Red Wine Wolfgang Puck Master Lot Reserve Pinot Noir 2020. No need to decant. Wolfgang Puck is a chef widely renowned for his innovative recipes and combinations and his bold flavors. In 2011 he decided to embark on a new adventure and started his own wine label. Developed in collaboration with the Delicato family, his wines are distinctive, and refined, and have gained an excellent reputation for their good quality around the world. Having lost his mother, suffering from Alzeheimer’s in 2004, Wolfgang Puck has decided to donate a portion of the proceeds for his wines to Keep Memory Alive, a charity involved in the treatment of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, ALS, and MS. The grapes for this Californian Pinot Noir have been hand-selected from the coastal areas. On the nose, the wine shows intense aromas of cherry, juicy plum, cocoa, and toasted oak. It is a medium-bodied wine with remarkable acidity, delicate tannins and a dry palate. In the mouth it is balanced and shows a very pleasant intensity of red fruit. Like all Wolfgang Puck wines, the Master Lot is an extremely food-friendly wine. It is excellent in combination with a cheese and salami board, with roast chicken or Coq au Vin, with eggplant Parmesan, or mushroom risotto.
2020
Red Wine Wolfgang Puck Master Lot Reserve Pinot Noir 2020
Red Wine Baia’s Wine Aladasturi 2021. No need to decant. Founded in 2015 by the young winemaker Baia Abuladze, who decided to recover the family vineyards, and produce her own wines, Baia’s Wine is located in the Western Georgia region of Imereti, an area with an ancient winemaking history. The company managed by Baia and her family produces quality organic wines in limited quantities, using native vines and traditional winemaking techniques. Aladasturi is a rare grape variety indigenous to western Georgia. The grapes are harvested in the vineyards owned by the family in the village of Obcha. They are macerated for 1 month with their skins and withered stalks, and then spontaneously fermented in the Qvevri. The wine is bottled without filtration. In the glass, the Baia’s Wine Aladasturi shows a pale ruby red color. On the nose, it reveals intense aromas of red fruit (especially cherry, cranberry, and pomegranate), notes of spices, and hints of figs. On the palate, the wine is soft and lively, with medium acidity and velvety tannins. The body is medium-light and the wine has a long finish with a juicy aftertaste of plum jam. Try it with spiced pork, duck filet with plum sauce, or steak filet served with pepper sauce.
2021
Red Wine Domaine St Prefert Cotes du Rhone Beatus Ille 2021. This plush, fruit-forward Cotes du Rhone is crafted by Isabel Ferrando, a former banker who purchased St Prefert in 2002 after cutting her teeth working at Domaine Raspail-Ay in nearby Gigondas. Founded in the 1920s by Fernand Serre, the St Prefert estate is an important name for Chateaneuf du Pape and was one of the first local wines to be sold in the United States. Over the last couple of decades Ferrando has breathed new life into St Prefert by converting the whole estate to biodynamic agriculture and adding additional vineyards to their holdings. Named after Horace’s ancient poem which translates as “happy is the man” and references a simple gratitude for everyday life, her Beatus Ille red is mostly composed of Grenache along with some Cinsault sourced from La Lionne and Vedène. The fruit is fermented and aged in cement tanks to preserve the freshness and fruit as much as possible. On the nose there are intense notes of bright red cherry, crushed berries and hints of baked earth and spice. The first sip reveals a luscious medium body, smooth texture and firm tannins along with a deep core of dark fruit which lingers long on the tongue.
2021