This year’s wine event will be a comparative tasting highlighting:
- Chardonnay from around the world – from Champagne to New Zealand
- Cabernet Sauvignon from around the world – from Napa Valley, California to McLaren Vale, Australia
- Grenache from around the world – from its spiritual home of Chateauneuf-du-Pape to Spain and the U.S
- Historic wineries with a long and storied history – a deep dive into iconic wineries and their wines
- Benchmark European wines with maturity & age – a rare chance to enjoy something at least a decade old
Chardonnay from around the world
Pierre Peters, Reserve Oubliee, Blanc de Blancs, Grand Cru, Champagne, France NV (Base 2019)
Disgorged in March 2024 with four grams per liter dosage, based on the 2019 vintage (50%) and complemented by a perpetual reserve component that dates back to 1988. Notes of baked bread, toasted nuts, vanilla pod and dried fruit, it is harmonious and enveloping, laden with vibrant acidity and marked by lip-puckering salinity.
Genot-Boulanger, Meursault, Clos du Cromin, Burgundy, France 2022
Fresh pale color, white fruit on the nose, fair ripeness. 10-15% new wood. Granny Smith apples and lemons at the finish.
DuMOL, Chardonnay. “Isobel,” Charles Heintz Vineyard, Sonoma Coast, California 2022
There’s a lovely note of grilled lemon and melon at the core that expands into flavors of pomelo, green apple, lemongrass and lemon basil, with a note of crunchy sea salt. Offers a firm, juicy and exuberant frame, with plenty of energy on the finish.
Chacra, Chardonnay, Patagonia, Argentina 2023
Notes of green apple, citrus, and minerality, complemented by a pronounced salinity from the unique Patagonian soils.
Kumeu River Hunting Hill Chardonnay, Auckland, New Zealand 2023
Aromas of apples, white peaches and steel with hints of lemongrass, fresh basil, flint and white flowers. Energetic acidity. So fresh yet dense at the same time.
Cabernet Sauvignon from around the world
Patria, Cabernet Sauvignon, “The Monarch,” Napa Valley, California 2021
82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Malbec, and 5% Cabernet Franc. It is deep garnet-purple in color and waltzes out with open-knit notes of crème de cassis, blueberry compote, and chocolate box, plus touches of wild sage and dried roses. The full-bodied palate has a firm, serious texture of grainy tannins and plenty of freshness to support the generous fruit, finishing long and pure.
Chateau Clerc Milon, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France 2018
The 2018 Clerc Milon is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot and 1% Carménère. Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, it has a very pure, beautifully delineated nose of crushed blackcurrants, fresh black plums and boysenberries with hints of wild thyme, damp soil, tar and black olives. The medium to full-bodied palate offers taut, muscular black fruit with loads of savory layers and a firm, grainy texture, finishing long and mineral tinged.
Tenuta San Guido, Guidalberto, Bolgheri, Tuscany, Italy 2023
The 2023 Guidalberto displays wonderful finesse and class as it opens to aromas of dark cherries and black currants, which are woven together with florals, herbs and exotic spices that all take shape. On the palate this is medium-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon from around the world 2 and beautifully balanced with excellent overall focus and precision. It continues to impress with its sleek texture that leads into a finish that lingers beautifully. The blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot is already appealing now, yet there also looks to be a lovely future ahead...
Andrew Will, “Sorella,” Champoux Vineyard, Horse Heaven Hills, Washington 2020
Made from a blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, the 2020 Sorella is fresh yet restrained and has a focused and red-fruited core of spiced potpourri. The nose is slightly compressed at the moment and takes some spinning in the glass to coax some of the more delicate and seductive nuances, revealing layers of complexity. Medium to fullbodied on the palate, this is a gorgeous, worldclass wine whose true power comes from not being bold and massive but rather from being delicate, finessed and focused. The wine is balanced on the palate, with a compact frame, elegant structure, succulent acidity and fine-grained tannins before uncoiling across the mid-palate.
Hickinbotham, Trueman Road, Cabernet Sauvignon, McLaren Vale, Australia 2017
From the relatively cool 2017 vintage emerges a Cab of elegance and class. It’s layered with heady characters of mint, tobacco, licorice root and cherry cordial, with floral nuances and a spine of polished, high end oak. Sculpted with fine, firm, talc-textured tannins, there’s a lovely lift of acidity and purity of fruit.
Grenache from around the world
Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc La Crau, Rhone Valley, France 2021
Full and broad, with a well-structured framework for the green plum and citrus cream flavors, while subtle fleur de sel and buttercream notes stream along. The texture starts out glycerol smooth, then is propped up by chalky, slightly bitter tannins to a pleasing effect. Fresh, with good intensity and balance through the powerful finish. This has a long life ahead in the cellar. Clairette, Grenache Blanc, Bourboulenc and Roussanne make up the blend.
Domaine Giraud, Chateauneuf du Pape, Les Gallimardes, Rhone Valley, France 2020
A brambly and open expression from Comando G, with scented, ethereal smoke, agave, white pepper and bergamot. If you enjoy drinking mezcal, then you’ll probably find some similarities here. On the palate, this is a round and fruity, with an abundance of chalky tannins, even though fruitiness is not part of its nature.
Clarendon Hills, Clarendon Vineyard, Old Vines Grenache, South Australia 2001
The 2001 Grenache Old Vines Clarendon Vineyard’s soaring aromatics envelop the olfactory senses offering up notes of freshly ground pepper, spice box, plums, figs, black cherries, and balsam wood. Full-bodied, thick, and unctuously textured with great finishing acidity that gives delineation and uplift to the wine’s enormous concentration and overall purity, it is a stunning example of old vine Grenache from Australia.
A Tribute to Grace, Grenache, Shake Ridge Ranch, Sierra Foothills, California 2022
The 2022 Grenache Shake Ridge Ranch is light-bodied, ethereal and very pretty, in an eccentric style that very much reflects the challenges of the growing season. Orange peel, crushed red berries and gentle sweet spice all waft from the glass.
Historic wineries throughout the world
Marques de Murrieta, Pazo Barrantes, Albarino, Rias Baixas, Spain 2021
The 2021 offers up scents of lemon, green apple, white flowers, granitic minerality, a touch of ocean breeze and a very discreet framing of wood from the acacia. On the palate the wine is bright, medium-full and very nicely balanced, with lovely focus and balance and a long, complex and succulent finish.
Benanti, Contrada Rinazzo, Etna Bianco, Sicily, Italy 2022
A burst of flinty stone and smoke gives way to minty herbs and crushed green apples as the 2022 Etna Bianco Superiore Contrada Rinazzo blossoms in the glass. It washes across the palate with textures of pure silk as saline minerals saturate and citrus-tinged orchard fruits cascade throughout. The 2022 keeps the energy remarkably high, excited by zesty acidity as hints of sour grapefruit curl the tongue throughout the long and youthfully tense finale.
Domaine Faiveley, Gevrey Chambertin, Vieilles Vignes, Burgundy, France 2023
An intensely flavored Pinot Noir, featuring cherry, raspberry, boysenberry and earth flavors. Firm, with a light dusting of powdery tannins on the well-defined finish.
Domaine Jean-Louis Chave, SaintJoseph, Rhone Valley, France 2021
The 2001 Grenache Old Vines Clarendon The 2021 Saint Joseph (100% Syrah) is a healthy dense ruby/purple hue and offers textbook Saint Joseph aromas and flavors of black fruit (there’s a hint of red fruit as well), graphite, ground pepper, and some meaty, bloody nuances. Medium-bodied, it has beautiful tannins, plenty of mid-palate depth, and outstanding length.
Hanzell Vineyards, Estate, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sonoma, California 2019
The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon is a quintessential wine from this property. Firm and classically built, the 2019 exudes mountain energy. Dark cherry, plum, grilled herbs, bay leaf, incense, licorice and tobacco all race across the palate. It is both pretty and impressive.
Benchmark European wines with age
Trimbach, Riesling, Cuvee Frederich Emile, Alsace, France 2015
Vibrant straw-green. The penetrating, explosive nose offers yellow apple, musky ginger, flint and chamomile. Dense, sappy and highly concentrated; peach and balsamic flavors are complicated by a hint of crystallized citrus peel.
Chateau de Fieuzal, Blanc, Pessac Leognan, Bordeaux, France 2006
Notes of citrus (lemon, lime, pomelo), tropical (mango, pineapple) and orchard fruits (apple, pear, peach), often with floral (honeysuckle, acacia) and exotic hints (lychee, ginger). It is characterized by a balanced blend of lively acidity, minerality, and a rich, creamy, or fleshy texture. The finish is long and refined, with layers of fruit, spice, and a persistent fresh, stony minerality.
Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Reserva, Rioja, Spain 2012
Savory berries, plums, iron, minerals, tobacco, ink and blood oranges. Very bright, juicy and structured, with sensational balance, aged savoriness and brightness that are typical of Tondonia reds. Beautiful now.
Val di Suga, Brunello di Montalcino, Vigna del Lago, Tuscany, Italy 2013
Hints of raspberries, currants and cassis with notes of cut grass in the background. Medium body, silky and integrated tannins and a spicy finish.
Chateau Suduiraut, Sauternes, Bordeaux, France 2007
An opulent complexity of dried apricots, candied orange, honey, and toasted almond flavors, balanced by a vibrant acidity that cuts through its luscious sweetness. Notes of pineapple, floral hints, and ginger are also present, leading to a long, elegant finish with hints of tropical fruit.