Vinopolis Newsletter 10-02-24 PM

 
 
Oregon
 

Purple Hands Wine
 

Purple Hands Freedom Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, USA 2022 750ml $66 special, 12 bottles available
Jeb Dunnuck 97 Points “A richer reflective ruby hue, the 2022 Pinot Noir Freedom Hill Vineyard is a savory wine with notes of wet stones, graphite, pine, fresh black cherries, mixed berries, and tea leaf. It is very appealing on the palate early on with refined tannins and a juicy feel. It’s very attractive now, and it’s not going to slow down any time soon.”
 
Purple Hands Haakon Lenai Chardonnay, Dundee Hills, USA 2022 750ml $59 special, 6 bottles available
Jeb Dunnuck 96 Points “A light hazy yellow hue, the 2022 Chardonnay Haakon/Lenai Vineyard delivers delicate flint notes along with rocky earth, preserved lemon, bright apples, and concentrated, salty earth. Medium to full-bodied, it has compact intensity, with electricity driving through the palate, and I also love the texture of this wine. Fully dry, with great extract, it has depth and richness without being heavy. It’s a fantastic and age-worthy wine to drink over the next 10-12 years.“

 
Purple Hands Haakon Lenai Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills, USA 2022 750ml $66 special, 12 bottles available
Jeb Dunnuck 98 Points “A youthful ruby red hue, the 2022 Pinot Noir Haakon/Lenai Vineyard comes from 27-year-old vines in the main estate vineyard … There is real crystalline depth to this wine as well as more purity and clarity, and it has bright, ripe acidity, mouthwatering freshness, and a great finish. Its ripe tannins are very well-framed, and it has a long finish. Much more purity and clarity here. Drink 2024-2044. This is by far the best wine in the Purple Hands lineup.”
 
Purple Hands Latchkey Vineyard Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills, USA 2022 750ml $59 special, 6 bottles available
Jeb Dunnuck 96 Points “The 2022 Pinot Noir Latchkey Vineyard is from 18-year-old vines grown on ancient volcanic soils. A bit deeper ruby red, it’s aromatic of black raspberries, rosemary, pressed flowers, and anise. Medium to full-bodied, it is ripe with a rounded, plush, approachable feel, but it has seamless structure and is going to age gracefully over the coming 12-15 years.”
 
Purple Hands Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir, Yamhill-Carlton District, USA 2022 750ml $59 special, 12 bottles available
Jeb Dunnuck 96 Points “From one of the highest elevations in this vineyard, the 2022 Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard is a transparent red hue and is aromatic of ripe cherries, spices, mossy earth, and a lightly gamey but clean earth note. It is an elegant and lifted expression of the Shea Vineyard, with bright acidity, fine tannins, and a more linear feel, and as it opens, it starts to show its broader shoulders and its deeper notes come through.”
 
 
Italy
 
Mazzarosa ‘Vere Novo’ Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Italy 2020 750ml $39 special, 36 bottles available
Decanter 97 Points- Platinum Award- “Plenty of ripe plum, blueberries, and well-integrated oak, with subtle accents of thyme and laurel. Quite light in concentration, with a delicacy of acid and tannins. The wine shows a perfumed spine of herbs that runs throughout the palate’s lingering finish. -Decanter World Wine Awards Tasting Panel”

 
Pieropan Soave Classico, Veneto, Italy 2023 750ml $19 special, 36 bottles available
Jeff Porter-Wine Enthusiast 93 Points “Every year Pieropan captures the soul of Soave, Garganega and the vintage in such a pristine way that it keeps us in awe. This vintage shines with aromas of Fuji pears, Anjou apples, lemon blossom and flint. The palate is crisp with green apple skin and lemon zest flavors that give way to toasted almonds, acacia honey and a minerality so deep that you might as well be in a quarry. Drink now–2040.”
 
Allegrini Palazzo della Torre Veronese IGT, Veneto, Italy 2021 750ml $19.50 special, 24 bottles available
(Not reviewed yet, 2020 review provided for reference)
Jeff Porter- Wine Enthusiast “A portion of this wine undergoes a drying process called appassimento and then is blended into the non-dried wine. This process gives the wine richness and intensity while also keeping the freshness needed to balance out the wine. Aromas of blackberry, cassis, sour cherry, mixed herbs and dried violets spill from the glass. The palate is rich yet in balance, with savory notes and forest floor combining with the densely packed fruit, and a perfectly timed pop of acidity on the finish.”
 
Jermann Pinot Grigio Venezia Giulia IGT, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy 2022 750ml $24 special, 24 bottles available
Jeff Porter- Wine Enthusiast 92 Points “This classic Pinot Grigio’s aromas flow out of the glass showing fresh orchard notes, white flowers, lemon drop candy and crushed stone. It’s lively on the palate with the sprightly levity of lemon zest, green apple skin, wild green herbs and a zip of acidity.”
 
 
California
 
Faust Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, USA 2022 750ml $49 special, 36 bottles available
(Not reviewed yet, 2021 rating provided for reference)
James Suckling 95 Points (2021) “Inviting aromas of ripe blackcurrants and blackberries as well as crushed walnuts, cedar and bark. Full-bodied, creamy and structured with firm, polished tannins. Balanced and even with a lingering finish.”
David Jelinek-Winemaker “Violets and toasted baking spice open on the nose of our 2022 Faust Napa Valley, with savory layers of slate and cedar joining in the background. Concentrated, perfectly ripe black cherry is spiced with the wine’s signature star anise and framed by fine, chalky tanning that unfold into richness on the palate. Mouthwatering freshness sustains the dance of fruit and minerality through a lingering finish.”
 

 

 
 
Oregon
 
Cameron Winery Reserve Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills, USA 2022 750ml $39 special, 36 bottles available
Winery Note “The ’22 Dundee Hills blend includes fruit from Abbey Ridge and La Colina vineyards and punches well above its weight. Clean, dark and red fruit aromas and notes of black tea, earth, and allspice paired with subtle tannins and balanced acidity. This wine has a pleasant, round mouthfeel that can be thoughtfully quaffed or heartily slurped depending on the needs of the meal or the consumer.”
 
Cameron Winery Dundee Hills Chardonnay, Willamette Valley, USA 2022 750ml $24 special, 16 bottles available
Winery Note “Vinified from Abbey Ridge & Clos Electrique fruit, this is the best Chardonnay in its price range on the market. Lime leaf and orange blossom aromatics with a light touch of vanilla make me think of tarte au citron! A lovely rich mouth with some tartness allows it to be both an aperitif while you’re cooking and it will go with the meal afterward, though if you drink enough while you’re cooking, this latter point will be unimportant!”
 

California

Merry Edwards Meredith Estate Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, USA 2018 750ml $79 special, 13 bottles available
Virginie Boone-Wine Enthusiast 95 Points “This wine is exuberantly layered in bright tones of pomegranate and strawberry, while textured with integrated tannins and oak. Complementary elements
of forest floor, black tea and clove play well with the fruitiness and enduring lushness on the palate.”

 
Racines Sainte-Rose Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir 2019 750ml $59 special, 9 bottles available
Antonio Galloni-Vinous 94 Points “The 2019 Pinot Noir Saint Rose a new wine in this lineup. The 2019 is a blend of the best barrels from Domaine de la Côte and La Encantada vineyards. Ripe red cherry, blood orange, spice, menthol and a good deal of savoriness from the 50% whole clusters are front and center. Pliant and creamy, the 2019 is so expressive today. A few years in bottle should help the tannins soften.”

 
France
 

 
“A wine made with love and passion produces an emotion… You can find in a wine the personality and the character of those who made it because each gesture, each operation, each decision has its importance.” -Stephane Tissot
 
Stephane Tissot Arbois Les Bruyeres Chardonnay, Jura, France 2020 750ml $49 special, 8 bottles available
Luis Gutierrez-Wine Advocate 94 Points “The 2019 Les Bruyères Chardonnay is flintier, more rustic, more reductive with the classical bitter twist in the finish. The Trias soils always seem to give this wine a spicy Jura twang, and 2019 was a good year for the clay soils. It should develop nicely in bottle.”
 

 
Domaine Ostertag Fronholz Riesling, Alsace, France 2020 750ml $41.90 special, 7 bottles available
Kermit Lynch Importer Note “Perched on a hillside near the village of Epfig, the Fronholz vineyard is known for producing craggy, mineral-driven Rieslings with bracing acidity. The Ostertag family farms their parcels biodynamically, and the Fronholz’s vibrant mix of fruit and earth, flesh and structure, is their hallmark.”

 
Domaine Ostertag Pinot Gris Fronholz, Alsace, France 2021 750ml $49 special, 12 bottles available
Kermit Lynch Importer Note “The elegance and class of this grandiose cuvée are thrilling to behold. Fronholz is a vineyard composed primarily of quartz, and the taste of an Ostertag wine from here is reminiscent of this stone: sleek, transparent, and brilliant.”

 

 
Alex Foillard Cote de Brouilly, Beaujolais, France 2019 750ml $34.50 special, 10 bottles available
Kermit Lynch Importer Note “Jean Foillard, a soft-spoken perfectionist who has arguably become the Beaujolais’s most talented vigneron working today. He crafts reds that range from silky to succulent from the Cru of Morgon’s top sites. Their balance, finesse, and age-worthiness are unrivaled in the region.”
 
 
Italy
 

 
Bartolo Mascarello Barolo DOCG, Piedmont, Italy 2020 750ml $235 special, 10 bottles available
Decanter 97 Points “In the blend of Maria Teresa Mascarello’s Barolo 2020 the replanted San Lorenzo vineyard makes a comeback with a small portion of young-vine fruit. It was harvested on 2 October while the rest (from Rocche dell’Annunziata and Cannubi) was picked from 4-8 October after the rain. The result is a wine with a backdrop of very fresh redcurranty fruits violets deep spices including liquorice root as well as hints of linden almost camphor and wild strawberry. A defined expression demonstrating a lot of maturity and savouriness.”

 

 
Cascina Baricchi ‘Riva della Coda’ Barbera d’Alba, Piedmont, Italy 2020 750ml $34.50 special, 24 bottles available
(Not reviewed, 2020 vintage provided for reference)
Antonio Galloni-Vinous (2020) “Cascina Baricchi’s 2018 Barbera d’Alba Riva della Coda is a heady, bombastic wine. Sumptuous black cherry, licorice, menthol, game, tobacco and earthy notes all hit the palate. The 2018 is rich and quite boisterous. While not the most elegant Barbera readers will come across, the 2018 does pack a pretty huge punch. It’s a big wine for the dinner table.”

 
Cascina Baricchi Rose delle Casasse, Barbaresco DOCG, Italy 2017 750ml $79 special, 36 bottles available
Antonio Galloni-Vinous 95 Points “The 2017 Barbaresco Riserva Rose delle Casasse is a rich, heady wine that is going to need a number of years to come into its own. Time in the glass releases gorgeous aromatics to play off a core of dark red/purplish fruit, spice and licorice notes. There’s tons of depth and character, but this is an uncharacteristically reticent 2017. Give this exotic beauty time. The aromatics alone are so inviting.”

 
…also available from Cascina Baricchi:
 
Cascina Baricchi Rose delle Casasse, Barbaresco DOCG, Italy 2016 750ml $89 special, 7 bottles available
Antonio Galloni-Vinous 94 Points “The 2016 Barbaresco Riserva Rose delle Casasse is a fine follow up to the stellar 2015. A bit more austere than its older sibling, the 2016 presents a distinctly savory profile redolent of crushed flowers, herbs, mint, spice, leather and tobacco, while the fruit is pushed into the background. Naturally, it will be interesting to see if some of that inner sweetness emerges in time. A few months separating two tastings suggest that may very well happen. This is such a gorgeous wine.”
 

 
Piero Benevelli Ravera di Monforte, Barolo DOCG, Italy 2019 750ml $59 special, 6 bottles available
Kermit Lynch Importer Note “Beautiful, classic Barolo nose. Intense depth. Fresh and complex in the mouth. Wonderful finish. Great wine! Massimo Benevelli has created a masterpiece of Nebbiolo from the distinctive Ravera cru of Barolo in Monforte d’Alba. With a good decanting, this wine is sublime now, but the wise bet would be to stick a case of this in the deepest, darkest part of your cellar.”
 

 
Alois Lageder Versalto Pinot Bianco Alto Adige, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy 2020 750ml $24 special, 11 bottles available
Monica Larner-Wine Advocate 92 Points “The well-priced Alois Lageder 2020 Pinot Bianco Versalto is a new organic and biodynamic submission (with 13,000 bottles produced). The wine is slightly closed on first nose, but it eventually reveals crisp apple, lychee fruit, honeydew melon and crushed limestone. It delivers high-elevation freshness and crystalline sharpness that reflects these snow-capped mountain surroundings. It is fermented in steel but aged on the lees in both steel and oak. Fruit is sourced across three vineyards: Tirolo (in Merano), Pochi and Penone ranging from 480 and 660 meters in elevation.”

 

 

Biondi Santi takes up a lot of space in our offerings and sale emails. It makes sense, seeing as how Biondi is the foundation that the entire region has been built upon, but today we are going to explore a few of the very best bottles of Brunello we currently have on offer.
 
Let’s dig in shall we?
 
Mastrojanni Vigna Loreto, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Italy 2015 750ml $115 special, 22 bottles available
Monica Larner-Wine Advocate 96 Points ” …shows a creamy and robust constitution with loads of black fruit and spice. If you are looking for a soft and more contemporary expression of Sangiovese, this will fit the bill … If you are going to go big, you might as well do so in style.”
 
San Polino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Tuscany, Italy 2016 750ml $66 special, 13 bottles available
James Suckling 97 Points “Attractive aromas of cherry, dark mushroom, bark and walnut follow through to a full body with lots of ripe cherry and berry character in the center palate. Firm, chewy tannins draw you down the palate. Extremely long. From organically grown grapes. Better than the superb 2015? Drink after 2023 and onwards.”
 
Casanova di Neri Cerretalto, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Italy 2012 750ml $379 special, 8 bottles available
Monica Larner-Wine Advocate 98 Points ” …offers a prolonged, flowing and carefully massaged drinking experience that drapes over the senses with some studied intensity and lots of intriguing complexity … Bold cherry fruit and spice are tightly woven together. In the mouth, the wine shows texture, depth and succulence. Generally speaking, this is not my favorite vintage in Montalcino, but this wine suddenly made me forget that thought.”
 
Sassetti Livio Pertimali Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Tuscany, Italy 2015 1.5L $159 special, 4 bottles available
James Suckling 98 Points “There’s something ethereal in the nose with flowers, cherries, strawberries and shitake mushrooms. Full body. This grows on the palate with super tannin and fruit structure. So much berry flavor and round, caressing tannins that fill your mouth. Tight at the end. This needs four to five years to show its true greatness. Try after 2023.”

 
Fuligni Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG, Tuscany, Italy 2012 750ml $199 special, 8 bottles available
Wine Spectator 98 Points “Bright and juicy, this is packed with cherry, strawberry, floral and mineral aromas and flavors. Linear in shape and tightly wound, yet very pure, with a long, detailed aftertaste that pulls all the elements together. Best from 2021 through 2040.”

 
Siro Pacenti PS Vecchie Vigne, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Italy 2019 750ml 113.50 special, 12 bottles available
James Suckling 99 Points “Black cherries, lavender, black mushrooms, lead pencil and violets on the nose. Full-bodied with a powerful and polished tannin structure that follows through to the very end. Pure, silky texture. Fascinating aftertaste of ripe fruit, yet it’s fresh and tense. Some orange peel, too. Glorious at the end. So well-crafted and pointed. This needs another three to five years to integrate but already extremely impressive.”

 
And last but not least… sigh. Yes, it’s Biondi-Santi. It’s just so good, we couldn’t help but put a bottle of Biondi-Santi on our Biondi-less list. This wine that James Suckling called a “new classic” is too great a wine to resist… and it’s on sale?!
 
Biondi Santi Tenuta Greppo Riserva, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Italy 2016 750ml $619 special, 5 bottles available
Monica Larner-Wine Advocate 99 Points “Wow, here is a vintage I’ve been anxiously waiting to try. The 2016 growing season was one of the best in recent memory in Montalcino, and if we look back in time, this vintage marks the year Biondi-Santi was sold to a French group … The wine offers wild nuances of forest berry and tart cherry, and there are herbal side notes as well as floral tones of dried violet and lilac. The tannins are soft, powdery and feel like they melt away on the palate.”