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  • 2021 Pinot Noir, Scribe WineryRed Wine

    2021 Pinot Noir, Scribe Winery

    £4900

    Scribe Winery produces vibrant, terroir-driven wines from Sonoma, California. The winery was founded in 2007 on a property that helped pioneer pre-prohibition Sonoma Valley wine-making and is managed by fourth-generation California farmers and brothers, Andrew and Adam Mariani.

    A pure, elegant and classy Pinot Noir with bright red fruits layered with floral notes, rhubarb and a touch of cacao through to a silky palate with refined tannins and a long, smooth finish.

    The Pinot Noir grapes come from three vineyards across the Carneros AVA. This wine is made up of a blend of equal parts of clones Dijon 777, known for being dark and rich and produces rich, velvety and complex wines; Dijon 115, which delivers pure Pinot Noir flavours and Pommard, which delivers pure, dark fruit. Two of the vineyards, Sandbach and El Novillero, are both within a five-mile radius of the Scribe Estate and the remainder are on similar Huichica soils. The third, the Reinke Vineyard, lies a little further east on Bressa-Dibble clay loam soils. All three vineyards benefit from the cooling influence from the winds of the San Pablo Bay, which creates a cooler mesoclimate resulting in slow, even ripening, which helps to build concentrated fruit flavours, while retaining natural, balancing acidity. The grapes are hand-harvested at night to preserve the fresh vibrancy in the fruit.

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  • 2020 Pinot Noir, Sanford Red Wine

    2020 Pinot Noir, Sanford

    £5150

    This Pinot Noir is dark ruby in colour and is very spice-driven on the nose with fresh cherry, wild strawberry, spice cake that are complemented by white pepper and rose. The palate delivers spice and savoury, dark fruits, espresso, and leather with balanced acid and suave tannin structure, which carries the lovely finish. The wine was aged in French Oak barrels (25% new oak) for 11 months where it gained complexity and elegance.

    The grapes come exclusively from the two estate vineyards in the cool-climate area of Sta. Rita Hills AVA: the Sanford & Benedict Vineyard and the La Rinconada Vineyard. The unusual east-west orientation of the nearby Santa Ynez Mountains allows the cooling maritime breezes from the Pacific Ocean- just seven miles away- to flow over the vineyards, bringing with them cooling morning fog. Afternoon breezes dry out any residual moisture and reduce disease pressure. Temperatures rarely exceed 27°C, which suits the delicate Pinot Noir vines. The vineyard is split into 52 blocks and each block has an individual soil composition. Broadly, the marine-based soil in the ‘Sanford & Benedict Vineyard’ is a mixture of clay, loam, fractured shale and chert (a rocky soil), which forces the vine’s roots to dig deep for nutrients and hydration. The result is naturally low yields of small-berried, concentrated fruit delivering excellent minerality and acidity. The ‘La Rinconada Vineyard’ is made up of sandy, gravelly soil which imparts precise minerality to the wine. There are 33 different Pinot Noir clones planted across the vineyard and 40% of the vines are from the original 1972 ungrafted plantings

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  • 2012 3D Pinot Noir, Clifton Brewer Red Wine

    2012 3D Pinot Noir, Clifton Brewer

    £7950

    This is an outstanding Pinot Noir from the renowned Brewer-Clifton.  The 3D vineyard is nestled between Lafond and Ampelos in the Santa Rita Hills and was the first vineyard planted by the Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton in 2007.     It is pure and elegant on the nose with expressive aromas of red cherries, candied raspberry and strawberry.  The palate is expansive with flavours of sweet fruits, tea leaf and fine spices.  Lovely structure and precision here. Incredible finesse and purity.

    At Brewer Clifton they strive to remove the winemaker’s signature, allowing the voice of the vineyard to be the overriding expression.  Only neutral barrels are employed and they strive for whole cluster fermentation, interestingly the fruit from each vineyard is handled identically from harvest to bottling, allowing the true essence of each site to be expressed.

    They also farm with a focus of ripening the stems of the bunch alongside the fruit, allowing the cluster to be in harmony. Working with the stems allows for wines that are structured, earthy and balanced with the exceptional Santa Rita Hills fruit. The analogy they use is roasting fish or meat on the bone, the bone offers complex flavours very different than taking it off of the bone to cook it.

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  • 2019 Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sanford Red Wine

    2019 Sanford & Benedict Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sanford

    £8300

    The Sanford & Benedict Vineyard is where it all began. In 1971 this was the first vineyard planted in what became the world-class, cool-climate Sta. Rita Hills appellation.

    Bright, ruby red, the 2019 Sanford & Benedict Pinot Noir entices with aromatic spicy red fruits, complemented by notes of wet stone and dried herb. The palate delivers earthy raspberry flavours with lush, silky texture. The bright acidity and supple tannins give the wine great structure and length. To allow the vineyard to shine through, the winemakers take a gentle approach in the cellar, using traditional Burgundian techniques.

    The wine was aged in French Oak barrels (35% new) for 14 months where it gained concentration, while allowing the tannins to soften. This wine is drinking well now, but has the balance and structure to age beautifully for the next 12 to 15 years.

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  • 2021 Napa Valley Chardonnay, Chateau Montelena Wine Republic Heros White Wine

    2021 Napa Valley Chardonnay, Chateau Montelena

    £8650

    This is an incredible vintage of Chateau Montelena’s flagship Chardonnay.

    In the glass it has a bright gold in colour and is incredibly aromatic, the ripeness of the vintage is most pronounced initially; melon, perfume, and orange blossom slowly give way to fresh peach, honeysuckle and apricot. There is very little overt oak influence on the nose, although it comes across subtly in the background as pie crust and toast.

    On the palate, it’s the suppleness and silky mouthfeel that strike first, although there’s abundant mango and citrus with Meyer lemon here as well. The minerality is chalky and distinct, a beautiful contrast that layers in with the acid adding both complexity and depth.

    The finish is exceptional: There’s slightly more wood on the transition to the finish, surfacing as baking spice and crème brûlée. However, they’re handily overwhelmed by notes of Asian pear, mango and pineapple— absolutely delicious. In time, expect hazelnuts and almonds to appear.

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  • 2001 Old Vine Zinfandel, SeghesioRed Wine

    2001 Old Vine Zinfandel, Seghesio

    £9500

    The Seghesio family-owned winery started in the year 1895 when Edoardo Seghesio, an Italian immigrant and winemaker, planted the first Zinfandel vineyard in the Alexander Valley located in Sonoma County.

    In the glass this 21 year old Zinfandel has lost none of its sleek smoothness, bursting with black cherry and raspberry aromas with a core of flavours that includes black cherry, cassis, cocoa, coffee, blackberry, spice and anise. Lush, harmonious, and penetrating.

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  • 2014 Chardonnay ‘Durell Vineyard’, TOR Wine Republic Heros White Wine

    2014 Chardonnay ‘Durell Vineyard’, TOR

    £9500

    Ed Durell planted the first vines in the rock-strewn, windy hills in 1979. Today, Durell Vineyard spans three AVAs: Sonoma Valley, Sonoma Coast and Carneros. The block TOR sources from lies in the famed Sand Hill section of the vineyard, which overlooks the Sonoma Valley. This 2014 Durell Chardonnay ranks among the best they have ever produced. “This has the classic seamless, almost oily palate weight and texture to it that the best Durells have but with a thread of focus that helps to pull the intensity of the palate together. This shows mandarin oranges, stone fruits and an almost cut wet grass note to it.

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  • 2009 Reva Syrah, Alban Vineyards Wine Republic Heros Red Wine

    2009 Reva Syrah, Alban Vineyards

    £12000

    Established in 1989, Alban Vineyards represents California’s first winery and vineyard dedicated exclusively to the varietals of the Rhône.  Pioneered by John Alban at a time when anything that was neither Cabernet nor Chardonnay was barely grown in California, Alban was a groundbreaking project and has gone on to be regarded as one of the U.S.A’s best and most influential producers.

    It is the Syrah releases from Alban which, justifiably, receive the most attention. Reva Syrah is Alban’s much-coveted, hard to come by top release; a 100% single vineyard Syrah which is aged in oak for 42 months before release. Upfront and highly varietal on the nose, this cult wine exudes aromas of cassis, wild herbs, violet, earth and smoke. The palate is incredibly full-bodied and decadent with immense depth and wonderful freshness. Flavours of dark fruit, coffee, toasty oak and perfumed spice build on an intense mid-palate before continuing on a long, momentous finish. We believe that this is California’s greatest example of this grape variety and will age gracefully over the next 20 years and beyond.

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  • 2019 Pinot Noir ‘Day One’, Senses Red Wine

    2019 Pinot Noir ‘Day One’, Senses

    £18500

    Classic aromas of mulled red and black fruits, forest floor, conifer, and spiced orange carry through to a velvety palate showing wonderful purity of fruit, a precise texture and supreme balance.

    The fruit comes from the Hillcrest Vineyard, a single vineyard site purchased by Myles’ parents, Carleton Briggs and Lisa Lawrence in 1988. Located just outside of Occidental, this site borders the Charles Heintz Vineyard to the west and is home to the original Chardonnay planting in the West Sonoma Coast. It has however since been replanted to Pinot Noir, which thrives in the warm microclimate which is tempered by the cool, coastal breezes and the trademark fog that lingers over the vineyards, bringing moisture and cooling the vines. The result is a long hang-time, during which the vines slowly build aromatic complexity, concentrated flavours, superbly balanced by natural, acidity.

    2019 stands out as one of the more exceptional vintages in recent memory. Cooler temperatures and stable weather throughout the growing season allowed for slow maturation of flavours without any heat events spiking sugar accumulation in the berries. Although 2019 also saw the devastating Kincade fire in Sonoma County, the fruit was harvested by then, so the smoke did not affect the grapes.

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  • 2019 Chardonnay ‘Vine Hill Vineyard’, Kistler Wine Republic Heros White Wine

    2019 Chardonnay ‘Vine Hill Vineyard’, Kistler

    £19500

    2019 marks the 40th vintage of Kistler and what a vintage it is!

    “This is a gorgeous set of wines from Kistler. The 2019 Chardonnays show the pedigree of the vintage in their nuance, character and site expression.”   Antonio Galloni of Vinous.com

    The 2019 Vine Hill Vineyard Chardonnay as described by the winemaker: Green-tinged pale yellow. Bold aromas of freshly peeled Gravensteins, lime blossom, powdered rock, deep earthen undertones and roasted grains. Expressive and deeply concentrated while tightly wound given its low pH nature. A long lingering finish speaks to the purity of the extract. One of the best examples of the mineral tones informed by the growing medium of certain soils and a classic manifestation of the seamless tension between weight and energy from the sands of the Vine Hill Vineyard.

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