Old Accessories

Limited release, artwork by Keya Tama. With a name meaning crab Basque, this cider was barrel-aged for 6 months in neutral oak barrels to complement the Manchurian Crab's grippy tannins. Fermentation started spontaneously and then white wine yeast was added to complete the fermentation. Minimal sulfur use, Unfined, Unfiltered. 175 Cases. 8.5% abv

Apples: 60% Manchurian Crab, 30% Brownsnout Crab and 10% Northern Spy

Tasting Notes: Txangurro boasts enticing aromas of ginger, orange zest, and sherry. It has a juicy, apple-forward palate with hints of salted lemon, unexpected minerality and refined tannins. It also has a slight touch of effervescence and textural complexity thanks to a partial malolactic fermentation.

92 points Vinous
The NV Brut Nature Blanc de Noirs, an unusual blend of 50% Pinot Noir and 50% Meunier, is so expressive right out of the gate. Dried pear, spice, mint, crushed leaves and kirsch caress the palate. All the elements are so well balanced. This release is a blend of 2022 and 2021 in equal parts. No dosage. Disgorged: January 2024.

50% Pinot Meunier, 50% Pinot Noir.
Grapes are picked by hand when fully ripe, and traditionally pressed. Fermented and aged in barrels and foudres on the lees. 100% malolactic fermentation, minimum use of sulfur (25mg total sulfur). Aged sur lie for 6 months before bottling. 24-30 months sur lattes, zero dosage. Disgorged April 2024

Jean-Baptiste Laherte set up the family estate in 1889, planting most of the vines in the village of Chavost, which was to become Chavot. The estate gradually grew over generations, and covers today over 11 hectares through the Champagne region. The sixth and seventh generations are now working together to create wines that are just like them - pure, sincere and authentic. They share their experience and combine their efforts to make the most of this beautiful heritage. Since 2005, Aurélien Laherte - the seventh generation - has been giving a new dimension to the estate, while following in the footsteps of his father Thierry and his uncle Christian, the Laherte brothers. Passionately, they promote the family’s values and continue to bring the best out of the terroir.

Organic

Organic / Biodynamic / Natural

The bubbles are gentle, but present in the glass. Lemon danish, dry cream soda, and saline dominate the palate, finishing crisp and minerally. A fresh, clean, zippy and very friendly Pet Nat. Rolle and Ugni Blanc.

94 points James Suckling 
Lovely seductive aromas of perfectly ripe strawberries with fresh flowers and orange. Medium body, very fine with orange peel and cherries as well as stone and hints of bark. Already delicious. A blend of their four vineyards. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification.

92 points Wine Advocate 
The 2022 Bannockburn Pinot Noir is a blend of the four vineyards: Cornish Point, MacMuir, Block 3 and Block 5. It leads with violets, cherry blossom, pomegranate pearls, star anise and cracked fennel seeds. In the mouth, the wine is supple and spicy, with lashings of fruit flavor and a balancing splay of tannins through the mid-palate and finish. Nicely handled wine, satisfying and supple.

The Wine 100% Pinot Noir Sourced from four vineyards in the Bannockburn subregion The nature of being a gravity flow winery allows grapes to be gently destemmed without pumping 20% whole cluster fermentation Native yeast fermentation Aged for 13 months in French oak (30% new) No fining or filtering The Estate The winerys story begins with extensive research by Stewart Elms (inspiring the Elm tree logo) in 1991 which ultimately identified the north facing slopes at the end of Felton Road in Bannockburn as some of warmest and most ideal sites in all of Central Otago. Thanks to these findings, proprietor Nigel Greening made the decision to purchase the land which would eventually be transformed into the defining vineyard sites for Felton Road. Releasing their first commercial vintage in 1997, Felton Road has since developed an impressive reputation both in and outside New Zealand over the last three decades thanks to the singular vision of winemaker Blair Walter. While the winery is best known for its single vineyard expressions of Pinot Noir, Blairs limited production Chardonnay and Riesling bottlings are equally jaw-dropping. Even if you arent familiar with this winery, Im confident that your best customers will be. Not only do they represent one of the top wineries in New Zealand, but they are also widely considered to be one of the best Pinot Noir producers in the world at-large. Fast forwarding to present day, the winery remains committed to sourcing fruit from only their estate vineyards and everything is hand-picked. Since 2002, the vineyards have been managed organically and biodynamically, with their four vineyards eventually receiving full certification in 2010 by Demeter. Their aim is to promote a biodiverse ecosystem in their vineyards through the planting of cover crops which are kept in check by the herd of goats that call the vineyards home and their choice to naturally fertilize the vineyards with a clutch of chickens which forages amongst the vines. In the winery, Blair employs a minimal intervention approach indigenous yeasts, no fining or filtration, and no other additives. He keeps oak usage minimal with less than 30% new French oak on all of Felton Roads wines and approximately 15-30% whole cluster, depending on the vintage.

90 points Wine Spectator
The 2022 Pinot Noir Les Dijonnais is scented of cranberry sauce, raspberry preserves, mushrooms and earth. The light-bodied palate has an understated core of spicy fruit structured by finely chalky tannins and vibrant acidity, and it has an easygoing finish that calls you back for another juicy sip.

97 points Wine Advocate
The 2021 Sauvage Vineyard Pinot Noir is supremely pretty. It's elegant and fine and still powerful, thanks to the Bannockburn area; however, the wine itself shows rose petals and spring flowers, graphite and pencil lead, white pepper and tapenade. Svelte and sleek, this is composed and detailed and so, so good. I am (mostly) resisting hyperbole and adverbs here. This is a standout wine from a superstar producer?an asset for the region and indeed the country (and the New World in general). 13.5% alcohol, sealed under natural cork.

The 2021 landed at #4 on The Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2024 but unfortunately it is sold out. The 2022 vintage is now in stock and is just as good!

The review is on the previous vintage.
#4 on The Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2024!

94 points Wine Spectator
Packed and broad in feel, with a ganache note draped over black currant, blackberry and steeped cherry. Licorice root and alder smoke flavors check in on the finish as the fruit pumps through, ending with a flash of violet. Hard to resist now, but this has some development ahead. Drink now through 2036

Organic / Natural / Orange

Gravner’s cellar methodology for the indigenous Ribolla is simple, if extreme: bunches, harvested by hand, are transferred by gravity into subterranean amphorae, where they macerate for several weeks; the wine is then pressed and moved back into amphorae for five months, then transferred to large Slavonian casks (all well used) for six years before bottling, with nothing added along the way except trace amounts of sulfur, and without fining or filtration of any kind. The wine rests several more years in bottle in Gravner’s deep storage cellar before being released to an adoring public. Gravner classifies his vintages into those affected by botrytis and those unaffected, and he particularly prizes botrytis-affected vintages for the aromatic and textural complexity they lend his wines. 2016 presented Gravner with a gorgeous sunny summer with no major weather calamities, and gentle August rains ushered in the onset of botrytis. Picking wrapped up on the 28th of October, and the finished wine—clocking in at a modest 14% alcohol—offers a beguiling salty-savory quality, with cleanly rendered minerality and a satisfying sense of textural meatiness.

Another brilliant effort from Gerard Perse, this great vineyard (now just over 90 acres in size with the average age of the vines 45 years) was cropped at 28 hectoliters per hectare. It obviously missed all the damaging hail in mid-May of 2009, and was harvested between October 5 and 15. Everything here is done with extraordinary gentleness and precision. The result is a powerful, full-bodied, remarkably intense wine that is black/purple in color. It will require considerable patience, much like 2000 and 2005. It displays enormous creme de cassis and boysenberry fruit with some cherries, spice box, and crushed rock in the background. It is intense, with loads of minerality, huge extraction, massive power, yet again, the vintage character seems to have given it a freshness and vibrancy despite the wine’s obvious viscosity. The minimum patience required is at least a decade, as this is another 40-year wine from Gerard Perse. (Tasted five times.) - WA96-100

Winemaker Notes:
"Caymus has a signature style that is dark in color, with rich fruit and ripe, velvety tannins - as approachable in youth as in maturity. We farm Cabernet grapes in eight of Napa’s 16 sub-appellations, with diversification enabling us to make the best possible wine in a given year. Our Cabernet offers layered, lush aromas and flavors, including cocoa, cassis and ripe dark berries."

In 2015, chateau owner Bertrand Gourdou was searching through an old desk when he came across a label that his grandfather had made in the early 1970’s; that wine was called “Le pot-de-vin” which, in French, translates to “the bribe”, which for that era was an audacious play on words for a wine label! This label inspired Bertrand to make a simple, natural wine: biodynamically grown fruit, fermented with native yeast and with a negligible dose of SO2, made in concrete tanks built by his grandfather. The word "pot" also references the old-style bottle shape.

The rouge is 100% Merlot from the IGP Pays d’Oc, made with no oak in a light-to-medium-bodied style with gloriously fruit, freshness and length. It is, simply put, the quintessential French bistro red.

Age of vines: about 28 years
Elevation: average 259 meters (850 feet)
Vinification: The grapes are picked by hand and crushed whole. Fermentation with native yeast in
stainless steel tanks with temperature control. The wine is aged in large oak casks (foudres) and
maturing on fine lees until late Spring. Bottled in August the following year of harvest.
Tasting notes: A classic interpretation of this traditional Alsatian grape variety, this wine is dry and has
citrus, stone fruit, and sweet spice aromas.
Alc: 12.5%

Organic

Grape Variety: Blend of Pinot Auxerrois and Pinot Blanc Age of vines: about 35 years Vinification: The grapes are picked by hand and crushed whole. Fermentation with native yeast in stainless steel tanks with temperature control. The wine matures for 6 months in tank, then is transferred to bottle, and stored in riddling rack for 12-15 months before disgorgement.

Organic / Natural

93 points Wine Advocate
The old-vine red 2021 Vinhas Velhas Tinto comes from different plots of mixed varieties, 75% of them Baga, Jaen and Tinta Amarela and the rest some 20 old varieties, some almost lost, Marufo, Tinta Pinheira, Negro Mouro, Tinta Carvalha, Bastardo, Alfrocheiro, Touriga Nacional, Alicante Bouschet and many others. The fermentation was inspired by Henri Jayer, a cold soak and a soft vinification, he calls an infusion. It matured in 225-, 400-, 500- and 600-liter oak barrels for 18 months. It has 13.5% alcohol, a pH of 3.69 and 6.01 grams of acidity. Madeira told me that the search is "for a wine with intense flavors, depth, mineral, fresh and with salivating saltiness, a wine for the table." In 2021, the wines have lower alcohol, and somehow, this wine feels a little more marked by the oak despite the fact that the oak was all used. It has fine tannins and good freshness, very tasty flavors and a fine thread. 7,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in August 2023.

António Madeira is one of the leading quality producers in Dão despite being quite young in the regions. He came back from France and established his operation in Dão in 2010. He has seven hectares of vines spread over 20 different plots, five of them old—50 to 130 years of age—in the villages of Santa Marinha, São Martinho, Paços da Serra, Vales and Vodra e Pinhanços. He works biodynamically but has no certification. The wines are all fermented with indigenous yeasts, with no oenological products and minimal sulfur. He now produces 60,000 bottles—up from 30,000—since he enlarged the winery in 2021, and he grew with entry-level wines from purchased wines. This is the first time his wines have been tasted and reviewed by The Wine Advocate, and it was certainly the coup de coeur in this article. The vintage seems to have a big impact in the quality of the wines, and the ones from 2021 were clearly better than the ones from 2020 and 2022.