Vinopolis Friday Newsletter 01/06/23

Hope Well Wines

Winemaker: Mimi Casteel


Hope Well ‘Sunday’s Child’ Pinot Noir, Eola Amity Hills 2021 750ml $75 special, 12 bottles in stock now
Mimi Casteel note “The three children of 2021 were born from a single lot of Pinot noir, a few rows of perfectly ripe fruit from all corners of the vineyard combined into one lot in the field, then separated at birth into three parts before vinification. For me, this was about pulling perfect Pinot Noir ripeness through a prism to see what was on the other side… Sunday’s Child went through a fully traditional Pinot noir maceration, on skins until dryness, and then to barrel to sleep for the next ten months.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Hope Well Chardonnay, Eola Amity Hills 2020 750ml $74 special, 10 bottles in stock now
Mimi Casteel note “Harvested September 30, 2020. 100% organically farmed Chardonnay. Whole cluster pressed, barrel fermented in french oak. No commercial yeasts or bacteria were used. Bottled September 2, 2021.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Hope Well Pinot Noir, Eola Amity Hills 2021 750ml $75 special, 6 bottles in stock now
Mimi Casteel note “This was the vineyard’s vintage. I used no new wood, just twice and third-filled barrels for everything. Fermentation began easily on its own after 2-3 days, and the fermentation curve was beautiful and clean throughout. Very gentle cap management employed here. I stepped out with one fermenter and used 50% whole cluster, because the stems had the most lovely warm spice aroma this year and it seemed a crime not to do a little. I pressed at dryness, and the barrels wintered quietly together while we moved and grafted. I always do this, but this winter the wines were told the stories and legends of their home, the one we took with us, the one in my heart, and the one upon which their own wood now grows. That is Hope Well.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf-du-Pape La Crau, Rhône 2019 750ml $88 special, 37 bottles available 
Case- 12 Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf-du-Pape La Crau, Rhône 2019 750ml $959 special (that’s only $79.91/ bottle)
Wine Advocate 96+ points “The 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape La Crau is a hugely successful vintage, marked by scents of sun-warmed stones, garrigue, black cherries and black olives. Full-bodied, rich and velvety, it finishes with tremendous length and softly dusty tannins, which should help ensure a long, positive evolution.”
Vinous 95 points “Saturated ruby. Deep-pitched red/blue fruit liqueur aromas pick up suggestions of licorice, pipe tobacco and pungent flowers and herbs with air. In a lush, weighty style, offering expansive black raspberry, cherry cola, singed plum and fruitcake flavors sharpened by a jolt of spiciness on the back half. For all this wine’s richness, it’s energetic as well, showing solid, spice- and floral-driven persistence on the finish, which is framed by velvety, even tannins.”
Jeb Dunnuck 94+ points “The 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape is ruby/purple-hued and has the classic translucent color of the domaine. It’s more precise and focused than the Télégramme and will need more time, but it offers a complex, gorgeous bouquet of red and black fruits, crushed stone, wild fennel, and ground pepper. Pure, medium to full-bodied, and elegant, do your best to hide bottles for 5-7 years and it’s going to keep for two decades.”

Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf-du-Pape La Crau, Rhône 2018 1.5L $189 special, 13 bottles in stock 
James Suckling 96 points “Traditionally dominated by clairette (45%) and grenache blanc (30%), then roussanne and bourboulenc. The vines average 50+ years and there’s a very restrained nose with dialed-back white-pear and chalk aromas with dried flowers, too. The palate has a super fresh, zippy feel and a long, juicy and attractive core of fresh, salty minerals. The balance is innate and very fluid. Drink or hold.”
Wine Spectator 95 points “A nice throwback style, with a range of dried lavender and rosemary notes peeking out from a cedar-framed core of mulled cherry, blood orange and plum fruit. Features warm stone, licorice root and tobacco leaf accents that fill in through the energetic finish. A wine that’s very confident in its terroir. Best from 2024 through 2038. 2,495 cases imported.”

Domaine Lafage Bastide Miraflors, IGP Cotes Catalanes 2019 750ml $14.75 special, 24 bottles available 
Case-12 Domaine Lafage Bastide Miraflors, IGP Cotes Catalanes 2019 750ml $159 special (that’s $13.25/bottle)
Jeb Dunnuck 95 points “Based on 74% Syrah and 26% Grenache brought up in in a combination of concrete tanks (for the Grenache) and one year old demi-muids (for the Syrah), the 2018 Cotes Du Roussillon Bastide Miraflors is a knockout bottle of wine. It offers loads of black fruits, roasted herbs, peppered meat, violets, and bacon fat as well as full-bodied richness, a round, opulent style, ripe tannins, and a blockbuster finish.”

This is the lowest listed price on the West Coast!

Bodegas Muga ‘Prado Enea’ Gran Reserva, Rioja DOCa 2015 750ml $84.80 special, 8 bottles available 
Wine Advocate 97 points “The most classical of their wines, the 2015 Prado Enea Gran Reserva is a blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano, mostly from Rioja Alta (Sajazarra, Cellorigo and Fonzaleche), but the Garnacha is from different plots in the zone of Tudelilla at high altitude. These grapes are always picked last, but the wine has a similar alcohol level as the rest, around 14.5% in a warm year like 2019. The modus operandi is similar to other of the top cuvées—harvested into 200-kilogram boxes, destemming, optical sorting and fermentation in small oak casks with indigenous yeasts. The élevage in this case is extended to 36 months, and the barrels are only 10% new. This is, year in, year out, my favorite wine from Muga, and in this powerful and ripe year, these late-harvesting vines ripened thoroughly and delivered a full array of aromas and flavors so that the wine has plenty of depth and complexity. It has a very classical profile, with incipient tertiary notes, perfumed, floral and rich, textured and beautifully balanced. They compare this 2015 with 2009 and 2005 in terms of style but with freshness in the style of 2001 and 2010. It’s enjoyable but should also develop for a long time in bottle. One of the finest Prado Enea vintages. 108,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in November 2018. There’s no 2012 or 2013 of this. There will be a 2016 and 2019, but no 2017 or 2018. 2020 is still a question mark, they have not yet decided it.”
Jeb Dunnuck 96 points “The 2015 Prado Enea Gran Reserva comes from a hotter, riper vintage, but it shares similar gamey, exotic aromatics of red and black fruits, sappy herbs, flowers, leather, iron, and background cedary oak. Rich, medium to full-bodied, incredibly pure, and balanced, it has ripe, still present tannins, impeccable balance, and a great finish. This is a classic expression of this cuvée that can be enjoyed any time over the coming two decades or more.”

Descendientes de J. Palacios Villa de Corullon, Bierzo 2020 750ml $46 special, 36+ bottles available 
Wine Advocate 97 points “I was blown away by the 2020 wines in barrel in June 2021 and found the 2020 Villa de Corullón very ready, open, expressive, floral and ethereal. It destroyed the idea I had of a warm and ripe 2020. Ricardo Pérez Palacios told me he was thinking of bottling the 2020s earlier, as they didn’t need a long élevage, just nine or 10 months in barrel. The wine is pale, the palest Corullón ever, with 13.7% alcohol—perhaps the vines got blocked and didn’t develop more color compounds or sugar. The wine makes me think of a red from Jura; it has a different profile and is more delicate, ethereal and full of light and energy. Pérez, who hates comparisons with other regions, couldn’t stop saying that it felt like a Morey Saint Denis! It’s all flowers and red fruit, with a lot of super fine tannins (the 2019 tannins are rougher) that are round and give it a velvety texture with no rusticity—elegant and balanced. There is a nice balance between tannin and acidity, something this has in common with the 2019, which makes the vintages quite unusual, because being warm, the wines show balance. Today, it feels more like Moncerbal than the Moncerbal bottling; nevertheless, Corullón is around 40% from Moncerbal. … It has to be my favorite Corullón to date.”

Descendientes de J. Palacios Las Lamas, Bierzo 2019 750ml $149 special, 6 bottles available 
Wine Advocate 97 points “The grapes used for the 2019 Las Lamas come from a selection of 1.75 hectares they own in the paraje in the village of Corullón, not far from the winery that gives this wine its name. This is a south-facing location with a tendency to good ripeness and generous wines. It fermented in oak vats with indigenous yeasts and matured in a combination of oak barrels and foudres for eight months. This is the prototype of a wine from clay-rich soils; it’s round and vinous, refreshed by the altitude and the slate. This is more lactic than the Moncerbal, very classical and with fine but grainy tannins. Whatever it is, with years in bottle, this is more vinous and rounder and the Moncerbal is sharper. 5,520 bottles, 118 magnums and some larger formats produced.”

Descendientes de J. Palacios Moncerbal, Bierzo 2020 750ml $149 special, 6 bottles available 
Wine Advocate 97 points “I find the 2020 Moncerbal a little more closed than the other 2020s, darker and serious. It’s still moderately ripe, with 13.8% alcohol, sweet tannins and a soft texture. Today, it shows a little austere and very calm????? it whispers. It’s quite discreet. It was bottled in October 2021, during the 2021 harvest. This is already certified organic from 2020 onward. Approachable already. 5,000 bottles were filled in October 2021. These wines were usually bottled in January/February of the following year, so in 2020 they had a shorter ??levage in barrel. The wines were ready earlier. Drink Date 2022-2030”

Paraduxx Winery Red, Napa Valley 2019 750ml $31.90 special, 24 bottles available 
James Suckling 91 points “Aromas of blueberry, black cherry and blackberry. Medium-to full-bodied with velvety tannins. A solid core of black fruit on the palate with some toasted complexity. Black tea comes through.”
Wine Advocate 91 points “A blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Petite Sirah, 12% Zinfandel, 11% Petit Verdot, 7% Syrah and 5% Malbec, the 2019 Proprietary Red Wine delivers notes of cassis, blackberries and blueberries on the nose, backed by an underlay of mocha-tinged oak. It’s medium to full-bodied, decently concentrated and nicely balanced, marrying silky tannins to a bright, vibrant finish”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Lanson Pere & Fils Brut, Champagne NV 750ml $39 special, 36 bottles available 
Winemaker note “Lanson ‘Père & Fils’ Brut is a brand new, enriched evolution of the classic Lanson Black Label Brut, and is named after the first bottle of Champagne Lanson ever produced. Created as a tribute to the Lanson family , Champagne Lanson ‘Père & Fils’ is aged in the cellars for a minimum of 4 years to allow the wine to flourish and its aromas to develop perfectly. Blended using a selection of the best Champagne Crus from 10 different vintages, the result is a rich, elegant Champagne with a fresh finish. After 4 years of ageing, the ‘Père et Fils’ Cuvee unveils a magnificent bright golden colour, animated by tiny bubbles. The nose reveals aromas of ripe fruits, honey and spices. On the palate, this blend offers a complex, full and persistent impact with honeydew flavours.”

Love & Squalor Pinot Noir Garageland Willamette Valley 2019 750ml $19 special, 12 bottles available 
Winery note: “The Garageland Pinot Noir is a multi-vineyard and multi-appellation blend. The name is stolen from The Clash, and is an homage to all of the artisans – from musicians and painters, to vintners and food makers, who toil away behind nondescript roll-up doors. Like all of my wines, this bottling reflects my hands-off winemaking style, and draws attention to the vibrant delicacy, heady aromatics, and natural acidity that all the hallmark of a well-balanced wine.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Love & Squalor Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2019 750ml $24 special, 24 bottles available 
Winery note “The 2019 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley is a multi-vineyard, multi-appellation blend intended to capture the essence of the vintage.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Love & Squalor Reserve Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2017 750ml $39 special, 12 bottles available  
Winery note:  “A selection of the winemaker’s four favorite barrels in the cellar. Sourced from Vista Hills Vineyard (667 and 777), Temperance Hill Vineyard (667, 113, 114 and Pommard) and Sunnyside Vineyard (Gamay and Wädenswil). · Moderately light garnet color in the glass. Nicely perfumed with aromas of Bing cherry, cola and mocha. A harmonious wine with a good acid underbelly and modest tannins. The mid-weight, brambly dark red cherry and black raspberry fruits are satisfying.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!