Wines (24 View)

There's good cut to this, and the firm acidity finds a nice balance with the flavors of bread dough, spiced citrus peel and juicy Golden Delicious apple, with a modest finish. WS 89

90 pts Wine Advocate
The NV Brut Rose Prestige is gorgeous. It shows lovely length and focus in an understated style that is quite appealing. There is tons of depth to the fruit as the wine opens up in the glass. The Rose Prestige can be enjoyed as an aperitif, but it also has enough body to pair beautifully with a wide range of foods. This is a great version of the house?s Rose. This is Lot L1204SZ07700. Disgorged May 2011 (not indicated on label). Anticipated maturity: 2011-2014.

Gideon Beinstock has become known for his amazing Clos Saron wines, but the history goes back much further than that. A long and winding road from growing up in Israel, an artist’s life of painting in Paris, helping to plant the Renaissance Vineyards in the 1970’s, international wine sales, and finally finding his way into winemaking at the very same vineyards he had planted almost two decades earlier. It was there at Renaissance that he began learning his craft and made the first of his incredible wines.

Gideon left Renaissance in the late 1990’s to found Clos Saron, just a few miles down the road, but has always felt a connection to Renaissance, both as a piece of his history, and also as a totally unique and special terroir.

Which brings us to the present: Gideon was given the opportunity to reclaim some of the greatest wines he made during his time at Renaissance! These wines have never left the winery and have been aging perfectly, undisturbed for the past two decades.

The cuvees that were hand-picked by Gideon are showing outstandingly right now, and should continue to age gracefully for years to come.

Organic

93 points Vinous
Masses of crushed cherries and cloves give way to nuances of spiced citrus peels and cedar as the 2018 Brunello di Montalcino comes to life in the glass. This is round and pliant on the palate, with a balanced inner sweetness contrasting its mineral-tinged acids and tart wild berry fruits. Grippy tannins mount toward the close, yet fail to slow the 2018’s momentum, as notes of salted licorice are left to resonate under an air of dried roses. This is a deep and characterful rendition of Col d'Orcia’s Brunello, but patience will be required to unlock all of its charms.

94 points Wine Advocate
Made with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, the Tenuta San Guido 2022 Guidalberto gives you a good taste of the same DNA that brings us one of Italy's greatest wines, Sassicaia, but it's offered in a more immediate style here (thanks to the addition of the Merlot). This warm vintage opens to medium-dark concentration and very plump aromas that take you immediately to blackberry and blackcurrant sitting out in the sun at your local farmers market. The wine shows a soft and gentle side with a pretty level of elegance transmitted through the fruit freshness and the light oak spice that is discernible here but delivered with grace…” Monica Larner,

New - 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from The Prisoner Wine Co.

95 points Vinous
Brooding yet intense, the 2019 Brunello di Montalcino bursts from the glass with a wave of autumnal spices, crushed cherries, cedar shavings and steeped plums lifted by pine hints. This is deeply textural, elegant and refined, with a dense wave of ripe wild berry fruits, all guided by vibrant acidity, offset by oranges and balsam herbs. It finishes grippy and extended with a black hole of tension and a sweet and sour sensation that lingers on and on as crunchy tannins resonate throughout. The 2019 is youthfully backward today, yet there's a balance that can't be denied, especially as I watched it open up over twenty-four hours. This is a total pleasure to taste. Bury the 2019 deep in the cellar. - Eric Guido

95 points Wine Advocate
The Uccelliera 2019 Brunello di Montalcino offers ripe fruit, a note of cooked blackberry and pomegranate juice. Along with oak spice and dried bay leaf, there is a spot of creaminess on the mid-palate that recalls cheese rind or aged chèvre with a crust of black pepper and thyme. That note blows off, however, and the wine returns to dried cherry with a medicinal or herbal twist. There's a lot going on. The wine needs more time in bottle to address the fine, chalky tannins. It is elegant now but poised to improve.

"This seems drier than its stablemate, the famous Yellow Label, and is the better for it. There is an urgent freshness here, driven by red currants and tight plum skin flavors. It is lively but full in the mouth, and shows just the right bottle age." 91pts WE

Made using 50 to 60 different crus, the cuvee is based on Brut Yellow Label's traditional blend: 50 to 55% Pinot Noir, 15 to 20% Pinot Meunier, and 28 to 33% Chardonnay.

Organic

90 points Vinous
The 2019 Brut Nature Blanc de Noirs L'Arbre, from a parcel in Pouillon, is seriously impressive. Bright, focused and super-polished, with tons of aromatic presence, L'Arbre shows a refined, elegant side of Meunier that stands apart from the typically bigger style found in most mono-varietal bottlings. There's tons of energy and vibrancy. The 2019 feels a bit severe, but some of that may be attributable to its recent disgorgement. Naturally the vintages are different, but the 2018 version is quite a bit more open.

100% Pinot Meunier from the single parcel of Voyet in the Marne village of Pouillon, this is the Cuillier family's most historic vineyard. Sandy soils over limestone. The winery embraces regenerative principles of cover cropping and low-/no-till farming to increase soil organic matter and to preserve and enhance biodiversity. Applies homemade composts to enrich soil and incorporates Vitiforestry, which is the intentional integration of trees into the vineyards (a.k.a Agroforestry when integrated into other agricultural crops). Indigenous yeast fermentation in small stainless steel tank. Aged in tank for 12 months followed by 36 months sur lattes. No fining or filtration, disgorged by hand, zero dosage.

Organic

97 points Wine Advocate
I was greatly impressed by the 2008 El Puntido Gran Reserva, a wine with a more traditional profile than the majority of wines from the Eguren family. At age 14, the wine is glorious, still young and with a mixture of primary and more developed notes. It goes more in the direction of the old wines, with balsamic notes of incense and cedarwood, mushrooms and some berries and herbs. It's complex and elegant, with fully resolved tannins. This was bottled back in May 2011, so it's been in bottle for over a decade, and the texture shows it. It has 14% alcohol and a pH of 3.55. This matured in brand-new French oak barrels for 28 months, and the wine has absorbed the oak completely. (07/22)

96 points Vinous
A mentholated freshness introduces the 2019 Brunello di Montalcino, as a vibrant wave of crushed cherries, mint leaf, clove and dusty roses make up its absolutely gorgeous bouquet. This is silky and enveloping yet lifted and full of energy, with crunchy red berry fruits that leave a crackle of primary concentration toward the close. It finishes pretty saline and spicy in character, leaving edgy tannins to mingle with a residual bump of acidity that maintains a wonderfully fresh sensation as tart cranberry notes fade. This is one of the most exciting young renditions of Voliero I have ever tasted. It captivates with its precision and spry personality while holding depths of complexity in reserve. Wow.

96 points Vinous
The 2021 Pinot Noir The South Slope Vineyard is a classic Steven Hansel wine. A rush of dark cherry, plum lavender, rose petal and licorice are all dialed up. This boisterous, exuberant Pinot Noir has a ton of character. Plush contours wrap it all together in style. The 2021 will be nearly impossible to resist on release. What a knock-out!

Organic / Biodynamic

95 points Wine Advocate
The 2023 Balado has aromatic intensity and is still very primary and undeveloped, combining power and good development of aromas and flavors with more finesse and elegance. It has 13.5% alcohol and a velvety texture; it went through full malolactic, which gives some creaminess, but it's neatly balanced by the granite minerality. The wine is still fresh and has longevity. 4,200 bottles and 150 magnums were filled in early June 2024. Drinking Window: 2025 - 2032