Leading luxury publication Robb Report included two gems from the VINTUS portfolio in its annual Best of the Best issue, Champagne Bollinger La Grande Année 2008 and Masseto 2015.

In comparison to the other outstanding Champagne releases in 2008, Wine columnist Sara Schneider notes “the Pinot Noir–based Champagne Bollinger 2008 La Grande Année stands out for its power, tamed by practices unique to its barrel rooms and kilometers of underground cellars.” She adds, “The result is a gorgeous sparkler with generous, mouth-filling flavors, balanced in this moment between the freshness of youth and complex maturity.”

Moving on to Masseto, Schneider notes the 2015 vintage was especially remarkable and “opens with aromas of damp loam, spice and perfumed berries followed by flavors of dark cassis on a palate of unmatched depth and length.” In addition to the wine, Schneider shares details about Masseto’s new subterranean winery. “In this case, the underground cathedral includes production spaces stepping deep into the hill, from tank room, where custom concrete vessels double as art, to pool-studded barrel room. It was an exceptional year for both wine and winery.”

She more details about both wines in her detailed write up HERE

As summer progresses and nations around the globe begin to lift their quarantine restrictions, restaurants have thankfully reopened their doors. Wine Spectator’s Robert Camuto reports on Italy’s New Normale dinning scene after returning to his home in Verona after three months of lock down in France.

Camuto interviews Gianpaolo Spinelli, the manger of Verona’s Caffè Dante Bistrot, owned by the Tommasi family. The historic establishment, which was awarded Wine Spectator’s Best of Award of Excellence for its wine list, opened in late May, with a shorter menu. Nonetheless, customers flocked to the establishment in celebratory fashion; Spinelli noted that “The first week we were open we sold out all our bottles of Bollinger […] The things people don’t drink at home.”

To read the full report on the reopening in Italy and the Tommasi Family Estates, read the full article HERE.

Business Insider features Dog Point Vineyards in their latest publication highlighting sustainable alcohol brands. The New Zealand based winery not only proudly has the largest number of organic vineyards, but also manages to host the most native flora and water reserves in the country. All these measures are taken in order to offset monoculture farming, something vineyards around the world could stand to consider!

The article includes a brief review of two of Dog Points best selling wines, the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir, ” The Sauvignon blanc is what the region is best known for (pair that stuff with raw shellfish and enter another world), but Dog Point’s Pinot Noir isn’t to be scoffed at.” All of the wines are organically grown, hand-harvested and responsibly fermented.

Read the full feature HERE.

Stephen Tanzer, critic and editor at Vinous Media, recently published his second Napa Valley Retrospective of 2020, this time focusing on the 2001 Cabernet Sauvignons. Wedged between the three cool vintages from 1997-2000 and the hot 2002-2004 vintages, the 2001 vintage has proven to be a Napa Valley classic. Despite heavy frost in April causing significant damage to the vineyards, 2001 saw a very warm May that was followed by lower than normal temperatures during July, August and September — allowing for long hang time and slow flavor development without concentration of sugars.

The finished wines impressed, Tanzer recalls their, ” fine-grained, silky textures, their retention of fresh fruit character, their harmonious framing acidity and substantial but refined tannins.” As part of the retrospective, Tanzer re-tasted the 2001 Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, which received 95 points. The review details the wine’s aging potential, “captivating floral lift to the very primary aromas of black cherry, cassis, minerals and earth, plus subtle notes of coffee and mocha. Tactile and sharply delineated, delivering a wonderful balance of sweet fruit and salty mineral and soil elements. Still linear but not at all angular, this penetrating wine finishes firmly tannic, classically dry, subtle and very long, with echoing mineral complexity. Really complete Cabernet here–and stuffed with flavor.”

To learn more about the 2001 vintage and Chateau Montelena, read the full retrospective HERE.

Wine Spectator reports that Oregon has gained two new wine appellations: Laurelwood District and Tualatin Hills. Both AVAs are located in the northwest corner of the Willamette Valley, with Laurelwood being the smaller of the two. Senior editor Tim Fish elaborates that Lawuewood “spans 33,600 acres, 1,000 of which are planted to vine. It’s home to more than 30 wineries, and hugs the north-and-east-facing slopes of the Chehalem Mountains,encompassing within its borders the highest elevation in the Willamette Valley.

In an interview with winemaker at Ponzi Vineyards, Luiza Ponzi commented that “The most significant thing about this AVA is that it’s defined by soil, not just geographic boundary […] Young vineyards in the AVA tend to produce elegant, red-fruited Pinot Noirs with light tannins. But as the vines age and the roots spread to the basalt, the wines change. They develop darker and brambly blueberry fruit, with fennel and licorice.” Ponzi, along with Dion Vineyard, formally filed the petition for the Laurelwood AVA in 2016.

To learn more about the new AVAs and Ponzi Vineyards, read the full story HERE.

Wine Spectator features Ornellaia, Masseto, Petrolo and Le Macchiole in senior editor Bruce Sanderson’s latest Tuscan vintage report. The blistering heat, severe storms, frost and drought of the 2017 vintage in Tuscany were clearly harsh conditions; director of Ornellaia and Masseto, Axel Heniz, described it as “a winemakers vintage, if you got it wrong, it’s going to show.”

Heniz details that, “It was necessary to achieve ripe tannins, which meant not picking too early. Many had finished the harvest in Bolgheri by mid-September, but the second half of the month was cooler.” Heinz and his team finished picking at the end of September. “It was a vintage you had to read properly,” he adds. “You couldn’t make any mistakes, because it was not a forgiving vintage.”

For the white wines, Sanderson gives high claim to Petrolo’s Toscana White Bòggina B 2017, which “ups the ante, offering opulent peach, melon, lemon and wild herb flavors wrapped in a cloak of vanilla-accented oak.” Similarly Ornellaia’s rare Toscana White 2017 “is the most expensive white in this report, but also one of the best, with complex peach, passion fruit and elderflower aromas and flavors ending in a saline note.”

To learn more about the 2017 vintage and these estates, read the full article HERE.

Wine Spectator Senior Editor Bruce Sanderson caught up with Ornellaia’s star winemaker, Axel Heinz, on Straight Talk, the publication’s twice weekly Instagram Live interview series.

The engaging interview covered several topics, spanning from his winemaking philosophy and Ornellaia’s evolution since he joined, to how the winery has pivoted during the pandemic. It should be noted that he has the longest tenure (15 years) of any estate director at the winery, and under his leadership they’ve acquired new vineyards and introduced white wines into the portfolio.

Click below to watch the full interview or take look at some highlights in the enclosed PDF!

Wine-Searcher included Masseto and Le Macchiole Messorio in a story highlighting four iconic merlots from Tuscany.

Masseto is described as the most sought-after wine in all of Italy, which is sourced from a single vineyard at Ornellaia. The write up shares background for how this wine came to be as explained by Ornellaia and Masseto estate director Axel Heinz. There are a lot of great anecdotes and details within the story, so we encourage you to read it in full!

Le Macchiole is 100 percent Merlot, which keeps with Le Macchiole proprietor Cinzia Merli’s philosophy to highlight a single grape in their top wines. She said, “we did that to try and represent the area through a single variety. It’s like taking a picture – a variety in a specific vintage in the Bolgheri area.” Continuing, she added, “It’s not easy because usually you don’t have many chances to change the final result in every vintage using different varieties to adjust the final results. But the wines are more precise, the wines have more focus. We love this kind of style.” Read the story to learn much more about the grape selection and winemaking details for this wine.

Full story can be found HERE