Wines (24 View)

Organic

94 points Wine Spectator
A succulent version, this red reveals cherry, strawberry, plum, floral, eucalyptus and tobacco aromas and flavors. Harmonious and enjoyable now, but there are still tannins to shed. Complex and long. Best from 2024 through 2040. 2,000 cases made, 800 cases imported. Bruce Sanderson

93 points Vinous
The 2018 Chianti Classico Riserva needs a few years to be at its best, but it has plenty to offer. In 2018 the Riserva is on the lighter side, but that's not a bad thing at all. Crushed leaves, tobacco, incense, mint, licorice and coffee add complexity to a core of dark Sangiovese fruit. Wild and exotic, the Riserva is certainly compelling.

96 points Wine Advocate
The 2018 Valbuena comes from a cooler vintage with good yields that required sorting and selecting in search of a happy and vertical version of Valbuena, pushing a little more and giving the wine a little more oak, especially American (5%). It was produced with 96% Tinto Fino and 4% Merlot that went through a three- to four-day cold soak and fermented with indigenous yeasts followed by malolactic in stainless steel. The levage was in new and used 225-liter oak barrels and 21,000-liter oak vats. It has 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.8 and 4.78 grams of acidity (tartaric), so it's ripe and with mellow acidity that gives it a mellow mouthfeel. This is a very spicy vintage for Valbuena, getting closer to the style of nico (while at the same time I felt the 2018 Pintia from Toro was getting closer to the aromatics of some vintages of Valbuena, like 2010). It was a late-ripening year with a tendency toward freshness in the wines. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with very fine tannins that made the wine nicely textured and very elegant. There is a lot of regularity in the Valbuena of the last few years, here with more tension and freshness of the 2017, a little more balsamic even. 180,580 bottles, 5,528 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in May 2021.

Organic / Biodynamic

100% Rufete VINEYARD: On terraces 750 meters above sea level with vines over 80-years old. Granitic soils. Organically grown, dry farmed, planted in terraces. Hand harvested into 22lb boxes. WINEMAKING: Careful de-steaming and selection. Spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts. All movement of grapes, must and wine done by gravity. Single barrel. Aged 6 months in French oak. Unfined and unfiltered.

Ruby red in the glass with aromas of strawberries, balsamic and hints of mint and fresh floral. Flavors of mixed red berries and herbs with harmonious balanced tannins and a long finish.