If I Could Buy Only One – May 24th Vintages Release
We asked our writers, “If you could buy only one wine from the May 24th release, which one would it be and why?”
Torre Mora Scalunera Etna Bianco 2023, Sicily, Italy
$32.95, Medovino Imports
Sara d’Amato – This week I find myself captivated by a volcanic jewel from the lofty slopes of Mount Etna–a high elevation-born carricante with a saline edge that carries the unmistakable imprint of its mineral-rich origins. Brimming with crisp, saline energy and waves of juicy pear and passion fruit, while peppery botanicals and sea spray make for a crunchy, electric palate with an ethereal tread. It might just make you question your allegiance to red wine.
Château De Beaucastel Coudoulet De Beaucastel Blanc 2023, Rhône, France
$34.95, Charton Hobbs
My “only one” this week is a gorgeous white blend from the Southern Rhône. Château De Beaucastel’s 2023 Coudoulet De Beaucastel Blanc is made with a blend of white varieties from the Coudolet vineyard, which lies across the road from the famous Beaucastel vineyard in northern Chateauneuf-du-Pape. I love how intensely flavourful this wine is, positively saturated with juicy citrus fruit, ripe apples, tender peaches, sweet apricots, and honey. Barrel influence, skillfully employed, adds dimension, including notes of nutmeg and cedar and a hint of caramel. Perhaps most captivating of all is this wine’s texture – rounded and silky, mellifluous like honey, but supported by succulent, balanced acidity. Ripe fruit flavours lend a sensation of sweetness to the palate that is quite becoming, while the viognier in the blend as also the oak treatment the wine underwent add a hint of bitterness that offsets this generosity of fruit. All in all, this is a delightfully complex and intriguing blend that will continue to drink beautifully into the close of the decade.
Trimbach Réserve Pinot Gris 2018, Alsace, France
$37.95, Woodman Wines & Spirits
David Lawrason – There is some sentimentality in my “only one” pick. I have long been a fan of this house that staunchly makes classic, dry, age-worthy Alsatian whites. I have twice visited their classic cellar – which is crammed with maturing white wines. So, to find one available at a decent price, at a time of year when a sophisticated, mature white might cap a calm, warm evening, is an opportunity that is hard to pass up. The nose is typically soft, with honey, peach jam, clover and bready notes. It is medium-full bodied, quite rich, almost creamy in texture, just off dry and low in acid, typical of this variety. Yet it is well balanced and spot on for the genre and age.
Isole E Olena Cepparello 2021, Toscana IGT, Tuscany, Italy
$195.95, Halpern Enterprises
Michael Godel – Here today on December 1st of 2023 is Paolo de Marchi’s first tasting of his 34th and final (finished) Isole e Olena Cepparello 2021 since bottling back in May. The frost vintage, namely on April 7th, with secondary buds on the Cordone vines being the source of most of the wine’s fruit. Not a disaster at Isole e Olena, maybe 35 percent loss in total but the quality was high and so less Chianti Classico was also made. “That wine is less about the vintage for us,” says de Marchi and so this as the decision made to cope with the small crop. Once again (and since forever) Paolo employs the aromas and proteins inducing method of soft maceration, long délestage and skins connected back with already half fermented juice. The ’21 is a wine of “frescezza” and yet saying freshness does not do the description justice. There is tension and a nervous energy buzzing from Cepparello 2021 and one to really hold your attention. There may be no Italian word for texture but were there one that made any real sense it might be the dramatic threads of “weft” from this 2021 youthful work in progress. This will be a Cepparello for the ages. Buy it and bank on it. You will be holding one of Paolo’s last wines made at Isole e Olena. Drink 2026-2040. Tasted December 2023.
Use these quick links for access to all of our May 24th Top Picks in the New Release. Non-premium members can select from all release dates 30 days prior.
Lawrason’s Take – May 24th
Megha’s Picks – May 24th
John’s Top Picks – May 24th
Sara’s Selections – May 24th
