Wine & Spirits - April 2020 - 142

IMPORTED NEW RELEASES
92 | Tasca d'Almerita

$45/500ml

2018 Salina Tenuta Capofaro ^ This passito-style malvasia reflects the bright, sunny
character of the Aeolian Islands in its orangeblossom scents and flavors of juicy nectarine,
orange marmalade and dried peach. Notes of
honey and saffron add complexity as lively
acidity keeps the sweet flavors aloft. A match
for salted nuts and hard cheeses. -S.J. § Dalla
Terra, Napa, CA

N EW Z E A L A N D WHIT E
125254

93 | Ata Rangi

$25

2018 Martinborough Raranga Sauvignon
Blanc (Best Buy) ^ Helen Masters makes this
wine from a range of parcels in Martinborough, adding complexity to the blend with
15 percent of the lot fermented in contact
with the skins (including five percent that
ferments as whole bunches), 40 percent fermented in barrels, and everything fermented
without sulfur or yeast additions. It's from
a different island than Marlborough sauvignon, and might as well be from a different
planet, honeydew-melon rich and cucumber crisp. It buzzes with floral highlights
and keeps delivering different wavelengths of
spice while notes of white rose and soil add to
its savory intensity. Tame it with Dungeness
crab. -J.G. § Verity Wine Partners, NY
125258

92 | Schubert

$22

2017 Wairarapa Sauvignon Blanc (Best
Buy) ^ This wine's spicy structure forms an
intricate web with its tangelo and pomelo flavors, all that citrus lasting alongside springtime scents of lily of the valley. Immediately
refreshing, it brings citrus-poached fish to
mind. -J.G. § Golden Ram, NY
125241

91 | Craggy Range

$22

2019 Martinborough Te Muna Sauvignon
Blanc (Best Buy) ^ Complete and complex,
this sauvignon has layers of earthy citrus
flavor, from spicy grapefruit zest to tangy
orange pulp. The fruit texture is succulent
while the acidity offers a bitter edge to keep it
firm and structured. Pour it with citrusy fluke
crudo. -J.G. § Kobrand, Purchase, NY
125261

90 | Kumeu River

$34

2018 Kumeu Estate Chardonnay ^ Michael
Brajkovich, MW, blends this wine from six
estate vineyards in Kumeu, holding to a consistently savory, structured style of chardonnay. Its flavors of nectarine, white peach and
pithy lemon gained a broad and creamy texture from oak aging, while the fruit is saturated enough to remain the focus. A clean

142

WINE & SPIRITS

APRIL 2020

New World chardonnay with Old World elegance. -J.G. § Wilson Daniels, St. Helena, CA
125180

88 | Grove Mill

$14

87 | Left Field

$16

PORTUGAL WHITE

2019 Wairau Valley Sauvignon Blanc (Best
Buy) ^ Earthy and a little youthfully aggressive
at first, this settles down to scents of passion
fruit, green grass and lime, a coastal white
for roast fish. -J.G. § Foley Family Artisan
Imports, Santa Rosa, CA
125230
2018 Gisborne Albariño (Best Buy) ^ This
has albariño's roundness, if not its minerally
acidity. It's simple and peppery, to chill for
aperitifs. -J.G. § Vision Wine & Spirits, Manchester, NH
125267

86 | Villa Maria

$14

2019 Marlborough Private Bin Sauvignon
Blanc (Best Buy) ^ Passion fruit flavors run
through this green-tinged sauvignon, a simple and peppery white for aperitifs. -J.G. §
Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, Woodinville, WA

N E W ZE AL AND RED
125265

92 | Craggy Range

$22

2017 Hawkes Bay Te Kahu Gimblett Gravels (Best Buy) ^ A bright, fresh take on merlot
(60 percent of the blend, along with cabernets franc and sauvignon), this is a sleek red
with juicy mulberry and herbal-tobacco flavors. There's an allspice note to the tannins
that lasts, for game birds roasted with Middle
Eastern spice. -J.G. § Kobrand, Purchase, NY
125266

90 | Craggy Range

$45

2017 Martinborough Single Vineyard Te
Muna Road Pinot Noir ^ Plush with cranberry jam flavors, this wine takes some time
to unpack. Forget it in a decanter for a few
hours and you'll find a more delicate pinot
noir with pretty raspberry freshness, gentle tannins and cool rose scents that last.
Then break out the duck prosciutto. -J.G. §
Kobrand, Purchase, NY
125302

88 | Villa Maria

$17

2017 Hawkes Bay Cellar Selection Merlot
Cabernet Sauvignon Malbec (Best Buy) ^
Warm and spicy in its currant flavors, soft in
its waxy texture, this blend gets lift and structure from its notes of black peppercorn and
bitter fruit skin. For a meaty braise. -J.G. §
Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, Woodinville, WA

275800

91 | Eugénio de Almeida

$30

86 | Aveleda

$14

2016 Alentejo Cartuxa Evora ^ This cultural foundation outside the town of Evora
is based at a restored Carthusian monastery.
Its primary activity is winegrowing, including
fruit for this blend of alicante bouchet, aragonez and trincadeira. It's an earthy red that
seems to get its freshness and briskness from
under the soil (rather than above it, where
the Alentejo is hot and dry). Those cool
tones of cherry and cedar last, clean against
the tarry tannins, all of it cushioned by oak.
Decant this for spicy braised pork. -J.G. § TriVin Imports, New Rochelle, NY
275510
2018 Algarve Villa Alvor Sauvignon Blanc
(Best Buy) ^ Best known for their crisp Vinho
Verdes in northern Portugal, the Guedes
family of Aveleda recently purchased a property in the Algarve. This is the first release
from the new project, a passion-fruit-scented
sauvignon that could stand in for a wine from
Marlborough. It's grassy, with grapefruit bitterness, only asking for a chill to enjoy it this
summer. -J.G. § Aveleda, Pawtucket, RI

PORTUGAL RED
275506

94 | Wine & Soul

$115

2017 Douro Quinta da Manoella Vinhas
Velhas ^ The 2017 vintage was a boon for the
old vines at this estate, a property that has
been in Jorge Serôdio Borges's family since
1838. He and his wife and fellow winemaker,
Sandra Tavares, started renovating those
vines in 2009 producing their first Manoella
Vinhas Velhas that year. Tavares is fascinated
by this particular community of vines, which
includes an unusually high proportion of
tinta francisca, which often gives a delicate
wine with high acidity (at seven percent of
the old vines, it is the dominant variety). The
2017 vintage is all about elegance, a fleshy,
red-fruited wine that's savory and clean.
There's a glassiness to the earthy tannins

https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/cartuxa+eugenio+de+almeida+ea+tinto+regional+alentejano+alentejo+portugal

Wine & Spirits - April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - April 2020