If I Could Buy Only One – Feb 16, 2019 VINTAGES Release

For the Feb 16th VINTAGES release, we asked: “If you could buy only one wine from this release – which one would it be and why?”

John Szabo: A recent visit to Chile brought to full light the exciting changes happening in this important wine producing nation, and travelling from Maipo near the Andes to the coastal Leyda Valley, feeling the temperature drop to downright chilly on a summer afternoon, make visceral the dramatic differences in climate encompassed in such skinny sliver of South America. Proof of coolness is the Viña Leyda Single Vineyard Canelo Syrah 2015, Leyda Valley, Chile ($19.95). Viña Leyda has to cut natural yields in half to about 1.5 kilos/vine to just ensure adequate ripeness, but it’s still peppery, vibrant and juicy, with honest, zesty acids and very good length, the way we like it. It’s a decidedly cool climate style-  it would not be a stretch compare this to Northern Rhône syrah – yet nonetheless an infusion of sunlight permeates form start to finish. Cellar for another 2-3 years.

Michael Godel:  Love me some salty, volcanic and ripe acid-driven reds from Mount Etna on the island of Sicily. The northern slopes of the volcano at 700m in the commune of Solichiatta is the source for this Alberello-trained nerello mascalese. Tenute Bosco offers this non-vineyard or block specified Piano Dei Daini 2015, Doc Etna Rosso ($26.95) for what amounts to a Catanian song. It’s more than correct, it’s just and right. Grippy without expense and never grandiose, it’s a structured lava-flow of varietal beauty for next to nothing but a few piastra and some time. Fruit, acidity, lava-mineral and tannin are all in line. The character here is unparalleled at the price.

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Szabo’s Smart Buys
Michael’s Mix