Featured Wines - August 2014

Signature Collection wines represent the very best of Pietra Santa’s estate wines and honor the legacy of Frenchman Theophile Vache who founded the estate in the 1850s. Vache chose the site because of the remarkable soils, rich in limestone and shale due to their location on the San Andreas Fault. In his honor Pietra Santa dedicates these exceptional wines crafted from hand chosen blocks and made with the finest care and attention...

The 2011 Mr. Riggs Montepulciano d’Adelaide Hills is an exclusive offering to The International Wine of the Month Club which we’re importing from Australia especially for you, our members. It sports a bright crimson and purple robe that immediately catches the eye. And with one sniff, the nose is smitten as well. This rare, very limited edition Montepulciano from Mr. Riggs offers a savory aroma full of red and black fruits, dried herbs, roses...

The 2012 Benito Ferrara Greco di Tufo rocked our tasting panel, not because it comes across as big or brazen, but because it epitomizes the elegance and flavor of Greco di Tufo, and at the same time it reflects the terroir of the region better than any other Greco. It is grown on hillside vineyards in Frazione San Paolo in Tufo, and it is an authentic descendant of the original Greco vines brought to southern Italy by the Greeks. Lightly...

Caterina Dei and Nicolò d’Aflitto have a knack for turning out elegant, aromatic Rosso di Montepulciano, and Dei’s 2012 Rosso di Montepulciano is perhaps the estate’s finest to date; as it embodies all the beautiful fruit flavors and soft accessible tannins that make good Rosso di Montepul-ciano so attractive. Brilliant ruby in color and delightfully aromatic with the scents of wild cherry and delicate hints of cinnamon and other exotic spices...

Although Soave bears the distinction of being the largest DOC in Italy for the production of white wine, only several dozen Soave producers fashion wines of superior character and quality, and among that elite set, no one consistently makes richer, more savory, downright delicious Soave than Gini. For many in northern Italy and throughout much of Europe, the 2013 harvest posed a myriad of challenges, but you wouldn’t know it by tasting Gini’s...

Chardonnay and Merlot are the two most difficult varietals for consumers to agree upon. Chardonnay poses a unique challenge because everyone seems to have a different idea of what good Chardonnay should taste like, while the difficulty with Merlot is finding quality examples that reflect both varietal character and a specific terroir – no easy task. We hit the jackpot in Pietra Santa’s 2010 Cienega Valley Estate Merlot. It hails exclusively...

The first duty of a traditional white Vinho Verde is to be crisp, fresh, and delicious. And good white Vinho Verde actually seems to dance and sparkle, much like the summer sun, as it shimmers on a shining sea. Raza’s 2013 Vinho Verde is definitely very good Vinho Verde, and it more than sparkles and dances in the mouth. It offers a fresh, enticing bouquet along with plenty of exhilaratingly crisp fruit, an intriguing minerality and a citrus...