Vinopolis Newsletter 11-8-24

 
 
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.”
 

 

Envínate, a Spanish winemaking collective founded in 2005, is dedicated to crafting wines that convey the unique terroir of their vineyards in a natural and minimalist style. Their focus on Atlantic-influenced regions like the Canary Islands has resulted in wines that are pure expressions of the land. Using organic farming practices, hand-harvesting, and traditional winemaking techniques, Envínate produces wines that are both natural and deeply satisfying.
 
Today we are proud to be able to offer these Envinate wines from Sanitago del Teide: a beautiful tourist village on Tenerife, the largest of the Spanish Canary Islands.
 
Importer’s Note “Santiago del Teide – Remarkable for its young volcanic soils, high altitude, precipitous cliffsides and intense solar radiation, Santiago del Teide is perched on the northwest slope of Mt. Teide. The vines here are untrained and the area has wide fluctuations in temperature and humidity during the year, with a dramatic diurnal shift.”
Envinate ‘Benje’ Blanco, Canary Islands, Spain 2023 750ml $31.90 special, 23 bottles available
Wine Advocate 94 Points “The white 2023 Benje Blanco, fermented without temperature control since 2021, matured in a 2,500-liter oak foudre and neutral 350-liter barrel, while 65% of the wine was kept in concrete. They also selected finer lees for the élevage, and the wine seems to have gained in finesse. The white grapes didn’t suffer the heat as much as the red ones, but it was not an easy harvest in Santiago del Teide. There’s less oxidation, and the percentage of wine with flor yeasts (25% to 30%) made for finer wines too. There’s a sensation of higher freshness, sharper; it didn’t go through malolactic. It’s also less reductive, and despite being a riper year, the alcohol was kept to 12% and the
pH 3.06. It’s a great Benje Blanco.”

 
Lowest listed price in the USA
Average price is $34

 
Envinate ‘Benje’ Tinto, Canary Islands, Spain 2023 750ml $31.90 special, 24 bottles available
Wine Advocate 94 Points “The bottled 2023 Benje, which has 9% Listán Blanco and 1% Tintilla grapes to complement the Listán Prieto, comes from a very warm and dry year in Santiago del Teide when the vines got blocked and suffered a lot, as they also did in 2019. With the experience from that year, they did a softer vinification, with shorter macerations and extraction. Here, it was an even warmer and earlier year than 2022, with more immediate wines, approachable and open from the very beginning. It’s floral, aromatic and expressive, fine-boned and harmonious, with good freshness. 18,000 bottles and 250 magnums produced. It was bottled in May 2024.”
 

Only listing in the United States!

 
Envinate ‘Vidueno de Santiago del Teide’, Ycoden-Daute-Isora, Spain 2023 750ml $39 special, 24 bottles available
Jose Pastor-Importer Notes “Vidueño de Santiago del Teide is sourced from a tiny 0.15ha parcel of old-vine, untrained pie franc Listan Blanco and Listan Prieto. This co-planted parcel is hand-harvested, destemmed and macerated for 15 days in an open tub, then transferred to three old 228L French barriques to age for 8 months on fine lees without battonage or added SO2. Bottling is without fining, filtration or any added SO2. Due to its high elevation, this wine offers much less Atlantic character than their Taganan or Valle de La Orotava cuvées.”
 

Only listing in the United States

 

 
For over a century, the Olivares family has been crafting these intensely flavored reds from the sunbaked vineyard lands of Jumilla in South Easterly Spain.
 
Bodegas Olivares Altos de la Hoya Monastrell, Jumilla, Spain 2021 750ml $14.50 special, 24 bottles available
Luis Gutierrez-Wine Advocate 91 Points “The 2021 Altos de la Hoya is a varietal Monastrell from dry-farmed vines on poor limestone-rich soils with some 5% Garnacha in the blend. It has notes of ripe berries, aromatic herbs and an earthy touch and a round palate with juicy fruit and fine tannins. It’s very pleasant and fresh. 200,000 bottles produced.”
 

 
4 Monos Viticultores ‘GR10’ Vino Blanco de la Sierra de Gredos, Spain 2021 750ml $26.50 special, 12 bottles available
Luis Gutierrez-Wine Advocate 91+ Points “The regional white 2021 GR-10 Blanco was produced with 60% Albillo Real and 15% Viura, with the remaining 25% composed of a mixture of varieties including Moscatel and Chelva Rosa from different vineyards in Cadalso de los Vidrios and San Martín de Valdeiglesias. It’s a little lighter than the wines produced with pure Albillo, with 13.5% alcohol. It’s a refreshing white with good balance and acidity. This fermented in a mixture of barrels and stainless steel and matured in used barrels for six months. The varietal mix changes here quite a lot, and so does the character of the wine. This feels fresher (it does have less alcohol), but the effect of the skin contact is also more noticeable; it’s a little cloudier and feels a bit wilder, and the chalky sensation is also stronger (it did have more skin contact than the 2020). It also comes through as a little funkier (but I like it!). 2,997 bottles were filled in August 2022.”
 

Lowest price on the West Coast

France
 

 
“It’s the viticulture that makes the difference, not the vinification.” -Pascal Doquet
 
“With holdings of old vines in some of the greatest terroirs in the Côte des Blancs, Pascal Doquet has emerged over the last decade as one of the premier winemakers in Champagne.” –Schatzi Wines
 
Pascal Doquet ‘Arpege’ Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru Brut, Champagne, France NV 750ml $66 special, 12 bottles available
Importer’s Notes “The chardonnay for “Arpège” comes from Vertus, Villeneuve and Mont Aimé—the grapes that are not in the Coeur de Terroir series. There is substantial reserve wine in the blend, preserved in enamel tanks to maintain freshness. Aromas of spice, black tea and pear dominate the flinty-silex soils from the Mont Aimé and lend smokiness and depth to the structure.”
 
Pascal Doquet Champ d’Alouettes Grand Cru Extra Brut, Champagne, France 2005 750ml $199 special, 3 bottles available
Winery note “Pascal is fortunate to have some very old parcels in the mid-slope of this renowned Grand Cru village. His grandfather consolidated nearly a hectare of vines in Champ d’Alouettes, of which Pascal owns 60% of the original holdings.”
 

Only Listing in the United States
 

 
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
Not reviewed, previous vintage 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

 

Featured Close-out Wines
 
Save Big on these Barolos!

 

 

WAS $889
Aldo Conterno Barolo Granbussia 2012 750ml $789 special, 6 bottles available
Wine Spectator 95 Points “The earthy, woodsy aromas show some evolution in this red, with just a hint of white truffle, yet there’s still a hefty dose of spicy oak to be resolved. Rich and sumptuous midpalate, showing plum, cherry, tar and tobacco flavors shaded by vanilla and toasty spices, with firm, dusty tannins laying a grip on the long finish. Give this another year or two in the cellar.”
 
WAS $149
Aldo Conterno Barolo Colonnello 2017 750ml $149 special, 4 bottles available
Monica Larner-Wine Advocate 94+ Points “The Poderi Aldo Conterno 2017 Barolo Bussia Colonnello shows good focus, structure and a sharper character that is often the distinguishing factor in this wine. The bouquet is redolent of dark fruit and plum, but it also shows a solid framing of iron ore and dark stony mineral. These give the wine greater lift and contoured edges. This is not the first time that Colonnello is my favorite wine in this lineup, and I suspect it won’t be the last.”
 

Elvio Cogno Barolo Ravera Bricco Pernice 2017 750ml $119 special, 16 bottles available
Monica Larner-Wine Advocate 95 Points “This is a medium-bodied Nebbiolo from a hot vintage with a ruby-tinged appearance. The 2017 Barolo Ravera Bricco Pernice shows generous inner fiber and richness with dried cherry, blackberry, plum and dark spice. Fruit for this wine comes from a beautiful amphitheater of vines with the perched town of Novello high up on the skyline. I love the especially smooth and soft quality to what is a powerful and lasting wine. Only 3,500 bottles were made.”
 
WAS $125
Gaja Dagromis Barolo 2019 750ml $108 special, 4 bottles available
Winery Note “2019 Dagromis has a garnet color with violet highlights. On the nose, this wine showcases floral and fruity notes of violet, cherry, plum, sweet licorice, ginger, and marzipan. On the palate, delicate showing juicy, cherry-like mouthfeel leads to a savory, yet sweet entry with a subtle tannin structure all characteristics of the vintage. This is a classic Barolo with great aging potential.”
 
WAS $89
Paolo Scavino Barolo Bric Del Fiasc 2017 750ml $79 special, 10 bottles available
Antonio Galloni-Vinous 95+ Points “The 2017 Barolo Bric del Fiasc is another gorgeous wine in the line up from the Scavino family. Readers will find a Barolo that is more nuanced and less bombastic than in the past. Bric del Fiasc has plenty of power on its own, so this style works so well. Dried rose petal, mint, spice, kirsch and iron all blossom with a bit of coaxing. I can’t wait to see how it ages.”
 
WAS $79
Luigi Baudana Barolo Cerretta 2018 750ml $69 special, 16 bottles available
Antonio Galloni-Vinous 93 Points “The 2018 Barolo Cerretta is a potent, searing wine, its mid-weight structure notwithstanding. Scorching tannins wrap around a core of dark red/black fruit, gravel, smoke, crushed rocks, menthol, licorice and game. The 2018 is going to need a number of years to come around and for those formidable tannins to soften.”
 
WAS $69
Paolo Scavino Barolo Ravera 2018 750ml $59 special, 19 bottles available
Monica Larner-Wine Advocate 93 Points “Moving over to Novello, the Paolo Scavino 2018 Barolo Ravera is slightly more simplistic in this vintage with a tart cherry element that opens loud over the bouquet. You might also notice crushed white pepper, salty limestone and crushed earth. The wine remains subtle in texture with silky tannins and medium weight. Some 6,500 bottles were made.”
 
WAS $69
Pecchenino Barolo Bussia 2015 750ml $59 special, 3 bottles available
Antonio Galloni-Vinous 93 Points “The 2015 Barolo Bussia is a very pretty, effusive wine that will drink well right out of the gate. Spice and floral notes open first. Silky and pliant, with lovely depth, the 2015 is so expressive today. Fine mineral notes extend the finish effortlessly while adding freshness and cut to balance the open-knit fruit. Readers looking for a Barolo to drink now will find so much to admire in the 2015 Bussia.”