Wine & Spirits - Summer 2023 - 108

Imported New Releases
red and a reliable weeknight wine with roast
chicken or pork loin. -S.J. § Folio Fine Wine
Partners, Napa, CA
90 | Planeta
2017 Sicilia Nocera ^ This round and
approachable nocera offers flavors of ripe
red plum and sour cherry accented by hints
of nutmeg and licorice. A streak of cool salinity
lifts the flavors and would stand up well
to roast pork or veal. -S.J. § Taub Family Selections,
Boca Raton, FL
88 | Cusumano
$19
2021 Sicilia Nero d'Avola (BEST BUY) ^ Flavors
of plum, licorice and black olive are framed
by rustic tannins in this brisk nero d'Avola.
-S.J. § Terlato Wines Int'l, Lake Bluff, IL
PIEDmONT
91 | Giacomo Fenocchio $40
2021 Langhe Nebbiolo ^ This is a meaty and
dense wine, showing plenty of nebbiolo character
and structure in the ferrous tannins
that encase fennel-scented flavors of fresh
cherry and raspberry. -S.J. § Kysela Père &
Fils, Winchester, VA
ITALY DESSERT
96 | Donnafugata
$47/375ml
2021 Passito di Pantelleria Ben Ryé ^ The
2021 Ben Ryé is irresistibly delicious, loaded
with flavors of apricot glaze, baked pear,
white fig, ginger and molasses. Those flavors
are rich yet never heavy or cloying, woven
together by lively acidity. Hints of bergamot
and curry powder emerge with air and
provide balance to the luscious flavors and
glossy texture. Serve after dinner with hard,
salty cheeses. -S.J. § Folio Fine Wine Partners,
Napa, CA
PORTUGAL WHITE
88 | Jose Maria da Fonseca $15
2022 Península de Setúbal João Pires Muscat
(BEST BUY) ^ The scent of muscat grapes
provides the strongest dimension of flavor,
along with some lemon blossom and juicy
citrus notes-a dry white to chill for fried
chicken. -J.G. § Tri-Vin, New Rochelle, NY
PORTUGAL RED
91 | Casa de Santar
$25
2016 Dão Reserva ^ The silky texture will
draw you in, while the cool, earthy fruit flavors
may last through it and make you nostalgic
for Christmas, when Christmas was
cold. That's the reaction this wine brought
10 8
WINE & SPIR IT S
to tastings editor Corey Warren, who liked
its winter spices and scents of candle wax. A
cozy, appealing red with flavors that last, this
is light enough to drink anytime of the year.
-J.G. § Tri-Vin, New Rochelle, NY
90 | Merino
$12
2021 Alentejano (BEST BUY) ^ Meaty in the
middle, with plum flavors from pit to flesh to
skin, this blend is based on alicante bouschet,
and it's a remarkable value for the energy and
brightness it brings to its rich purple plum
fruit. A great choice for a steakhouse, or for
anything meaty off the grill at home. -J.G. §
Tri-Vin, New Rochelle, NY
86 | Ciconia
$10
2021 Alentejano Touriga Nacional -
Syrah- Aragonez (BEST BUY) ^ It's hard to find
$10 wines of this quality and with this depth
of flavor. Sure, the wine is a little rustic and
warm, a little austere in its tannins, but it
will make you smile, especially with trotters.
-J.G. § Tri-Vin, New Rochelle, NY
SPAIN WHITE
91 | Chapirete
$20
2022 Rueda Selección Verdejo (BEST BUY) ^
This smells and tastes of the limestone plateau
on which it grew, stony with pear-skin
freshness, cool and saturated in its mineral
length. It offers the simple pleasures
of Rueda, to chill for cracked crab. -J.G. §
W.Direct, Lawrence, KS
90 | Casa Lebai
$115
2020 Ribera del Duero La Nava Albillo
Mayor ^ Though this vineyard was planted in
1940, it was not legal to label the wine Ribera
del Duero until 80 years later (the region
changed its regulations in October of 2019).
This old-vine albillo mayor ferments in concrete
eggs and ages in 500-liter French oak
barrels, converting its ripeness and warmth
into intriguing spice, layered over scents of
buttercream, crab apple and persimmon
bread. Match its perfumed richness and airy
length to veal sausages or roast turkey. -J.G. §
Grapes of Spain, Lorton, VA
90 | Alberto Orte
$44
2020 Spain Atlántida Blanco ^ This is made
from vijiriega blanca, a nearly extinct variety
local to Jerez. This wine's tart white-cherry
flavors feel meaty, while the tannins feel
dusty and sharp. There's a cedar-box scent
along with pale florals that would work with
poached cod. -J.G. § Olé & Obrigado, New
Rochelle, NY
SPAIN RED
93 | Alberto Orte
$52
2020 Valdeorras Escalada do Sil ^ There's
an immediate hit of ground black and white
peppercorns in the scent of this wine, then
the fruit comes charging in with pomegranate
and cherry scents. It lasts with the red
tone of a peach at the pit, the finish herbal,
earthy and cool. Tastings Editor Corey Warren
said, " I'd be thrilled to find this at a steakhouse
with a ribeye finished in a 1400 degree
salamander, with that charred crust. " -J.G. §
Olé & Obrigado, New Rochelle, NY
93 | Pintia
$113
2018 Toro ^ Tempos Vega-Sicilia farms 270
acres of vines in Toro, where they grew a
remarkably fresh tempranillo in 2018. The
vines benefited from plenty of rain in spring
and, unusually, again in July, the mild season
taking the region's often rustic tannins
toward an elegant weight, keeping the wine
crisp, bright and constrained. All the power
of Toro without the bluster, this wine takes a
stand and does not retreat. -J.G. § Europvin
USA, Van Nuys, CA
93 | Ponce
$28
2021 Manchuela La Estrecha Bobal ^ Juan
Antonio Ponce was working with Telmo
Rodriguez before he decided to launch his
own project in Manchuela, where his father
owned some land. It was 2005 and he was
23 when he started working with bobal. He
sought ways to tame its rusticity with biodynamic
practices in the vineyard; and he finetuned
whole-bunch fermentations of the
chilled grapes without any additions other
than minimal sulfur at bottling. There's an
old-vine earthiness to the wine's savory red
fruit (this comes from a parcel planted in
1935). And there's a delicacy to the tannins
that draws you back for another taste: fresh
wild-blueberry energy. -J.G. § T. Edward, NY
91 | Ponce
$25
2021 Manchuela P.F. Bobal ^ This ambitious
bobal grows at a parcel planted in
1925. With it dense purple extract, it pushes
past a gamey complexity toward blueberryskin
tannins in the finish that one panelist
described as " crystalline, like sorbet. " There's
a lot of material here, needing a year to work
itself out. -J.G. § T. Edward, NY
90 | Edetària
$26
2020 Terra Alta Via Edetana Negre ^ A blend
of garnachas, syrah and cariñena, this wine's
bright Bing cherry and cranberry flavors
have sweet richness at the core. It's heady
Summ ER 2023
Wine & Spirits - Summer 2023

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