Featured Wines - July 2020

“Juicy and succulent, ripe, yet beautifully focused” is how our tasting panel describes Antonio Mas’ 2017 Almarada Uco Valley Malbec. Add a dark, nearly black, robe, enticing aromas of black plum, mulberry, and orange peel, and velvety fruit flavors infused with hints of cranberry and chocolate, and the 2017 Almarada Uco Valley Malbec adds up to one immensely pleasing, eminently drinkable red wine. If it is any indication, it was the first wine on the table to vanish...

In crafting her 2019 Black Pearl Chenin Blanc, Mary-Lou Nash has proven she is equally adept at fashioning a pure, delicious white wine as she is red. This most recent release offers a fresh and enchanting bouquet of peach, pear and stone fruits infused with a citrus twist and a hint of chamomile. The wine’s enticing fruit aromas carry through in the mouth and meld beautifully with the wine’s refreshing acidity. Soft and succulent on the palate and beautifully textured...

Tait fashions only bold, full-throttle wines, and the most recent release of Tait’s 2016 The Ball Buster is indeed both big and bold, and, most importantly, exceedingly beautiful. It is a sumptuous, decadent wine that checks all of the boxes and goes far beyond its size and stature to deliver layer upon layer of flavors in one tasty, mouth-filling glass of wine. For starters, this big beauty offers a host of heady aromas; black cherry, currant, plum, and dark chocolate all make an appearance...

Excellency and consistency are truly Gilles Noblet’s calling cards, so there is no doubt that the 2018 vintage in the hands of this master winemaker has produced one of Domaine Gilles Noblet’s finest Mâcon-Fuissés to date. Another true classic Mâcon wine, the 2018 Domaine Gilles Noblet Mâcon-Fuissé exhibits good ripeness as well the elegance and precision that make Noblet’s wines so compelling. The wine radiates a bright, sunny color, which recalls the rows of golden clusters of...

Domaine Dozon’s 2018 Clos du Saut au Loup Chinon captures the unassuming taster from the moment the cork exits the bottle. Before one can even take a sip, the wine’s dazzling ruby red robe and sensuous, downright alluring aroma pretty much seal the deal. The wine’s raspberry, wild black cherry, and fresh forest floor aromas beguile the nose before seamlessly flowing into the marrow of the wine, only to re-emerge in the mouth. Smooth, ripe tannins provide just the ideal canvas...

Emanating from the second oldest vineyard of Chenin Blanc in South Africa, planted in 1947, and another 56-year-old bush vine vineyard of Chenin Blanc, David Finlayson’s iconic 2018 Camino Africana Stellenbosch Chenin Blanc is simply stunning, receiving high praise from our tasting panel as well as 92 points from Wine Spectator. Although still very much in its youth, this most recent release of Camino Africana Chenin Blanc offers a budding floral bouquet with hints of...

Chapel Hill’s 2016 McLaren Vale Shiraz once again confirms Michael Fragos’s acumen in fashioning lush, bold-flavored, crowd pleasing Shiraz. Dark and deep in color, the 2016 Chapel Hill McLaren Valle Shiraz offers an impressive array of savory aromas and flavors, beginning with blackberry, raspberry, and plum along with tantalizing hints of wild herbs, cracked black pepper, and exotic spice tones. Fragos’ full-bodied, concentrated Shiraz provides tremendous extract on a balanced frame...