Featured Wines - July 2011

Vespres’s olfactory carries through completely on the palate where layers of ripe, sweet fruit unfold on a perfectly balanced bed of tannins – all of which are infused with subtle mineral tones and then deftly wrapped in a mantle of well integrated oak. Spot on from the time the cork exits the bottle, the 2008 Vespres Montsant barely needed time to breathe the days we tasted it, but after returning to it some hours after opening, it had evolved into something other worldly.

We think the Ternis have outdone themselves in 2009. Their 2009 Praeludium is one juicy, delectable, downright delicious wine, and even if you never put this perfumed potion into your mouth the wine’s magical bouquet is worth the price of admission. It reveals a stunningly rich nose redolent with the scents of cherry, strawberry, raspberry, and rose. Wedded to the wine’s seductive floral components are soft plush flavors and subtle spice tones that have enormous sensual appeal.

While most New World Chardonnays are beginning to tire at five years of age, the 2006 Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay is just beginning to hit its stride – ample testimony to Vasse Felix’s magic touch and Margaret River’s inimitable terroir, which together produce the most complex, age worthy of Australian wines. The aroma alone on the Heytesbury Chardonnay is worth the price of admission: subtle, complex hints of acacia, jasmine, pineapple, and stone fruits mingle with citrus zest and soft spicy, well-integrated oak tones.

Imbued with the copper color so highly sought after from Italy’s finest Collio Pinot Grigios, the exceptional 2009 Pietra Santa Amore Signature Collection Pinot Grigio shines from the moment it is poured. More importantly, the wine’s bouquet beckons and its fresh, mineral driven flavors nearly burst from the glass. This is no wimpy little Pinot Grigio. It’s also not one of those insipid, over the top, sweet renditions that some California producers have concocted. Infused with a mélange of citrus and stone fruit flavors, a subtle minerality, and a refreshing balanced acidity, the 2009 Amore brings its welcome with it from start to finish. Although we did initially enjoy this full-flavored, personality filled Pinot Grigio ice cold, most of us preferred it moderately chilled (about 40º-45º F) where we could enjoy its subtle charms, but the temperature at which a wine is drunk is a matter of personal preference, so as you like it!

In fashioning an exceptional 2007 Estate Sangiovese Pietra Santa continues its unequivocal success with the mercurial Sangiovese varietal. The recipient of many awards, including the Best of Class from the San Francisco Chronicle, Pietra Santa’s 2007 Sangiovese reveals elegance and power along with an added dimension of complexity that too often eludes other California Sangioveses.

Medium-bodied and immediately gratifying the 2009 Viña Gormaz Rueda could at first sip be dismissed as an eminently drinkable quaff, but the longer it remains in the glass (no easy task we’ll grant you) the more intriguing it becomes. Subtle mineral tones and an array of interesting flavors emerge with each sip.

Imbued with the copper color so highly sought after from Italy’s finest Collio Pinot Grigios, the exceptional 2009 Pietra Santa Amore Signature Collection Pinot Grigio shines from the moment it is poured. More importantly, the wine’s bouquet beckons and its fresh, mineral driven flavors nearly burst from the glass. This is no wimpy little Pinot Grigio.