An intriguing (and hard to deduce) blend of Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer and Cabernet Franc yields a pretty pale rose colour in the glass. Aromas of crushed red berries such as cranberry and subtle wild strawberry lead to a palate defined by mouth watering juicy acidity, brightened with lively fruit flavours through a clean, dry close.
Dense purple in colour with a spicy, savoury nose of blackberries with a light herbal note; medium-bodied, dry, firmly structured with an earthy, blackberry flavour, lively acidity and ripe tannins.
It’s not every vintage that nature allows for a Cabernet Sauvignon Icewine, but when it happens, it creates magic. A decadent nose of pure strawberry extract, crushed currants and rhubarb. It’s thick and lush on the palate with strawberry pie and rhubarb flavours that are persistent and mouth-filling. There is enough acidity to provide vibrancy through the finish.
Pale yellow with grey reflections. Pear, honey and limestone notes are perceptible in the somewhat shy nose. Ripe fruity taste, intensified by the fine acidity. Mid-palate is fat, full and rich, leading to an intense finish. Built to last; wait 6‒8 years and enjoy over the following decade.
The only DOCG in Sicily, this wine takes its name from Cerasa, or “cherry” in Sicilian dialect. This is a 60/40 blend of indigenous varieties Nero d’Avola and Frappato from the countryside of Dorilli between the sea and the Iblean mountains. Fourteen days on the skins, this wine spent its life in stainless before being bottled. Medium-bodied with salted raspberry, plum cherry bodied, wild tobacco, geraniums, anise, olive, sea salt and squid ink, the complexities of this wine are revealed over the course of an evening. The finish is lingering and haunting. Drinking beautifully now, with or without food (but stunning with fennel, sardines and orange, or a funghi pizza).
Yes, a $12 bubbly. Why is it in the notes? Because it’s delicious and it’s also cheap. We need inexpensive sparklers for everyday drinking and I would happily free-pour this Hungarian bubbly, made with Chardonnay, Rhenish Riesling, Királyleányka and Pinot Noir, for anyone who enters my house. It’s fruity with citrus-orange notes, toast and a vigorous bead of bubbles that are sustained in the glass. This is a nice, friendly sparkler with a flinty-floral note on the finish. Not every sparkling wine needs to bust your wallet.
Medium-deep garnet, with a smoky oak nose overlying raisins and cherries. Bursts in the mouth with delicious plum and raisin fruit, but perhaps a bit too much alcohol. Drink over the next couple of years.