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Manoir de la Bellonnière is located in Cravant-les-Côteaux, the main village of the Chinon appellation. Patrice Moreau joined his great uncle in 1976 in their polyculture farm that had some vines. He was passionate about the vine growing side of the farm and in 1992 purchased ten hectares, which marks the official beginning of the Manoir de la Bellonnière. In 2008, his son Alexandre joined him at the winery and today they farm 30 hectares of vines mainly planted with Cabernet Franc and a small plot of Chenin. The vineyards have always been farmed in a conscientious manner, never treated with herbicides, and any treatments are chosen judiciously in response to climatic conditions. In 2022, they began the process for organic certification. In the cellar, Moreau states, "grapes naturally possess everything needed to make wine." There are no additions nor adjustments made to the wines, just sulfur is used at bottling. They make five wines total, a Chinon Blanc, a Chinon Rosé, and three red Chinon. We are very excited to introduce these wines to the US!
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Mount Eden Vineyards is a small, historic wine estate located on a 2000 foot peak in the Santa Cruz Mountain Appellation, about 15 miles from the Pacific Ocean. Founded by Martin Ray in 1945, it is recognized as one of the original boutique California Winery properties, focusing on small lots of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The Mount Eden Vineyard has been continuously producing estate bottled Pinot Noir and Chardonnay longer than anyone else in California.
Planted in austere, infertile Franciscan shale on a cool, exposed mountaintop, the 40 acre vineyard is farmed sustainably without any irrigation. It is comprised of 7 acres of Pinot Noir, 20 acres of Chardonnay and 13 acres of Bordeaux varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. In 2007 they purchased the former Cinnabar vineyard on a neighboring mountain top. Planted in 1983, this mature vineyard brought another 12 acres of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, as well as a little Cabernet Sauvignon. They renamed the property Domaine Eden and it has become the primary source for their Domaine Eden wines.
Winemaker and Proprietor Jeffrey Patterson has been making wine at Mount Eden since 1981. With three decades under his belt, he continues with the same goal as when he started: to express this singular vineyard. Fermentation is done with native yeasts, oak influence is kept minimal, and fining and filtering are minimal when used at all.
Few wineries in California have the sort of history that is found at Mount Eden and few wineries in the world can match the level of quality being produced here. This is a unique terroir being overseen by conscientious stewards and these are wines that could not possibly have come from anywhere else in the world. It’s as pointless to compare these wines to Burgundy and Bordeaux as it is to compare them to the rest of California; these wines are Mount Eden, pure and simple.
See also: Domaine Eden
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Château Mourgues du Grès is one of the pioneers of the Costières de Nîmes and is recognized as one of the very best estates in the region in the Wine Advocate and in the French magazines Revue de Vin de France, Guide Hachette, and Gilbert et Gaillard. Mourgues du Grès is run by Anne and François Collard. François’s father was the first owner and he made wine, but mostly sold grapes in bulk. François started his career in Bordeaux, working in the cellar at Château Lafite-Rothschild. In 1990, soon after the Costières de Nîmes received appellation status, François was inspired by the potential to make great wines from this little known appellation and he moved back to run the family winery. The first vintage bottled under the Château Mourgues du Grès name was in 1993.
The Costières de Nîmes is the southernmost region of the Rhône Valley. The terroir is influenced by the Rhône and the Mediterranean Sea. Like most of the southern Rhône, there is abundant sunshine, the weather is hot and mostly dry, and the Mistral wind helps to keep the vines healthy. The vineyards are covered with galets, the same round, flat stones that are famous in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The Costières de Nîmes is unique within the Rhône region because of the influence of the Mediterranean. The sea cools the nighttime temperature, giving the wines a lot of freshness.
François and Anne are both very passionate about nature. They have practiced organic agriculture since 2004 (certified in 2011); meticulous care and attention are paid to the work in the vineyards. François and Anne Collard never rush to make changes, but at the same time, are constantly searching for the best way to manage their vineyards to get a very pure expression of the Costières de Nîmes. In 2018, they began the process for biodynamic certification and from the 2020 vintage, the wines are certified.
Like the work in the vineyards, in the cellar, all decisions are carefully taken with the aim of getting the best expression. For the Collards, this means making wines in a natural way while maintaining a classic style. Whites and rosés are fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks; the reds are fermented in cement so that there is an oxygen exchange, and then are aged in cement or barrels depending on the cuvée. Since 2015, no sulfur is used during vinification or aging on any of the wines, only a small amount at bottling. Total sulfur used is approximately 50mg/L on the whites and rosés and 40mg/L on the reds. Making wine without sulfur has its challenges, but it is worth the risk for all that is gained in greater fruit purity.
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The Müller estate consists of 10 hectares, mostly Riesling (90% of their holdings) and a little Pinot, both Noir and Blanc. Everything is hand-harvested on rolling hillsides teeming with life and vegetation. The vines see no herbicides and no pesticides—only some fungicide when needed.
The labels depict topographical maps of each vineyard. The most well-known site they have is Krettnacher Altenberg—mainly blue slate and the local green slate known as Diabas (cf. Zilliken’s vineyards). Their largest holding is the Euchariusberg (pronounced oy-sharius-berg) where they have 5 hectares of vines planted in 1944 and 1964. This is a rambling, diverse terroir from which Stefan derives emphatically delicious Rieslings, especially in sweet prädikats. The parcels in Niedermennig are red slate and contain many old, ungrafted vines. Though less well known than the others, the Niedermenniger sites are hidden gems of extraordinary quality and history which deserve a brighter spotlight shone on them. At Bowler we focus on these sites with great excitement.
In the cellar, Müller also follows a surprisingly ad hoc usage of barrels and tanks, with no strict design for which wines go in what vessel; however, once a wine starts fermentation in one tank or barrel, it ages in that same vessel until completion. There is no chaptalization, and all wines ferment with wild yeast; sulfur is only added at bottling. In other words, Stefan skews organic at his small estate, but does not adhere strictly to the regimen that word implies: he is, in a word, pragmatic. The wines at Müller are exquisitely balanced, succulent, wildly aromatic, unapologetically ripe, and true to the Saar.
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Murray McDavid was established by London wine merchants Mark Reynier, Simon Coughlin and Springbank Distillery’s Gordon Wright. They quickly gained a reputation for maturing whisky in interesting casks, especially in fine wine casks.
In 2000, the Murray McDavid team set about reopening the closed Bruichladdich Distillery on Islay, engaging the services of Jim McEwan, Islay’s most celebrated Master Distiller.
In 2012, spirits giant Remy Cointreau purchased Bruichladdich Distillery and Murray McDavid. Later, Murray McDavid was sold to its current owners, leading Scotch whisky broker, Aceo Ltd.
Today, the home of Murray McDavid is Coleburn Distillery in Speyside, where they continue the tradition of bottling artfully-matured Scotch whisky.
They buy spirit at many different ages, some not yet old enough to be called a Scotch whisky whilst a small amount has already been maturing for thirty years. Their Whisky Creations Team assess not only the quality of new spirit coming into their warehouses but also the structure of the spirit with one question in mind… what would elevate the character of the whisky?
Whether it’s a hearty peated malt from Islay or a soft sweet malt from Speyside, the interaction between the spirit and oak is equally as critical but they need to be treated differently. A light style of spirit, distilled using tall copper stills, will require a gentler style of maturation – just a few months in a 1st fill bourbon barrel or a refill Sherry hogshead. A thick, oily style of malt will be able to stand-up to a heavier style of maturation, multiple years in a 1st fill red wine barrique or a Pedro Ximinez Sherry cask.
CASK CRAFT Series
The ‘Cask Craft’ is a range of single malts from across Scotland, artfully matured in a variety of wood types, displaying fine balance of oak and spirit.
BENCHMARK Series
The heart of our range offering outstanding, mature single malts, showcasing the art of maturation. Single Casks individually numbered.Image:
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When our friends at Vintage ’59 Imports told us they were “dipping their toes” into Italy, we were intrigued, considering the strength of their toes elsewhere. They brought us the wines of Giuseppe Nada, a small family-run estate in the village of Treiso in Barbaresco. We tasted and, luckily, there was not much to think about: there was a “there there” that was undeniable, a transparent nonchalance in the glass with nothing overwrought.
From Roy Cloud of Vintage ’59:
“On March 27, 1900, a forefather of Giuseppe Nada sealed a deal on a vineyard, orchard, and a small house on a steep hillside in the commune of Treiso. The vineyard was in the cru of Casot, and that forefather bought the parcel from a fellow by the name of Gaja....
...The Nada holdings in the two constitute six hectares (almost 15 acres), which is the totality of vines owned by this industrious family. These days, Giuseppe and Nella stay fit maintaining the vineyards where they do practically all of the work, while their daughter Barbara manages the office and their enologist son Enrico oversees the wine production down in the cellar....Once Enrico came on board, his keen intelligence and passionate direction allowed the family to go organic in the vineyards in 2014. They received initial certification in 2017, while the white vineyards will be certified in 2018 and 2019. In the cellar, Enrico now lets all of the red wines ferment spontaneously....
...The three towns of what is now a DOCG are Treiso, Neive, and Barbaresco. They form a triangle: Barbaresco in the west, Neive in the east, and Treiso—the smallest in acreage and highest in elevation—in the south. Innately, Barbaresco and Treiso lean toward elegance while Neive can pack more power and structure, but the differences can be readily rendered mute by the hand of man. It is worth noting, however, that if it snows, it snows first in Treiso, and Treiso’s altitudes give it the widest diurnal swings.”Image:
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Nalle is a small family run winery with father, mother and son all having important roles in daily operations. Doug Nalle received a masters degree in enology at U.C. Davis in 1979 and since the first vintage in 1984 Doug (now alongside his son Andrew) has refused to give in to the fashion for high alcohol, jammy zins. As a result, they remain off the radar of the mainstream wine critics and that's OK with them.
Although they also make tiny amounts of Chardonnay & Pinot Noir from Russian River, Nalle is best known for their Dry Creek Zinfandel, a classic field blend made in a traditional style. With modest alcohol levels, tasteful oak treatment, and incredible age-ability, this estate remains one of the benchmark Dry Creek Zins being made today.
The grapes come from two vineyards in the Dry Creek Valley. Their main source, just steps from the winery, is their family vineyard, Henderlong Ranch, which was planted in 1927 by Fred and Ruby Henderlong, the great grandparents of Andrew Nalle. The other, Sibary Vineyard, was planted more recently in 1999.
The winemaking for the Zinfandel is aimed towards making expressive wines rather than blockbusters. Nalle is always one of the first wineries to begin the harvest each fall and they still check every bunch by hand on a sorting table, a practice considered too time consuming for most California wineries. After sorting they undergo a three day cold soak followed by 7-14 days of fermentation on the skins, punched down 2-3 times per day. Finally the wine is aged for 11 months in 25% new French oak before bottling.
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For more information on Clos Marfisi, please visit Selection Massale.
Available in California.
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Nicolas-Jay is a collaboration between two long-time friends: famed Burgundian winemaker Jean-Nicolas Méo of Domaine Méo-Camuzet and music entrepreneur and wine lover Jay Boberg. In 2011, Jay approached Jean-Nicolas with the idea of starting a small winery in Oregon. At the time, Jean-Nicolas had been making wine at Méo-Camuzet for nearly 25 years and was intrigued by the prospect of working with Pinot Noir in a new terroir.
Recognizing that the wines of Nicolas-Jay would be defined by their vineyards, Jean-Nicolas and Jay embarked on an extensive exploration of the Willamette Valley. They built relationships with some of the region's finest vineyards and eventually took ownership of Bishop Creek Vineyard in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA, after being captivated by the expressiveness of the site. The vineyard, planted in the late 1980s on ungrafted rootstock, contributes to every multisite wine, imparting a savory quality and tight-knit structure that is consistent throughout the Nicolas-Jay range.
In the cellar, Jean-Nicolas uses spontaneous native yeast fermentations. The grapes are 100% destemmed and pressed very slowly at low pressure to emphasize pure fruit flavors and achieve a silky mouthfeel. The wines are aged in François Frères barrels (25-50% new) and are left unfined and unfiltered. Since their first vintage in 2014, Nicolas-Jay has quickly earned recognition as one of the premier producers of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the Willamette Valley.
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Launched in 2013, this new project was inspired by the spirituality of the people who have made mezcal here since before the Pre-Columbian era. Bernardo Sada, the founder of the project, was born in Oaxaca city in 1986. An evolutionary biologist by profession, he has worked in several sustainability projects, as well as projects regarding Mexican ancestral botany and pre-Hispanic cultures. It was this work that led him into the world of mezcal production, together with Eleazar Brena, an agronomist and professor at the University of Mihuatlan in Oaxaca, where he teaches agave reforestation and ecology, and his father Don Marcos Brena, the fifth generation of his family to make mezcal. Currently 83, Don Marcos learned to cook, ferment and distill mezcal at the age of 12. He lived through the mezcal prohibition era, when he and other maestros had to make mezcal in hiding. Today, he is a shepherd, and it is on hiLaunched in 2013, this new project was inspired by the spirituality of the people who have made mezcal here since before the Pre-Columbian era. Bernardo Sada, the founder of the project, has worked in several sustainability projects, as well as projects regarding Mexican ancestral botany and pre-Hispanic cultures. Together with Eleazar Brena, an agronomist and professor who teaches agave reforestation and ecology, and his father Don Marcos Brena, the fifth generation of his family to make mezcal, it was this work that led him into the world of mezcal production.The mezcals are made in San Luis Amatlán in Oaxaca (the cradle of mezcal) by maestros mezcaleros who practice the secret techniques passed down to them by their forefathers. The line is based on four varieties of agave—Espadín, Tobalá, Coyote de Amatlán (also known as Madrecuixe or Madre-Cuishe) and Jabalí—specifically selected for their sustainability, a driving force behind the project.
The arid and semi-arid Amatlánes region of Oaxaca presents a favorable climate for cultivating agave, especially wild agave. They started with the cultivation of Espadín, and then began to experiment with the reforestation of wild species as a way to improve biodiversity and maintain the health of the local ecosystem. They are now pioneering the cultivation of Tobalá and Coyote as semi-wild agaves and continue to experiment with the cultivation of other wild agaves including Tepeztate. At this time, they do not believe that it is responsible to make mezcal from Tepeztate which can take up to 35 years to reach maturity.
Each bottle of Mezcal Noble Coyote identifies the maestro mezcalero that distilled it, the village in which it was made, the type of agave used identified by both its scientific name and the common name used in the place where the plants were grown, and the lot and bottle number of the particular batch. The mezcals are not aged; they believe that the mezcals “age in the plant” as the agaves live out their 8-12+ years of life soaking up the sun, air, water and earth in Oaxaca. It is the special terroir of San Luis Amatlán and San Agustín Etla that gives these mezcals their flavor.
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