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Wine Blog from The International Wine of the Month Club

A wine blog written by the experts from The International Wine of the Month Club

Stellenbosch: South Africa’s Rising Star

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Stellenbosch Wine Country

South Africa has had a thriving wine industry since the 17th century, but there has never been a better time to discover South African wines than now. Quality and innovation push the envelope and values abound. And nowhere in South Africa is this truer than in the much heralded winelands of Stellenbosch.

Located on the Western Cape less than an hour north of Cape Town, the picture-postcard town of Stellenbosch and the surrounding mountains form a dramatic backdrop for what has justly been heralded as the most beautiful wine country in the world. Although some may try to refute that claim and promote the various picturesque merits of other world-renowned wine regions, what is not in question is the integral role Stellenbosch has played for more than three centuries in the formation of South African wine. Yes, the South African wine industry is that old; it dates back to the second half of the 17th century. Not only is Stellenbosch South Africa’s oldest and most important wine producing region, it is the finest region for red and white wines on the African continent. It is South Africa’s Napa, Sonoma, and Santa Barbara counties, along with more than a few touches of France. It contains a myriad of microclimates, which allows for the cultivation of an enormous number of grape varieties. Consequently, Stellenbosch is responsible for high quality red and white wines from a host of varietals that include Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Viognier, and South Africa’s unique varietal, Pinotage, a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault. From wineries in Stellenbosch old and new flow an enormous variety of wines that are world class and wholly unique in character. So don’t wait to discover the unique, incredibly flavorful wines of Stellenbosch – South Africa’s rising wine star and the world’s most beautiful wine land.

Salud!
Don

What to Look For In September

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In September, The International Wine of the Month Club’s Premier Series offers four exciting wines from four continents. The 2015 Xiloca Calatayud Garnacha from Bodega Sommos begins this worldwide whirlwind tour. The 2015 Xiloca Garnacha offers a deep draught of ripe black cherry in its aroma, along with subtle hints of plum, earth and minerals for complexity and lift. In the mouth, the 2015 Xiloca Garnacha caresses the palate with plush fruit flavors born of Xiloca’s heirloom 80 year old Garnacha vines. The wine’s pleasant minerality and ripe tannins offer fine counterpoint to its intense fruit, which makes for uncomplicated, unadulterated enjoyment. Although it weighs in at 14.5% alcohol, the Xiloca Garnacha maintains its freshness and never appears weighty. The 2015 Xiloca Garnacha offers a unique look at Garnacha (Grenache) – a medium-bodied wine with bold flavors and plenty of Old World charm.

Our next feature is the delicious 2016 Mayu Valle de Elqui Huanta Vineyard Pedro Ximénez. Grown in one of the highest vineyards on earth at an altitude of 6,320 feet, the 2016 Mayu Valle de Elqui Huanta Vineyard Pedro Ximénez offers an appealing array of floral and fruit aromas, flavors vibrant with fresh acidity and zesty minerality, and a long, appealing finish. In the mouth, lively citrus and orchard fruit flavors grace the palate and slake the thirst. Made from a unique Spanish grape variety, the 2016 Mayu Valle de Elqui Pedro Ximénez possesses not only crisp acidity but also laser-like precision to accompany its ripe, forward fruit. Light on its feet yet long on the finish, Mayu has fashioned a distinctive, character-filled wine in the 2016 Mayu Pedro Ximénez from one of the planet’s loftiest vineyards.

Next in line this month is the exceptional, bold-flavored 2014 Edgebaston Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon, a classic Cabernet Sauvignon and a stunning value. Edgebaston, renowned for its luxurious, long-lived GS Cabernet Sauvignon, has turned out a remarkably similar wine in the estate’s 2014 Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon, with one exception: this 2014 Stellenbosch offering is approachable now and downright supple in comparison. Deep in color and almost as forbidding in appearance as Edgebaston’s GS, the 2014 Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon emanates from three outstanding clones of Cabernet that yield intense flavors of immense purity. The wine’s savory scents and flavors reminiscent of ripe berries and blackcurrant mingle with mint, herbs, dark chocolate, coffee and a Bordeaux-like herbaceousness, which recall the exceptional Cabernet-based wines of France’s Médoc and winemaker David Finlayson’s successful stint at Château Margaux. Garnering copious accolades and 90 points from Vinous, it is hard to imagine anyone in Napa Valley fashioning a Cabernet this complex and distinctive for under $40.00.

Rounding out this month’s Premier Series is Signal Ridge’s Non-Vintage California Brut Sparkling Wine Méthode Traditionnelle, a very tasty, traditional-method sparkling wine that provides outstanding quality, flavor, and value. Soft, succulent, yet fresh and vivacious, this Méthode Traditionnelle Brut from Signal Ridge offers a very satisfying glass of bubbly. For starters, it exhibits a light, pretty bouquet replete with the scents of crisp mountain apples and freshly baked bread. Soft and expansive in the mouth, it glides easily across the tongue before exiting with ease and grace. Unlike most less expensive sparkling wines not made by the Méthode Traditionnelle, Signal Ridge’s Brut finishes with the same charm it started with. It exhibits neither flab nor a harsh after-burn to mar its performance. No need to wait for “an occasion” to open this wine; Signal Ridge’s Brut Méthode Traditonnelle provides its own occasion.

The International Wine of the Month Club’s Collectors Series is proud to offer three exceptional wines from two of the most renowned wineries south of the equator. This month an International Wine of the Month exclusive, the 2014 Mr. Riggs Generation Series Montepulciano d’Adelaide from South Australia, leads the way. This rare beauty opens with an eye-popping violet hue and an intense aroma of red fruits, eucalyptus and mint. Smooth, rich and utterly entrancing in the mouth, Mr. Riggs’ Montepulciano d’Adelaide Hills lacks for nothing but a clean glass. Velvety and lithe in the mouth, one wonders how Ben Riggs can pack so much flavor into such a smooth format. The wine’s ripe tannins carry an abundance of berry fruit, mint, milk chocolate and subtle vanilla bean flavors as they glide across the tongue and fill the mouth. Ben Riggs captures the warm, extroverted nature Australia’s top-rated wines and marries them to the suavity and sophistication one finds in the finest Tuscan reds. Although one of the smallest of productions from Ben Riggs, the 2014 Montepulciano d’Adelaide Hills has captured the attention of many of the world’s most influential critics and earned 90+ point scores, which include 94 points from The Wine Front, Australia’s most active review site for wine consumers. Enjoy!

Next up is the 2014 Casas del Bosque Casablanca Pequeñas Producciones Syrah, a wine that continues to dazzle critics and consumers alike. Receiving numerous 90+ point ratings, including 96 points from Decanter and that magazine’s World Wine Awards Platinum Medal: Best Chilean Red Rhône Varietals as well as 93 points from Vinous and James Suckling, it is obvious that California, South Australia and France’s Rhône Valley hold no monopoly on premium Syrah. The 2014 Casas del Bosque Pequeñas Producciones Syrah offers a rich aroma of crushed blackberry, bramble, and violet. In the mouth, ripe blackberry and dark cherry flavors mingle with enticing notes of cinnamon, cedar, bacon, black olive and white pepper. Well-integrated oak tones backed by abundant, round tannins add backbone and superb length and structure to this outstanding Syrah. Although still in the bloom of youth, this purple potion offers incredible drinking pleasure from the moment it is poured.

Completing this month’s Collectors Series is the impeccably made 2015 Casas del Bosque Pequeñas Producciones Sauvignon Blanc, another wine that continues to dazzle both critics and consumers. Receiving many 90+ point scores, including 92 points from both Vinous and James Suckling, as well as lofty praise from Decanter and others, this world-class Sauvignon Blanc provides more than a match for France’s top Sancerres – the traditional benchmark for 100% Sauvignon Blanc wines from around the world. From the moment it is poured, this tiny production 2015 Sauvignon Blanc from Casas del Bosque offers broad, delicious, seamless draughts wrought with flavor and finesse. Endowed with supreme aromatics, balance, depth of flavor, texture and vivacity, this Sauvignon Blanc offers it all: a mélange of mineral-tinged herbal fruit, white peach, melon, Meyer lemon and tangerine. As a finale, it offers an explosive finish, packed with flavor and verve, without the acerbic finish that mars lesser Sauvignon Blancs, even many Sancerres from top-rated producers. Enjoy!

Salud!
Don

Rosé is once again the summer’s “hottest” wine

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A decade ago the word rosé was an anathema in American wine circles. Even a few years ago, how many serious or even occasional wine drinkers would admit to enjoying such a wine? We even called the one vestige of rosé that was readily available “White Zinfandel,” so as not to use the word rosé. Well, all that has changed. American wine drinkers’ tastes have changed, as has the overwhelming selection of very good domestic and imported rosé wines that now abound. So let’s pour a glass of cool rosé – once again the summer’s hottest wine.

Rosé has been popular in Europe for centuries and enjoys a long, illustrious history. Nonetheless, with the exception of the low alcohol White Zinfandel craze of the 1980s, Americans had been reluctant to embrace anything pink but a high octane Cosmopolitan, until now. Fortunately, long gone are the days when White Zinfandel is the only rosé game in town. Today’s rosé wines emanate from many different grape varieties and come in all different flavors, shades of color, and levels of sweetness from around the world. However, it is dry rosés from California, Spain, South Africa, and most prominently Provence in southern France that constitute this summer’s ‘hottest” wine. In fact, good rosé wines are now being enjoyed year round.

Provence is the spiritual home of today’s dry rosé. It is a land that elicits visions of scintillating landscapes, eye stopping vistas, and undulating fields of lavender and massive cypress as they wave in the winds that wash the countryside clean. Provence is also the birthplace of troubadours and Provençal, the lyrical language of poetry, and the planet’s most endearing wines. More than 140 million bottles of wine are produced annually in Provence, a region famous for its wines since the Roman era, and over 105 million bottles (75% of that entire region’s wine production) is rosé.

Many of today’s most popular domestic and imported rosé wines flow from traditional Provençal grape varietals such as Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Carignan and Rolle. However, around the world, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Tempranillo and other varietals make fine dry rosés, too.

Provençal rosés and many of their New World counterparts are dry, delicate wines that are much more akin to white wine than red wine, as they are produced like white wines with minimal skin contact and no time in oak barrels. After harvest, a portion of the grapes undergo a cold maceration at various temperatures and lengths of time according to the grape variety in order to preserve the wine’s delicate aroma. The remaining grapes are vinified by a direct pressing, which imparts a slight pink color from the skins of the dark grapes. The wines are then blended and their élevage (upbringing) takes place entirely in stainless steel tanks until early February, when the young rose-colored wine is bottled for maximum freshness. Rosés are this summer’s “hottest” wines because they are fresh, flavorful, and served cold from a variety of premium grape varieties. In most cases, dry rosés are at their best in the first year of their life, which means looking for the current vintage or most recent release. Enjoy!

Salud!
Don

Caps vs. Corks Revisited

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Fifteen years ago I wrote a piece called “To Screw or Unscrew the Cap,” which chronicled my journey from ardent detractor of the screw cap to stalwart supporter. My change of heart, though it would be more accurate to say change of mind or palate, came about not from any sense of aesthetic appeal on the part of the cap but from the simple fact that caps consistently do their job well. In fact, the screw cap does its job better than cork. This fact has hit home more times than I care to remember, and I find the reminder especially poignant after opening a special bottle of wine that had lain comfortably in my cellar for a number of years, only to open it and discover that the wine is corked. Those special bottles I had saved for some monumental occasion or another were completely undrinkable. The wine didn’t start life corked, nor did the winemaker make a mistake or the temperature control in the cellar fail. The wine was sound when it entered the bottle, but the cork was not. The cork was infected with TCA (trichloroanisole), which is found naturally in the bark of some cork oak or is formed by a chemical reaction of phenols (organic compounds found in grapes, corks, and other plant matter) with mold spores. TCA can also be activated by chlorine. Although harmless, TCA can render a wine totally undrinkable (which was the case with my special bottles) or it can impart only a slight mustiness or muted flavor to wine. In either case, the pleasure is gone.

So what does one do with a seriously corked bottle? If it is a recent purchase, I suggest you return it to your merchant and request a replacement. Otherwise, you pour it down the drain as I have sadly done on more than one occasion, including a fine bottle of Chateaux Margaux. TCA afflicts the rich and poor alike, an equal opportunity nemesis to expensive and inexpensive wines unless the wine is closed with a screw cap. Corked bottles are happily becoming increasingly rare, but they do still occur. I don’t love the aesthetic appeal of the cap, and I miss the sound of good cork exiting a bottle, but I don’t miss corked bottles. Consequently, I say “bring on the screw caps!” They may not be gorgeous or romantic, but they allow wine to come to my table and yours just the way the winemaker had intended, so let’s not be snobbish about what encloses our wines because what is in the bottle and our glasses are all that matter. Besides, many of the world’s finest and most expensive wines now come with a cap.

Sauld!
Don

What to Look For In July

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In July, The International Wine of the Month Club’s Premier Series offers four unique and enjoyable wines from three continents. The 2015 Tenuta Sant’Antonio Scaia Corvina from Italy’s picturesque Veneto begins this month’s Premier Series selections. This deeply colored wine dazzles the eye and offers deep draughts of wood smoke, black cherry, wild berries, and roses to greet the nose before its savory scents seep almost surreptitiously into the very flavor and marrow of the wine. Given the extroverted nature and pronounced aromatics of this rare bottling of Corvina, one might expect a more rustic wine with elevated tannins. Instead, the very flavorful 2015 Scaia Corvina comes across as smooth as silk in the mouth as it practically glides across the palate. This is a rare and unique wine that offers intense flavors that evolve in the glass for an hour or more, without a tannic bite. It provides an ideal accompaniment to almost anything that comes off of the grill.

The delicious 2016 Bellingham Old Orchards Chenin Blanc is Scaia’s partner this month in the Premier Series – a wine that underscores South Africa’s preeminence with Chenin Blanc. Produced from some of Bellingham’s finest estate Chenin Blanc vines, it embodies a faint golden glow and all the purity and brilliance of the light that one encounters on Africa’s Western Cape. It also offers a beautiful, almost haunting bouquet, replete with nuanced scents of ripe apple, quince and stone fruits. In the mouth, subtle flavors emerge as the wine breathes, revealing layers of subtle fruit flavors infused with buttered brioche, marmalade and dried honey before finishing with a refreshing twist of citrus in the form of Meyer lemon or lime. This is an ideal summer or anytime white wine.

Next in line this month is the smooth but robust 2015 Oatley Margaret River Signature Collection Cabernet Sauvignon, a Cabernet that offers a truly amplifying aroma and plenty of juicy flavors to delight both steadfast Cabernet lovers and well as those less beholden to the tough tannins that accompany far too many other young Cabernets. Although deeply colored and highly extracted, Oatley’s 2015 Signature Collection Cabernet Sauvignon possesses a suppleness born of ripe, well-integrated tannins thanks to Margaret River’s extended hang times. In this Signature Collection Cabernet, juicy blackberry, plum, and raspberry fruit, infused with hints of mint and eucalyptus, ingratiate themselves to the nose and palate. After a bit of aeration, a subtle suggestion of chocolate or cocoa emerges to further make the case for this delightful, young Cabernet.

Rounding out this month’s Premier Series is the 2015 Oatley Margaret River Signature Collection Chardonnay, an outstanding Chardonnay that highlights Margaret River’s premier status as the source of Australia’s finest Chardonnays. Garnering 91 Points from Wine Enthusiast and an Editor’s Choice designation, it would be hard to find a better value today in Chardonnay. Rich and ripe, redolent with the savory scents of citrus and peach with a gentle infusion of vanilla, Oatley’s Signature Collection Chardonnay sings from the glass. Enjoy this beautifully crafted Chardonnay with or without food. Enjoy!

As a sneak preview, in August look for the 2016 Le Provençal Côtes de Provence Rosé, a special cuvée selected from various parcels of vines from light, sandy soils and hillside vineyards planted on ancient limestone terraces in Provence. The combination of terroirs yields an elegant, dry Provençal rosé of considerable distinction.

The International Wine of the Month Club’s Collectors Series is proud to offer three exceptional wines in July from three countries. Dominique Ay’s 2014 Domaine Raspail-Ay Gigondas leads the way this month. The 2014 Raspail Ay Gigondas is a highly aromatic, richly fruity, and beautifully textured Gigondas that can be drunk now with great pleasure or cellared for seven or eight years. It sports a brilliant, eye-striking ruby robe and an amplifying bouquet of black fruits, cherry, raspberry, and garrigue along with hints of violet flowers, pepper, and spice. In the mouth, the vibrant, elegantly structured 2014 Domaine Raspail-Ay Gigondas works its magic, offering a delicious, textured mélange of Provençal fruits, herbs, leather and spice – all set in a framework of fine-grained tannins that provide the ideal counterpoint to the wine’s irresistible fruit. Add a long, authoritative finish and it is easy to see why Raspail Ay’s Gigondas reigns as the benchmark for Gigondas. Enjoy!

Next up is the 2013 Giesen The August 1888 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. This wine reflects the meticulous care the Giesen team affords the winery’s flagship Sauvignon Blanc. Rich in color and redolent with the beguiling scents of fresh melons, lime leaves, and passionfruit, it is hard to resist guzzling this “extra ordinary” Sauvignon Blanc. But what a pity it would be to knock this wine down with nary a notice, as The August’s multi-layered fruit flavors meld in the mouth, offering uplifting minerality and notes of toasted almond and freshly baked brioche. The wine’s well-integrated oak flavors also add a fine complement, but never dominate. Instead, they enhance the wine, adding complexity and cachet. Long in the mouth and on the finish, you will not want to swallow The August, unless you can be sure to refill your glass. The 2013 August 1888 Sauvignon Blanc has earned many 90+ ratings, including 90 points from Wine Advocate.

Completing this month’s Collectors Series is the 2012 Oliverhill Jimmy Section Shiraz. The 2012 Oliverhill Jimmy Section Shiraz hails from a small block of very old vines in the most hallowed terroir of McLaren Vale and is bottled un-fined and unfiltered. Oliverhill’s 2012 Jimmy Section Shiraz highlights the McLaren Vale’s unique qualities by offering a saturated purple robe, a flamboyant bouquet, voluptuous flavors, and spectacular length. Downright racy, sexy, and utterly seductive, the 2012 Oliverhill Jimmy Section McLaren Vale Shiraz exudes savory scents and flavors of crushed blackberry, mulberry, Asian spices, eucalyptus, sandalwood, violets, and tobacco leaf to name a few. Textured, smooth, and impeccably balanced, this basket pressed Shiraz opens slowly and methodically, revealing new and interesting flavors with each sip. Wine Advocate and James Suckling both awarded the 2012 Oliverhill Jimmy Section Shiraz 93 Points, which now appears to be a bit stingy as this wine continues to develop in bottle. Enjoy!

Salud!
Don

Spain’s Priorat and Montsant: Red Wines That Over-Deliver

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Nearly every wine drinker is familiar with Rioja and Ribera del Duero, the sources of Spain’s great Tempranillo based wines, but there is more to red Spanish wine than Tempranillo and the ubiquitous Garnacha vines that seem to grow nearly everywhere in Spain. As wonderful as these individual grape varietals are on their own, much can be said for outstanding blends. Enter Priorat and Montsant, two of the oldest and most traditional of Spanish wines that deserve to be revered for their quality as well as their many unique personalities.

Priorat and Montsant (appellations as well as wines) remain off the beaten tourist track and are relatively unknown except to serious red wine lovers. Priorat is a sparsely populated wine region southwest of Barcelona at the very heart of Catalonia. The same obscurity can be claimed by the nearby appellation of Montsant that surrounds historic Priorat, the birthplace of Antoni Gaudi, the celebrated Catalan architect whose hand is imbedded in the skyline of Barcelona. Priorat is also a rugged, breathtaking landscape of savage beauty, high mountains, and sheep-studded pastures in which every village and hamlet appears steeped in history. Here the first Carthusian monastery in Spain was founded in the 12th century. And, during the 20th century, one of the greatest and most decisive battles of the Spanish Civil War took place in Priorat on the banks of the Ebro River. However, what sets Priorat above other more renowned wine producing regions is its expanse of ancient, ungrafted vines of Cariñena (Carignan) and Garnacha (Grenache) to which varying amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Merlot are added. What results are lush, full-bodied, natural tasting wines with considerable energy, power, and personality. Moreover, the best wines of Priorat age remarkably well and can compete with the finest wines made anywhere in the world

The central part of Priorat, often referred to as Priorat històric, is famous for its llicorella soil, a mixture of brown slate and solid rock. Here all of the Priorat’s premium grape varieties thrive in the dry, continental climate that for all intents and purposes may as well be light years away from the nearby Mediterranean Sea, a mere twenty miles distant. However, no where on earth do Carignan and Grenache together express themselves with such force and dignity as in Spain’s Priorat.

Montsant encircles Priorat and is demographically and legally part of the Priorat comarca or county. It is the appellation for the wine producing regions of the county that are not entitled to the Priorat (Denominación de Origen Calificada or DOC) designation. However, Priorat and Montsant share much in common. Montsant cultivates the same grape varieties as Priorat, and both Catalonian zones share a similar soil and climate; the main difference between them lies primarily in the predominance of llicorella soil in Priorat. The wines of Priorat are often a bit fuller and richer than those of Montsant, too, though Montsant can be easier to understand at the outset. Collectively, Priorat and Montsant share the propensity to over-deliver. For the moment, the wines of Montsant are typically less expensive than those from Priorat, but the price gap is rapidly closing, so now is the time to get acquainted.

Salud!
Don

What to Look For In June

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In June, The International Wine of the Month Club’s Premier Series offers four superlative wines from three different countries. The first in this series is the 2015 Casas del Bosque Reserva Carmenère from Casas del Bosque, Chilean Winery of the Year at the International Wine and Spirits Competition in London for two years in a row and highly acclaimed by Britain’s Decanter and Chile’s Descorchados. Deeply colored and packed with pungent aromas and flavors reminiscent of blackberry, mulberry, freshly cut tobacco, chocolate, and sweet bell pepper with touches of oak, the elegant, flavorful 2015 Casas del Bosque Carmenère shines from the moment it is poured. Although young and still exhibiting a youthful ardor, Casas del Bosque’s 2015 Reserva Carmenère exhibits superb balance: soft ripe tannins highlight the wine’s central core rather than overpower it to deliver great flavor and plenty of panache.

Our next Premier Series feature is the 2015 Fournier Sauvignon Blanc Val de Loire from Fournier Père et Fils, one of Sancerre’s greatest producers. This may well be the best bargain in French Sauvignon Blanc on the market today, as it could easily be mistaken for Sancerre from a top estate. The Fournier Sauvignon Blanc Val de Loire 2015 offers up an amplifying aroma of gooseberry, mineral, melon and herb. In the mouth, it delights the palate with a combination of ripe Sauvignon fruit, pinpoint minerality, and a crisp, long finish, all of which enliven the senses. It exits with a flourish, imparting a freshness and purity rarely seen at this level. Accessible and gratifying all at the same time, it’s hard to imagine a more classic Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc than Fournier’s 2015 Sauvignon Blanc Val de Loire.

Next in this month’s quartet is the bold flavored 2013 Carmen Gran Reserva Petite Sirah. Although Carmen is best known for Carmenère, the estate’s small production of Gran Reserva Petite Sirah steals the show. The 2013 Carmen Gran Reserva Petite Sirah highlights the grape’s bold purple color and entrancing aromatics, which begin with deep draughts of black cherry, raspberry and plum coupled with tantalizing touches of spice and vanilla. This Gran Reserva Petite Sirah follows through on the palate with an explosive mix of ripe berries, black fruits, and dark chocolate all wrapped in a patina of smooth new oak infused with hints of pepper. “Bold and beautiful,” Carmen’s Gran Reserva Petite Sirah never loses its balanced composure. Well-integrated fruit and tannins play off each other, nearly hiding the wine’s 14.5% alcohol and allowing the throat to quickly beg for more. We think you, too, will plead for more.

Rounding out this month’s diverse offerings is the newly released 2015 Casal Novo Godello, the progeny of the outstanding 2015 vintage in Spain’s Valdeorras region from one of Spain’s most sought-after white grape varieties. The youthful 2015 Casal Novo Godello shows its magic, beginning with a bright straw-colored robe, tantalizing aromatics, and beautiful fruit flavors that show exemplary texture. Clean and focused in its bouquet, the 2015 Casal Novo offers up savory scents of melon, white fruits, and wild herbs. Casal Novo’s vivacity continues on the palate, where white peach, melon, and subtle spice tones spread their welcome. The wine’s subtle minerality, born of the vineyards’ slate and chalk soils, lends vibrancy, balance and an overall sensual appeal. All this adds up to a delightfully fragrant, intense glass of Godello, a wine that sports a lengthy finish and tremendous palate appeal.

The International Wine of the Month Club’s Collectors Series is proud to offer three exciting Spanish wines this June. The 2012 Pasanau Los Torrents emanates from the serious, warm-hearted Albert Pasanau, who has a reputation for turning out bold reds. Most assuredly, Albert’s 2012 Los Torrents Priorat won’t disappoint. In classic Priorat fashion, the 2012 Los Torrents exudes a deep purple robe, an amplifying aroma and an intriguing array of explosive flavors to tantalize the senses. Redolent with the scents and savory flavors of ripe mulberries, forest woodlands, graphite, anise and other assorted spices, the 2012 Los Torrents hardly lacks for character. Add 15.5% alcohol for body and plenty of ripe tannins and no one will refute this wine’s extroverted personality. Yet, there is more to the 2012 Los Torrents than mere size and stature. With aeration, the wine’s youthful ardor coalesces into a seamless stream of complex, deep down flavors that just keep on flowing. An equal blend of 50% Garnacha and 50% Mazuelo (aka Carignan) from old vines, the 2012 Pasanau Los Torrents is majestic now, but in true Pasanau fashion the 2012 Los Torrents is in for the long haul.

Our next June Collectors Series offering, the 2015 Losada Vinos de Finca Bierzo Godello, is still an infant, yet it already amazes those fortunate enough to find a bottle of this very limited production. Losada’s Godello offers a bright straw-colored robe, tantalizing aromatics, and plenty of flavors in a balanced, harmonious format. Clean and focused in its bouquet with savory scents of lemon zest, white fruits, spice, and racy minerality, Losada’s 2015 Godello exhibits real sensual appeal. The wine’s vivacity continues on the palate, where white peach, melon, and subtle spice tones spread their welcome. All this goodness adds up to a delightfully fragrant, elegant, and hauntingly beautiful glass of white wine.

Completing this month’s Collectors Series is the sensual, complex 2014 Josep Grau La Florens Montsant. Only 216 cases of this wine were produced in 2014 from the estate’s 100 year old vines. The result is a Montsant of incomparable finesse and impeccable pedigree. The 2014 La Florens sports an alluring set of aromatics and flavors that offer a subtle but an entrancing array of forest woodlands, wild blackberries and exotic spices as well as a gentle deep down minerality that provides flavor as well as impeccable balance. Ripe but well-integrated tannins add structure and counterpoint to the tender aspects of this young wine, while La Florens’ year-long stay in large Stockinger oval barrels of Austrian oak allows the wine to retain its fruit, an incomparable freshness, and a certain suavity and complexity – attributes that are noticeably absent in lesser Montsants. Give this wine a bit of aeration and enjoy the ride.

Salud!
Don

The International Wine of the Month Club

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