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“Few estates in the world can claim to have maintained the highest quality standards uninterrupted for half a century and more. Joh Jos Prüm… is one estate that can.” –Stuart Pigott, The Wine Atlas of Germany
 
Manfred and Katarina Prüm make some of the finest and most sought-after wines of the middle-Mosel. These reference-point Mosel Rieslings are some of the most profound and age-worthy white wines in the world. No other producer in the middle Mosel is as respected or collectible. These are always some of the finest and longest-lived wines in Germany. These white wines have near-unparalleled consistency in aging worldwide.
 
The Prüm wines are high-wire acts of tension between fruit and intense minerality and display their terroir in the most expressive way.

Graham Beck has defined sparkling wine from South Africa for over fifty years. These Champagne-method sparklers are as versatile and delicious as quality grower bubbles from Champagne. Venerable by New World standards (having been founded in 1983), the estate was founded by the late Graham Beck. Today his son, Antony Beck, runs the winery.
 
You’ll notice the wines are designated as “Méthode Cap Classique,” also referred to as “Cap Classique” or “MCC,” is the South African designation for sparkling wines made in the traditional, or Champagne, method. It was developed by the Cap Classique Producers Association, which regulates quality standards among members.
 
The wines undergo the classic process, including the second fermentation occurring in the bottling, long aging on the lees, and disgorgement.

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Completing our tour of the Northern Rhone, we have saved the Greatest for last: Hermitage. This small appellation, sometimes called Ermitage, is responsible for some of France’s most prestigious wines. The reds are typically 100% Syrah, while the whites from the region are typically Marsanne. Both are rich and robust, full-bodied wines that can age for decades.
 
The Hermitage is a granite hill with shallow soils of limestone or sandy gravel. Vines are grown along the southern slope facing the Rhone River where they can soak up the sun during the long summer days. At the top of the slope is a chapel, which gives its name to Jaboulet’s top vineyard, La Chapelle. The vineyard of Les Bessards lies on the western side of the hill, the source of one of Delas Freres’ top bottlings.    

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More so than in neighboring Barolo, the vineyards of Barbaresco are packed with under-the-radar yet magnificent producers—and none represents better buying opportunity than Paitin. Starting with a great set of vineyards that the family has since 1796, Secondo Pasquero-Elia enlisted enologist Dante Scaglione (of Bruno Giacosa fame) as the enologist to take these wines to the next level.
 
The winemaking here is all traditional. Despite a brief trial with modern techniques in the 90’s, the wines undergo gentle pump over and cap submersion during the weeks-long maceration. The wines then undergo an extended aging in neutral barrels and botti from Slavonia and Austria for up to three years.
 
The results offer a glimpse into the future of the winery and the wines to come.