Le Marie ‘Blanc de Lissart’ 2020
Origin: Mallorca, Spain
Retail: $19.95 | Sale: $17.95
Le Marie is a small, family-run farm and winery in Barge, which is in NW Piemonte near the French border. Barge sits at the foot of Monte Viso and Monte Bracco. Malvasia Moscato is its own distinct clone of Malvasia. This is not the same grape used to make sweet wines around Asti. This wine is fermented totally dry. Le Marie has garnered much attention for their work with this grape and a new DOC is expected in 2020. All of the labels for the Le Marie wines are original art works that hang in the winery. Of a beautiful straw yellow with greenish reflections. The wine is ample with a nice aromatic note with delicate fruity notes of pear, citrus and hints of sage. Wine, pleasantly fresh and persistent, alcohol in plain view with good length in the mouth and aftertaste.
100% Malvasia Moscato
Ettore Germano Langhe Nascetta 2018
Origin: Piemonte, Italy
Retail: $25.95 | Sale: $23.35
In 1877, the scholar Giuseppe of the Counts of Rovasendalo defined Nascetta as “a very delicate grape and exquisite wine” in his Saga of a Universal Viticulture (Saggio di un’ampelografia universale). The Nascetta vine is, by nature, delicate and unstable. It is difficult to cultivate and unpredictable in yield, going from abundant to sparse production. For a long time, this was a forgotten wine, made from just a few, meager rows of vineyard. It nearly went the way of extinction. Elvio Cogno, the Vaira family and a few others like the Germanos are working to make this the proper white to compliment the great wines of Barolo. In 1985, Sergio son of Ettore and Rosanna, finished enology school of wine begins to work in the family vineyard believes that the white grapes of the Langhe can give important results. Since 2002 he bought an old vineyard was owned by the maternal great-grandfather, in Lazzarito, one of the historic vineyards of Serralunga. In 2005 the Germano buy land bordering the old plots in Cerretta, about one hectare. Deep lemon color with golden hues with a delicate bouquet of lemon, white flowers sage and thyme. The mouthfeel is full with a good acidity, wonderful minerality and a pleasant finish.
100% Nascetta
Paltrinieri Leclisse Lambrusco di Sorbara N/V
Origin: Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Retail: $21.95 | Sale: $19.75
Cantina Paltrinieri was founded by Achille Paltrinieri in 1926 and has since been passed down for three generations, located near the town of Sorbara in the historic growing area of "Il Cristo". They are assisted by the enologists Attilio Pagli e Leonardo Conti. The "il Cristo" area is comprised of a thin strip of flood plain tucked in between the Secchia and Panaro Rivers. It is in this loose, silty, permeable potassium rich soil that the noble Lambrusco di Sorbara grape performs at its best, yielding light-ruby colored wines with a very fine, fresh, pronounced scent of small forest berries and a distinctive hint of violets backed by a tangy, pleasant and refreshing acidity. Due to a flowering anomaly, similar to that of Picolit, production of the Lambrusco di Sorbara is always limited, but what lacks in quantity is made up for in quality. In order to facilitate fertilization a certain percentage of Lambrusco Salamino vines are grown between the rows of Sorbara.One thing for certain is that Alberto Paltrinieri has found his niche and his wines are elegant, sharp and expressive. Pale pink, with a very fine and persistent perlage. White floral scents, hawthorn, red apple skin, wild strawberry, with aromas of raspberry and vanilla With vibrant strong acidity and fresh finish, persistent and delicate with a fruity note. Dry, sharp and clean. Serve as an aperitif, paired with oysters or a tartare of raw fish, with a platter of cold cuts, with tortellini or meat bollito misto.
100% Lambrusco Sorbara
Montenidoli Vernaccia di San Gimignano 'Carato' 2016
Origin: Tuscany, Italy
Retail: $35.95 | Sale: $32.35
Elsabetta Fagiuoli is one of the most recognized names in the wine world and one of its most loved personalities. She and her partner, Sergio Muratori, came to San Gimignano in 1965 and set about creating one of the most special and unique places in Italy. Montenidoli is a 200ha organic farm with 24ha of vineyards, olives trees and vegetables planted in its center. On the slopes we find limestone and seashells. The best sites of Montenidoli in San Gimignano, which is the City of the Fair Towers. Here, Pliocene soils, which were once submerged by the ancient Ligurian Sea, were the perfect habitat for molluscs whose shells made the terrain highly calcareous. From the ancient sea-bed, to mid-way up the hills, this is the perfect terrain for the greatest expression of Vernaccia. Elisabetta’s wines, like Elisabetta herself, are very unique and must be experienced to be understood. These will be some of the most distinctive wines you ever taste. All of her wines age beautifully, but there is something very special about the way these Vernaccia wines age. These wines are unfiltered and unmanipulated with crazy-low amounts of sulfites. This is what you can do with perfect fruit and a drive that never stops, which Elisabetta never does. Montenidoli is the ‘mountain of little nests’. Vernaccia is the classic white wine of Tuscany however, it is considered the “red” of white wines due to its body, secondary characteristics from its age-worthiness, and growing climate. The same bunches will yield a different wine based on how it’s fermented. Carato was made from only free run juice from the best vineyard sites, and with the wood ageing it adds complexity and richness to the wine. Carato is the highest and most complex expression of Vernaccia and showcases its ageability. Give your palate a chance to experience this, closer to room temperature than you normally would drink white wine. Don;t forget to save a glass for tomorrow, you will be even more surprised with what you find!
100% Vernaccia di San Gimignano
Torre de Raone ‘Lucanto’ Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
Origin: Abrruzo, Italy
Retail: $16.95 | Sale: $15.25
The farm "Tenuta Torre Raone" is located in Abruzzo, on the sunny hills of Loreto Aprutino (PE) at 350 meters above sea level, on the borders of the National Park Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga in the neighborhood of the Natural Oasis Lake of Penne. The company was taken over in 1997 by two friends. The Estate , with an area of 35 hectares, under the Organic Farming. At the center of the estate stands a fortress that dominates the surrounding area, called Torre Raone, in honor of Raone from Poliano who ordered its construction in the eleventh century. At that time Loreto Aprutino was dominated by the Normans, in fact Raone from Poliano was one of the descendants of Tancredi Duke of Normandy, owner of a small fiefdom in Hauteville, on the English Channel. The Normans arrived in Italy to help the city of the peninsula to rid by the Byzantines. The winery was built in 2006, in which all the grapes are processed and turned into Fresh and fruity wine, 100% Montepulciano D'Abruzzo, comes from a late harvest of grapes into wine and then stored only in steel in order to preserve the original taste of Montepulciano D'Abruzzo. Deep ruby red with intense and enjoyable aromas of blackberry, raspberry, black cherry, plum, blueberry and violet. Warm, soft, fruity, with intense sensations of ripe black cherry and blackberry; remarkably persistent with soft tannins, velvety, balanced and harmonious. It combines with braised and roasted meats, hard cheese.
100% Montepulciano d’Abruzzo