• Order the following wine by the case for home, restaurant or office delivery in Ontario along with those published in the previous newsletters from Nokhrin Wines or Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., if in the GTA phone 416 704-8617.

  
Vina Stekar ‘Emilio’ 2014
Goriška Brda, Primorske, Slovenia $35.00 12.5% alcohol 
This blend of Sauvignonasse/Rebula/Pinot Gris is from Certified Organic, hand-harvested, estate-grown fruit. Floral and mineral notes blend with aromas of quince jelly. It bathes the palate with a light-on-its-feet, nicely textured stream of ripe pear and apple mingling with Meyer lemon and wisps of honeycomb. Flavours replay on the balanced and beautiful, lengthy aftertaste. This is excellent sipped and a terrific ‘food wine’ given the pinpoint balance; pour with fish, seafood or roast chicken. (Vic Harradine)

  
Vina Stekar Sivi Pinot 2014
Goriška Brda, Primorske, Slovenia $35.00 12.0% alcohol 
Produced from organically grown grapes, fermented with wild yeasts then aged in neutral oak for several months, this Pinot Gris offers delicate floral notes and aromas of musk melon, apricot and citrus. Dry, light-medium bodied with a lovely satiny texture, it shows excellent balance and refinement. The tasty flavours of orchard fruit, grapefruit and lime are paired with well-defined acidity, hints of spice and a mineral undertone. Showing good length and an attractive note of pithy bitterness on the finish, the wine is an ideal sipper, or may be paired with appetizers, salads or light meat dishes. (Susan Desjardins)

  
Vina Stekar Merlot 2014
Goriška Brda, Primorske, Slovenia $40.00 14.0% alcohol 
Smoky/gamy aromas mingle with exotic spice, incense and dark cherry/berry fruit on the nose of this creamy-smooth medium-bodied red. It bathes the palate with fig, raisin and dark ripe berry fruit with replays on the balanced, lengthy finish and aftertaste. This was indigenous-yeast fermented then aged 12 to 14 months in seasoned oak barrels, now seamlessly integrated. Pour on its own or with mild chicken paprikash or Carniolan sausage. (Vic Harradine)

• Order the following wines—plus those in the previous March 15, 2016 newsletter—by the case for home, restaurant or office delivery in Ontario from VinoLuna wine agency. Contact via website, VinoLuna, by Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or in the GTA phone 416 587-6691.

• The following spectacular, organic, hand-harvested, 100% Sangiovese was sourced from a 7.5 ha plot at 300m above sea level. It was wild-yeast fermented in oak, aged 5 years in large French oak puncheons and 2 years in bottle before release.

  
Azienda Agricola S. G. Arcangelo ‘Cuccuvaia’ 2009
IGT Toscana $47.85 15.0% alcohol
A bouquet of grilled herbs, earthy/gamy notes and dark berry fruit aromas abound. It’s structured and complex with persistent purity of fruit, good balance and a monumentally long finish and aftertaste. A gusher of dried cherry, soy/balsamic and glorious, ripe fruit—black currant and cherry—blanket the palate, medium-full bodied and smooth as silk. The finish lasts a minute or more with replays of fruit, ripe figs, wonderful acidity and a soft tannin underpinning. In two words… absolutely delicious. (Vic Harradine)

  
Pavone Sangiovese 2013
IGT Toscana $40.75 15.0% alcohol
Sourced from hand-harvested organic grapes, fermented with native yeast, then aged 18-24 months in French oak, this is a lively, balanced, complex wine. The rich, lifted aromas invoke notions of exotic spice and vanilla, cedar, smoked meat and rich, ripe cherry/berry fruit. Dry, medium-full bodied, the palate is brimming with flavours of black cherry and currant, hints of smoke, dried herbs, sweet spice and dark chocolate. Ripe, drying tannin and a bright fresh texture frame and accent the bountiful fruit pervading the finish garnished with a delightfully decadent note of dark chocolate. Serve with grilled red meats or with aged Italian cheese and charcuterie. (Susan Desjardins)

  
Poggio Torselli ‘Torsellino del Poggio’ Rosso 2013
IGT Toscana $15.30 12.5% alcohol
This 100% Sangiovese will truly come to life with pasta in tomato sauce, lasagna or a roasted, meat-stuffed green pepper. A lively, fresh nose of spice, herbs, sweet vanilla and red cherry/berry aromas introduce a racy streak of tang with pie cherry and red currant to the fore joined by a sweet lick of kirsch liqueur on the finish. There’s a tell-tale Sangiovese bite on the aftertaste—this saw no oak aging; it’s good value. (Vic Harradine)

  
Poggio Torselli Chianti Classico DOCG 2013
DOCG Chianti Classico $24.85 13.5% alcohol
Subtle alluring notes of rose petal are interwoven with an earthy/mineral quality, a touch of spice and aromas of red cherry/berry. This juicy, mid-weight wine delivers focused flavours of red fruit paired with chalky, drying tannins and lively clean acidity. Notes of spice, pepper and charry toast emerge on the long, dry finish. It will benefit from a further year or two of cellaring, but may be paired now with tagliatelle with duck ragu, or bistecca fiorentina. (Susan Desjardins)

  
Poggio Torselli ‘Riserva’ Chianti Classico 2011
DOCG Chianti Classico $29.95 13.0% alcohol
This has it all, complex and refined aromas, bold and rich flavours and deft balance with a lengthy, fruit-forward and tang-laced finish. Espresso roast, kirsch liqueur and violets on the nose, it coats the palate with black juicy Bing cherry and dark berry fruit garnished with bittersweet chocolate and wisps of gamy notes. It’s medium-plus weight with good mouth feel and a lingering aftertaste that’s luscious and lip-smacking good. It’s an exceptional red from a premium producer at a favourable price. (Vic Harradine)

• The town of Carmignano is 12 miles NW of Florence; this DOCG is Italy’s oldest and smallest wine zone. Tenuta Capezzana, a family-owned producer of the following two wines, is one of the oldest wineries in Tuscany with documented winemaking back to 804. In the 14C Cabernet Sauvignon was introduced with small amounts blended into Sangiovese and indigenous varieties. It’s now enshrined in DOCG regulations; wine must contain between 10 – 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. The following wine, Villa di Capezzana, was sourced from vineyards at 700m with sustainably grown fruit—they gained their organic certification in 2015 becoming one of Tuscany’s first to be certified. This was wild-yeast fermented in stainless steel, undergoing malolactic conversion in large, seasoned, French oak barrel, 12 months oak aging and 12 months in bottle before release. Susan and I both thought this was delicious now with great aging potential.

   
Tenuta Capezzana ‘Villa di Capezzana’ 2012
DOCG Carmignano $34.40 15.0% alcohol
This excellent red blend—80% Sangiovese, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon—is creamy smooth, fully textured and fruit-laden. An alluring bouquet of cedar, exotic spice and wisps of chocolate herald a firmly structured flow of black currant and red cherry robed in excellent red berry tang plus herbs and spice underpinned with fine-grained tannin. Pop corks 2018—it should reward you handsomely—drinking through 2023. (Vic Harradine)

• The following wine was sourced from de-classified fruit from younger vines than what’s in the DOCG Carmignano above. It also has 10% of the softer, indigenous grape Canaiolo blended in to ameliorate the tannin—the full blend is 70% Sangiovese, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Canaiolo, 5% Cabernet Franc. It spends less time aging in barrel—6 to 12 months—and only 3 months in bottle before release.

  
Tenuta Capezzana Barco Reale di Carmignano 2014
DOC Barco Reale di Carmignano $19.90 13.5% alcohol 
Fresh lively aromas of bright red cherry and wisps of piquant spice open a mid-weight wash of ripe briary berry and pie cherry mingling with earthy notes and grilled herbs. This is quite smooth and silky on the palate. It ends with a warm, tangy/savoury Sangiovese bite on the mid-length finish. Pour alongside pasta with Bolognese sauce under grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. (Vic Harradine)