We have a limited selection of 5 summer wines from Italy and France available now in the store. They include a Glera, a Gavi, an Erbaluce, Pouilly-Fumé and a Minervois. Come in and pick up a few bottles before they are gone.
Below are tasting notes and select food pairing ideas.
Bisson Glera
Lugano works with his good friend Eli Spagnol of Torre Zecchei in the elite Valdobbiadene district of the Veneto, tailoring a racy, vivid, beautifully brisk Prosecco to our exacting specifications. Spagnol is in charge of a mere 30 hectares—tiny by Prosecco standards—and our wine is hand-harvested from shockingly steep hillside vineyards. Made using careful temperature regulation in order to preserve delicacy and freshness, the wine is bottled with just 2 grams per liter of residual sugar, a refreshingly bone-dry offering that stands in sharp contrast to its many cloying peers. Clean, bright, and refreshing, it presents notes of acacia honey, white flowers, crunchy green apples, and tart nectarines atop a subtly mineral underlay.
La Raia Pleo Gavi
Tasting notes
Colour: is straw yellow, with slight greenish hints. Aroma: offers a particularly fine mineral feeling and notes of fruit and white flowers. Mouthfeel: lively, balanced, with a fresh acidity, which increases its persistance and favours its drinkability. A slight almondish finish.
Pairings
Excellent as aperitif, paired with hors d’oeuvres and fish ragú or vegetable first courses. It is the perfect match also for seafood, white meat and fresh young cheese.
Why we like it
Grapes are handpicked around mid-September and, after a careful selection, they are destemmed. In this way grapes only arrive in the wine-press for a delicate pressing. After the natural decantation, must is put in stainless steel tanks to avoid microbiological alteration which could compromise the wine quality. The alcoholic fermentation lasts 15/20 days and takes place at the controlled temperature of 18° C. The wine is left on native yeasts for about 3/4 months; it is then cold stabilized, before being bottled in March. This method helps to obtain a fresh, ready to drink wine.
Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG – La Torrazza
- A dry white wine made with Erbaluce grapes from the vineyards of Borgomasino.
Tasting notes
- Colour: Lively, bright straw-yellow.
- Nose: A lightly floral nose and delicate aroma of white blossoms.
- Palate: Mineral, with good acidity, fresh tasting.
Technical notes
- Variety: Erbaluce
- Name: Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG – La Torrazza
- Region: Canavese (Piedmont)
- Soil type: glacial moraine
- Harvest: by hand
- Harvest time: end of September
- Number of bottles: about 20,000
Serving suggestions:
- Serve at: 8-10° C. Food pairing: appetizers, bisques, and seafood pasta dishes.
Nicolas Gaudry Pouilly-Fumé
Sixth generation of winegrowers, Nicolas Gaudry and his wife Sandy have been exploiting since 2003, 23 hectares of very fragmented plots between the villages of Boisgibault and Les Loges in the Nièvre. This distribution in the Pouilly vineyard offers possibilities for complex blends of all types of terroirs for a typical Pouilly-Fumé wine.
This elegant Pouilly-Fumé shows volume and consistency. Crispy and fresh wine with nice balance between fruity and minerality.
Minervois
The “Sentinelle” cuvée is the more precocious of the two reds produced at Massiac. The tannins are more supple and the fruit a touch sweeter, more forward and less rustic than its companion. Fermentation and élevage are in tank. The wine is bottled within a year of the harvest. The blend is three-quarters Syrah and one-quarter Carignan.
Appellation: Minervois
Region: Languedoc-Roussillon
Country: France
Feature: Organic
Raw Materials: Syrah, Carignan
Producer: Domaine de Massiac
Product information: The “Sentinelle” cuvée is the more precocious of the two reds produced at Massiac. The tannins are more supple and the fruit a touch “sweeter”, more forward and less rustic than its companion.