I know, I know it seems like every week we are featuring wines from Sicily. But we can't help ourselves. There is so much great stuff coming out of this small yet magnanimous island that there is never enough time to try it all. For today, we are getting in a second shipment of theIl Censowines from last year. We had quite a successful run, in particular on the Cattaratto white which we keep getting requests for to this day.
Today's newsletter is a bit of a long one with lots of items, but they share many things in common: 1. All wines were either founded and owned by women or have women winemakers. 2. All wines are naturally produced or highest level bio-dynamic 3. All wines are Italian 4. All are imported by David Bowler 5. All are awesome.
AR. Pe. Pe. is one of those wines that I often forget for it's greatness., until someone is generous enough to open them. And how thankful I am. The illustrious Nebbiolo grape continues to amaze me in all it's different manifestations. Like many others, I originally discovered this illustrious and majestic grape through the great Barolo and Barbaresco regions, but overtime, have branched out to see just how unique and versatile it could be.
The whole of Cornas comprises 145 hectares of vines—smaller than many individual mid-sized estates in a region like Bordeaux or Tuscany—and its punishingly steep slopes ensure, in Darwinian fashion, that only the most committed growers will forge wine here. Perhaps it’s because of its diminutive size, or because it has never been as dominated by négociants nor as glorified in the press as its more northern neighbors, but Cornas gives the impression of a tight- knit community—a group of winegrowers with an abundant respect for local tradition, and for what makes their wines special. For today, we have the pleasure of offering working two of the current generation’s most formidable talents: Guillaume Gilles and Ludovic Izerable of Domaine Lionnet, Both men work in a staunchly traditional manner, and with great sensitivity, having internalized the methods of their forebears while improving the overall quality of farming, and both produce wines that represent the appellation at its most visceral and true.
This week is national Rhone week. A phrase I just made up to connote the week we get in a good chunk of our new releases from the Northern Rhone, in particular from Neal Rosenthal, culminating THIS SATURDAY! with a grand tasting of 25 Rhone wines.
This is somewhat of a strange newsletter. I was just offered 3 very random Rieslings from different areas of Germany and Austria and...well, the rest is history.
We might as well call this,Chassagne Montrachet week. For this week, and one week only: two of the best producers of Chassagne Montrachet out there with their newest releases. Isn't life grand!
There are so many things to love about this today's featured producer, Jean Marc Pillot, but two things in particular really stand out. 1. While everyone else is trying to get their latest release out the door, Pillot holds back a year. How bad ass is that? While everyone else is concentrating on 2017 reds and 2018 whites at this time, he is a year off. Respect.
As you know, we love Sicily here at Some Good Wine. For those who were able to make it, we had one of the best tastings ever this past weekend where we opened a wide range from across the island that truly showcased the vast terroir differences. It was a tasting for the record books. So for today, I decided to keep the party going with a producer that I adore who is highly under the radar and mostly only known in chic circles.
