http://www.chateaux-castel.com/images/pdf/bousquet%20fiche.pdf

http://www.esporao.com/EN/HerdadedoEsporao/Produtos/Monocastas/Pages/AlicanteBouschet.aspx

http://www.contizecca.it/ChiSiamo.asp?language=EN

Nero Conti Zecca, 70% Negroamaro and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, was born by an intuition of the Zecca brothers who, in the Eighties, decided to introduce and taste on their own wine estates, and more precisely on Cantalupi Estate, selected clones of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Nero was commercialized for the first time in 1999 with the vintage 1997. The vintage 1998 was a great success: the wine experts immediately looked at this red wine of Puglia as a novelty in the oenological regional and national outline for the combination between an Apulian native vine (Negroamaro) and an international vine (Cabernet Sauvignon) that made it one of the best red wines in Puglia.

Our vineyard is well positioned in the high part of this famous climat tucked between Les Grèves and Les Cras. It is one of the best and better know premier crus of Beaune. Planted in 1948, a replantation cycle began in 1993. Today [2003], 50% of the vineyard have been replanted and 50% remains old vines. The young vines are trained in Cordon de Royat to reduce the yield and the soil is covered with grass to stimulate the roots to dwell deeply in the rock under the thin layer of soil.

The wines from Les Teurons, always displayind a deep color, are firm and complex. Bottle age is mandatory for the wine to express all it¹s qualities.

The Once label is specifically reserved for some of the top Sommeliers in the world, who have begun side blending projects, generally for the restaurants in which they work.
Partipating restaurants including The French Laundry, Michael Mina, La Paulee and Jean-Georges.

Once Pinot Noir (bottled at Westgate Cellars, Santa Maria, CA) are all blends of Oregon and California pinot noir.
As such, they must technically be labeled NV (non-vintage). However, they are substantially different by year, as the grapes are sourced from different vineyards from year to year, and are also blended in different %s)
You can tell the difference by the UPC code and also sometimes by the % alcohol on the label, which changes from year to year.

The Once label is specifically reserved for some of the top Sommeliers in the world, who have begun side blending projects, generally for the restaurants in which they work.
Partipating restaurants including The French Laundry, Michael Mina, La Paulee and Jean-Georges.

Once Pinot Noir (bottled at Westgate Cellars, Santa Maria, CA) are all blends of Oregon and California pinot noir.
As such, they must technically be labeled NV (non-vintage). However, they are substantially different by year, as the grapes are sourced from different vineyards, different regions and are also blended in different %s
You can tell the difference by the UPC code and also sometimes by the % alcohol on the label, which changes from year to year.

This wine from steep slopes with clayey-calcareous subsoils is always strongly marked by its terroir. Its mineral and flinty character is unique in Meursault.
You will notice the contrast between minerality and notes of honey in the bouquet. The rich, fruity and powerful aromas are highlighted by spicy and mineral notes.
Delicious exotic dishes will pair perfectly with this complex wine, whose personality will have fully developed after three to seven years in the bottle.

- Grape variety: Chardonnay.
- Average age of the vines: 35 years.
- Pressing of the entire grapes in a pneumatic press.
- Indigenous yeasts.
- Fermentation in one- to five-year-old barrels.
- Temperature control (18-20 °C), duration of the fermentation 8 to 10 weeks.
- Maturing on lees for 11 months.
- Complete malolactic fermentation.
- “Bâtonnage” (stirring up of the lees) depending on the vintage.
- Bottling after one racking.

Blend of the five classic Bordeaux varieties: Petit Verdot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

BAROLO RISERVA GRANBUSSIA DOCG

INTRODUCTION
The Barolo of the “Granbussia” selection is produced by assembling the distinctly vinified and aged wines of the vineyards Romirasco, Cicala and Colonnello in the following percentages respectively: 70%, 15% and 15%; however, these ideal values change according to the vintage.
The wine remains for 6 years in the cellar before being sold, and it is produced exclusively in the best vintages.

VINEYARD PROFILE
Vineyards: Romirasco, Cicala and Colonnelo
Varieties: Nebbiolo, Michet and Lampia varieties.

WINEMAKER NOTES
Vinification: red, with skin soaking inside stainless steel vats.
Fermentation: the must stays on contact with the skins for 15 days: during this time the alcoholic fermentation usually gets fully complete, and the wine is then drawn off.
Fermentation Temperatures: changeable, with highest peaks of 32 degrees centigrade.
Cellar Refining: the new wine remains inside stainless steel vats for 3 to 5 months, and it is periodically transferred before being put into big Slavonian oak barrels, where it is left aging for 36 months.

HARVEST NOTES
Harvest: manual, with grape selection in the vineyard.

Time of Harvest: mid-October.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION
alcoholic content % Vol. 13.00 – 14.50
Total acidity gr./lt. 5.5 – 6.5
pH 3.20 – 3.40

The Piano di Montevergine vineyard in the commune of Taurasi in Campania. 15-20 year old vines are grown at 1200 ft above sea level with a southern exposure. The soil is deep and originally from ash and fallen pumice. The surface and deep layers are silty sand. Grapes are grown at a dense 4600 vines per hectare.

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This wine is produced using the same method used to produce Beaujolais Nouveau. From the producer notes in the fact sheet:

: "It’s an old technique that we began to use four years ago to elaborate a very fruity light red wine easy to drink in the year. We are the only Winery in Uruguay that elaborates this wine in a commercial way.
: After a strict control of ripening we begin the harvest by hand using 10 kg. boxes to preserve the integrity of the grapes on the way to the winery and always selecting the grapes bunches.
: The whole bunches are fermented under a thin layer of CO2. The fermentation begins inside the grapes until they burst and the whole must begins fermenting. And then, the process continues in its natural way.
: This process picks up the colour of the skin quickly giving the wine a fruity flavour and little tannins, ideal to drink in the year of its elaboration."

Clos de la Bergerie, organic biodynamic wine, white, Nicolas Joly
The grapes for the Clos de la Bergerie come from the somewhat larger Appellation Savennieres Roche aux Moines, which is right beside the Coulée de Serrant vineyard. The basic features of this wine do not really differ from the “great Coulée de Serrants,” but are somewhat less pronounced. Will drink well through 2018, should be decanted and served at a temperature of between 12 and 14 degrees.

Nicolas Joly’s Winemaking and Philosophy of Wine
The last time I visited the Chateau de la Roche aux Moines, I was reminded of my first appointment with Nicolas Joly – it must have been in 1991 or 1992. I would like to talk about how this came to pass, about the wine estate, their way of working and their philosophy of wine, but also about continuity and changes in the past 15 years.
As some of you may know, Weinhaus Hartl as an importer and retailer of organic wines and Greenpeace worked together for several years starting in 1991. The goal of this collaboration was to improve the image of organic wines and to make them more easily accepted on the market. This is when we got the idea of including Nicolas Joly’s wines in our range of products, since experts all over the world appreciated them because of their high quality and not primarily because they were organic. These are wines which are not only highly enjoyable to drink but also due to the fact that not many are produced – the Appellation Clos de la Coulée de Serrant is a single vineyard site with very few hectares of vines and Nicolas Joly is the sole owner – that they are relatively expensive, and that they are very well known among wine connoisseurs, can provide a certain prestige. In view of this, not even anyone who is skeptical of organic wines would dare to express criticism and doubts. Thus our goal was not only to present these wines, but to present them along with a story about the Chateau de la Roche aux Moines. The two of us, a journalist appointed by Greenpeace and myself, made an appointment with Nicolas Joly, and arrived on time. We were greeted by the family’s pet dog, who found the journalist’s leather pants quite delicious! It was obvious that Nicolas Joly was happy to see us, and his enthusiasm in explaining his philosophy of viticulture and winemaking to us was very convincing. He took us for a long walk through his vineyards and pointed out the features of each site. I was greatly looking forward to the wine-tasting which followed, which however did not exactly inspire me at that point. I found the wines very unusual and not at all convincing. But I knew from experience that some wines can’t be judged after the first sip. After extensive wine-tasting at home, the entire spectrum of these incredible wines revealed itself to me. My advice to you is to begin with the Vieux Clos, to continue with the Close de la Bergerie and then to enjoy the “magnificent” Close de la Coulée de Serrant. You will need time and patience when doing so, time to meditate on them, and you will be able to understand these wines as you learn to understand a work of art. The story for the Greenpeace magazine was supposed to be rounded off with a few sentences by Wolfram Siebeck, a famous German food and wine critic who it seems was not convinced of the advantages of ecological agriculture at that time, but who at least knew and appreciated Nicolas Joly’s wines. Unfortunately his lunch appointment took longer than expected, and he wasn’t able to come to Hamburg at the time we had arranged. This meant that the report on the biodynamically farmed Chateau de la Roche aux Moines and its wines had to be published without his opinion.

In the Vineyard
In all three Appellations, Savennieres, Savennieres-Roche aux Moines and La Coulée de Serrant, only the Chenin Blanc vines are grown. The new vines, which have been planted since my visit about 15 years ago, were grown on the wine estate itself and all come from 70 and 80 year-old vines from Clos de la Coulée de Serrant, which have proven to have the very best characteristics. This guarantees that the valuable legacy will be maintained, and that the quality and the characteristics of the wines can be preserved for the next generations. The average age of all the vines today is about 30 years. Organic farming was started in 1980, and in 1984 the entire wine estate had already switched over to this method. Since that time, no artificial fertilizers, acaricides, pesticides, herbicides or systemic substances, i.e. substances which act within the plants, have been used, just a bit of sulphur and the Bordeaux mixture (copper sulphate and lime) are put into the soil in small amounts, i.e. a maximum of 2.5 kg per hectare and year. While it is true that copper does damage the vitality of the soil, up to now no other effective replacement has been found, and copper sulphate is seen as a necessary evil. Sulphur on the vines increases the intensity of the sun and is thus advantageous for the growth of the grapes. The grapes are hand-picked in 2 to 4 stages of harvesting, depending on the weather.

In the Wine Cellar
There is no first fining of the must, as grey mould seldom occurs in organic viticulture and thus there is no reason to separate the cloudy particles, since these contain substances which are important for the fermentation procedure. The only yeasts used for fermentation are those natural yeasts which are to be found on the organic grapes, which play a substantial role in transporting the character and the typical features of the grapes, the soil, the site of the vineyard and the local microclimate to the wine. There is no artificial lowering of the fermentation temperature, since this is inconsistent with the real nature of fermentation, a kind of sudden fever which is then replaced by a new condition. Apart from this, Nicolas Joly does not cool his wine in order to precipitate tartrate crystals or to reduce the acidity content. He also does not do any artificial fining of the wine with various types of egg whites. His wines clarify themselves naturally due to the deposits of cloudy sediments in the casks and the repeated racking, and in the end they are perfectly clear and clean. This procedure is carried out more often at the Chateau de la Roche aux Moines than it is on other wine estates, since during this procedure oxygen is added to the wine. Although it was generally feared that the quality of the wine could suffer because of its exposure to oxygen, this does not apply for wines made from noble grape varieties using sound growing methods. Wines of this nature are improved by oxidation over a longer period of time before they are damaged. Each year, only 3 to 4 % of the barrels are replaced, since Nicolas Joly tries to not to let the wood detract from the flavor of his wines, since wood is a foreign element for wine. On the other hand, he is convinced that letting the wine mature in wooden barrels does have a positive effect on the development of the wine.

Nicolas Joly’s Clos de la Coulée de Serrant and his Philosophy of Wine
All in all, Nicolas Joly is convincing in his wealth of knowledge and his commitment to organic viticulture, which is put into practice in each phase of the farming and the winemaking. The estate itself is just as impressive. It is a Chateau full of history, high above the Loire Valley, with a view of the Loire Valley, and is surrounded by a park which is not too well-tended, by some ancient agricultural outbuildings, a long avenue at the crest of the steep slopes, which separates them from the somewhat flatter vineyard areas under which, according to Nicolas Joly, several English soldiers have had their final resting-place for the past two centuries. In this idyllic spot, everything fits together, nothing is artificial or just for show, even the wine cellar which contains only the basic equipment fits in perfectly with the explanations given by Nicolas Joly. It is in the vineyard that the foundations for the high-quality wine are laid, and not in the cellar. You can learn more about the philosophy behind organic winemaking in Nicolas Joly’s book "Wine from Sky to Earth." On my last visit in the spring of 2007, I was not only able to see a vineyard with younger vines but also was delighted to learn that Virginie Joly, Nicolas Joly’s daughter, has grown into a very charming young woman who is learning how to make wine and who will one day take over the business from her father.

Appellation : Margaux, located in the heart of Médoc 30km north of Bordeaux
Area : 2ha
Grape varieties : 50% Cabernet Sauvignon and 50% Merlot
Vinestock : 3309 and Riparia
Soil type : deep sand-gravel aggregate
Vine age : 15 years
Plant density : 10,000 plants/ha
Pruning : double Guyot 6 buds/plant
Vine greenery operations : leaf stripping - removal of secondary shoots and conservative cluster
thinning for increased exposure of the grapes to promote ripening.
Tilling : mechanical
Harvesting : hand-picking with 2 sorting operations, one in the vineyard and the other in the cellar.
Vinification : traditional, cold maceration and overpumping with aeration,
fermentation temperature 28-30°C., maceration approximately 20 days,
malolactic fermentation partially in new casks
Racking : from cask to cask
Clarification : fining with egg whites
Maturing process : 12-15 months in French oak casks
Bottling : carried out by us in specially equipped facilities
Annual production : 1,200 cases

Wine data sheet

Vineyard: LES CHANTALOUETTES
Varietals: CHASSELAS+SAUVIGNON (10 à 15%)

And 'one of the great Tuscan Sangiovese-based wines, which fully expresses the elegance of the grape.
The selection of Sangiovese with this name is the Blackthorn Gentile, that Cecchi red wine in a controlled temperature for about 21 days.

Followed by 24 months aging in small oak barrels and aged in bottle for at least three months.

The deep ruby ​​red color tends to darken with prolonged aging and the perfume, is the variety, an intense aroma of violets.
On the palate the wine shows Nobile pleasantly tannic, balanced and well structured.

Excellent wine for roasted meats and cheeses aSi recommended serving temperature of 16-18 ° C.

A sinful blend indeed! Our flagship Zinfandel was devised by the two Phillips brothers in their search for a blended Zin so captivating that no one could refuse. With consistency in mind, the brothers decided to blend the fruit of Lodi’s finest growers to fill the bottles of Michael~David’s new-fangled wine. In the end, Seven vineyards were chosen for their superiority. Now, how do you label a wine so unique in style? Looking to their past, the two Phillips brothers quickly related the Seven Sins from their Catholic school upbringing to the seven Old Vine Zinfandels blended in their wine.



Loaded with berry fruit, pepper, spice, and earth characteristics. A rich, full-bodied, opulent, luscious Zinfandel.

Meursault 1er Cru / Cuvée Baudot

Average Vine Age (5 parcels): 45 years (as of 2005)

Meursault Les Genevrières-Dessous (0.77ha)
Meursault Les Genevrières-Dessus (0.71ha)

Baudot was an antique dealer who left the proceeds of his antique collection to the Hospices de Charité in 1880.

Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru / Cuvée Françoise de Salins

Average Vine Age (3 parcels): 40 years (as of 2005)

Le Charlemagne (0.48ha)

One of the best.known cuvées of the Hospices and named after François de Salins who, in 1745, bequeathed his domaine with vines in Aloxe and Savigny.

Les grenaches gris (90%) et blancs (10%)

Descendientes de Jose Palacios’ first vintage was 1999. The men in charge are Ricardo Perez and legendary vigneron Alvaro Palacios.

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A true ‘Second vin’ of Ornellaia, Le Serre Nuove dell’Ornellaia was first introduced with vintage 1997, resulting from the decision to carry out an even more rigid selection during the blending phase of the base wines which give life to Ornellaia. Produced primarily from the younger vineyards, the wine combines the pedigree of the flagship wine with freshness, accessibility and softness together with a structure, balance and intensity typical of the great terroir of the Estate.

Dia

Sula presents India’s first Asti Spumante-style low alcohol wine

Mumbai, January 2008: Dia by Sula Vineyards marks its entry into the Indian
wine market this January. India’s first low alcohol wine, Dia is a joint venture
between Sula and Italian company Bosca from the Piedmonte area, famous for
Asti Spumante as well as Barolo.

Dia is light and frizzante (slightly bubbly) making it the ideal choice for a
lunchtime aperitif, a relaxed evening at home or a night on the town. Infused with
natural herbs, this Italian Spumante-style white wine is a perfect mix of sparkling
and sweet, with just 8% alcohol. The taste and feel of Dia is light and ethereal,
perfect for our climate, and the reduced alcohol allows one to enjoy more of the
wine and savor its unique taste. Packaged beautifully with a convenient twist off
cap, Dia is the perfect gift for any occasion and a perfect toast to any celebration!

Says Rajeev Samant, CEO-Sula Vineyards on the introduction of Dia, “We
are proud to be the first to introduce India’s first low alcohol wine in the form
of Dia. The wine is totally unique for India, perfect to celebrate every moment,
and the result of our research on Indian palates and what our consumers would
appreciate. With beautiful Italian-designed “Belle Epoque” packaging, the wine
is also perfect for gifting, and totally over-delivers at the incredibly affordable
introductory price. In these times of late nights and breath-analyzers, reach for
Dia!”

Dia wine is available at retail outlets across Mumbai and Maharashtra at an
attractive introductory price of Rs 180 plus taxes.

Known as “the Master of the Veneto,” Giuseppe Quintarelli is considered by many to be the best producer of Amarone della Valpolicella. The estate dates back to 1924 and Giuseppe has been in charge since the mid-1950s.

He is an absolute traditionalist, not having changed the techniques set by his father. He ages his Amarone for seven years in Slavonian oak “botti”. The resulting wine is one of the most complex wines produced in Italy.

Giuseppe is a known for his ability to create great wines in off vintages and legendary wines in good vintages. Many have tried to recreate his wines, but he is beyond imitation.

Primofiore is the entry level wine for Quintarelli. It is made from first-press juice, meaning that after the free-run juice is siphoned off for the higher-end wines, the remaining grape matter is gently pressed. The wine includes all of the varietals Quintarelli grows, including: Corvina Veronese, Corvinone, Cabernet Sauvignon and is rumored to include Cab Franc. The grapes are partially dried prior to fermentation and complete their ripening during a period of storage in wooden boxes. A technique that produces a more full-bodied and voluptuous character ( though surprisingly not very complex).

Violet, plum, dark current and spice on the nose. The wine’s treatment with Amarone lends rich flavors of cherry, olives, plum, spices, and oak — and there is also some green herbaciousness (which seems to validate the Cab Franc rumors……). Great balance and weight. Great purity — dry, nice minerality, acidity and tannins with a solid finish.

I hesitate to label this a great food wine, but it would pair well with many dishes and make for a memorable meal. I would pair this with lamb, duck, pork — or pasta.

This is not the easiest wine to find, but certainly worth the effort.