apricot, lime zest, mineral and almond flavors on a broad but lively texture. Includes 14% picpoul and 2% roussanne grapes. Drink now or hold.”
 
Ridge Zinfandel Pagani Ranch 2022 750ml $46.50 special, 12 bottles available
Erin Brooks-Wine Advocate 94 Points “The 2022 Zinfandel Pagani Ranch is a blend of 82% Zinfandel, 9% Alicante Bouschet, 5% Petite Sirah and 4% Mataro. It has layered scents of blueberry preserves, yellow peach, toasted coconut and floral perfume. The palate combines generous, layered, fragrant flavors with silky tannins and bursts of mouthwatering acidity, and it has a long, expressive finish.”


Italy
 
Felsina Berardenga Rancia, Chianti Classico Gran Seleccion DOCG, Italy 2021 750ml $54.50 special, 24 bottles available
Antonio Galloni-Vinous 95+ Points “The 2021 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Rancia is the first vintage in which Rancia moves from Riserva to Gran Selezione. More importantly, Fèlsina appears to be back on track after two years, during which Rancia underperformed because of the inclusion of a parcel that did not work in the blend and contributed a slight vegetal character. The 2021 marries power and finesse in the way only Rancia can. Black cherry, leather, game, spice, licorice, tobacco and grilled herbs are all nely knit in a brooding yet elegant Gran Selezione that delivers the goods. Superb.”

 
 

 

“I’d like Remelluri to be a meeting place, somewhere that is open to everyone, where people can come to meet, discuss and drink wine. It’s time to be generous with others. We have to help those that are starting out; that way, we can give back to wine what wine has given to us.” –Telmo Rodríguez
 
So says one of Spain’s biggest Terroir Champions. The man who rewrote the rules of Rioja… Telmo. Earlier this week we explored his Galician winery, Ladeira Do Xil, but he is a very busy man, with numerous wine projects across Spain, but Remelluri was the beginning of it all.
 
Telmo and his sister Amaia have continued their father’s tradition in Remelluri over from their father, bringing unrivaled finesse and terroir, offering some of the most profound expressions in all of Rioja:
 
Importer’s note “The concept of Remelluri Blanco remains the obliteration of grape variety by using a number of co-planted vines and utilizing a gentle, low-impact élevage. Thus, Telmo ensures that Remelluri Blanco speaks only of the terruño of the place, rather than of any particular grape or process. With Remelluri Blanco, he has achieved something truly unique and singular, with each vintage coveted by the same collectors who search out Chave’s Hermitage Blanc and Montrachet by Domaine Leflaive.”
Remelluri Blanco 2021 750ml $119 special, 9 bottles available
Luis Gutiérrez-Wine Advocate 97 Points “The 2021 Blanco is a blend of varieties and places and is the first wine that expresses the special character of the Remelluri property … it comes from vines planted between 1989 and 2012 and is worked organically and biodynamically, with cover crops and horses. It has ripeness, notes of pollen and yellow fruit and a touch of smoke and spice, with a very balanced palate and great purity. It follows the path of elegance and freshness of the 2020, but it was a cooler and healthier vintage (in 2020, they had hail twice), and the wine shows more precision and finishes very clean.”
 
Importer’s note: Telmo selects specific parcels of the oldest vines at some of the highest altitudes on the property for Granja Remelluri Gran Reserva. The blend includes a larger proportion of centennial garnacha from a vineyard planted more than a hundred years ago at 750 meters in the foothills of the mountain. Granja Remelluri has a marked Atlantic character and goes through extended aging in large format foudre barrels, with further time in bottle until they feel the Granja is ready to be released.
Remelluri Gran Reserva 2015 750ml $119 special, 10 bottles available
Luis Gutiérrez-Wine Advocate 95 Points “A blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha and Graciano, the 2012 Granja Remelluri Gran Reserva represents what they are aiming for with this wine, a classical expression of the place, the quintessence of the vineyards. The select their oldest vineyards and age the wine for a long time, coming back to those early years of a modern Rioja that has now turned into a classic. It has some dusty tannins, with good grip and length. It was bottled in 24,238 bottles after an élevage of 26 months. It has been in bottle since May 2015.”
 
The Lindes de Remelluri wines feature distinct terroirs of the broader region: Labastida, San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Ábalos, Peciña, Rivas de Tereso, and Salinillas de Buradón. Remelluri has therefore become a unique window into the complexion and taste of Rioja, offering consumers unparalleled access to understand the region intimately in the glass.
 
Remelluri Lindes de Remelluri Viñedos de Ábalos 2020 750ml $36 special, 10 bottles available
Luis Gutiérrez-Wine Advocate 93+ points “The serious and austere new 2020 Lindes de Remelluri Viñedos de Ábalos was produced with grapes on marl and limestone from the Marqués de Legarda, who is mentioned on the label. It’s a blend of 73% Tempranillo, 17% Graciano, 6% Garnacha and 4% other varieties, presented in a straight Bordeaux bottle. It reflects more the character of Haro than the Rioja Alavesa, wines with more Graciano. It’s medium to full-bodied with 14.17% alcohol and has fine-grained, chalky tannins. 13,205 bottles were filled in May 2022.”

Remelluri Lindes de Remelluri Viñedos de Peciña 2020 750ml $36 special, 6 bottles available
Luis Gutiérrez-Wine Advocate 94 points “The perfumed and floral 2020 Lindes de Remelluri Viñedos de Peciña is the smallest cuvée from a narrow amphitheater in the parish of San Vicente de la Sonsierra. It’s a blend of Tempranillo with 25% Garnacha and therefore presented in a Burgundian bottle, reflecting the high percentage of Garnacha. It has notes of Mediterranean herbs, some coolness from the high altitude of the vineyards and some austerity in the tannins. 7,149 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2022.”

Remelluri Lindes de Remelluri Viñedos de Rivas de Tereso 2020 750ml $36 special, 16 bottles available
Luis Gutiérrez-Wine Advocate 93+ points “Rivas de Tereso are parishes of San Vicente de la Sonsierra, but the difference with the 2020 Lindes de Remelluri Viñedos de Rivas de Tereso is that the vineyards are at higher altitude and the percentage of Garnacha is much higher here (38%), so there’s more mountain character and more herbal notes in the wine. It has 57% Tempranillo and some 5% other varieties. Despite a moderate 13.95% alcohol, the nose shows good ripeness, and there is some wilderness here, perhaps a little more rusticity too. The soils are very stony and rich in limestone, and the altitude gives the wine an austere twist.”
 
Remelluri Lindes de Remelluri Viñedos de Salinillas de Buradón 2020 750ml $39 special, 21 bottles available
Luis Gutiérrez-Wine Advocate 95 points “The 2020 Lindes de Remelluri Viñedos de Salinillas de Buradón, a parish of Labastida, was produced with a blend of 91% Tempranillo, 4% Garnacha and 5% other varieties from south-facing vineyards behind the Sierra de la Cantabria, the last vineyards that they recovered on quartz salt, gypsum and red clay soils. These are the last grapes to be picked, and the wine has 14.22% alcohol but doesn’t show any heat. It comes through as serious, shy and austere, a little closed at first. The tannins are a little rustic, but the wine has a strong mineral streak that made it my favorite from the lot. 20,114 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2022.”

Remelluri Lindes de Remelluri Mixed Village Six-Pack 2020 750ml $219 special, 2 six-packs in stock now
Six pack contains a limited-edition booklet and one 750ml bottle of each of the following, no substitutions.
1 x Vinedos de Salinillas de Buradon 2020
1 x Vinedos de Pecina 2020
1 x Vinedos de Labastida 2020
1 x Vinedos de Abalos 2020
1 x Vinedos de Rivas de Teres, 2020
1 x Vinedos de San Vicente de la Sonsierra 2020
 

 
“We were working in a category that didn’t exist, working to produce an ambitious wine to ensure the survival of these stubborn vines. It has not been easy, but we succeeded.m Today, Cebreros is an international category and our Barrancos de Pizarra and Granito, are the pure expression of this extreme and distinctive place.” –Telmo Rodríguez

Telmo Rodriguez’s winery, Pegaso, began as all wineries in Sierra de Gredos seem to: with a long hike. Decades ago, he and his father were crossing the iconic mountain range and young Telmo was so enamored by the peaceful and simple beauty of the land that he vowed to make wine there some day. In 1999, he did just that, purchasing vineyard land in Cebreros, an old village outside of Avila. Finally a chance to make something all his own.
 
Pegaso releases wines based on the two soil types in his vineyards: Pizarra (brown slate) and Granito (granite). Zeta, his newest wine, is a blend from both slate and granite soils and an excellent introduction to Telmo’s style. Featuring 60 year old vines then spontaneously fermented and aged in a combo of neutral oak, stainless steel, and amphorae, then fined with egg whites, this is a complex and vivacious wine with a unique sense of place.

Telmo Rodriguez ‘Pegaso Barrancos de Pizarra’ Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y Leon, Spain 2018 750ml $69 special, 6 bottles available
Luis Gutierrez-Wine Advocate 96 Points “The 2018 Pegaso Barrancos de Pizarra was produced with Garnacha from 80+-year-old vines on slopes rich in schist. It fermented in oak and stainless steel vats and amphorae with indigenous yeasts and matured in 500- and 600-liter French oak barrels for 24 months. Against all odds, because the wines from schist tend to be more closed than the ones from granite, the wine is super expressive and open, aromatic, floral and perfumed. It’s powerful and elegant, with structure and freshness, with balance and all the ingredients for a great development in bottle. This has to be the finest vintage of this wine since the initial 1999.”
 
Telmo Rodriguez ‘Pegaso Barrancos de Pizarra’ Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y Leon, Spain 2019 750ml $59 special, 12 bottles available
Luis Gutierrez-Wine Advocate 96 Points “The 2019 Pegaso Barrancos de Pizarra comes from a very dry year with low yields, produced with Garnacha from 80+-year-old vines on slopes rich in schist at 800 to 1,000 meters in altitude. It fermented in oak and stainless steel vats and amphorae with indigenous yeasts and matured in 500- and 600-liter oak barrels of different origins for 24 months. This is very expressive; the slate soils seem to take heat quite well. It is floral and open, rich and with the grainy tannins that reminded me of the dusty schist.” 

 

 
Nestled in the heart of the Saar region, the Falkenstein winery crafts Rieslings that are authentic and extraordinary. Hofgut Falkenstein is your personal passageway to a bygone era of German winemaking…
 
CLOSE-OUT SALE WAS $39
Falkenstein Schafershaus Spatlese Trocken #18 Riesling, Mosel, Germany 2023 750ml $34.50 special, 29 bottles available
Mosel Fine Wines 93 Points “(Falkenstein Krettnacher Ober Schäfershaus Riesling Spätlese Trocken) AP: 18 24. The 2023er Krettnacher Ober Schäfershaus Riesling Spätlese Trocken comes 60-year-old vines planted in the similarly name Lieu-Dit in the Altenberg vineyard underpinned by Diabas elements. It offers a superb nose of greengage, bergamot, smoke, wet stone, and grapefruit zest sorbet. The wine is racy but beautifully playful on the bone-dry tasting palate and leaves a superbly feel of menthol in the long finish. 2033-2048.”