The January 2015 Premier Series offers an exceptional lineup of wines from three different countries. It took an unusual amount of searching and tasting to come up with the four wines we ultimately chose for this month. With that said, Massone’s Vigneto Masera Gavi has always been a personal favorite. And who makes better Cru Beaujolais than Château Pizay? Beautiful, balanced Viognier is very hard to come by, too, but Château du Trignon nailed it with their 2013 Côtes-du-Rhône Blanc. Yet, this month’s Top Pick goes to the 2013 Bellingham Ancient Earth Pinotage/Shiraz, a smooth, satisfying red wine that simply blew us away. There is plenty to like about this wine’s savory aroma and lively black cherry and mulberry flavors, all which come wrapped in ripe tannins with nary an edge. In fact, our two tasting panels for the 2013 Ancient Earth Pinotage Shiraz enjoyed this wine so much that they immediately stopped spitting and began drinking – always a good sign for the wine, but a bad omen for the wines to follow. One sip of the 2013 Bellingham Ancient Earth Pinotage/ Shiraz and you’ll see why we stopped spitting. In addition, this excellent wine is an International Wine of the Month Club exclusive.
Enjoy!
Don
