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Charles Bove Touraine Rosé Cuvée Réservée
Origin: Loire Valley, France
Retail: $21.95 | Sale: $19.76
The firm of Charles Bove began life in the 19th century in Montrichard, in the Loire Valley. Its base of operations was, and is, an enormous rock quarry, abandoned after it had been quarried for building the Loire Chateaux. This old quarry is composed of over 9 miles of underground cellars on three levels, with a steady temperature year-round of 53 degrees Fahrenheit. The humidity inside is ideal for making and storing wines, and these days the firm keeps an average of two million bottles of sparkling wine undergoing aging at any given time. This must is vinified, blended, and bottled at Bove. They are “laid” on “lathes”, that is to say stored horizontally, with each layer separated from the previous one by a thin wooden lathe. Over a period of about 4 months, a second fermentation occurs. A méthode traditionelle sparkler. Resting on its lees for 18 months. Fresh with bing cherries aromas and a lovely dry finish.
70% Cabernet Franc, 30% Gamay
Cantina della Volta Christian Bellei Brut 2015
Origin: Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Retail: $38.95 | Sale: $35.05
In 1981, his great love for the Traditional Method led Christian’s father Giuseppe Bellei to purchase the farm of San Lorenzo Dietro il Monte in Riccò: an estate of 34 hectares, 10 of which was given over to grape production. Since then, the vineyard has continued to be skillfully tended under the watchful eye of Christian Bellei, who makes all the choices concerning cultivation techniques in order to ensure each grape remains whole until the soft-pressing is carried out. It is a hillside terrain, around 2,100 feet above sea level, with good exposure, calcareous, clay-rich soil with chalk deposits near the surface, next to an area of woodland, characterized by a terroir and microclimate very similar to those of the Champagne region. While this wine is made from Lambrusco di Sorbara, it does not qualify to be bottled under the DOC because it is white. It comes packaged in red cellophane beautifully wrapped around the bottle to protect the wine from light and as an illustration of the white wine coming from red grapes. The winery is based in the original building of the Cantina Bellei, built by Christian’s great-grandfather on the banks of the Naviglio di Bomporto canal, near the 18th-century dock, where boats would perform la volta (‘the turnaround’) before setting sail once more to return back to the city of Modena.
100% Lambrusco di Sorbara aged for a minimum of 36 Months on Lees with only 4,5g/l Added Sugar
Antiquum Farm Juel Pinot Noir 2021
Origin: Willamette Valley, Oregon
Retail: $56.95 | Sale: $51.25
Antiquum Farm’s 14.5-acre vineyard is one of the most unique sites for the variety in all of Oregon. At 800 feet above sea level, it sits at the very threshold of elevation for Pinot Noir in Willamette Valley. Before the American west was thrust upward from the ocean floor, ancient lava flows poured over much of the sea bed. These decomposed lava flows are now the vineyard’s topsoil. Beneath the volcanic material is a sandstone mid-layer that becomes denser as depth increases until finally meeting the basalt parent material. Antiquum Farm forged a new system of wine growing called Grazing-Based Viticulture, a method in which they use the sun’s energy to capture and store atmospheric carbon. This method physically transformed the pinot noir grapes to have a pure blue tone more akin to Syrah or Nebbiolo, and thicker skins like Cabernet Sauvignon, which aid in resisting pests and mildew pressure. This pinot noir was named after the winemakers’ son, Juel, to embody the wilderness of the farm. Juel's feral upbringing on the farm has molded him in unexpected and meaningful ways. This wine reflects his staunchly individual spirit, creativity, sensitivity, and depth. It is a blend of the six selections of Pinot Noir grown at Antiquum Farm. “The 2021 Juel displays an inherent sense of movement through the entire spectrum of the vineyard, from the higher, ethereal tones at the edges to the deep and brooding middle, all bound together by an electrical current and seamless structural foundation.”
100% Pinot Noir.