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Popular Wines

Popular Wines

Popular Wines

As magical and enigmatic as the world of wine can be, it’s not always easy to find your way around. Every day, inexperienced wine enthusiasts try to explore new blends and end up with a shopping list that their budget simply cannot support. Every high-quality wine is a unique, important experience, one that opens a person’s taste palate to a whole new world of flavor and pleasure. Something primal awakens within, urging you to find new and more compelling aromas and textures. But with so much to choose from, where do you begin?

When it comes to wine, popular blends are relatively common for a reason. They serve as an excellent entry point into the world of fine wine, and studying them lets you understand more obscure, complicated wines out there. A collection has to start somewhere, and these blends are often easier to get and help you develop your taste. Imagine bonding with your friends and family over a brand you’re all familiar with and able to appreciate to its fullest. Good wine offers something new, yet vaguely familiar with each glass, as your mouth picks up on subtleties in the liquid that tempt you further and inspire thought and introspection, uncorking new conversation topics and improving the mood no matter the situation.

If you’re looking for safe picks, you want to set your sights on quality brands from Italy, France, and Spain. A glass of sultry Sangiovese or Trebbiano Toscano can liven up a family meal and impress even the stuffiest guests while being a perfect partner to any traditional Italian dish you can think of. One taste of a Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay is enough to let France stand out as a breeding ground of divine, elegant elixirs that can fit the taste of any enthusiast. Meanwhile, Spain offers powerful blends such as Garnacha, Bobal, or Tempranillo, helping you create memorable moments out of even the most ordinary evening. And this is only scratching the surface.

Our goal is to introduce you to popular, tested brands the same way we would introduce you to a potential soulmate. With the right mood and some good timing, you can develop a healthy, pleasurable relationship with wine that lasts a lifetime.

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2017 castello dei rampolla vigna dalceo Italy Red

The 2017 D’Alceo possesses mind-blowing intensity and pedigree to burn. Rich, ample and explosive, the 2017 is magnificently impressive right out of the gate. Lavender, rose petal, spice, kirsch, mint and violet lead into a core of inky dark blue/purplish berry fruit. Soft contours and suave, silky tannins give the 2017 so much immediacy, but there is plenty of cellaring potential too. In a word: epic.Vinous Media | 100 VMIt’s not easy to wrap your head around the Castello dei Rampolla 2017 d’Alceo. The wine is exaggerated on almost every front, including its powerful tannins, shaped by a scorching hot and dry vintage that produced super concentrated fruit. I can’t say that this vintage is my style or that it delivers the extreme elegance and finesse that this estate at the heart of Panzano, one of the greatest growing sites in Italy, is capable of. However, there is a lot to be said about this blend of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with Petit Verdot. The wine opens to an almost impenetrable appearance with inky black hues and unruly intensity. The power of the bouquet is driven by the ripeness of the fruit and perhaps a positive pinch of volatile acidity (just the right amount for emphasis) that adds extra lift and punch to the overall effect. Syrupy blackberry segues to smoky tar and resin. We saw impactful tannins in the 2016 Sammarco, but the 2017 d’Alceo takes that astringency one step further. The 2017 will sure take many years to reach harmony, although I suspect that the tannic imprint is here to stay.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPUnderbrush, scorched earth and leather aromas mingle with camphor and whiffs of blue flower on this full-bodied red. The savory palate is concentrated and tightly wound, offering spiced blueberry, ripe black plum and chewing tobacco alongside firm, close-grained tannins.Wine Enthusiast | 94 WE

100
VM
As low as $429.00
2018 podere il carnasciale il caberlot Italy Red

The 2018 Il Caberlot is a stunning wine. It’s not the most immediate nor explosive Caberlot, but it is such a tremendous example of this wine. The bouquet alone is mesmerizing. Crushed herbs, rose petal, mint, blood orange, incense and sweet pipe tobacco all build in the glass. Imagine Cheval Blanc, but with a good dose of Tuscan sun. Readers who can find the 2018 should not hesitate, as it is magical. I imagine it will be even better in the commercial magnums than this 750ml tasting sample.Antonio Galloni | 100 AG(Il Caberlot “Trentesimo”- Podere Il Carnasciale) The 2018 is the thirtieth vintage of Il Caberlot ever produced by Podere Il Carnasciale, so the Rogosky family has naturally noted this on the label with the “Trentesimo” moniker to mark the occasion. I have to also note my satisfaction at receiving a sample of this wine in a regular-sized bottle (remember that Il Caberlot is only commercialized in magnums), with the label dutifully reporting it as a “demi-magnum”. The wine is an absolute classic in the making, offering up a pure and complex nose of cassis, dark berries, a touch of Tuscan herb tones, Cuban cigar wrapper, a beautiful base of soil tones and a deft framing of cedary new oak. On the palate the wine is pure, refined and full-bodied, with a fine core of black fruit, lovely soil inflection, ripe, buried tannins and a long, superbly balanced and seamless finish. I love the sense of grace here, as the wine comes in at 13.5 percent octane and shows a beautiful synthesis of perfectly ripe fruit and classical aesthetic sensibilities. What a wine to mark the thirtieth anniversary vintage of Il Caberlot! (Drink between 2032-2080)John Gilman | 96 JGCompelling aromas of truffle, violet, raspberry and cherry draw you in, while the supple texture and vibrant structure hold your attention. Balanced and open, this red is appealing from beginning to end. Caberlot. Drink now through 2029. 800 cases made, 120 cases imported. Wine Spectator | 94 WSImpressive aromas of sage, mint and currants follow through to a full body with round, fine tannins that are nicely integrated into the wine. Fresh and vivid finish. Very balanced and attractive. Drink in 2023 and onwards, but already very attractive.James Suckling | 94 JS

100
VM
As low as $499.00
2021 sassicaia Super Tuscan/IGT

Here it is: A quintessential Sassicaia that represents the excellence of the vintage and also respects the unique taste profile of this distinguished Tuscan blend of Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc. The Tenuta San Guido 2021 Bolgheri Sassicaia offers impeccable balance, excellent freshness and absolutely no signs of over-ripeness. The fruit balance is ideal with a hint of crunch and lasting tension from pulp and skins. The tannins are deftly managed with firm grip and enough velvetiness to add volume and length. There is no greenness on the bouquet that instead offers mulled herbs and spice, with cinnamon and clove, layered delicately between mostly red and some purple berry fruits. Redcurrant, blueberry, sweet pomegranate and Rainier cherry run strong in this vintage. A fragrant hint of heritage rose emerges with time. The oak tones are geared toward gingerbread, hazelnut, cigar, sandalwood and something like a grilled sweet red pepper. To the palate, it offers nice weight with no heavy glycerin, and a rinse of acidity that adds to the wine’s natural energy, brightness and viscosity. That marked freshness opens the wine up to long aging potential, but you still need to give it more time in bottle.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPIn 2021, ‘we had a nicely paced harvest... surely a very fortunate vintage for us, for Bolgheri,’ said Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta at the launch in London of the 2021 vintage of Sassicaia. Welcome rain in mid-August came at just the right time to save the harvest, and production ended up being slightly higher than in 2020. Around eight to 10 separate vinifications were made, fermented in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts and spontaneous malo. The wines were racked to second- and third-use barriques in December 2021, then racked into a mixture of new and used barriques in March 2022. The last step was to make the final blend in stainless tanks, where the wine underwent micro-oxygenation before bottling and further maturation in bottle. Rich dark fruit and herb aromatics are pockmarked by blueberry and petrichor, leading into an intense and vertical palate that’s super-fresh with a delightful breezy, saline character. Textured, integrated tannins emphasise the refinement of Sassicaia, showing just a touch of youthful dustiness. Tangy, bright black, blue and red berry fruits overlay underlying hints of dark chocolate and forest undergrowth in a remarkably precise fashion, with pomegranate and a stony minerality surfacing on the mid-palate. 2021 demonstrates lovely sapidity of fruit along with that characteristic freshness and lightness of step, finishing long and poised. Superb. 99-100.Decanter | 99 DECThe gorgeous 2021 Sassicaia stuns with its class, extreme elegance, energy and depth. It’s remarkably fragrant, featuring enticing aromas of cassis, cedar blue flower, exotic spice and a whiff of sea breeze. The delicious palate is focused and loaded with finesse, delivering ripe raspberry, black currant, blood orange, star anise a hint of coffee bean accompanied by taut, fine-grained tannins. Bright acidity gives it racy tension and provides impeccable balance and serious aging potential. Drink 2029–2041. Abv: 14% Kerin O’Keefe | 99 KOThe 2021 Sassicaia is one of the best young Sassicaias I can remember tasting, certainly on par with anything in recent memory. The preference here is picking on the earlier side relative to many neighboring properties, which is one of the reasons Sassicaia is always a wine of refinement more than opulence. At the same time, Sassicaia can be light. Not in 2021. All the elements came together during a long growing season to produce a rich, deep wine that marries textural intensity with classicism. Dark cherry/plum fruit, spice, new leather, menthol, licorice and spice all race across the palate. Time in the glass brings out the wine’s textural intensity and sheer power. The 2021 is one of the most concentrated Sassicaias on record. That allowed for long macerations, as long as 20 days for some Cabernets. Aging was 25 months in French oak barrels (95% French, 5% a mix of Hungarian and Slavonian wood), 40% new, 40% once-used barrels and 20% in twice-used barrels. One of the recent developments here is some bâtonnage in aging, which is used to build texture. That approach worked well in 2021. In a word: magnificent.Vinous Media | 98+ VMVery classy and typical of Sassicaia with currant, tobacco, chocolate, sage and lavender on the nose and palate. Medium- to full-bodied with very integrated and refined tannins that are caressing and pretty with a lovely length and beauty. Such finesse and structure at the same time. Best in 2028 and beyond but already joy to taste.James Suckling | 98 JS

100
RP
As low as $460.00

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