raffaele Mastrovincenzo

                                                     Photo from Agrapart website Was my birthday not long ago and I had the pleasure to drink this beautiful champagne from Avize the champagne grower is Agrapart  in the Cote blanc, they make outstanding champagne, 6 styles in total: -7 cru brut:  made in chardonnay 100%  in 7 different villages which represent the domaine of the house. They are: Madreuil, Oger, Bergeres les Vertus, Avize, Cremant, Oiry and Avernay Val D'or. Normally the wine is an assemblage of two vintage which are previously aged in barrel with the malolactic done completely and 3 years on lees. -Terroirs extra brut: 100% chardonnay, malolactic completetely and 4 years on lees with elevage in oak before la liquere de tirage. Two vintage blended together. -Complantee extra brut Grand Cru: cepage are Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Blanc, Arbanne, Petit Meslier and Chardonnay only on the Grand Cru Avize. 4years on lees with 5 g. of sugar in the Dosage.

Emmanuel Brochet Villers aux Noeuds . R.M. 2,5 ha Pinot noir, Meniuer and Chardonnay Bottles produced annually 6.080. Located beyond the city of Reims, in direction for Epernay there is a tiny village Villers aux Noudes where he works and lives-Emauelle Brochet a small vigneron in Champagne. The vineyard are training organically with AB certified, but you will not find written on the label. Small traditional press are used "Coquard" (the wooden square base). All his Cuvèe born and mature in wood for over a year, but the tone is never woody too obvious with an incredible balance acid structure. First vintage was 2002, but be careful, because it can rely on vines planted in 1962 and 1986. His millesime 2002 with an elavage on wood 11 months, show bright colour with golden hue, elegant fine bubble note of pistachio, brioche, apple and citrus zest a note of vanilla really clean and fresh on the palate with a tension acid… Linear and energetic. Love Champagne

Nicolas Joly's Chateau de la Roche aux Moines 7 hectares of one of the most celebrated Savennieres producer which has an AOC on his own as a monopole Coulee-de-Serrant. The father of the biodynamic in France started back in the 1981, which today is still a leading spokes person for the "trendy" of Biodynamic around the world as a leader of the association Le Reinassance des Appelations in english called Return the terroir. Since 2006, Virginie his daughter takes a position as an oenologist in her fathers winery, she has contributed to the production of more recent vintage.  Savennieres  as i wrote previous on this blog is a great Appelation in the Loire valley in France just in the  Anjou section.  Savennieres is also called the kingdom of dry white wines; the AOC area is limited to the three communes to the south of Angers, on the right bank of the Loire, Savennieres, Bouchemaine and La Possonniere. There are two distinct denominations within the appellation La Ro

Yarra Yering Dry red wine N°1 2005 Cabernet ° Merlot ° Malbec ° Petit Verdot Honestly I never understand cabernet red wine, first are very expansive, second are very hard to enjoy due their tannin structure and powerful. However last night a friend of mine from Yarra Valley let me try this wine from his personal cellar; we did the tasting blind. A first glance the purity of the fruit the smooth tannin the oaky character as moka, coconut and chocolate the slight oxidative component the hint of brett, farmyard, forest floor let me conclude the tasting, a spanish wine with cabernet into. I said this is Vega Sicilia or some good outstanding Rioja, I was definitely in the old world truly enjoyment wine. Black cherry, rasberry jam, cook beetroot, dusty, dark flesh plum and tomato leaf. Lots of pleasant oak sweet spice and vanilla. Lovely tar and charcoal minerality. We discovery the bottle and bang Cabernet blend from Yarra Valley, "Yarra Yering" awesome. I know I'm shit

The small village of Volnay one of the most sorted Pinot Noir from the Cote de Beaune in between Mersault and Pommard mostly compared from the Chambolle Musigny of the nord of Burgundy for is finesse and elegance coming from similar soil of Chambolle, high active chalk content and low clay. 115 hectares of premier cru vineyard 35 in all with the best premier cru: Les Taillepieds Clos des Chenes Champans Cailleretes Santenots Mikulski is a polish guy with an attitude to do a great wine in the Cote de Beaune start in the early 1990  with this incredible non classic label in homemade writing, so cool. Mr. Mikulski is a non interventionist  guy, essentially organic a "lutte raisonee" he balance his work around the health of the soil and the biodiversity of the vineyard. His Santenots du Milieu from 2009 was rich and masculine lots of red fruit some mature and sour, dry branches autumn tree, mushroom character, forest floor, red apple skin and smoky meat aroma; with s

St Aubin is a burgandy lovers paradise, located between Chassagne and Puligny Montrachet. Only 500 acres which is almost white wine production with less than 25 percent of red wine made, which are not perfumed and complex when you compare with Volnay-Pommard area. The best sites in St Aubin are  En Remilly,  Chatenière,  Les Murgers des Dents de Chien.   Les Murgers is arguably the village’s best vineyard: very stony and chalky.  There is very little soil here, and the vines can suffer in difficult years; but when the grapes ripen fully, they give the most powerful and elegant wines of St Aubin.  En Remilly is slightly less stony and the wines can be a touch broader.  The same is with La Chatenière, a steep vineyard with a fine southerly exposure. One of the producers I really like in the area is Domaine Hubert Lamy, along with Marc  Colin which are perhaps the best producers in this  appellation.  For many years, the domaine production was sold to the negoce, but sinc