Precision wine making at its best!

Tasting Notes

2014 Château La Louvière is very attractive, with a beautiful dark red colour featuring multiple purple highlights. Above all, this 2014 La Louvière reflects precision winemaking to obtain the very best from the grapes. Its freshness contributes to a long aftertaste, as well as excellent ageing potential.

Production

Specifications

2016 was one of the finest vintages in the past 20 years of this red wine which exudes an elegant bouquet and delicate hints of oak.....

Tasting Notes

Colour

This wine is garnet-red in colour with a few carmine highlights. 

Nose

Its bouquet is wonderfully intense. On aeration, it releases black-berry fruit (blackberry, black cherry, plum) aromas, with hints of cake spices. 

Palate

On the palate, this wine is very rich and well-balanced. The aftertaste is long, with slight tarry overtones. The tannin is not yet fully resolved. These characteristics are indicative of its good ageing potential: it would be best to wait two or three years to appreciate its full complexity.

Production

Specifications

Please contact Alan directly if you are interested in these wines - as En Primeur they are currently in barrel and not in stock.

A unique and elegant wine.

L'Bruno de' Venti

The  story  is  told  that  many  years  ago, the  woods  surrounding  this vineyard were  the  refuge  of  a  dark  skinned reclusive  with  piercing  eyes, very  attractive  to  women. He  lived  by  poaching  game and  doing  whatever  he could. No  one  knew  exactly  where he  lived,  but  from  time  to  time he  appeared  near  Poggio  ai  Venti vineyard,  and  so  the  people hereabouts  called  him “’l  Bruno de’  Venti ” (the  Dark  Fellow  of  the  Winds).

Introducing Fattorie dei Dolfi

Born from ancient family vineyards and the infectious passion of a career-change winemaker, Fattorie dei Dolfi is a relatively young estate with a remarkably bright future. Giovanni Dolfi initially pursued a very successful career as a horse trainer during which he had the opportunity to meet the Queen Mother and began working for Marchese Incisa della Rocchetta, the owner of the legendary Tenuta San Guido which produces Sassicaia. Through this connection he was introduced to the estate’s winemaker, Giacomo Tachis, who is regarded as the father of Sassicaia and was named Decanter’s Man of the Year in 2011. From then on Giovanni’s fate was sealed and it was only a matter of time before he and Giacomo began exploring how to unlock the potential of his family’s century-old vineyards close to the city of Pisa. Oeno Director and Co-founder Daniel Carnio describes Giovanni’s project as “a small paradise” thanks to his relentless commitment to quality in his vineyards. Most of Fattorie dei Dolfi’s plots are surrounded by woodland which helps to shield the vines from contamination from other forms of agriculture and preserves a high degree of biodiversity. As well as creating a very low incidence of disease, this also means the estate does not need to use any chemicals on the vines. To allow the remarkable quality of the fruit to shine through, Giovanni uses a light touch in the winery as well with his wines ageing in oak barrels previously used for Sassicaia. The estate’s top wines will be produced in tiny quantities of a few thousand bottles a year, making them highly attractive for investors and collectors of fine and rare Italian wines.

The Artorius and Imeneus red wines are both crafted using the Prugnolo Gentile grape which is the Sangiovese clone typically used in Montalcino. The former is an easy-going style ideal for enjoying with family and friends alongside a simple, wholesome meal. Imeneus, which is named after the beautiful son of Aphrodite and Bacchus in Greek mythology, is a more serious red which ages in oak barrels for up to 36 months. This bottling is a true collector’s wine with a remarkably complex flavour profile and high investment potential.

Finally, Bianco Per Amore is Giovanni’s personal project, created to be a wine that he himself would like to drink. Reminiscent of fine white Burgundy, this generous and full bodied white is made from a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot grapes. Giovanni only produces around 150 bottles of this very special wine of which he retains a significant proportion for his own drinking pleasure!

Tasting Notes

‘L Bruno De’ Venti is a Bordeaux blend. Dark currents pervade with a muscular back bone. Pure of fruit, the tannins are well rounded. Merlot vines from massal selection or between 50-70 years old. Cabernet Franc vines from massal selection of old vines.

Colour

Ruby red tending to garnet, velvety yet brilliant.

Fragrance

Very fragrant and rich with intense notes of cherry, plums and hints of toasted spices.

Flavour

Authoritarian and persistent, with soft and elegant tannins.

Bottles Produced

• Vintage 2008: 1743 (non more available).    
• Vintage 2009: 1790 (non more available).    
• Vintage 2010: 1696 (non more available).
• Vintage 2011: 1811 (non more available).
• Vintage 2012: 1432 

Specifications

A complex and elegant Haut-Médoc, from a good vintage.

Tasting Notes

Drinking beautifully now, this has a classic Médoc cigar box nose, followed by a textured, fleshy, plum fruit and aniseed-scented palate.

Production

From a total of 32 hectares of 30 year old Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot vines, planted on gravelly soils. After harvest, grapes are manually sorted to ensure optimal maturity. Temperature controlled open fermentation in concrete vats, with extended maceration and regular pumping over.

Producer

Château Lanessan has belonged to a succession of eight generations of the Bouteiller family since the 18th century. You might assume such a longstanding family to be traditional and staid, but in fact they are very open and receptive to new influences. In 2009 they employed winemaker Paz Espejo (who came to Bordeaux from her native Spain in the 1990s) to inject new vigour into the estate. Paz’s goal is to “grow excellent fruit while remaining loyal to our fantastic terroir”. Working alongside oeneologist Eric Boissenot and advised by Hubert de Boüard of Château Angélus, she has made significant changes in the vineyard and in the cellar that now are being reflected in the quality of the wines.

Sustainability

In 2011, Château Lanessan joined the Environmental Management System launched by the CIVB to promote sustainable and environmentally-friendly viticulture and in 2014, it was certified HVE Level 3.

Specifications