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Maison Saleya Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence Rosé, France: $21.00

(Carefully curated notes below are taken from the producer’s website)

Varietal Composition Cinsault Grenache Syrah

Location Provence, France

Drink Now or Cellar? Drink now or cellar for a year

Tasting notes:

Brilliant light pink color. Intense scents of raspberries, strawberries and redcurrants with hints of grapefruit and a bright, floral finish. Fresh and lively on the palate with complex red berry and citrus flavors and a lovely, fruity, rounded finish.

Food pairings!

• Enjoy as an aperitif with friends, pair with rustic or summery recipes, barbeque, or even take-out.

From Them to You!

Maison Saleya is crafted from grapes grown in France’s famous Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence, along the sunny Mediterranean coast. This unique terroir features abundant sunshine that is moderated by Provence’s famous Mistral winds. Prime plots supply grapes of good maturity and low yield, and the granitic, schisty soil and proximity to the ocean impart great character to the fruit. The grapes are sorted and destemmed before undergoing cold maceration up to one full day. Fermentation lasts up to seven days at a carefully controlled 62.6°F, which preserves its fruity aromas. As is traditional in Provence, each variety is vinified separately and is then blended for ideal balance and character. Grenache lends subtle red fruit, fullness and intensity while Cinsault contributes freshness and balance to the blend. Maison Saleya is named for the Cours Saleya, the famous and beautiful flower market in Nice on the shores of the Mediterranean.

‘SEGNO LIBRANDI’ BIANCO CIRO, CALABRIA, ITALY

(Carefully curated notes below are taken from the producer’s website)

Varietal Composition Greco Bianco

Location Calabria, Italy

Drink Now or Cellar? Drink now

Tasting notes:

Segno is a culmination of three decades of work in the Cirò DOC spanning four estates with a profound interest and understanding of our territory. This is our Segno. Obtained from single-variety Greco Bianco grapes, this is a fresh, fruity and pleasant white that brings along echoes of summer, grilled fish and holiday happiness.

Food pairings!

• Seafood, vegetable-based dishes, lemon rosemary chicken, and turkey breast dishes!

From Them to You!

Our history with the vineyard and the wine has been going on for three generations. Since 2012 the company is run by Nicodemo, Raffaele, Paolo, Francesco and Teresa Librandi, who are at the forefront of all the activities of the company: from the management of vineyards to marketing. Walter Librandi is involved in the bottling activity while Daniela Librandi is part of the corporate structure.  “During all these years there have been many changes, but the vocation and the close relationship with the territory have always ignited our passion and have always been at the center of our projects”.  Eastern Calabria was once the home of a flourishing civilisation founded by migrating Greeks. Oenotrus, an Arcadian prince who landed on our coast in the early eighth century BC, wisely governed the fate of the very first Greek colony to settle on Ionian shores. The work of Oenotrus and his people, mostly made up of expert wine-makers, was so well-appreciated by the Greeks that they named the region “Enotria Tellus”: Land of Wine. Sustainability, meant as a social, economic and environmental commitment, is a key guideline of our company, always attentive to the care of the territory and the protection of biodiversity. We have chosen to objectively translate what has always been the company philosophy through the adoption of the Equalitas standard.

Maison Les Alexandrins Viognier, Rhône, Vin de France:

(Carefully curated notes below are taken from the producer’s website)

Varietal Composition Viognier

Location Ardèche/Rhône, France

Drink Now or Cellar? Drink now

Tasting notes:

Maison Les Alexandrins, a modern signature in its approach and contemporary in its style. An elegant, fresh, aromatic wine, the perfect accompaniment to your aperitifs.  The wine comes from high-altitude vineyards mainly located on the slopes of the Ardèche. The first tastings are full of promise, with crisp, delicious red wines and beautiful whites with melted acidity and a beautiful structure on the palate.

Beautiful pale yellow color with brilliant reflections. Very precise, the nose is racy and intense, revealing a superb aromatic bouquet typical of the Viognier grape variety with its notes of white peach, apricot and exotic fruits. Full and generous, the palate presents a remarkable balance thanks to the freshness signature of its terroir planted at altitude and a beautiful acidity. A very elegant wine.

Food pairings!

• This wine is ideal as an aperitif, with seafood-based appetizers.

From Them to You!

The birthplace of the Viognier grape variety is located in Condrieu and on the hillsides of the neighboring villages. Until recently, this grape variety was only planted there. Legend has it that Viognier is of Dalmatian origin, brought to France by the Emperor Probus. However, while it does indeed take its name from the Celtic vidu (wood), which is found in the Savoyard place name Vions, a 2004 analysis of its DNA revealed its Alpine origin, a Piedmont grape variety, Freisa, being very close to it. 

M.A.N. Family Wines MAN Vintners ‘Skaapveld’ Shiraz, Stellenbosch, South Africa

(Carefully curated notes below are taken from the producer’s website)

Varietal Composition Shiraz

Location Stellenbosch, South Africa

Drink Now or Cellar? Drink now or cellar through 2028

Tasting notes:

This distinctive Syrah has dark plum aromas with a touch of liquorice spice, and lasting flavours of blackcurrant on the palate. The subtle layering of blending varietals enhances the soft red fruit profile and fine spice characteristics, which are rounded off with smooth well-integrated tannins.

Food pairings!

• Perfect with grilled meats, lamb stew, hearty pasta, or aged cheddar

From Them to You!

Making honest wine begins with exceptional vineyards. Most of our grapes are dry-farmed, meaning that they’re grown without irrigation. With dry farming, root systems grow deeper in search of water and nutrients. As soil contact is increased, the vines produce grapes with intense flavour. We strive to make wines that are sustainably grown, true to varietal, well-balanced and of a consistently high quality. – Riaan Möller, head winemaker MAN Family Wines 

The name Skaapveld refers to the grazing lands for sheep that surround the vineyards in the Agter-Paarl and Swartland regions. These sustainably-farmed vineyards lie in shale and decomposed granite soils, cooled by Atlantic breezes from the Cape Coast. The dry climate and wide diurnal range contribute to smaller berries, concentrated flavor, and elegant structure.

Gorgo ‘Ca Nova’ Verona IGT, Veneto, Italy

(Carefully curated notes below are taken from the producer’s website)

Varietal Composition Corvina Veronese

Location Verona, Italy

Drink Now or Cellar? Drink now or cellar through 2027

Tasting notes:

A wine of great purity obtained from the most important and renowned grape of the Verona area: Corvina. An intense, elegant and structured flavour demonstrates the great value placed on the bond with the territory of provenance. 

Fruity, with hints of cherry, bilberries and plum together with hints of cinnamon and pepper, with a soft, rounded, powerful and savoury taste with fine acidity drawn from our morainic soil.

Food pairings!

• Red meats, roasted or raw, matured cheeses.

From Them to You!

The morainic soils deposited in the large amphitheatre east of Lake Garda by retreating glaciers during the Quaternary Period formed low, gentle hills overlooking the Po Valley.

In 1973, the Gorgo agricultural company was founded on these lands, so suited to the cultivation of vines (there are traces of vines as far back as the Bronze Age), near the little village of Custoza in the municipality of Sommacampagna (VR).

For us, the choice of the organic method is a model of sustainable development based on the principles of safeguarding and enhancing the resources and respect for the environment and the health of the consumer. This method represents and encapsulates our values because it is a cultivation method that makes it possible for us to plan vinification right from the vineyard, based on the belief in the potential of a vineyard without chemicals and respect for the vine’s region, avoiding any form of forcing, such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides that tend to stimulate the quantity of the plant’s production at the expense of the quality and impoverish the precious relationship between the land, the plant and the climate.

2022 John Duval Wines Concilio Grenache, Barossa Valley, Australia

(Carefully curated notes below are taken from the producer’s website)

Varietal Composition Grenache 86% Shiraz 14%

Location Barossa Valley, Australia

Drink Now or Cellar? Drink now or cellar through 2026

Tasting notes:

Vibrant, bright raspberries, cherries and cranberries with hints of savoury spice. A medium bodied, soft textured wine of bright juicy red fruit that glides across the length of the palate, finishing with a gentle lick of savoury tannin and spice. Best enjoyed in its youth and with gusto.

The 2022 vintage was set up beautifully with good soil moisture carrying over from the mild 2021 vintage. A significant October hail event reduced yields in some vineyards, but luckily most escaped without impacting quality. La Nina influenced weather patterns resulted in mild harvest conditions

again, allowing for even flavour accumulation and vibrant aromatics and acidity. A standout season.

Food pairings!

• Pairs beautifully with grilled red meats, aged cheddar or pecorino, and cured charcuterie like salami and prosciutto

From Them to You!

The development and naming of this wine is in many ways symbolic of the evolution of John Duval Wines as we bring together two generations of the Duval family with Tim joining his father John ahead of the 2016 vintage. Concilio Grenache was jointly conceived by John and Tim, and is representative of the ever broadening shift away from the sweet, confectioned expressions of Barossa Grenache, to wines that display more vibrancy, texture and savouriness.