An amazing interview of Telmo Rodriguez in the May issue of Decanter, as below, capturing the roots of Telmo’s deliberate efforts and philosophy. Among other things, Telmo states that “Rioja has reached a turning point” and that this is the most interesting time for Spanish wine in over a century. Click on the picture below to download the article.
Page 1 of 4
Sergi Ferrer talks about how old-vine Carignane can produce wines of beautiful concentration and elegance.
In his Hedonist’s Gazette, Robert Parker raves about Chef Cindy Wolf’s Charleston restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland. In a dinner this past September and just written up on the Wine Advocate website a few days ago, Parker recounts the dinner and the wines, which included two older California Cabernets which he writes are “two of the best I’ve had”, from Mondavi and Chateau Montelena.
The top red wine of the evening? Chateau Montelena’s Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 1985, about which Parker comments: “The 1985 Chateau Montelena, which was dormant for so long, yet always seemed to have more promise than real sizzle, has finally arrived. Certainly at age 26 it should finally be showing something, and it is. Dense plum/garnet/purple to the rim and loaded with minerals, subtle smoke, earth, and crème de cassis, this wine is rich, full-bodied, and has at least another 10-15 years of potential evolution.” He rates it 96 points.
Click the icon below to read the full article.
New Tommasi brochure, including Prosecco Tenuta Filodora, click on the icon below to download.
The Miami Herald featured an article written by Fred Tasker that mentions the famous “Judgment of Paris” in which Chateau Montelena’s Napa Chardonnay bested four French white Burgundies putting American wines on the world map in 1976. Under the list of “Highly Recommened” Chadonnay’s, first on the list is Chateau Montelena’s 2009 Napa Valley Chardonnay. Click the icon to read the full article.
In recent news on the Wine Advocate website, Antonio Galloni will be pouring verticals of four Barolo producers in a special seminar at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, Colorado. The seminar will include four vintages of Barolo Le Vigne from Sandrone. The Aspen Food & Wine Classic is a very prestigious event that will showcase Cannubi to a very high-end group of collectors. To see the full schedule click the icon below.
The first buds of spring in the Boggina Sangiovese vineyard
The 100 year old Sangiovese wines from which Petrolo does their massale selection
Boggina vineyard
The Boggina vineyard, here you make out if you look carefully that there will be only 3 shoots per vine, and eventually only 4 bunches on each shoot will be kept. Yields are extremely low, in other words. More specifically, Petrolo has 140,000 plants and produces only 65,000 bottles – less than half a bottle per vine.
Caberlot
You can see from the Galatrona tower, below Petrolo’s highest vineyard (Campo Lusso, 2.5 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc that in part add tiny quantities to Galatrona), the Il Caberlot estate surrounded by cypress trees. Another cult wine, it confirms the special terroir of Petrolo – there is not another significant producer in the area, but the soils, exposure and altitude of these vineyards are a special little pocket. Interestingly enough, the Caberlot vineyards used to be part of the Petrolo estate.
Luca's dog Gala (for Galatrona)
Luca on the Galatrona tower
The villa on an incredible spring Tuscan day
The Petrolo villa itself is quite old – it was built in 1725 by Massimo Soldani, an important Italian sculptor who spent his entire career working for the Medicis. One of his sculptures is at the Met in New York.
Some photos from Chateau Margaux!
Tasting Margaux
With some of the lowest yields ever, very small berries and tannin levels subsequently higher than 2010 and at an all time high. Petit Verdot ripened well so there is actually 2% in Chateau Margaux and 8% in Pavillon Rouge. The wines are caressing but powerful, with silkiness and finesse. A lot below the surface. Pavillon Blanc is the best we’ve ever tasted, made in a very fresh style, only 13.4% alcohol.
Photos from Chateau Pontet Canet!
Pontet Canet Cellars
Pontet Canet Horse - big boy!
Pontet Canet Vines
What Alfred Tesseron has done transforming Pontet Canet to a biodynamic estate, farmed almost half by horse today (step by step going to fully farmed by horse) is quite extraordinary. He’s spent thirty years slowly rebuilding this estate, acting thoughtfully and prudently. The emphasis is on doing things by hand, in a way that forces you to interact with the environment. For example, he built concrete tank fermenters in 2005, but there is no temperature setting: hot and cold valves are turned by hand, and temperature has to be taken manually. The 2011 is one of the best wines of the vintage, floral with complex, spicy red fruits, totally complete and very long. Attached you can find shots of Michael with the horse in training – they have 5 working full time and this one is in training for 1 year before he will be used full time. They will eventually have 12 horses to cover the whole vineyard, which you can also see in a photo, more rolling hills than flatland.
The Wine Enthusiast features Chateau Montelena’s tasting room in the luxury Westin St. Francis San Francisco hotel, just off the hotel’s grand lobby. Although there are other tasting rooms throughout the city, Montelena is the first winery to have a standalone tasting center in a San Francisco hotel. Montelena owner Jim Barrett says “The decision was a no-brainer. We need to have a presence in San Francisco. Our customers down there are in this elegant tasting room, in this hotel, and we tell them next time they’re up in Napa, why don’t you drop by?”
At Vinitaly last week, Tommasi celebrated the 110 Year Anniversary of their family firm. There was the release of a book, the unveiling of the Prosecco project we discussed, and much more! See below for a great little video of all the Tommasi family members saying their names.