Even though all wines contain sugar, not all wines are considered sweet. As we all know, grapes are heavy in sugar, thus any wine, no matter how dry, has some naturally occurring sugars. Winemakers, on the other hand, use yeast to transform these natural sugars into ethanol, or alcohol, during fermentation.
While yeast will convert the majority of the sugar in the grapes to alcohol, sometimes the sugar in the grapes is substantially higher than expected, or winemakers choose to add additional sugar. As a result, the yeast is unable to convert all of the sugar to alcohol, resulting in a wine with higher residual sugar content.
In my wines+, we are presenting the top 20 wines of our cellar to accompany you in 2022.
The 2014 Stack House Cabernet Sauvignon bursts from the glass with aromas of blackberry, cherry, black currant and raspberry liqueur. Layers of crushed rock, spice and toasty oak compliment the fruit driven core. This wine is a great example of the 2014 vintage, showcasing phenomenal power and strength yet revealing a seductive richness and supple texture all in one glass.
Immediate aromatics escape the glass: blueberry, Mirabelle plum, ripe raspberry, Bing cherry and enchanting musk. On entry, the wine is seamless and enveloping with notes of Black plum, sweet cassis and blueberry compote on the mid-palate. Textured and long on the finish, the wine closes with a hint of dried lavender and dark chocolate.
VOSKENI winery is a special winery with a unique history. It took an expat American Armenian from Boston, the Communist revolution in Russia and a family's insistence on taking back what once was theirs to realize their great grandfather's dream of making world class wines.
The Areni vine is the emblem of a terrain suited to the viticulture that gives the wine its innate ability to surprise you with its noble character. Our winemaker meticulously selected these grapes from the best vineyards in the Yeghegnadzor region, and at the Armas cellar nurtured their fruition into this exceptional wine.
Checking in as a blend of 47% Grenache, 40% Mourvèdre and 13% Tannat (this is the first vintage to included Tannat, and since 2015 this cuvee has been more Grenache dominated), the 2016 G2 Vineyard is crazily exotic, with notes of black raspberries, white pepper, salty minerality, chalk and blood orange.
Another perfect wine in the lineup is the 2016 St. Eden, which comes from a hillside of red volcanic soils just outside of Oakville. As with the 2015, wine doesn't get any better, and this inky hued 2016 offers up a smorgasbord of creme de cassis, blackberries, crushed rocks, toasty oak, new leather, and tobacco.
Kanzler Vineyard began in 1996 as the dream of Steve and Lynda Kanzler. The vineyard location is near the edge of the Petaluma Wind Gap known as the Sebastopol Hills, which is a microclimate characterized by morning and evening fog, breezy afternoons and bright, but mild afternoon sun.
While grapes of this appellation can be grown in any of the villages of the Côte de Beaune except Aloxe-Corton, Beaune, Pommard and Volnay, the Jadot cuvée is mainly from Chorey-lès-Beaune and Ladoix. The Pinot Noir grapes are destemmed and fermented in open tanks for 25 to 33 days to extract color, tannin and aromas.
Oshin was founded in 2017 by Vahe Keushguerian, Vahe Gabrache, and Arman Manoukian. Oshin is a small production wine.The fruit comes from 40 to 60-year-old vines exclusively from two vineyards in Vayots Dzor, yielding grapes that are ripe and deeply concentrated in flavor. Oshin produces approximately 700 cases of wine on an annual basis.
There's a very complex and fresh nose with elegant red cherries, spices and light herbal nuances. Smells very fresh. The palate has beautiful focus and depth with effortless rich dark and red cherries cast amid perfectly proportioned silk-smooth tannins.
The 2013 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigneto La Casuccia is soft, open-knit and succulent. Silky tannins wrap around a core of dark red cherry, plum, rose petal mint and sweet spices. The Casuccia is the most sensual and racy of the Ama wines today. It should drink well with minimal cellaring.
A spicy Chianti Classico Riserva showing dried red plums, dried roses, mahogany, forest floor, cedar, white truffles, wet earth and leather. But it’s all so fresh and delightful. Deep and dark, boasting black cherry, blackberry, tar and sweet spice notes.
Underbrush and baked plum aromas mingle with whiffs of new leather and camphor. It's medium in weight and well structured, delivering dried black cherry, licorice and tobacco set against taut, fine-grained tannins.
A superb effort from this property’s new American ownership, the 2006 exhibits a deep ruby/purple color along with aromas and flavors of creme de cassis, spring flowers, crushed rocks, charcoal, and background toast.
Karas has more than 400 hectares of vineyards located at an average altitude of 1100 metres above sea level. The vineyards are part of Tierras de Armenia CJSC, a company that owns 2300 hectares of land in the west of the Armavir region.
All from the Sundance Vineyard on the Wahluke Slope, the 2015 Syrah The Deal (100% Syrah, not destemmed and aged in 30% new puncheons) offers smoking notes of red and black fruits, black olive, smoked earth and a huge meatiness. Full-bodied, silky and seamless, with a rock, mineral, backward style.
Amarone grew out of the Valpolicella evolution in viticulture which began about 60 years ago. Its predecessor was the Recioto, a sweet wine known since the ancient Roman times. Recioto was the result of the combination of high quality grapes actually selected on the vines and then picked shortly following their slight spontaneous withering.
