In April, The International Wine of the Month Club’s Premier Series is pleased to offer our members four outstanding wines from around the world, beginning with the 2020 Water Wheel The Estate, a prodigious Shiraz/Cabernet blend. The 2020 Water Wheel The Estate is a robust wine of great concentration, depth of flavor, and the ability to age for a decade or more. Brandishing a deep opaque purple color and offering lush hedonistic plum and berry flavors infused with explosive tannins, the 2020 Water Wheel The Estate is truly a big wine and a one of a kind. It explodes in the mouth and awakens the palate. To be sure, there is no wimp in this wine, which rings in at 15.9% alcohol by volume; nevertheless, the 2020 Water Wheel The Estate wears its ABV well. Enjoy this blockbuster now and often!
Our next Premier Series feature is the charming, vivacious 2022 Massone Masera Gavi DOCG. Stefano Massone has again turned in a first rate performance in the 2022 Massone Masera Gavi DOCG. The 2022 Masera Gavi is bright, fresh, and exceptionally pure. It also sports the Cortese varietal’s pale straw sunny color and a delicate perfume that is imbued with the haunting scents of white grapes, crisp mountain apples, pears, and a tantalizing minerality. What more can one ask for in a wine? How about a pure racy mid-palate and supreme balance? In the hands of Stefano Massone, the 2022 Masera Gavi truly shines. By eschewing the use of oak barrel ageing in favor of highlighting Gavi’s natural attributes, the 2022 Masera Gavi delights with its delicate perfume, subtlety of flavor, and Masera Gavi’s calling card, a crisp refreshing finish, which is reminiscent of the mineral-rich waters of a cold mountain stream. Enjoy!
This month’s next exceptional offering is the delicious, highly acclaimed 2020 Boya Valle de Leyda Pinot Noir (92 Points – Descorchados; 90 Points – Vinous). Bright, energetic, and bursting with fresh fruit, the 2020 Boya Valle de Leyda Pinot Noir puts a whole new face on cool climate Pinot Noir. The 2020 Boya Leyda Pinot Noir sports a radiant cherry red robe, while its heady aromatics leap from the glass with the redolent scents of crushed cherry, strawberry, and cranberry. In the mouth, its explosive aromatics re-emerge with succulent cranberry, strawberry and orange zest flavors carried on a stream of racy acidity and incisive tannins, all leading to a laser-like finish. Balanced and beautiful, the 2020 Boya Leyda Pinot Noir strikes the ideal note between Old and New World Pinot Noir with its fruit-forward flavors and crunchy tannins. Enjoy!
Completing April’s Premier Series offering is the 2023 Casa Silva Colchagua Sauvignon Gris. The scion of a vineyard planted in 1912, the 2023 Casa Silva Sauvignon Gris ranks among the world’s finest examples of the rare heirloom Sauvignon Gris varietal. Produced from vines that are the oldest in Colchagua Valley, the 2023 Casa Silva Sauvignon Gris pays tribute to the superb but relatively obscure Sauvignon Gris varietal, which exists in few places outside of Colchagua, Chile and its ancestral home among the finest Bordeaux estates. As a relative of Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris yields a dry, highly aromatic white wine but with considerably more body and texture than most Sauvignon Blanc. The 2023 Casa Silva Sauvignon Gris pushes the envelope and takes this rare variety to new heights. From the onset, it captures the eye with a bright sunny robe and haunting aromatics. Melon, ripe pineapple, verbena, and freshly squeezed citrus aromas and flavors emanate from this wine. Add hints of fig and an umami-like texture in the mouth and there’s no mistaking this wine’s venerable character. Enjoy!
In April The International Wine of the Month Club’s Collectors Series is thrilled to offer our members the exceptional, newly released 2021 Casa Silva S7 Los Lingues Carmenère (93 Points Alistair Cooper MW – Catad’Or Wine Guide), the most polished, sensuous, expression of Chile’s most emblematic grape variety that we have encountered. It wears Carmenère’s profoundly dark regal purple color and it offers an amplifying aroma of ripe red fruits: Morello cherry, plum, and assorted berries whose scents captivate the nose. Round and velvety in the mouth, yet layered with flavors, the 2021 S7 Carmenère graces the palate with beautifully textured fruit and savory chocolate tones, mingled with crushed violets and aromatic cedar. Elegant, complex, and impressively long on the finish, the delightful 2021 Casa Silva S7 Los Lingues Carmenère brings its welcome from the moment it is poured. In fact, we found it downright hard to put down. Enjoy this outstanding effort now and for years to come. Enjoy!
Our next April Collectors Series offering is from Marlène and Nicolas Chevalier, who continue to outdo themselves with their property’s racy and full-bodied 2021 Chevalier Crozes-Hermitage Les Pends Blanc. The 2021 Domaine Chevalier Les Pends Crozes-Hermitage cuts a fine figure in the glass with its crystalline brilliance and sensuous aroma. Scents of freshly cut pears, tropical fruits, savory spices, and vanilla bean all come to fore. In the mouth, the 2021 Les Pends Crozes-Hermitage is both round and racy, which captures the Marsanne varietal’s multiple facets: it’s robust in flavor with orchard and citrus fruit flavors, yet textured and precise on the finish. Think of Janus, the mythical Roman god of beginnings, transitions, and much more – that’s Domaine Chevalier’s 2021 Les Pends. Enjoy!
Rounding out this month’s Collectors Series is the highly acclaimed 2019 Luca Uco Valley Beso de Dante (94 Points – Wine Enthusiast; 93 Points – Vinous), a wine that pays homage to the original Bordeaux blend of yesteryear as it is comprised only of Malbec and Cabernet. The 2019 Luca Beso de Dante exudes flavor, power, structure, and length. Emanating from high altitude vineyards (6,000 feet or more), Luca’s 2019 Beso de Dante (meaning Dante’s Kiss) outperforms many classified Bordeaux and top California Meritage offerings. The 2019 Luca Beso de Dante offers a deep, nearly opaque purple robe, entrancing aromatics, and a mouthful of complex flavors. Blackberry, chocolate, cassis, mint, plum, and spicy wood tones emerge in the aroma and again on the palate. The wine’s deep and dense berry, clove, and dark chocolate flavors are steeped in firm tannins, the latter providing structure and a fresh, explosive finish. This is one kiss with youthful ardor that you won’t want to miss. Although enjoyable now with ample aeration, additional time in bottle will only increase the complexity and drinking pleasure of this top-notch Cabernet/Malbec. Enjoy!
