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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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Feeling Thirsty?

The most south-westerly of all the Chablis Premiers Crus, Les Beauregards is one of its coolest due to its altitude and location at the end of Chablis’ Left Bank. It’s also one of the steepest (meaning the clay soils are shallow, and the limestone marl is never far from the surface) and one of the highest, rising to 300 metres. While this parcel has been in the family’s hands for decades, it was replanted in 2001 with mass-selection cuttings from Stéphane Moreau’s most treasured vine
$164
$157ea in any 3+
$150ea in any 6+

Aphelion Rapture Grenache 2021

Grenache | South Australia, Australia

Wow there is some zip. The blend is more than the sum of its parts. The different perfumes: violets and fading flowers, fruits: red, rhubarb, blood orange, a little musk, spice and beyond marry offering a complex profile. The build in tannin across the palate is fine yet not insignificant. There is more immediate harmony and expression than with the single vineyard wines. Darkness with freshness. The refreshing, thirst quenching nature of the wine is once again a demonstration of the shift from
$109
$104ea in any 3+
$99ea in any 6+
A cooler and quite pretty nose combines notes of plum, red and dark raspberry along with spice and floral top notes. The finer and more seductively textured medium-bodied flavors that possess a lovely sense of underlying tension, all wrapped in a bitter pit fruit-inflected finish. This firmly structured effort could use a bit more depth, but more will almost certainly develop over the course of time. Good stuff here. ♥ Sweet spot Outstanding Drink 2030+Burghound, 92 Points
$242
$232ea in any 3+
$222ea in any 6+

Château Léoville-Barton HALF 2018

Bordeaux Blend | Saint-Julien, Bordeaux

This estate has been on fire in recent vintages, and the 2018 Château Léoville Barton is up there with the best of them. Based on 82% Cabernet Sauvignon and 18% Merlot that was brought up in 60% new French oak, this classic, flawlessly balanced, straight-up awesome Saint-Julien has loads of cassis and mulberry fruits as well as notes of freshly sharpened pencils, leafy tobacco, chocolate, and earth. Rich, medium to full-bodied, and concentrated on the palate, it has building tannins and health
$158
$153ea in any 3+
$148ea in any 6+