Contrada

Italian for single vineyard. Each Contrada will have its own name.

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Italian for single vineyard. Each Contrada will have its own name. Plural = Contrade. Etna’s Contrade have certainly raised knowledge of the term. Each year a tasting, the Contrade dell’Etna, is held to taste the current releases from Etna. The term is used throughout Italy.

Contrade names you might have heard of from Etna: Rampante, Guardiola, Feudo di Mezzo, Acuria, Sciaronuova, Calderara, and Rivaggi. Moving north to Veneto, Gini’s top Soave is from the Contrada “Salverenza”.

 

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Vincent Dauvissat Chablis Grand Cru 'Les Clos' 2020
I generally have a slight preference for Dauvissat's Les Preuses, a preference I suspect Vincent Dauvissat shares, but the 2020 Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos, at least at this early stage, gets my nod as the king of the cellar—and the wine of the vintage. Wafting from the glass with aromas of citrus oil, fresh bread, oyster shell, white flowers and wet stones, it's full-bodied, layered and textural, with huge concentration, racy acids and a long, resonant finish.William Kelley, The Wine Advoc
$1,250
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Wendouree Shiraz 2002

Wendouree Shiraz 2002

Shiraz/Syrah | South Australia, Australia

AP Birks Wendouree Cellars produce some of the very few wines I’ll buy without tasting! The wines are something special. A celebration of an incredible old vineyard with plantings from the late 1800s. Tony & Lita are custodians of something truly special!From 1893 and 1919 plantings.Which leaves the Shiraz. No words required! One of the World's best, I'd drink it over other Shiraz that is perhaps more well known globally every day of the week and twice on Sunday! The tannins are incred
$510
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Vietti Castiglione Barolo 2017

Vietti Castiglione Barolo 2017

Nebbiolo | Piedmont, Barolo

Show the class of the vineyards and the winemakers! The 2017 Barolo Castiglione is a wild, exotic wine. Super-ripe red cherry, kirsch, cinnamon, tobacco, new leather and rose petal all flesh out in this ample, voluptuous Barolo from Vietti. The 2017 is a wine of significant heft hidden behind a wall of tannin. Give it a few years to soften or open it well in advance. Time brings out striking translucence as well as finesse. Drink 2025-2037. GalloniLuca and Elana are consistently showing the
$136
$131ea in any 3+
$126ea in any 6+
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Domenico Clerico Dolcetto 'Visadi' 2023

Domenico Clerico Dolcetto ‘Visadi’ 2023

Dolcetto | Piedmont, Monforte d'Alba

A ripping juicy, beautifully developed Dolcetto with fine acid. Playful with slatey mid-palate grip. Grape spice, red to blue fruit. Solid depth and length. Effortless and thirst quenching. Beautifully weighted. Excellent transparency. Lovely perfume.The careless approach many makers take to Dolcetto is a real bugbear of mine. It has been said by more than one great maker that you should taste Dolcetto to rate the standing of a producer. The worst offenders are too ripe, over-extracted,
$44
$41ea in any 3+
$38ea in any 6+
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