Wine Blog from The International Wine of the Month Club

What to Expect in January 2024

January 10, 2024 by Don Lahey

In January, The International Wine of the Month Club’s Premier Series is delighted to offer four exciting world-class wines from around the world, beginning with the concentrated 2021 La Planta Ribera del Duero. This textbook Ribera del Duero reveals its charm, beginning with a deep cherry red and violet-rimmed color and tantalizing aromatics. Bright red raspberry and cherry scents waft from the glass to greet the nose. In the mouth, the medium-bodied, yet boldly flavored 2021 La Planta Ribera del Duero reveals both elegance and concentration as it entertains the palate with a delightful mélange of red fruits, cacao, and dark spices. Supple tannins and a light patina of oak from spending 6 months in American and French oak barrels provide an ideal frame for the wine’s savory notes. Enjoy!

Our next Premier Series feature is the 2022 Château La Gabarre Bordeaux Blanc, another great success from the Gabard family who continue to fashion superb Bordeaux Blanc by blending Bordeaux’s two most important white grape varieties: Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. The 2022 Château La Gabarre Bordeaux Blanc delights the eye with its brilliant sun-splashed color and entices the nose with a sensuous bouquet of citrus, freshly cut melon, and mango, all infused with a delightful touch of Sauvignon Blanc herbaceousness. The wine’s sensual appeal continues in the mouth where a mélange of suffused fruit and minerals flow gracefully across the tongue. Add the gentle roundness and refined texture from Semillon, and this classic Bordeaux Blanc delights from start to finish. In fact, we found the 2022 Château La Gabarre Bordeaux Blanc truly hard to resist. Salut!

This month’s next special red wine is the elegant, charming 2020 Bodega Renacer Punto Final Malbec Reserve (92 Points – Tim Atkin MW and 90 Points – Wine Advocate). Produced organically from vines more than 50 years of age and arrayed in a regal violet robe, while offering heady aromatics, the 2020 Bodega Renacer Punto Final Malbec Reserva had us from the very first sip. Enchanting scents of blueberry, strawberry, and woodland violets mingled with light earth and spice tones greet the nose. The wine’s berry flavors and heady aromatics carry through to the mouth where they flow on fine-grained tannins. As an added delight, chocolate and roasted coffee tones emerge with aeration to complement the wine’s juicy fruit and floral tones. Elegant, yet full of flavor, the 2020 Bodega Renacer Punto Final Malbec Reserva reminds us of the finest Malbec wines of Cahors, the original Malbec of southwest France. Aged for ten months in French barriques and bottled unfiltered, this organically produced vegan friendly Malbec combines the best of New World and Old World Malbec, making it fascinating and hard to resist. Enjoy!

Rounding out this month’s Premier Series is the 2022 Gruber Röschitz By Nature Niederösterreich Riesling. This graceful Riesling bears no resemblance to the Rieslings of yesteryear. Pale yellow in color and delicately floral with the scents of white peach, green apple, and lemon zest, the organically produced 2022 By Nature Riesling exudes vitality and charm. Initially soft and delicate in the mouth, almost spritely, Gruber’s 2022 Röschitz By Nature Riesling graces the palate with lovely floral flavors before the wine’s minerality and refreshing acidity emerge in the form of a citrus twist. The youthful, but balanced, 2022 Gruber Röschitz By Nature Riesling comes together nicely, finishing with a flourish and exiting with verve and vitality. Enjoy!

The International Wine of the Month Club’s Collectors Series is proud to offer three exceptional wines from three world-renowned estates and appellations. This month’s odyssey begins with the 2020 Domaine Raspail-Ay Gigondas. Domaine Raspail-Ay continues to fashion outstanding Gigondas and garner tremendous critical acclaim, including for the estate’s 2020 Gigondas (95 Points – Vinous and 95 Points – Jeb Dunnuck). The 2020 Raspail-Ay Gigondas is ripe, succulent, and scented with dark cherry, raspberry, and exotic floral tones. Floral, herbal, and downright seductive, the 2020 Domaine Raspail-Ay Gigondas coats the mouth with rich berry tones, deft touches of sandalwood, and garrigue. Expansive and powerful in the mouth, the 2020 Raspail-Ay Gigondas just keeps on coming, delivering a boatload of flavors, all beautifully wrapped in lush tannins. Dominque Ay and family have quite possibly fashioned their greatest wine to date in the superlative 2020 Domaine Raspail-Ay Gigondas. Salut!

Next in line is the highly allocated 2021 Chartron et Trebuchet Beauroy Premier Cru Chablis. Crystalline, structured, and supremely elegant, the brilliant 2021 Chartron et Trébuchet Beauroy Premier Cru Chablis embodies the very best attributes of the venerable Chablis appellation (97 Points – Decanter). It is sensuous and beguiling with intense citrus and floral scents infused with the region’s distinctive minerality – the very hallmarks of the greatest Premier Cru Chablis. Expressive and round in the mouth, the 2021 Chartron et Trébuchet Beauroy Premier Chablis delivers its full, rich flavors with laser-like precision. Add Chablis’s propensity for imparting a faint savor of the sea from the region’s Kimmeridgian soil and Chartron et Trébuchet’s 2021 Beauroy Premier Cru Chablis beckons from the time it is poured clear through to its long, lingering, perfectly dry finish. This is Premier Cru Chablis at its best. Although still in its infancy, the 2021 Chartron et Trébuchet Beauroy Premier Cru Chablis offers exciting drinking pleasure now, though it will surely continue to improve in bottle to provide superb drinking pleasure for a decade or more. Enjoy!

Completing this month’s Collectors Series is an exceptional Burgundian Pinot Noir, the aromatic, lithe, and quietly seductive 2021 Domaine Gille Grandes Creusottes Bourgogne Côte d’Or Pinot Noir. This wine truly highlights young Matthieu Gille’s consummate winemaking skills. Sporting a bright ruby color as well as the juicy scents of wild strawberries and red raspberries, this wine had us on the first sip. Yet, the best was still to come. Smoothness and grace are the calling cards of Domaine Gille’s 2021 Grandes Creusottes Bourgogne Côte d’Or Pinot Noir, which graces the palate with feminine charm, perfumed fruit, and juicy acidity. This 2021 Burgundian Pinot Noir is traditional red burgundy, so there’s no brawn or mouth puckering tannins to contend with, only the delicate, pretty essence of unadulterated Pinot Noir. Enjoy!

Graves: The Oldest and Most Historic Wine of Bordeaux

December 15, 2023 by Don Lahey

Graves is the oldest and most historic of all the Bordeaux communes; yet, it’s superlative wines remain the least known among American oenophiles. Before Latour, Lafite, Margaux, and the rest of the well-known names of the Médoc existed or had even seen a cultivated vine, there was Graves. In fact, Graves has been the home of cultivated vines since as early as the 1^st century AD, due at least in part to the Romans’ inability to grow other crops in the graveled soil from which the name Graves is derived. The stone and gravel deposits are vestiges of the last Ice Age, a bane to most farmers but a boon to grape growers, whose vines struggle deep into the thin porous soil to draw life and subtle complex flavors from the nutrients below.

The wines of Graves also appear to be the first Bordeaux wines to be exported, with archeological evidence that Roman garrisons in Britain were the happy recipients of Bordeaux’s quintessential wines. And by the early 12^th century, Graves was the most sought after wine in England and beyond for its quality as well as its proximity to the city and port of Bordeaux itself, which lay just a few kilometers from Graves.

Today, the northern section of Graves called Pessac Léognon must battle the urban sprawl that has broken out of the confines of the city of Bordeaux and spread to the nearby suburbs of Talence and Pessac. A little south of these towns lies the pastoral heart of Graves, a pretty, rural country where vineyards mingle with pastures and pine forests. Here, life remains wedded to the land and the joys of the vine.

Graves is rightly famous for both its red and white wines. At their best, the red wines of Graves are unsurpassed for their aromatic beauty as well as their smooth, rich flavors. Earthy, fragrant aromas that resemble cedar, a classic cigar box scent, black currant, and tobacco emanate from red Graves and form a bouquet that is frequently described as enchanting and profound. The legendary Chateau Haut-Brion, Thomas Jefferson’s favorite red wine, remains the most illustrious of the appellation’s wines. Moreover, fine red Graves is often the supplest of Bordeaux reds on the palate. Its cépage is an artful blend, comprised almost exclusively of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc.

White Graves is a dry, quite aromatic wine that emits great freshness along with substantial flavor. Perhaps the greatest event in Graves in the last quarter century has been the revolution that has taken hold among the producers of white Graves. Once an obscure and expensive proposition that did not always travel well, contemporary white Graves has taken on vigor, personality and even an exotic edge that underscores the physiological ripeness that was often absent in white Graves in years past. The primary white Bordeaux varietals are Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. The finest white Graves rival the greatest white wines of France.

What to Expect in December 2023

December 10, 2023 by Don Lahey

In December, The International Wine of the Month Club’s Premier Series is delighted to offer four exciting world-class wines, beginning with the full-bodied 2018 Château Beauregard-Ducasse Albert Duran Graves. In keeping with the vintage’s great strength of character, the 2018 Château Beauregard-Ducasse Albert Duran is bold and built for the long haul. For starters, the wine wears a profound purple color and offers deep-down scents of black cherry, unsmoked tobacco, and forest floor. In the mouth, blackberry and cherry fruit mingled with savory earth and vanilla tones flow on a bed of strong ripe tannins, leading to an explosive finish. Hang on for the ride. In true Graves fashion, the 2018 Château Beauregard-Ducasse Albert Duran opens nicely with aeration. This full-bodied red Graves is sure to please those who long for classic, age-worthy red Bordeaux.

Our next feature this month also hails from France, the 2019 Château Beauregard-Ducasse Cuvée Albertine Peyri Graves Blanc. Albert Perromat’s exuberant 2019 Château Beauregard-Ducasse Cuvée Albertine Peyri Graves exhibits crystalline brilliance, amplifying aromatics, and a wealth of flavors, as well as laser-like focus and intensity. Citrus, peach, and quince aromas greet the nose before re-emerging in the mouth. Full-bodied and mouth filling, the 2019 Château Beauregard-Ducasse Cuvée Albertine Peyri evolves constantly in the glass, initially offering a citrus-like intensity born of Sauvignon Blanc before revealing a mélange of dried honey, melon, guava, and quince from the wine’s predominance of Semillon. The wine’s hiatus in barrel is barely evident until a delightful hint of vanilla melds with a splash of quinine on the wine’s long, power-packed finish. Enjoy!

This month’s next venture is from the esteemed Douro estate of Quinta Nova. The richly robed 2021 Quinta Nova Pomares Tinto first captures the eye with its brilliant ruby hue. Bright cherry and wild raspberry scents waft from the glass. Elegant and subtly complex, the 2021 Quinta Nova Pomares Tinto graces the palate with juicy berry fruit flavors and deft touches of spice and vanilla. Refined tannins add lift and a racy mouthwatering finish. Pure and crystalline in flavor, the 2021 Quinta Nova Pomares Tinto brings its welcome with an approachable expressive personality. Enjoy!

Rounding out this month’s Premier Series is the racy 2022 Domaine des Quatre Routes Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine from Henri Poiron, one of the appellation’s consummate producers. Always bottled Sur Lie and downright thirst quenching, the 2022 Domaine des Quatre Routes Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine offers a brilliant pale yellow color and clean, dry, mineral-rich flavors. Soft scents of citrus and stone fruits, minerals, and sea spray emanate from this energetic Muscadet. This is a dry white wine with a fresh round texture. There’s no smoke or mirrors in Henri Poiron’s 2022 Domaine des Quatre Routes, just authentic Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine. You won’t find butter, oak, or the residual sugar associated with many New World wines either. Instead, the limestone-rich soil of the Loire, the scent of the sea, and the delicate fruit flavors of Melon de Bourgogne shine in Domaine des Quatre Routes’ crisp, refreshingly dry 2022 Sèvre-et-Maine Muscadet. Enjoy!

The International Wine of the Month Club’s Collectors Series is proud to ring out 2023 with three exceptional wines from two of the planet’s iconic producers. This month’s odyssey begins with the 2021 Titus Andronicus Napa Valley Red, a sensuous Cabernet-centric proprietary blend from the award winning Napa estate of winemakers Phillip and Eric Corallo-Titus. The 2021 Andronicus is screamingly great and downright seductive. The aroma of the 2021 Andronicus nearly leaps from the glass, offering an elixir of blackberry, dark cherry, cedar, and sweet tobacco leaf, but that’s just this Andronicus’ opening act. In the mouth, the 2021 Titus Andronicus satiates the palate with layers of rich berry fruit, dark chocolate, sweet tobacco leaf, and vanilla. Bold in flavor but with nary an edge, Titus’ 2021 Andronicus is backed by lush tannins, which add structure and form, without compromising the wine’s delectable fruit. Enjoy!

Next up is the elegant, richly flavored, and highly acclaimed Emile Beyer Crémant d’Alsace Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut NV (92 Points – Wine Enthusiast). This certified organic wine is pure pleasure. From the froth of its tiny bubbles until the last sip, Beyer’s Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut NV offers the eyes, nose, and palate a delightful interlude. Endowed with a creamy mousse and the savory scents and flavors of mountain grown apples and freshly baked brioche, it is hard to imagine a finer, more elegant wine, sparkling or still. Natural tasting and refreshingly dry straight through to the finish, Emile Beyer’s certified organic Crémant d’Alsace Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut NV truly puts to shame the vast majority of sparkling wines, including champagne, in flavor, purity, and drinking pleasure. Sante!

Completing this month’s Collectors Series is the 2020 Titus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from iconic Titus Vineyards. Beautifully balanced and wonderfully layered and complex, the 2020 Titus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon embodies Titus’s distinctive poise. Regally robed in purple, the 2020 Titus Cabernet Sauvignon offers tantalizing aromatics redolent with Bing cherry, black berry, and plum. Vibrant in the mouth with delicious dark cherry and berry fruits wedded to rich cacao and black tea flavors, the 2020 Titus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is already a delight to drink. Add hints of baking spices and cigar box to the wine’s beautiful fruit and fine grained tannins, and it’s easy to see how Napa Valley and Bordeaux converge in Titus’s multi-layered 2020 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Enjoy!

Spain’s Ribera del Duero: The Source of the World’s Greatest Tempranillo

November 15, 2023 by Don Lahey

Located in the heart of Spain in the ancient realm of Castile and León, Ribera del Duero has been a center of wine production for thousands of years. Today, Ribera del Duero remains one of the most important wine regions in Spain, as it is the spiritual home of Tempranillo, Spain’s most venerable red grape variety and the source of many of Spain’s greatest wines. Here the iconic Tempranillo, also known locally as Tinto Fino and Tinta del País, reaches its pinnacle and demonstrates to the world its inherent virtue.

Ribera del Duero occupies the hills and high meseta to the northeast of the city of Valladolid and stretches out along the Duero River, Spain’s most beloved waterway. Not surprisingly, the region draws its name from the venerable Duero that plays an important role in the region’s terroir. It seems that the soil of Ribera del Duero bears more than a passing resemblance to that of France’s Burgundy, with a wide range of chalk, clay, marl and gravel, combined together in varying degrees of prominence. However, whereas Burgundy’s soil complexity results from plate tectonics, the soil in Ribera del Duero results from the Duero’s erosion through the sedimentary layers of the Castilian meseta. The Duero River may likely play a role, as well, in moderating the rather harsh continental climate of the region, an area known for its dry, hot summers and cold winters. Add altitude (2,500-3,300 feet) and the intense luminosity of the Spanish meseta to the region’s exemplary terroir, and it becomes apparent that Ribera del Duero possesses all the attributes needed to showcase the beauty of Spain’s quintessential grape variety.

Although Tempranillo imparts both a heart and soul to the wines of Ribera del Duero, the Denominación de Origen (DO) does permit small quantities of other grape varieties to appear in the appellation’s red wines, most notably Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, and Grenache (aka Garnacha). There is, however, no requirement that Ribera del Duero contain any grape other than Tempranillo. Consequently, there is no one magic formula. However, what is certain is that worldwide demand for the great wines of Ribera del Duero will continue to grow as the cadre of astute producers in the zone continually push the envelope on quality. Moreover, the relative value of the voluptuous red wines of Ribera del Duero remain second to none, and they more than handsomely reward those patient enough to allow the finest red wines of Ribera del Duero a few years in bottle and ample aeration prior to serving. Enjoy!

What to Expect in November 2023

November 10, 2023 by Don Lahey

In November, The International Wine of the Month Club’s Premier Series is delighted to offer four illustrious wines, beginning with Dayne and Jill Sherwood’s beautiful 2020 Sherwood Estate Waipara Valley Pinot Noir. Hailing from another splendid vintage on New Zealand’s South Island, it is every bit as compelling as their expressive, highly touted 2019 Waipara Pinot Noir as it continues to outshine many Burgundy and New World Pinot Noirs selling for twice the price. The succulent 2020 Sherwood Waipara Valley Pinot Noir offers delicious aromatics, beginning with beguiling scents of ripe cherries, strawberries and crushed cranberries. Charming, simply elegant, and so easy to drink, this medium-bodied Pinot Noir follows on the palate, delivering a delightful mélange of fruit, exotic spices, and a welcome vinosity. The 2020 Sherwood Waipara Valley Pinot Noir provides all the attributes one can expect from well-made, cool weather Pinot Noir: a floral bouquet, a cache of aromatic spices, and crunchy acidity, which leaves the palate refreshed and ready for more. Enjoy!

Our next feature this month hails from France, the 2022 Chateâu la Genestière Les Petits Cailloux Viognier Pays d’Oc. This enchanted Viognier had us on the first sniff. “What a gorgeous nose!” uttered one tasting panel member. “This wine smells so good it’s almost a shame to drink it,” commented another. In true Viognier fashion, the aroma alone of the 2022 Les Petits Cailloux Viognier is worth the price of admission. Pure juicy peach and apricot aromas waft from the glass. Add a spray of spring flowers and the bouquet on this wine is nothing short of mildly intoxicating. In the mouth, the wine’s fruit and floral tones meld with fresh acidity and gentle mineral tones, delivering considerable palate pleasing pleasure. Stylish and utterly charming, the Chateâu la Genestière 2022 Les Petits Cailloux Viognier exits with grace, leaving all of us begging for more. Textured and pleasantly dry, it’s hard to ask more of this lovely Viognier.

This month’s next venture is the delicious and utterly fascinating 2020 Schwarz The Butcher Blaufränkisch. Just as one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, the same can be said for a wine’s label. The label on Schwarz’s 2020 The Butcher Blaufränkisch elicits all kinds of reactions, everything from the ridiculous to the sublime. The wine on the other hand is nothing short of masterful. The 2020 Schwarz The Butcher woos the nose with juicy scents of crushed blackberries and currants laced with hints of sandalwood. In the mouth, the wine’s delicious fruit, spice, and herbal flavors fill the mouth and flow across the tongue, offering wonderful texture and energy. As one tasting panel member stated with a smile, “This wine drinks like Pinot Noir on steroids.” Perhaps, that isn’t how most tasters would put it, but the medium-bodied, boldly flavored 2020 Schwarz The Butcher Blaufränkisch has the juice and complexity of a good Pinot Noir but with more stuffing and a flavor profile of its own. Enjoy!

Rounding out this month’s Premier Series is the exuberant NV Gruber Röschitz By Nature Sparkling Grüner Veltliner. This Austrian beauty shines like the sun and brings a smile to every occasion. Not only does this sparkling wine have eye appeal, it offers an enticing aroma of freshly picked mountain apples, hints of citrus, ripe pears and more. A delicate mousse carries the wine’s lovely aroma through to the palate, offering a mélange of exotic fruits and deft touches of spice before exiting with a satisfying flourish. Enjoy the delightful NV Gruber Röschitz By Nature Sparkling Grüner Veltliner well chilled (37º-40º F) before imbibing. Prost!

The International Wine of the Month Club’s Collectors Series is proud to offer three exceptional wines from three of the planet’s finest appellations and producers. This month’s odyssey begins with the 2020 Arzuaga Ribera del Duero Crianza, a superlative offering from an excellent vintage as well as multiple 92+ Point ratings from James Suckling and European critics. The 2020 Arzuaga Ribera del Duero Crianza opens with heady aromatics. A deep draught of red and black fruits, roasted chestnuts, herbs, and aromatic wood smoke greet the nose. In the mouth, Arzuaga’s 2020 Ribera del Duero Crianza is deep and harmonious, offering plenty of rich fruit, dark chocolate, and coffee tones. Moreover, all of these flavors come wrapped in a firm core of well integrated tannins, which should afford those savvy enough to cellar a few bottles of Arzuaga’s Crianza a decade or more of drinking pleasure. Enjoy!

Next up is the delightful, highly rated (92 Points – Wine Enthusiast) NV Camille Braun Crémant d’Alsace Brut. Camille Braun’s Crémant delights the senses with its lively persistent mousse and expressive nose and flavor. Delicate hints of ripe autumn apples, freshly baked shortbread, and spring flowers delight the nose. In the mouth, the wine’s beautiful aromas re-emerge and expand on the palate. A delight to sip and savor or drink with abandon, Camille Braun’s Crémant d’Alsace Brut NV is subtle, pleasantly round, and delightfully balanced. From the first sip until the very last drop, Camille Braun’s Crémant d’Alsace Brut NV presents itself as a true crowd pleaser. Elegance, purity, and a delightfully graceful finish make Camille Braun’s organically grown Crémant d’Alsace Brut a welcome anytime companion. Salut!

Completing this month’s Collectors Series is the knockout 2020 Quinta Nova Reserva Terroir Blend (95 Points – Decanter). Purity and sophistication mark the regally robed 2020 Quinta Nova Reserva Terroir Blend. The wine’s brilliant ruby/purple robe first captures the eye before seducing the nose with dazzling aromatics. A bouquet of cherries, raspberries, roses, and violets along with the sensuous scent of rain washed woodlands immediately greets the nose. Ample and expansive on the palate, the 2020 Quinta Nova Reserva Terroir Blend reveals juicy berry flavors, delicate spice tones, and a delightful hint of forest floor. Sensuous and elegant, yet fully endowed, the 2020 Quinta Nova Reserva Terroir Blend combines the best of Old World Douro with today’s penchant for charm and complexity, while ripe tannins carry all this goodness to a smashing finish. Juicy, intense, crystalline, and complex, the 2020 Quinta Nova Reserva Terroir Blend is a stunning expression of the Douro and Portugal’s indigenous grape varieties. Enjoy!

Spain: Something New and Something Old

September 15, 2023 by Don Lahey

A wine trip to Spain brings great joy, a reunion with old friends, and more than a few new faces. Wine lovers and critics all agree on Spain’s acumen in fashioning full-bodied red wines from the country’s most celebrated wine regions: Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Montsant, and Priorato to name a few; yet Spain offers much more in quality and variety than just the robust red wines from the big four names. How easy is it to overlook the rest of Spain and the exciting wines of Galicia, Rueda, Jerez de la Frontera, and the plethora of exceptional sparkling, white, and red wines of Catalonia, including Cava and Costers del Segre, the latter being the source of Spain’s newest red wine stars.

Cava, Spain’s answer to Champagne, ranks among the world’s finest traditional method sparkling wines. It is made the same way as Champagne and although it can be made anywhere in Spain, Catalonia specializes in Cava. Producers such as Mont Marçal, Roger Goulart, and Raventos fashion beautiful Catalan Cavas from traditional Spanish varietals as well as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and at a fraction of the cost of French Champagne.

If you are in search of new and exciting wines, make a beeline to Catalonia’s Costers del Segre where a plethora of polished, full-bodied red wines abound. Costers del Segre, meaning “Banks of the Segre” is a Denominación de Origen (DO) located in the heart of Catalonia in the valley of the Segre River. Founded in 1986, Costers del Segre is a relatively new DO by Spanish standards, but its wines are second to none. In fact, Costers del Segre has attracted many of the biggest and best names in Spanish wines, including Castell del Remei, Raimat, and Torres. Castell del Remei was the first Catalan winery to estate grow, bottle, and age its wines in the manner of Classified Bordeaux and its wines are not to be missed. Castell del Remei fashions superlative red Costers del Segre wines, including Gotim Bru and the estate’s flagship offering, 1780, an exceptional full-bodied red wine from Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, and Garnacha. Castell del Remei also produces a bevy of beautiful white wines from traditional Catalan and international grape varieties.

Whether you are in search of something old or something new, Spain has it all. And, there is no better time than now to enjoy Spanish wines. Today is El Siglo d’Oro, the Golden Age of Spanish wine, so why wait? Enjoy!

What’s Coming in September 2023

September 6, 2023 by Don Lahey

In September, The International Wine of the Month Club’s Premier Series is proud to offer four superlative wines from France and Spain. The first in this superb series is the highly aromatic 2020 Castell del Remei Gotim Bru. The 2020 Castell del Remei Gotim Bru is fresh, juicy, and redolent with the scents of raspberry and black cherry as well garrigue, the entrancing floral and herbal scents of the wild natural countryside of Catalonia and nearby Provence. Medium to full bodied and silky smooth in the mouth, this artful Spanish blend displays fleshy berry fruit flavors along with intriguing hints of cedar, thyme, and fragrant incense. Elegant and finely tuned, yet immensely flavorful, the 2020 Castell del Remei Gotim Bru finishes long and vibrant, thanks to the wine’s ripe tannins and juicy acidity. Enjoy!

Our next September Premier Series offering is the 2021 Domaine Houchart Côtes de Provence Blanc, a vivacious white wine made from traditional Provencal grapes. In this rare Provencal white, one can almost taste the Provencal sun, feel the cool sea breeze wafting from the Mediterranean Sea, and smell the scented fragrance of Provence’s magical landscape. It offers an inviting bouquet of citrus, mango, orchard fruits, and pear. In the mouth, the wine’s lovely fruit aromas re-emerge enlivened by crisp acidity and a gentle minerality. Add a touch of salinity from the sea and the 2021 Domaine Houchart Côtes de Provence Blanc finishes with pinpoint precision and mouth-watering vivacity. No smoke or mirrors, oak or butter tones, just one fresh white wine from Provence’s Clairette and Rolle grape varieties. Enjoy!

Our Premier Series continues with the robust and deeply colored 2017 Terramagna Rayen Black Edition Vino de la Tierra de Castilla. This wine captivates the eye with its saturated purple robe from the moment the cork exits the bottle and the wine splashes joyfully into a glass. Once in the glass, ripe black fruits mixed with incense and balsamic notes greet the nose. In the mouth, concentrated blackberry, plum, and anise flavors meld with a touch of vanilla to caress the palate. Concentrated and expansive on the palate, yet quite smooth and with nary an edge, the 2017 Rayen Black Edition provides ample testimony to the glory of Tempranillo and other prime grape varieties throughout ancient Castilla. A tasty blend of equal parts Tempranillo, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Garnacha, the 2017 Rayen Black Edition provides fine drinking. Enjoy!

Rounding out this month’s Premier Series offering is the highly acclaimed 2021 Coco i Fito Aloja Blanc DO Terra Alta, a youthful and fresh white wine that typifies the vivacious mineral-driven style of white wine for which Terra Alta and Montsant are renowned. Made primarily from old vines of Grenache Blanc (30-60 years of age) and a touch of mature Macabeo with considerable lees contact to provide flavor and texture, the 2021 Aloja Blanc DO Terra Alta offers a subtle, yet intriguing bouquet of floral, mineral, and herb tones. In the mouth, the 2021 Aloja Blanc truly expresses its vivacity with acacia flower, green apple, and citrus flavors wed to the region’s racy, thirst quenching minerality. Enjoy!

The International Wine of the Month Club’s Collectors Series is proud to offer three exceptional wines in September, beginning with the delicious, intense, and wonderfully intriguing 2018 Castell del Remei 1780, a wine that merges the best of Spain, Bordeaux, and Napa Valley into one elegant, flavorful, power-packed wine. Black currant and dark cherry aromas meld with spicy notes and a hint of incense to tantalize the nose. Initially intense in the mouth, Castell del Remei’s 1780 opens surreptitiously, revealing concentrated berry fruit flavors and deep spicy tones. With a bit of aeration and a few gentle swirls, the wine’s depth of flavor wells up in the mouth, revealing elderberry, clove, and dark chocolate. Elegance and complexity merge with the wine’s power leading to an explosive finish, ripe with textured tannins. Enjoy the special, still youthful 2018 Castell del Remei 1780 now and over the next decade. Enjoy!

Our next September Collectors Series offering emanates from Chablis and the venerable house of Chartron et Trébuchet. Lively, fresh, and sporting Chablis’ luminous glint, the 2022 Chartron et Trébuchet Chablis presents itself as the quintessential Chablis. Sensuous and intriguing scents of citrus, pear, white flowers, oyster shell, lemon zest, and a faint but beckoning scent of the sea greet the nose. Balanced and precise, Chartron et Trébuchet’s 2022 Chablis fills the mouth with a myriad of flavors drawn from the soil as well as the sea: one can taste the limestone-rich terroir of Chablis poke through the wine’s lively Chardonnay fruit and citrus twists to enliven the mouth. Note the absence of oak! This is authentic Chardonnay, unadorned and reflective of its place of origin, devoid of the preponderance of butter and oak. Moreover, it finishes with a satisfying flourish. Enjoy!

Completing this month’s Collectors Series is the Chariol family’s 2018 Château de Lescours Saint-Émilion Grand Cru. Born of another splendid vintage in Bordeaux, the Chariol family’s 2018 Château de Lescours Saint-Émilion Grand Cru offers a beautiful purple and garnet tinged robe, enticing aromatics, and layers of black currant and berry fruit. Opulent, yet elegant, the concentrated 2018 Château de Lescours Saint-Émilion Grand Cru fills the mouth with juicy plush fruit, underlined with deft touches of dark chocolate, coffee, and forest floor – all of which come nicely cloaked in rich, ripe tannins. This is classic Saint-Émilion; complex, full-bodied, and ready to drink, yet capable of ageing gracefully for up to a decade or more. Enjoy!

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