Featured Wines - August 2022

A deep purple potion made in the style of Italy’s legendary Amarone, the 2014 Nugan Estate Alfredo Dried Grape Shiraz not only sports the deep, nearly impenetrable robe and power of traditional Amarone, it trumps many of Italy’s more renowned Amarone in both aroma and depth of flavor. With only a few minutes of aeration, Nugan’s Dried Grape Shiraz offers up an electrifying perfume of blackcurrant, dried cherry, rose petal, and forest woodlands.

The 2021 Casas del Bosque Reserva Sauvignon Blanc continues the winery’s Midas touch with Sauvignon Blanc, and it lends further credence to Chile’s Casablanca Valley as a truly world-class source for Sauvignon Blanc. Casas del Bosque consistently fashions Sauvignon Blancs that rival those of Bordeaux and the Loire Valley, France’s centuries-old bastions of Sauvignon Blanc. The 2021 Casas del Bosque Casablanca Reserva Sauvignon Blanc offers the...

The 2018 DeMorgenzon DMZ Stellenbosch Syrah sports a deep purple color and offers an enticing bouquet of red and black fruits mingled with hints of lavender, exotic spices, and wood smoke. In the mouth, the wine’s floral and fruit tones happily re-emerge, blending with sizzling bacon flavors and deft touches of cinnamon and pepper, to the delight of the palate. Ripe, balanced tannins and a touch of vanilla from ageing in barrel add to the wine’s...

Bright and sun-splashed in color, the 2021 Le Colonne Costa Toscana Vermentino IGT evokes halcyon days under the Tuscan sun. Scented with the fresh aromas of green apple, white peach, and juicy citrus, the 2021 Le Colonne Costa Toscana ingratiates itself to the taster long before the very first sip. Crackling and crisp in the mouth, it displays laser-like precision as it delivers invigorating herbal and fruit flavors shot with juicy acidity...

Thanks to some much needed rain at the end of July and balmy weather through September, the 2019 harvest in Bolgheri produced many outstanding wines, including the 2019 Tenuta Meraviglia Bolgheri Rosso DOC. Fashioned from 100% Cabernet Franc, it is the estate’s first vintage with Certified Organic status. Meraviglia’s 2019 Bolgheri Rosso is elegant, pure, and beautifully structured. Sporting a very deep ruby red color and an amplifying...

Although Vermentino is featured on a growing number of the country’s finest wine lists and it is winning the palates of Americans in search of an authentic dry white wine without a preponderance of oak, the knockout 2020 Surrau Sciala Vermentino di Gallura DOCG Superiore is truly in a class by itself. The 2020 Surrau Sciala Vermentino di Gallura DOCG Superiore offers up a brilliant straw color, seductive aromatics, and plenty of mouth-filling...

The 2018 Masciarelli Marina Cvetic Riserva (94 points – James Suckling; 92 points – Wine Enthusiast) exemplifies Masciarelli’s acumen in fashioning boldly flavored, deeply colored Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. The progeny of another excellent vintage, the 2018 Masciarelli Marina Cvetic Riserva offers savory notes of steeped dark cherries, blackberry, mint, and allspice. In the mouth, the wine’s bold flavors explode on a bed of polished tannins...