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| | V |  | Vrai Canon Bouche Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
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 | Comte Georges De Vogue Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
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 | Chateau Haut-Villet Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
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 | Mount Veeder Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
Design/Artwork: Winery Notes/History: Rugged mountain conditions produce grapes with intensely concentrated fruit and big, rich tannins. Taming these tannins and preserving flavor are the high-altitude winemaker's biggest challenge. Because Mount Veeder's growing season starts late and often stretches well into November, harvest is a waiting game. But patience is rewarded with fully-developed flavors and ripe, rich tannins in the skins and seeds. We handle Mount Veeder Winery grapes as little as possible, using tested techniques to bring out the concentration and power that mountain grapes reveal. All lots are given a cold soak and frequent punch downs to achieve maximum extraction of fruit flavors and color, while extended contact with the skins encourages the tannins to soften and meld. Finally, aging in finely-grained French oak barrels promotes harmony and integration, and blending enhances the strengths of each varietal to achieve balance in the final wine.
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 | Chateau Rol Valentin Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
Design/Artwork: Winery Notes/History: Chateau Rol Valentin was purchased by Eric Prisette, a retired professional footballer, and his wife Virginie, in the summer of 1994. The wine is sourced from just 4.6 hectares of vineyards, located on the north-western part of the St Emilion plateau. The vineyards are predominantly Merlot, with about 8% Cabernet Franc and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, with vine age typically 35-40 years. The wine undergoes temperature controlled fermentation, prior to ageing in 100% new oak for 18 months, with malolactic fermentation occurring in the barrel. The wines are not filtered, but they do receive a light fining.
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 | Bodegas Vega Sicilia Picture of: Type: Size: Country: Region:
Design/Artwork: Winery Notes/History: Like all great wines, Vega Sicilia begins in the vineyard. The Tempranillo is trained in gobelet fashion, whereas the French varieties are trained in a Guyot system. Green harvesting is employed ruthlessly in order to control yields, and the harvest itself is meticulous. In the winery, such a massive wine will withstand many years in wood and Unico sees a complicated series of rackings from huge barrels to new oak, to used American oak, back to new oak again, and on it goes. Winemaker Xavier Ausas refers to these stages somewhat romantically as "muscularisation", "education", "recuperation" and so on. Whatever these phases are called, Unico certainly receives very prolonged barrel ageing, with the 1970 seeing over sixteen years! And yet these are not washed out, stretched, overly oaky wines when mature, testimony to the quality of the raw materials on which they are based. |
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