Le Sommelier Mixed Case: European Tour

Wine Type:
Style of Wine:	Various
Country of Origin:	Various
Grape Varietal:	Chardonnay, Various, Muskateller, and Barbera
Bottle Format:	750mL
Case Size:	6 bottles
$255.48 Per Case ($42.58/btl)

Tasting Notes

Each case contains one bottle of the following:

Brasserie Les Acolytes Banzaï Blanche Gingembre/Citronnelle, Cahors, France.

Matthieu Ressejac and Germain Croisille, long-time friends, created the microbrewery Les Acolytes in 2016 in the middle of the Château les Croisille vineyard, in Cahors, where Germain is the winemaker. They were joined by their friend Antoine in 2018, who worked for 6 years in Quito, Ecuador at the brewery Los 3 Monjes. He shared his experience and together they produce organic and artisanal beers, always looking for balance, fineness and pleasure. This Ginger Wheat Beer uses 60% barley malt (Pilsner), and 40% of wheat malt, with Hallertau Hersbrucker hops. 5%.

Loimer Pet Nat mit Achtung 2020, Kamptal, Austria.

The Muskateller for this biodynamic pét-nat comes from marine / limestone gravels in Gumpoldskirchen, Kamptal, and vines up to 20 years old. This was a whole cluster native fermented in barrels before heading to bottle during ferment, where it spent 6 months on lees. This was disgorged in March 2021. Beautiful florality, with an aromatic garden of flowers, fragrant melon, pear sorbet, meadow grass, and a wash of persistent, fine bubbles. Just off-dry, cloudy by intent, and 11%, this is a killer bottle of fun.

Kamara Pure Nimbus Albus Dry White 2019, PGI Thessaloniki, Greece.

This 50/50 Assyrtiko and Malagousia blend comes from the clay and schist slopes of Kamara-Oraiokastro Thessaloniki. Each variety is vinified separately in stainless, with three days skin contact, and full MLF, before blending and resting on lees for 3 months. Deeper hued and concentrated with burnished pear, honeysuckle, white peach, apricot, heady quince, anise, and ample fragrant chamomile, with lingering elderflower lining the oily palate, and scenting the concentrated finish. Quite a big impact for 13.5 degrees.

Niepoort Clos de Crappe Branco 2019, DOC Douro, Portugal.

The new Clos de Crappe white is based on the same idea Dirk had for the OG Clos de Crappe (red). The wine is serendipitous based on and created around technical errors or perceived flaws, in this case reduction. This comes from a single 80-year-old vineyard planted to Rabigato, Códega do Larinho, Gouveio and Malvasia Fina, rooted in sloping granitic soils at 500m. This was whole bunch pressed and native fermented in barrique, where it remained for 9 months. Reductive this certainly is, so give it some solid airtime to let the old vines show through. Alluring darts of fragrant lemon blossom and rind, dragonfruit, mirabelle plum, pear skin rule the slick medium-bodied palate, finishing gently, with a swell of warmth. The altitude and soils keep this fresh, while the reductive feature keeps things interesting. Crack and enjoy over a few hours (or day).

Suertes del Marques La Solana 2019, DO Valle de la Orotova, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.

La Solana is a single 1.5 hectare vineyard in northern Tenerife, between 350-450m and on clay atop volcanic soils. The family operation Suertes del Marqués organically farms 80-150 year old listán negro here, in the traditional cordón trenzado training system, employing minimal sulphur. After a native ferment in concrete, with 50% whole cluster, this aged 11 months in older French foudres before being bottled unfiltered. After a wave of reduction blows off, this opens into black cherry, black raspberry, broken earth on a scrubby, resinous, balsamic kissed palate. Tannins are long and fine and slightly sticky / gritty, hugging this textural wine through the lingering peppery finish. Such a singular, powerful (at 12.5%) wine.

Tenuta Il Palagio Casino delle Vie 2018, IGT Toscana, Italy.

Villa Il Palagio, tucked seamlessly into Tuscany’s fertile and lush rolling hills, has been a vine growing and wine making estate since the 16th century. The peaceful 350 hectare sanctuary has been the summer home of Sting and Trudie Styler for more than two decades. Over that time, they’ve carefully restored the historic property’s vineyards and olive groves, as well as the main villa, and guesthouses, transforming the estate into a vibrant and fully functioning organic farm and vineyard. This organic, biodynamic blend of 90% Sangiovese, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon comes from the calcareous clays and sands of the hills of Florence, at 330m. After a stainless ferment, it rested for 1 year in older small French barrels.

Critical Praise

Fill your wine passport with this whirlwind tour around Europe’s classic wine regions: France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Austria.