Wine & Spirits - Winter 2017 - 120

100 BEST BUYS OF THE YEAR
is intensely red, finely detailed with touches
of herbs and spices, backed by earthy notes
that give the wine extra depth. The sharpedged acidity keeps the wine tense, riding into a long finish redolent of herbs and
strawberries. (W&S 10/17) § Ambrosia Imports,
Carlsbad, CA

PIPENO

SYRAH

CARIGNAN
118769

94 | Viña Santa Carolina

119156

$16

2013 Maule Valley Specialties Carignan ^
Cauquenes is the promised land for carignan in Chile, with a vast wealth of old vines
thriving under the region's generous sun.
This wine, from 80-year-old vines in the
cool 2013 vintage, explodes with red fruit
and freshness. It may be rough and rustic in
texture, but the radiant fruit completely fills
that structure, always up front leading this
happy parade with its charm. A terrific value,
it's ready for a barbecued chuck roast. (W&S
2/17) § Carolina Wine Brands, Charleston, SC

PINOT NOIR

94 | Matetic Vineyards

119420

92 | Viña Maitía

$12

2016 Maule Valley Aupa Pipeño ^ David
Marcel, from France's Basque country, was
working in Maule as a bulk wine broker
while building his own project, Maitía, back
in 2012. That's when he fell in love with
refreshing pipeños, the traditional wines of
Chile's south, usually made from país. He
buys grapes for Aupa from dry-farmed vines
in Loncomilla, the país (70 percent of the
blend) more than 100 years old, the carignan
over 70 years. The result is a lovely, refreshing, red-fruited pipeño, with vivid, shining
acidity. It's the kind of wine you won't stop
drinking. (W&S 2/17) § Brazos, Brooklyn, NY

RED BLEND

119284

93 | Viña Tabalí

$19

2014 Limarí Valley Reserva Especial Vetas
Blancas Viñedos Espinal y Talinay Pinot
Noir ^ A cool vintage under the persistent
sun of the Limarí Valley, 2014 was a brilliant
year for reds of great precision and verticality. Vetas Blancas comes from a selection
of chalky soils from two Tabalí vineyards
in Limarí and there is an intriguing saltiness to it, adding minerality to the flavors
of strawberry and ripe gooseberry. It's firm
in structure, the flavors long and profound,
with crunchy red fruit lasting until the end.
(W&S 6/17) § Biagio Cru and Estate Wines, Roslyn Heights, NY

120

WINE & SPIRITS

118845

93 | Erasmo

$17

2014 Maule Valley Barbera Garnacha ^
Conde Francesco Marone Cinzano, owner
of Col d'Orcia in Montalcino, fell in love
with the rustic hills of Caliboro, in the heart
of Maule. He bought land there in 1995 and
planted cabernet, merlot and cabernet franc
for his main cuvée, Erasmo. Given the warm
conditions of the area, he also decided to
grow some garnacha, barbera, carignan and
alicante, which he now uses for this refreshing and lively red, filled with red cherry and
strawberry flavors. The texture feels tight but
without any hint of astringency. Pour it with
smoked pork chops. (W&S 2/17) § Palm Bay
Int'l, Boca Raton, FL

BUYING GUIDE 2018

$28

2014 San Antonio Valley Corralillo Syrah ^
Austere at first, this wine shows only its
impetuous acidity and its tannins, as hard as
the granite from the Coastal Range of Chile.
Then, with some air, it begins to reveal red
fruit flavors and smoky notes as the wine
gains in complexity. It's bright, even as it's
densely extracted, its blackberry flavors
underlined by firm acidity. This comes from
El Rosario, where Matetic farms their vines
biodynamically, 11 miles off the Pacific Coast.
(W&S 2/17) § Quintessential, Napa, CA

FRANCE
C H A M PA G N E
216768

94 | Pierre Moncuit

$50

92 | L. Aubry

$40

Champagne Brut Grand Cru Blanc de
Blancs ^ Nicole Moncuit makes this wine from
a single harvest in her Mesnil vineyards, fermenting it in stainless steel and allowing it to
undergo malolactic fermentation. We tasted
the current vintage, 2012, blind, on the same
panel with the 2004 Salon, and though the
wines were separated by 17 others, these
were the two standouts and I retasted them
side by side. The Moncuit showed length
and delicacy, if not the same grandeur and
complexity. As one taster noted, "It's Mesnily." That might translate into a floral lemon,
Kaffir lime and chalk character, presented as
density of flavor without weight. The wine's
precision and effortless integration make it a
steal at the price. (W&S 12/16) § Polaner Selections, Mount Kisco, NY.
215962
Champagne Brut Premier Cru ^ This tastes
of pure, pale white limestone transformed
into crisp yellow apple. It's appetite inducing
in its zesty freshness, bright white floral notes
and clean, lively length of flavor, especially if
there are oysters nearby. The Aubry brothers
maintain a reserve wine blend composed of
vintages going back to 1998; that blend provides 50 percent of this Brut, with the other
half from 2013. The varietal composition is

http://www.brazoswineimports.com/index.html http://www.quintessentialwines.com/Matetic http://www.biagiocru.com/index.html http://www.palmbay.com/producers/Erasmo

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - Winter 2017