Our Wine Wednesdays, include one *free sample from each of our hand selected fine wine features (up to four wines). New wines are chosen each week. This week Skip!

Gönc Kerner Pavel
100% Kerner – Single Vineyard. Gönc winery is a family tradition going back to the year 1936 when Peter Gene’s great grandfather built their first wine cellar and planted the vineyard around it in the small town of Dobrovnik in Slovenia. After World War II his grandfather moved to the city Ptuj where he started working in the Ptujska Klet – Ptuj wine cellar as a cellar cleaner and worked his way up to head winemaker and CEO of the oldest winery in Slovenia now know as Pullus. Peter’s father also worked at the same winery but on the side, he also planted 24 acres of vineyards to keep up the family tradition (now 28 acres total). When Peter came of age they built a new cellar in Ptuj and started Gönc again. Peter is the 4th generation of winemakers and winegrowers in the family. Fun fact, Gönc is actually a name for a barrel that they produce in Hungary of 136 liters volume and there are 136 dots on each bottle of their wines with each dot representing 1 Liter… Named after Peter’s grandfather, Pavel is a very aromatic and crisp full bodied white wine. It offers aromas of white flower, green apple, citrus, and saline notes. The palate is round and creamy with aromas carried over from the nose. A delightful low sulfite wine perfect for all your seafood and warm nights.

Dominico Negro Angelin Langhe Rosso Nebbiolo
A historically significant winery whose origins date back to 1670. In this year, two of the estate’s most important vineyards—Perdaudin and Prachiosso—were first planted. With some of the most desired vineyard sites in Roero, Negro is one of the indisputable legends of the region. Giovanni Negro, the estate’s present owner, produced the first dry Roero Arneis on record in 1971. Following tradition, the winery in Monteu Roero now boasts a stunning lineup of Arneis as well as an impressive range of Roero Nebbiolo. Today, Negro observes organic practices while managing a staggering 64 hectares. Intense ruby red colour with orange highlights with ageing. Fresh bouquet with hints of rose, blackberry and blackcurrant. Soft flavour, rightly tannic, persistent and well balanced.

Celler de Capçanes, Montsant Mas Donis Barrica Old Vines
Organic. 30-50 year old Garnatxa, Syrah. If Priorat is the nutmeg, then Montsant is the mace. Almost completely surrounding the DOQ of Priorat, the DO Montsant is one of the youngest DOs in Catalunya but like the neighboring Priorat viticulture here is centuries old. Not so surprisingly, the cooperative of Capçanes is situated in the village of the same name, nestled among the foothills of the Montsant mountains. Shortly after the modernization, Eric Solomon visited the cooperative and he was taken by how similar the soils and grapes varieties were to the Priorat where he had just started working with an unknown estate and a lesser known winemaker, Daphne Glorian. Tasting through the various tanks and barrels at Capçanes, he created a cuvée of Garnatxa and Syrah that he named Mas Donis – a wine he jokingly said was his “best Côtes-du-Rhône.” Despite the similarities in cépage, the granite and schist terroirs here could not be more different than the calcareous soils of the Rhône valley. With time and experimentation – moving from barrel aging to aging entirely in concrete and selecting fruit from some of the oldest Garnatxa in the village, Mas Donis has evolved to show a more Priorat-inspired profile. A serious wine at an extremely friendly price.

Herència Altés, Terra Alta la Peluda
Organic. Nuria Altés, like many young vintners in Spain, comes from a family who have grown grapes for generations. Tucked away in a remote corner of Catalunya, Nuria’s new project, Herència Altés is situated outside the village of Batea, in the DO of Terra Alta. Remarkably Terra Alta is one of the largest wine growing regions in Cataluyna and one which few are aware – something Nuria has set about changing. Near the birthplace of Garnacha in the neighboring province of Aragon, these sites are predominantly Garnatxa Blanca, Negra and Gris planted primarily between 1900 and 1960. Old vine Carinyena, locally called Samsó, is also present in their vineyards along with small amounts of Syrah. Nuria Altés considers Garnacha Peluda, the thin-skinned and hairy-leafed mutation of Garnacha to be her Pinot Noir. Sourced from her neighbors in Batea and Gandesa, this variety makes for expressive wines when grown in the sandy and chalky soils of Terra Alta. 91 pts Robert Parker: “Produced with the “hairy” strain of Garnacha called Garnacha Peluda, the 2016 La Peluda is an airy, fresh and elegant interpretation of the grape, from a strain that tends to deliver more delicate wines to start with. It still has 15% alcohol, so it’s not a shy wine; it’s a juicy and chewy Mediterranean red with good freshness and integrated oak. It matured in oak vats for 12 months. I liked the spiciness and the somewhat wild character of this red, which had some rusticity that gave it character. Tasty and sleek.”

 

 

 

 

 

*tasting free with purchase of $10 or more per guest