Featured Wines - February 2022

With each successive vintage, Montaña continues its meteoric rise and nowhere is this more evident than in Montaña’s elegant, sophisticated, and downright delicious 2018 Rioja Crianza, a wine that emanates from a traditional blend of 97% Tempranillo and 3% Graciano from the estate’s old vines, many of which date to the immediate post-phylloxera period. As a true Crianza, the 2018 Montaña Rioja Crianza has been aged for a full 12 months in small...

The scion of one of the finest vintages in Stellenbosch in recent memory, the 2020 DeMorgenzon DMZ Chardonnay offers a classic, yet refined example of Stellenbosch Chardonnay. It opens with an amplifying bouquet of stone fruits, white peach, and creamy vanilla tones. In the mouth, it graces the palate with a delightful mélange of poached pear, white peach, and lightly buttered brioche, all wrapped in a finely textured patina of smooth oak...

Although France once dominated the production of world-class Syrah, as it did many of the world’s premium grape varieties, truly world-class Syrah also flows from elsewhere, including Chile’s Casablanca Valley. Casas del Bosque’s robust 2017 Gran Reserva (91 Points – Wine Enthusiast) is what Syrah is all about, as it highlights Casablanca Valley’s superb terroir and Casa del Bosque’s acumen with Syrah. Endowed with a vivid purple color, deep...

Henri Poiron consistently fashions classic Muscadet, and in the sunny 2020 vintage made another exceptional wine. The 2020 Domaine des Quatre Routes Sèvre-et-Maine is racy and ohhh so drinkable. Always bottled Sur Lie, it reveals clean, dry, refreshing flavors to complement its brilliant pale yellow robe. The classic scents of stone fruits, minerals, and a faint hint of refreshing sea spray emanate from this energetic Muscadet. Henri Poiron’s...

Big, bold, and beautiful, the 2019 Le Colonne Bolgheri Rosso (93 Points – Wine Spectator) exhibits a wealth of deep-down flavors as well as laser-like precision. Black cherry, cassis, and currant flavors with hints of dark chocolate and forest floor emerge from the depths of this dark potion. Intense, yet superbly balanced, this young Super Tuscan is all in and all there. A rich blend of 70% Cabernet Franc, 20% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet...

Ponzi Vineyards’ recently released 2017 Laurelwood District Chardonnay Reserve (92 Points – Wine Enthusiast) not only highlights Luisa Ponzi’s preeminence in fashioning world-class Chardonnay, it also shines a spotlight on the Laurelwood District’s distinctive terroir. This beautiful Chardonnay offers a beguiling floral nose and plenty of smooth toasty flavors infused with juicy Bosc pear and crisp citrus tones. In the mouth, the wine’s...

Albert Pasanau continues to fashion an exceptional, bold, Old World wine from Finca La Planeta, his most illustrious vineyard. The 2015 Pasanau Finca La Planeta (92 Points – Vinous) is as dark as midnight and as deep as the sea, but that should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever tasted Albert Pasanau’s prized Priorat. Blessed with a heady aroma redolent with the scents of black cherry, fig, and plum, this blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon...