Horeca Wine Reviews

ALBEA LEI I.G.P.

‘An unusual red and white blend from Puglia offering surprising sensations which I love’

A blend of Uva di Troia, Viognier and Maresco, suitable for wine enthusiasts seeking a high-quality product with a distinct and refined flavour. After a peppery start, it then opens up, revealing a broad aromatic range of floral and fruity aromas. On the palate, the wine is silky and velvety with initial spicy perfume followed by a complex olfactory range of floral and fruity sensations.

White vinification of Nero di Troia grapes, fermented in barriques and then blended with Maresco and Viognier to generate an austere and elegant taste-olfactory harmony followed by 6 months in barrique and another 6 months in bottle prior to release.

https://albeavini.com/lei/

ZUCCARDI FÓSIL

‘In the mood for a chardy, for an assertive one, and here it is’

Fósil is a white mountain wine. It comes from vineyards in the Paraje Estancia within the San Pablo IG, at 1400 metres high and just 300 metres away from the beginning of the Cordillera. The immensity of the mountain range and this proximity make everything in this place extreme: its climate, its landscape, its identity.

Fósil is a Chardonnay wine of Argentina. Born from the unrepeatable combination of cold climate, calcareous soils, and the Andean breezes of one of the highest areas of the Uco Valley.

https://zuccardiwines.com/vinos-de-paraje/#zuccardi-fosil

FLORIO VINO BIANCO

‘From the Grillo experts comes this wonderfully tantalising white’

The winemaking at Vino Florio speaks of powerful extraction forces, of the use of the traditional wine press to create musts loaded with colour, high dry extracts and intense savoury marine notes.

Appropriating the spirit of the grape is paramount, followed by giving a voice to fermentation in concrete, punctuated by irregular oxygenations cadenced by the attentiveness of the winemaker. The upshot is a rich, savoury wine with high alcohol content and the intense aroma of flower-filled fields and the sea.

https://cantineflorio.it/en/the-florio-range/vino-florio/

DOMAINES COURTAULT & MICHELET CHABLIS

‘Yes, another chardonnay, a Chablis to be precise, a very satisfying one if a say so myself’

A native of Touraine, Jean-Claude Courtault arrived at Lignorelles in 1974 to work as Vineyard Manager for one of the village’s wine estates.

In 1984, JC Courtault seized the chance to buy 1.5 hectares of 4 year old vines in the Chablis area to run with his wife, Marie-Chantal.

And so the Estate Jean-Claude Courtault came into being and now boasts a total of 22 hectares in Chablis wines area and Bourgogne Epineuil.

Their daughter Stéphanie, and her husband, Vincent Michelet join the Courtaults in 2008 to work with them while they also created their own estate Domaine Stéphanie et Vincent Michelet. Today Stéphanie and Vincent lead the two domains, Domaines Courtault & Michelet.

https://www.chablis-courtault-michelet.com/en/chablis-s12.html

ROYAL TOKAJI SZENT TAMÁS

‘Wine royalty, and I’m feeling rather royal today’

Szt. Tamás is a celebrated First Growth vineyard partly sloping southwest, which overlooks the Royal Tokaji winery in Mád, and partly east, which goes down to a brook valley.

Whole bunches of Furmint grapes were pressed and fermented in 300 litre Zemplén oak barrels. After fermentation the wine was matured for ten months in Hungarian, 30% new oak barrels.

Szt. Tamás Furmint is a powerful wine, typically well-structured and concentrated, with elegance and grace combined with a firm backbone. Crisp acidity balances the ripe fruit and the barrel maturation adds discreet notes of spice. Long and intense, the wine accurately reflects its unique climate and soil.

https://royal-tokaji.com/portfolio/szent-tamas-1st-growth-tokaji-furmint-magnum-dry-2019/

VENTISQUERO TARA CHARDONNAY

‘Yes I know I know, yet ANOTHER chardonnay, and one I will never get enough of. Caution, the same might happen to you’

It’s a fresh, nervous, mineral wine. The mouth is tense and well-structured. The chalkiness and salinity of the soil come through in the palate. The nose reveals fruit, such as sweet cucumbers and apricots, as well as floral notes. As you sip the wine, it evolves in the glass.

This is not a classic style of Chardonnay and we attribute this to its very particular and unique terroir. The Pacific Ocean has a major influence on the vineyard, producing morning fog, known locally as the “Camanchaca,” and strong winds, which cool the vines, making this a desert with cool climate conditions. The area is very arid and the soils are chalky and saline.

https://ventisquerowineclub.com/products/tara-chardonnay/