$25 - $50 Wine

Winemaker Notes

Winemaker Desription

Ugo Contini Bonacossi is a natural wine producer located in a small village in the heart of Tuscany, Roccalbegna. The labels I’ve designed are all about dreamy and fantastic illustrations that take inspiration from the icon of Bonacossi: the hedgehog. From the characterization of the hedgehog as the main character, I’ve illustrated dreamy tales around him and Roccalbegna’s environment.

In Ughetto, a red wine, Ugo – the owner of the business and winemaker – and his hedgehog alter ego are staring at the moon/sun in a dichotomy between day and night. 

Mevushal. The Chardonnay grapes for this wine were grown in the fog-cooled Napa Valley in order to produce a wine rich in flavor and varietal character, complemented by aging in small oak barrels.

Don Ernesto has done it again. Our newest vintage of Chardonnay is Mary Poppins. Why Mary Poppins you ask. Well, it is “practically perfect in every way”! From the beautiful soft golden hue, to the rich round mouth, to the long finish, this Chardonnay is what you need to “help the medicine go down in the most delightful way”.

Starting with the nose, we find beautiful soft vanilla, ripe Asian pear and crisp Galia and Honeydew melon. Continuing onto the palate we discover lush star fruit and rich lemon curd. With its lingering finish our Chardonnay will make you want to “go fly a kite”!"  

89 Points Wine Enthusiast | A sleek white, this brings plenty of juiciness to the apple and oolong tea accents, lightly spiced with ground ginger. Zesty acidity on the finish keeps it fresh and mouthwatering. 

Futuristic aromas of ripe exotic fruits on the nose. Burgundian aroma calculation. The sensitive palate focuses on tension and freshness, underlined with slightly piquant notes of spice. The animating minerality introduces gently.

A good density and a delicate layer of mature phenols round off the profile, the acidity seems seamlessly integrated and is completely covered with extract. Large format! Perfect for traditional "Viennese delicacies". Winemaker Description. 

Winemaker Description

If the grapes and soil have anything at all to say, we cannot imagine a more faithful interpreter.

The simultaneous release adopted the extremely non-standard practice of air-drying the grapes post-harvest. Our first vintage from the Rancho Réal vineyard is an experiment in phenolic extraction and a realization of our intent to not slavishly replicate the wines of Southern France, but rather to seek to find and amplify the unique characteristics of our climats and terroirs in the Central Coast of California.

Winemaker Description

The EQ Granite Pinot Noir has a bright and lively red color, with violet hues. The aromas offer notes of red fruit, mixing with hints of minerals, spices, and ripe citrus. Delicate on the nose and palate, the wine is well structured and balanced, with juicy acidity and sweetness from the ripe tannins.

This Pinot Noir pairs well with pasta and risotto dishes, white meats, fish, game and spiced foods. 

Aromas of white flowers, stone fruits, and citrus set the stage. The palate is unctuous with citrus and smoky flavours leading to a persistent yet lively, mineral-driven finish. Winemaker Description. 

Winemaker Description

Light yellow with silvery highlights. Apricot and tangerine with a floral, herbal touch.    
Generous,unoakedpalate,drivenbywhitefruitandwarmcitrus Finish Fruit driven yet clean. 

Expert Rating

93 Points Wine Enthusiast | This textbook Petite Sirah aged in neutral oak barrels shows the LangeTwins at their best. The wine reveals all the grape variety's inky color, intense black-fruit flavors and grippy tannins. Yet it also adds subtleties of dark chocolate, anise and red roses that emerge with repeated sipping. Best from 2025–2035. (2019).

Winemaker Description

Intense color, rich aromas of pepper jelly, dried cranberry, and black tea.

Situated in the heart of the Lodi AVA, our 100 vineyard produces concentrated fruit, making it the perfect place to plant our Petite Sirah. Matching its intense color, this wine is packed with rich aromas of pepper jelly and dried cranberries, as well as undertones of black tea. This combination of fruit and spice harmonizes on the palate and is supported by warm tannins influenced by 15 months of neutral oak aging.

Certified Lodi Rules for Sustainable Winegrowing

Wine Advocate 93 Points | They look for a more classical expression in the 2019 De la Finca, a selection of vineyards by Pepe Raventós's grandfather, produced in a slightly more oxidative style and aged for 30+ months with lees. 2019 was a very good and "normal" vintage, with good rain, normal yields and a paused harvest. This has more smokiness from the contact with the yeasts and lees with very fine bubbles, subtle, defined by how they prepare the second fermentation in bottle and then the aging in the bottle. 

Situated on the highest terraces of the River Anoia, the Vinya dels Fòssils vineyard has marine soils with a high fossil content. This characterises the structure and the soil composition of this vineyard. The carbonates are the component that provides the main source of typicity to this sparkling wine with a high saline expression. It is a sparkling wine with a unique identity and personality. Winemaker Description. 

Israel. Lewis Pasco was the winemaker for Tishbi and Recanati before deciding to be an independent winemaker. This wine is made from 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, and 7% Carignan from the Benjamin region. It has aged for 9 months in French oak. It is designed to display the characteristics of central Israel and be enjoyed when young. It displays fresh and dried fruits, regional herbs, the earthiness of the terrain, and the smokiness of nicely overlaid tannins. This is very big and rich for such a young age. Enjoy with strongly flavored foods. 

Winemaker Description

This juicy red is 100% Gamay from a 9 hectare plot of 60 year-old vines planted on granitic soil. No sulphur is used in the cellar and after bottling the wine is left to rest for 2 months before release. Fresh and fruity with low tannins, this makes for great accompaniment to fish dishes. 

A bright crimson-purple in colour. Aromas of red cherries, cassis and strawberries mixed in with pleasantly earthy notes. Juicy and light on the palate with notes of summer red fruit flavours and silky tannins leading to a refreshing finish.

Try chilled with roasted cod, coq au vin or prawn dumplings with a sweet chilli sauce.

Grapes are hand-harvested and meticulously sorted. Semi-carbonic maceration without SO2, for 4-6 days 2 months in “cuve”.

Almost all the grapes for this cuvée come from within the Morgon cru, but the wine is not entitled to the Morgon appellation because yields surpass the accepted limit of 56 hl/ha. This is intentional: the high yields prevent excessive concentration and yield an easy-drinking, fruit-driven red with low alcohol. 

Expert Review

Allen Meadows writes:  A restrained if pretty nose timidly offers up its array of mostly red gamay fruit cut with spice and pepper hints. The delicious and attractively textured middleweight flavors possess good verve before culminating in a dusty, mildly austere and sneaky long finale where a hint of warmth slowly emerges. This too could easily be enjoyed young or held for 2 to 3 years in order to round off the moderately firm tannins. Good quality for the category.  - Burghound

Our Professional Review

Javernieres is a parcel at the foot of the famous Cote du Py hill. This wine is incredibly pure and fresh, bountiful in dark berry fruits and dark plums. Flavors of sweet spices, black tea and savoriness, also, entertain the palate. This Morgon is sculpted with fine tannins, minerality, medium bodied offering generous length.  Debra, Beaujolais Wine Buyer.

Expert Reviews 

James Suckling 94 Points | Dark, meaty and smoky with a wet-earth undertone, this is a bold and fleshy Morgon that packs a punch at the long, moderately dry and very savory finish. Just beginning to open up, but surely has many years ahead of it. Drink or hold.

Winemaker Description

This is a well-structured wine, redolent of black fruits (mulberries and cherries). Carbonic maceration of the whole berries lasts 12 to 15 days, aand the wine is raised in barrel as well as tank. Jean-Marc's wines are all very bright and pure. Incredible value down the line as Burgaud wines are underpriced compared to other cru Beaujolais producers, especially considering the quality.

Still family owned, D’Oliveira date back to 1850, working with cellars built in 1619, so they know a fair bit about making madeira.

The wine has an average age of five years, leading to an inviting, nutty, slightly toasty nose, with flavours of grapefruit, lime, hazelnuts, and orange peel.

The high acidity makes the wine taste dry on the palate, with a smooth, long, and memorable finish. Winemaker Description.

Winemaker Description

Finger Lakes native Nathan Kendall studied wine making in cool-climate regions around the world, including New Zealand, Germany, and Oregon, before returning to the shores of Seneca Lake in 2011 to start his eponymous winery. Aside from making stunning Riesling, Kendall also dabbles in this region’s other exciting variety, Cabernet Franc. This bottle really showcases the wonderful inherent qualities of the grape. It's bright and peppery with a citrus tinge and berry aromas on the nose.

The palate is lean but well-balanced with ripe fruit and a solid acidity that holds everything together. This is classic Finger Lakes Cab Franc and it’s delicious. Winemaker Description. 

Wine Maker Notes | 2020 Vintage 

Deep red with violet hues. The nose reveals black fruit, such as blackberries, intermingled with gentle spices, such as black pepper, damp earth, notes of native forest and a hint of graphite and soft spices. This wine has a firm structure and silky tannins. Its black fruit and spicy flavors, together with medium to high acidity lend it balance in the mouth and persistence in the finish.

Critic Notes | 2020 Vintage 

Winemaker Description

Syrah Laide translates loosely to Pretty-Ugly, a French term of endearment to describe something that is unconventionally beautiful, a dogma that is applied to each cuvée. "Hawks Butte adds slightly more density and fruit while still wildly fresh with lithe tannin and Halcon compliments with brooding structure. Violet, camphor, white pepper and cedar" - Jolie-Laide 100% Syrah, grapes were planted on two vineyards (Halcon and Hawkes Butte) both at high elevation. 

Grapes are left on stems, crushed by foot and fermented with very light punch downs. The juice is then placed into neutral oak for 10 months. 12-25ppm added SO2 depending on vintage and cuvée. 

Winemaker Descrption

Nestled high in the granite and limestone soils of the Gabilan Mountain Range in the Chalone appellation of Monterey County. Coastal Marine influence of the nearby Monterey Bay combined with high elevations create large diurnal swings that experience much less fog than the valley below make for low yielding fruit with complex concentration and purity.

Foot crushed and fermented whole cluster and aged in neutral barrique.

Dusty red strawberry and cherry complimented by notes of orange zest and spice flow into soft tannin with fresh juicy acid. 

The reason we began making wine together as Railsback Frères was to produce a rosé-- specifically one in Santa Ynez-- and inspired by Lulu Peyraud and the old style of rosé they produced at the legendary Domaine Tempier in Bandol.

In 2021, all three Mediterranean varieties we harvest for rosé came in at what we consider optimal ripeness levels, and thanks to the addition of a new vineyard site, we now have even more Mourvédre in the cépage this year. Compared to the previous harvest of 2020 overall, 2021 was cooler-- and after quietly resting for six months in neutral Burgundy barrels, our Les Rascasses is lively, floral and bright.

Having achieved a secondary (malolactic) fermentation without any difficulty this year, the texture and body offer a nice equilibrium to such a fresh vintage, and certainly make pairing even easier at the table. Tasting it on release after the winter offers early excitement for spring artichokes, and early garden peas and lettuces...not to mention the later arrivals of summer squash with garlic and basil, or peak-of-season tomatoes drenched in a fruity Provençal olive oil. 

We are invigorated by the early results of our 2021 rosé and can't wait to share it with you. 

Sharing the new vintage of “Les Rascasses” with people we love would make Lulu proud! Winemaker Description. 

Winemaker Description

From the ever-creative and driven Julien Sunier comes this "anytime red", as he fondly refers to it. Wild Soul, like most of Sunier's fruit, is farmed and harvested at high altitude (400m), resulting in freshness, aromatic vibrancy, a lythe presence on the palate, and endless pleasure. 

Winemaker Description 

The Pet Nat from Cabernet Franc is a touch fruity wine, with citrus notes, very supple on the palate, with elegant bubbles.

The newest and smallest production wine at Sanzay with a third of a hectare producing only 11 hectoliters. It is 100% certified organic Cabernet Franc with simple Guyot pruning grown on sandy clay limestone with a southern exposure and altitude of 60 meters above sea level.

The vines average 30-40 years old with a planting density of 4500 vines per hectare and a yield of 30 hectoliters per hectare under the Vin Mousseux designation.

Winemaker Description 

This wine is a gorgeous lemon yellow with a hint of gold. Your glass is filled lush fruit and soft lily florals. On the nose, there’s fresh pear, pineapple and ripe melon. Following you into the palate, there is juicy pear with crisp apple, white peach and bright citrus. The finish is refreshing and lingering, making this the perfect wine to pair with a savory cheese board or your favorite brunch dishes. 

Winemaker Description

Israel. Alma is a dark full-bodied lively wine showing generous aromas of cherries, plums and sweet dark fruits with a buttery palate offering essences of vanilla, cloves and green tea.

The grapes for this wine were picked and fermented in separate batches. 

The wine was pressed out just before completing fermentation and Malolactic fermentation was encouraged, once completed the wine was racked into French oak barrels for 12 months, after which each parcel was individually tasted, the final blend was made and allowed to age for a further six months in small French barriques.

Expert Review

Wine Enthusiast 94 Points | We think of this as Israeli Chateauneuf-du-Pape, tasted blind it will fool you! Mike DeSimone writes:  Blackberry, cassis and toasted nut aromas emanate from the glass. There is a nice bright note of pomegranate underlying Mission fig, eucalyptus, dark chocolate, orange zest and caramel flavors. Luxurious tannins and well-balanced acidity stroll hand in hand into a lengthy finish.