Vinopolis Newsletter 11-6-24 PM

 
 
Spain
 

 

 

“Raúl Pérez is the archetype of the intuitive winemaking genius.” -Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW, Decanter Magazine.
 
Left to his own devices, Raul Perez was planning to be a medical professional. Even though he would become one of the most respected enologists of his generation, it is most instructive to look at Perez as an artist who has brought a new vision to his home appellation of Bierzo, first at his family’s winery and founding members of terroir focused “New Spain” movement like Bernabeleva before bringing his own winery into the world.
 
Beyond respect from the movers and shakers in his own country of origin Perez has received “Winemaker of the Year” in 2014 from Germany’s “Der Feinschmecker” magazine and “Best Winemaker in the World” from France’s “Bettane+Desseauve” wine Periodical in 2015.
 
Raul Perez Ultreia Saint Jacques, Bierzo, Spain 2021 750ml $21.90 special, 36 bottles available
Luis Gutierrez-Wine Advocate 93 Points “The biggest volume of the winery is the 2021 Ultreia Saint Jacques, which represents some 170,000 bottles, and according to Raúl Pérez, it’s the most difficult wine to make here. They now work a lot to produce this wine, a blend of 11 wines selected from the 17 they made. It’s a wine that represents Bierzo and is from a year when they used more grapes from sandy soils. It has 13.16% alcohol and a pH of 3.66; it’s serious and restrained but juicy and easy to drink. Seventy percent of the wine matured in barrel and the rest in troncoconic oak vats.”
 
…also Available from Raul Perez
 
Raul Perez ‘Ultreia de Valtuille’, Bierzo, Spain 2016 750ml $89 special, 4 bottles available
Luis Gutierrez-Wine Advocate 96+ Points “There are only 1,000 bottles of the 2016 Ultreia Valtuille (the new name, as all labels have been simplified and cleaned up, and some of the names have even been shortened). The crop was greatly reduced because of mildew, and the grapes are a lot more concentrated, with more tannin and structure, and they had to do a much longer élevage, up to 24 months in barrique. Despite its concentration and power, it has great freshness and perfume. You don’t find excess tannin, and it seems like the time in barrel has really polished the edges. It’s really outstanding.”
  
 
Italy
 

 
Giulio and Luciana Grasso, along with daughters Federica, Paola, and Valentina are the 4th generation owners of Ca del Baio who with simple, non-interventionist farming and winemaking, have shepherded their estate into one of the 21st century’s most accessible Barbaresco houses. The Grasso family weaves their Nebbiolos into a lovely tapestry of tannin, fruit, and flowers providing outstanding quality and value from this producer. Highly recommended!
 
Ca’ del Baio ‘Asili’, Barbaresco DOCG, Italy 2021 750ml $41.90 special, 19 bottles
James Suckling 96 Points “Strawberries, watermelon, pomegranate, fresh violets and a lot of orange peel. Then the full-bodied palate shows pinot-like elegance, almost silky tannins and great concentration of fruit, with rhubarb notes, fierce tannins that are elegant and ripe, refreshing acidity and a long, precise, polished aftertaste. Drink or hold.”
Antonio Galloni –Vinous 95 Points “The 2021 Barbaresco Asili shows all the pedigree of this great site. Crushed flowers, bright red-toned fruit, mint, cinnamon and rose petals soar from the glass. Medium in body yet wonderfully deep, the Asili has so much to offer. What a pretty and expressive wine it is. Give it a few years in bottle.”
 
Ca’ del Baio ‘Autinbej’, Barbaresco DOCG, Italy 2021 750ml $28 special, 24 bottles available
Antonio Galloni-Vinous 91 Points “The 2021 Barbaresco Autinbej is bright, vibrant and effusive. A blend of mostly Marcarini with some fruit from Ferrere and Montersino, the Autinbej offers up scents of pipe tobacco, cedar, mint, dried flowers and licorice, all in a deceptively mid-weight style that is quite appealing. There’s lovely energy and focus here. The 2021 opens beautifully with a bit of air.”
 
Ca’ del Baio ‘Vallegrande’, Barbaresco DOCG, Italy 2021 750ml $34.50 special, 21 bottles available
Antonio Galloni-Vinous 93 Points “The 2021 Barbaresco Vallegrande is a complex, dynamic wine. Spice and floral inflections fill out the layers, giving this Barbaresco notable amplitude. Macerated dark cherry, leather, tobacco, dried flowers and incense develop later, adding layers of nuance. There’s certainly plenty to like, starting with the wine’s substance and overall palate presence.”
 

Lowest Listed Price on the West Coast

 

France
 

 
Like The Traveling Wilburys, The Highwaymen, and The Band before them, Maison & Domaines Les Alexandrins is a kind of a super group. Pulling talent (and grapes) from famous wine families of the Rhône like Jaboulet, Sorrel, and Perrin, Les Alexandrins puts a fantastic price on the kind of quality that comes from centuries of accumulated experience.
 
A must buy for fans of the Northern Rhône and Syrahs generally, this wine is destined to grace many of our staff’s family dinner tables and parties in this coming holiday season.
 
 hot deal!  Maison Les Alexandrins Crozes-Hermitage Rouge, Rhone, France 2021 750ml $23.50 special, 36 bottles available
This wine is not reviewed often, 2019 review provided for reference.
Josh Raynolds-Vinous 90 Points “Bright blue-purple color. Ripe blackberry, candied violet and olive aromas show very good clarity and spicy lift. Chewy, gently sweet, black and blue fruit flavors pick up olive, cracked pepper and floral pastille nuances with air. Finishes firm and long, with dusty tannins adding solid closing grip.”
 

Lowest Listed price on the West Coast

 

 
 
France
 

 

“Over the years, I have been fortunate to taste these wines, the reds in particular, with bottle age, which is when they truly blossom. The Rouge is a blend of equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. It is without question one of the world’s great reds.” -Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

Cult wine alert, don’t miss out! Heavily allocated and very, very rare.
Domaine de Trevallon, IGP Alpilles, France 2021 750ml $99 special, only 2 bottles available
Not reviewed, 2017 review provided for reference
Antonio Galloni “The 2017 Alpilles Rouge is flat-out delicious. Ripe, plummy and forward, the 2017 offers tremendous immediacy. If I didn’t know how well Trévallon ages, I would be tempted to set an earlier drinking window, but the best is clearly yet to come. Next to other vintages that display a good bit of ripeness, the 2017 remains medium in body and silky. Sweet red berry fruit, flowers, cedar and earthy notes lead into the vibrant, translucent finish.”
Winery Notes “Trévallon is known for its long aging process, more than 2 years for its reds. Racking is kept to a strict minimum, the lees found at the bottom of the barrels continue to nourish the wine during the aging process.”
 
 
New Zealand
 
Certified Organic!
Loveblock Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand 2023 750ml $14.50 special, 36 bottles available
No reviews for the 2023 vintage. 2022 review provided for reference.
Christina Pickard-Wine Enthusiast 92 Points “There’s a lovely lift of passion fruit, guava, citrus and floral aromas to start, backed by a gunflint and briny note. The palate is a graceful balance of texture, acidity, flavor and length. The long, lifted acidity and chalky bite to the finish make one want to reach for another glass. This is classy and food-friendly.”
 

Lowest Price in the USA
Average Price $19

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 
The wonderful wines of John Paul from Cameron never fail to impress us. Born in France and possessing a degree in Microbiology, he began his wine journey when he discovered “that winemaking offered opportunities to use the right side of his brain and to drink at work.” Eventually his passions took him to Burgundy where he learned how to vinify Pinot Noir from its source.
 

 
Cameron Winery ‘Abbey Ridge’ Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, USA 2022 750ml $75 special, 36 bottles available
Vinopolnote “One of the great Pinot Noirs of the vintage so far… if not decade. Intense Loganberry and sandalwood on the nose and palette make this an anything but a standard Willamette Pinot Noir. Just phenomenal.”
 
Cameron Clos Electrique Rouge Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, USA  2022 750ml $75 special, 31 bottles available
Vinopolnote “This bottling is a finely etched masterpiece with lifted acidity, fruit notes of blueberry and baked boysenberry and a hint of iron rich earth.”
 
Cameron Abbey Ridge Chardonnay, Willamette Valley, USA  2022 750ml $75 special, only 1 bottle still available!
VinopolNote Golden yellow and incredibly fragrant, this reads like a Chablis with restraint, vibrant citrus fruit, and a long finish.
 
Cameron Clos Electrique Blanc Chardonnay, Willamette Valley, USA 2022 750ml $75 special, 19 bottles available
VinopolNote “The Clos Electrique is Cameron’s estate vineyard, named after the electric deer fence that surrounds it.  This is planted to a mix of clones and is vinified traditionally—no racking and all in older barrels.  This is crisp and coiled, with distinct minerality and a lot of power in a lithe frame.  Like most vintages of the Electrique Blanc, this is quite good now but will be stellar in a few years.”
 
…also currently available from Cameron Winery, priced as marked:
 
Rare and extremely ageable! This is the crème de la crème of Oregon Pinot!
Cameron Julia Pinot Noir 2020 750ml $112 special, 4 bottles available
Winery Notes “A small portion of Abbey Ridge (1 acre) is planted with the fabled Martin Ray clones of Pinot noir.  Fruit from this block is fermented separately in a small batch.  When it produces something truly outstanding, we bottle it separately, its eponym Julia after Abbey Ridge’s Julia Wayne.”

Somewhere between a white wine and an orange wine.
Cameron Ramato Pinot Gris Rose 2023 750ml $31.90 special, 4 bottles available
Winery Note “Cameron Ramato takes its name from the Italian word Rame, which means copper.  Our beautiful copper-hued wine is made in the tradition of north-eastern Italy, where Pinot grigio is macerated on the skins for 4-5 hours before pressing. With moderate texture and luscious stone fruit, honey comb, and fennel aromas, the ’23 Ramato pairs beautifully with grilled and even spicy foods.”