Vinopolis Newsletter 9-18-24 PM

 
Azienda Agricola Azelia

“…wines from [Luigi] Scavino’s estate, Azelia, can hold their own with the very best of the region. The wines combine power and elegance with a level of virtuosity matched by few in the region…” –The Wine Advocate
 
“Azelia remains one of the undiscovered jewels in Barolo.” – Antonio Galloni, Vinous

With Azelia, quality begins not with marketing, but with environmentally sensitive, integrative vineyard management, organic farming, and very minimalist oenological techniques. Although a branch of the famed Scavino Barolo clan, they do not coast on the family name. Independent of their provenance, these are fantastic Barolos at unbelievable prices. Put plainly, these fine folks are at the forefront of scientifically and ethically driven winemaking and it shows.
 
Azelia di Luigi Scavino Langhe Nebbiolo, Piedmont, Italy 2021 750ml $19 special, 36 bottles available
Wine Spectator 90 Points “Shows fine intensity, which drives the cherry, raspberry, floral and licorice flavors. Reveals a mineral note as this plays out on the long, refreshing finish. Drink now through 2028.”
 
Azelia di Luigi Scavino Bricco Fiasco, Barolo DOCG, Italy 2017 750ml $69 special, 26 bottles available
James Suckling 96 Points “A firm, fine-grained red with plum, mahogany, iron and bark on the nose and palate. It’s full-bodied with a dusty texture from the tannins. Flavorful finish. Needs time to soften, but a beautiful young Barolo. Try after 2024.”
 
Azelia di Luigi Scavino Margheria, Barolo DOCG, Italy 2017 750ml $69 special, 24 bottles available
James Suckling 96 Points “Smells like a bunch of fresh roses with strawberries and white mushrooms. It’s full-bodied with a very fine, layered palate with lightly dusty tannins. It’s extremely long and sophisticated.”
 
Azelia di Luigi Scavino ‘San Rocco’, Barolo DOCG, Italy 2017 750ml $69 special, 26 bottles available
James Suckling 96 Points “Very pure fruit with crushed strawberries, spices and white truffles on the nose. The palate is full and tight with brightness and focus. Firm, creamy tannins. The super quality of fruit really comes through here. Drink in 2024.”
 


Campi di Fonterenza Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Tuscany, Italy 2016 750ml $108 special, 16 bottles available
Kerin O’keefe 96 Points “Forest floor, new leather and oak-driven spice aromas mingle with ripe berry. Elegantly structured, the smooth, bright palate delivers ripe Morello cherry, blood orange, crushed mint and almond liqueur framed in tightly knit, close-grained tannins. It’s structured and balanced, with bright acidity.”
 
Campi di Fonterenza ‘Alberello’ Rosso, Tuscany, Italy 2020 750ml $54.50 special, 36 bottles available
Eric Guido, Vinous 93+ Points “The 2020 Sangiovese Alberello is dusty in character, smoldering up with a darkly inviting bouquet of dried rose petals and wild strawberries complicated by hints of crushed stone. Its silken textures envelop the palate, quickly offset by a core of tart wild berry fruits and hints of sour citrus, as violet inner florals and lavender tones resonate throughout. This tapers off with a lasting presence, leaving edgy tannins to pinch at the cheeks as a bump of residual acidity keeps the experience vividly fresh and perfumed. The Sangiovese Alberello was once a Rosso di Montalcino yet was elevated within the Fonterenza portfolio to sit somewhere between their Rosso and Brunello. It’s a stunning wine, yet in need of some cellaring to come fully into focus.”

 

We got our typical allocation of these wines last month and sold out within a week. We were thrilled to hear that more of these Mosel jewels were available for restock…
 
As the greatest purveyor of Riesling on the West Coast, we guarantee that when we’re excited about a Mosel producer, you should be too. Every single year we getted hyped up as a team regarding the new release of Hofgut Falkenstein’s Rieslings. Nestled in the heart of the Saar region, the Falkenstein winery crafts Rieslings that are like a laser beam of minerality, fresh exotic fruits, and delicious acidity.
 
Falkenstein Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Kabinett Alte Reben Mia AP22, Mosel, Germany 2023 750ml $49 special, 4 bottles available
Mosel Fine Wines 94+ Points “This offers a stunning nose of elderflower, mint, pear, citrusy elements, starfruit, and smoke. The wine offers a great feel of green herbs and fine spices on the racy yet delicately smooth palate and leaves an incredibly vibrating feel in the long and juicy finish. This is a stunning Kabinett in the making!”
 
Falkenstein Niedermenniger Herrenberg Riesling Kabinett Feinherb Onkel Peter AP4, Mosel, Germany 2023 750ml $29 special, 2 bottles available
Mosel Fine Wines 93 Points “…This white-green-colored wine offers a beautiful and subtly creamy nose made of fresh herbs and spices. It proves intense and beautifully balanced on the palate where chalk mingles with great fruity elements. The wine is superbly long and persistent.”
 
Falkenstein Krettnacher Euchariusberg Riesling Kabinett Ternes AP14, Mosel, Germany 2023 750ml $33 special, 6 bottles available
Mosel Fine Wines 94 Points “…This wine offers a beautiful nose of peach sorbet, slate, elderflower, citrusy fruits, and whipped cream. It proves superbly precise and balanced on the palate and leaves a gorgeously finely chiseled feel of fruits and minerals in the finish. The aftertaste is racy, engaging, and hugely persistent.”
 
Falkenstein  Krettnacher Euchariusberg Riesling Kabinett Alte Reben Gisela AP8, Mosel, Germany 2023 750ml $49 special, 17 bottles available
Mosel Fine Wines 96 Points “…harvested in a parcel still planted with 70-80-year-old un-grafted vines in the prime Gross Schock sector of the vineyard, which was classified in the highest category on the old taxation maps, and was fermented down to barely fruity-styled levels of residual sugar. This offers a stunningly bright nose made of white peach, herbs, bergamot, chalk, white flowers, and slate. The wine is just incredibly juicy and stunningly racy yet deep and intense on the palate and leaves a jaw-dropping feel of fresh herbs, minerals, mirabelle, and lemon. The aftertaste is pure mouthwatering intensity and precision.”
 
Falkenstein Niedermenniger Herrenberg Riesling Spätlese Feinherb Meyer Nepal AP11, Mosel, Germany 2023 750ml $34.50 special, 3 bottles available
Mosel Fine Wines 96 Points “This offers a stunning nose of bergamot, mint, pineapple, lemon sorbet, and spices. The wine is stunningly precise on the palate where the ripe zesty side is superbly well wrapped into racy elements. The wine is long, ethereally light, yet packed with flavors. This is a modern-day classic in the making!”
 
Falkenstein Krettnacher Altenberg Riesling Spätlese Trocken AP7 2023 750ml $34.50 special, 14 bottles available
Mosel Fine Wines 92 Points “… offers a beautiful and superbly finely chiseled nose of mirabelle, greengage, smoke, and citrusy elements. The wine is superbly light-footed yet packed with flavors on the zesty palate. It leaves a great sense of minerals and subtle fruits in the long finish. The balance is racy but still beautifully engaging and juicy.”
 
Falkenstein Krettnacher Ober Schäfershaus Riesling Spätlese Trocken AP18 2023 750ml $39 special, 13 bottles available
Mosel Fine Wines 93 Points “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.”

 

 
“Yet another scintillating wine from Dom Perignon” -Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy
Dom Perignon Brut, Champagne, France 2013 750ml $299 special, 6 bottles available
James Suckling 98 Points “A driven and serious DP with aromas of chalk, biscuits, apricot stones and lemons. Some spice and dried flowers, too. So sleek and sophisticated. Elegant. Yet, it’s long and powerful, with a sharp minerality. Tight and precise. Reminds me of bottles from the 1980s, such as 1988. It really takes off. Disgorged October 2021. Drinkable on release in January 2023, but better in a couple of years.”
Decanter 96 Points “Silky, narrowly sculpted and serene, Dom Pérignon 2013 is a less hedonistic release than the 2012 (and less intensely energetic than the 2008), but showcases a beautiful mid-place between tension and expressiveness already. Orange-coloured fruit – apricots, mango and orange – play along with snappy lemon syrup and delicate red fruits, the palate teased into considerable detail and length with some trademark Dom Pérignon smokiness. There is immediate pleasure here, although cellaring will let some of the inner complexity unfurl, revealing this to the among the finest Dom Pérignon releases of recent times. 51% Pinot Noir, 49% Chardonnay. Drinking Window: 2026-2045.”
 
 

 
It takes a long time to make just one bottle of Krug Grande Cuvee ­— each release combines over 120 different barrel aged wines from the very finest vineyards in champagne including Ambonnay, Aÿ, Le Mesnil and Trépail. Although each release will be centered on a single vintage (2015 in this case) the wines in the assemblage will contain up to 10 to 15 different years of age at the time of blending. From there an additional 6 years of cellar is required before release. Thus an average bottle of Krug takes twenty years from vineyard to bottle.
 
Krug Grande Cuvee 171eme Edition Brut, Champagne, France 750ml $279 special, 4 bottles available
James Suckling 99 Points “The tightness and tension of this is impressive considering the youngest wine from this is 2015 (hot and dry year), with some wines going back to 2000. Ginger and orange zest. Some creme brulee. It’s medium-bodied with apple, pie crust and floral character. It’s salty and zesty yet, at the same time, complex and gorgeous. Chamomile and other floral teas highlight everything. Turns rich and flavorful at the finish. Terrific release. Really takes off at the end. Drink or hold.’
Wine Enthusiast 97 Points “Deliciously balanced, this Champagne is impressive. The iconic wine is in its 171st blend, meaning it combines vintages for the best result for each bottling, not a specific vintage. The 171st essence is dry, while also having fine textured fruit. This is a magnificent wine and worth aging for another year. “
 

  
France
 

 
Gerard Bertrand ‘Chateau l’Hospitalet Grand Vin’ La Clape Blanc, Languedoc-Roussillon, France 2019 750ml $29 special, 12 bottles available
Joe Czerwinski-Wine Advocate 92 Points “A certified organic and biodynamic blend of Bourboulenc, Grenache Blanc, Vermentino and Viognier, the 2019 La Clape Blanc Chateau l’Hospitalet Grand Vin is barrel-fermented and aged through the spring equinox, then bottled. The oak here is subtle, lending just a hint of pencil shavings to the citrus, melon and apricot notes. Full-bodied yet vibrant and refreshing, this is a big but beautiful white wine that finishes with ample length and zesty acidity.”
 
Gerard Bertrand ‘Chateau l’Hospitalet Grand Vin’ La Clape, Languedoc-Roussillon, France 2018 750ml $29 special, 12 bottles available
Joe Czerwinski-Wine Advocate 93 Points “A certified organic and biodynamic blend of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre, the 2018 La Clape Chateau L’Hospitalet Grand Vin delivers glorious aromas of garrigue, blackberries and black olives on the nose. It’s full-bodied and concentrated, with creamy-velvety tannins that effortlessly support the mass of fruit, and boasts a lingering finish spiced with salted licorice. It’s a terrific effort for drinking over the next 10 years or so.”