The name Palladino needs no introduction here at PRIMA as it has been the source of our best-selling Barbera d’Alba (still available for $19.99) for going on five years. Their Barolos, though, are much rarer as very few cases actually make...
Vinous Media 94 points : The 2019 Zinfandel Papera Ranch shows a slightly more reserved side of the Russian River. Readers should plan on cellaring this for at least a year or two as the acids and tannins are pretty tightly wound...
80.8% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.6% Merlot, 2.9% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc, 0.7% Malbec and 100% delicious! Another complex but eminently slurp-able Napa Valley Cabernet from this benchmark producer.
The Wine Advocate 90 Points: A super fresh, elegant and fragrant wine with structure, herbal, floral and spicy notes, capable of giving great pleasure at any table.
This vintage yields a more restrained style after the generous character of the 2019 vintage. The 2020 wines are impressively fresh with balanced alcohol and aromas, a fresher, more Atlantic character, and good acidity. It was an...
Winery Notes: Guyot method with medium-short pruning. Fermentation in temperature controlled stainless steel vats. 15-17 days maceration; malolactic fermentation in stainless steel vats. 12 months in French barrels (50% new oak and 50% oak aged 2...
Tasting Notes: This wine has an elegant bouquet of black cherry, tea leaf, a slight caramel note, and lighter red fruit aromas. On the palate the wine has a delicate touch, with more flavors of red fruit, earth, and a long lasting savory quality.
I first met Massimo Martinelli at the old Renato Ratti cantina in La Morra now almost 20 years ago. At the time, he was not only the longtime winemaker at Ratti (he was Ratti’s nephew, and started working there when he was 15), he was also...
Its extreme elegance immediately justifies the reasons why this original Piedmontese wine has been so successful.
Colour: straw yellow.
Bouquet: it has an original and intense aroma of white flowers and fruits such as pear, peach, pineapple and passion...
PRIMA Notes: Bourgogne Epineuil Rouge (the only red appellation possible here as there’s no such thing as Chablis Rouge) from the high-altitude Cote de Grisey, an austere, virtually top-soilless site universally considered to be the top spot...
PRIMA Notes: Our quest for true value in Burgundy usually takes us to the more southern extremes of the appellation- the Macon, Chalon or Beaujolais regions for instance, but these two beauties hail, instead, from Burgundy’s northernmost...
VINEYARD CHARACTERISTICS: In the 12th century, the abbey of Cîteaux planted the vineyard with white grapes. It is now planted with pinot noir and its name may seem strange. The top of the vineyard is composed of sandy clay while a...
Winery Notes: The Domaine Thierry Drouin is located in the magnificent Pouilly-Fuissé winegrowing area, between the Roche de Vergisson and the Roche de Solutré-Pouilly, to the south of Bourgogne. The estate vinifies the...
Importer's Notes: The Rheinberg kabinett comes entirely from the quartz dominated higher sections of the Rheinberg hill, facing south east. Vines are around 25 years old with much of the vineyard planted in the 1990s. Harvested in the beginning of...
Importer's Notes: After 27 years importing wine, HPS President Dan Kravitz took the plunge and purchased 13.5 acres of vineyard land in Roussillon. Named Cabirau after the vineyard’s original designation, the domaine lies on a hill below the...
PRIMA Notes: The Pinot Noir comes from vines planted in the 1990s (damn you phylloxera!) to upwards of 10 different clones and is mostly whole-cluster fermented, broken down by foot and on its skins for almost a month before being aged 18 months in...
PRIMA Notes: The Chardonnay is, as it always has been, a suave, Burgundian styled masterpiece. It’s immaculately farmed to maintain its natural freshness and the fact that it’s kept from undergoing malo-lactic keeps it even more...
The Battle of Bosworth 2018 Puritan Shiraz is bold and balanced, with silky tannins, vibrant acidity, and a smooth, velvety texture. It is natural, sulfite-free, and unoaked, allowing for the pure flavors of the grapes to be fully...
Tasting Notes: Color: bright straw yellow. Aromatic Profile: fruity and floral, notes of acacia, green apple, peach and apricot. Taste Profile: savory and mineral, persistent with elegant finish. Nice acidity and balanced structure.
Terlan Muller Thurgau is a delicate pale yellow color. A fine spicy aroma of grapefruit and white pepper enters into a highly harmonious relationship with ripe peaches. Taste: With a well-balanced structur and a lively acidity, this...
Importer's Notes: Sourced from the Clos Saint-Jean vineyard, situated south of the premier cru Les Chaumées vineyard • Soil: Clay and limestone • Vine Age: 30 years old • Aging: 12 months in French oak (33% new), with periodic...
They’ve been shoveling dirt on the Aussie Shiraz category for over a decade now but the fact of the matter is, just because the wines aren’t selling as well in the United States as they used to, it doesn’t mean the best...
When Christoph Paubert first, several years ago, put together this blend of mostly-estate Merlot, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec, I don’t think he imagined it would turn out so well or that it would ultimately taste far better than the...
In 1996, building on the tradition of excellence they established at Duckhorn Vineyards, Dan and Margaret Duckhorn embraced their growing love of Pinot Noir and came to Anderson Valley to found Goldeneye. In the years since, Anderson Valley has earned...
After falling in love with Merlot during a visit to Bordeaux, Dan Duckhorn started producing Duckhorn Vineyards Merlot in 1978. In the years since, grapes from the Napa portion of Carneros have played a pivotal role in our Napa Valley Merlot program...
"The 2019 Chablis Vosgros comes from vines planted in the early 1960s and in 1986. The nose sports a very subtle but beneficial reduction, and there are lovely, pure dried pineapple and crushed limestone scents underneath. The palate is well balanced...
We’ve sold every vintage of the Sandrones’ wines here at PRIMA since the 1988 harvest arrived (along with me) in 1994, and I can say, that the two Barolos they made in 2017 are amongst the sexiest, most elegant achievements...
The Nebbiolo d'Alba Vigna Valmaggiore shows good concentration and a robust bouquet with dark fruit and nutty aromas that remind me of toasted hazelnuts or almonds. Those nutty aromas segue to earthy truffle and potting soil that are also specific to...
100% Grecanico sourced from the estate Fontane vineyard. Fermentation lasting ten to fifteen days in amphorae on the skins with indigenous yeast. The 2019 remained in contact with the skins for a little over one month in amphoraAged in amphorae for...
This Pinot Noir includes wine from Swan’s Trenton Estate Vineyard and parcels in Trenton View, Saralee’s, Catie’s Corner, Ritchie, Solas, and Great Oak, all Russian River Pinot Noir vineyard aristocracy! We love the wine’s...
Jeb Dunnuck 97 Points: ” The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon RBS displays a more elegant, seamless style, offering full-bodied aromas and flavors of cassis and black raspberries as well tobacco, violets, and Christmas spice. It’s incredibly complex...
50% 2013 and 25% each ’12-’11, deg 6/2015; dosage made, as for all of Laurent’s wines, from still wines of the two best cuvées, Grand Cellier d’Or and Coeur de Cuvée, done in wood. In the first 1-2 years after...
An annual and all-encompassing pursuit, the name Tendril honors the grapevine, the foundation for all truly great wine. Driven by the desire to provide a unique experience, Rynders created his signature five-course “meal” of Pinot Noir to...
Based in Friuli-Venezia-Giulia (North-East Italy) "Nec Otium", from the Roman for work (nec) and leisure (otium), is a negociant operation with a difference. There are very few old style, cultish “Negociants”. Christian Patat is probably the...
100% Barbera. The harvest takes place rigorously by hand, and the fermentation is spontaneous with native yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats. A first racking takes place in oak casks of various sizes. A second racking is performed...
Winery Notes: Two Squared wines are designed to be approachable in both flavor and price. Opulent, fruit-driven and generous, with a backbone of acidity and elegance, these wines are produced by masterful blending across terroirs evocative of Napa...
Winery Notes: The Leviathan wine is a red blend created afresh each vintage, sourced from some of the most coveted vineyards in California. Each year, a percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc are blended together to...
Winery Notes: With one eye on the past while boldly looking to the future, roots as deep as the wrinkles furrowing a forehead capture the shy smile on the face of the farmer as he lovingly describes that special vineyard, that micro zone or that micro...
Winery Notes: On the nose, beautiful aromas of ripe yellow peach, meyer lemon, and chamomile mingle together with hints of clove and vanilla. The peach, lemon, and vanilla spices continue onto the palate which is rich and concentrated, the flavors...
Importer's Notes: This 0.51-hectare vineyard is a direct continuation of Maranges' Clos Roussots, divided only by the Maranges premier cru Clos de la Boutières. Vines average 30 years of age, and the oak treatment is in 2nd and 3rd use...
Winery Notes: Always a perfect pair, the Pisoni and Soberanes vineyards blend seamlessly to create the 2019 Lucia Chardonnay. In its infancy, this wine possesses a greenish lemon hue while catching the light of each swirl in the glass. The rocky,...
Tasting Notes: Cherry, raspberry and dried herb aromas laced with hints of vanilla and tobacco. The palate has a charming weight and velvety texture filled with intense flavors of black cherries and blackberries, all elevated by a lovely backbone...
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: 99 Points Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Ark Vineyard delivers powerful scents of blackberry preserves, chocolate-covered cherries and stewed plums, giving way to red and black currant...
I wasn’t at all familiar with Elio Sandri’s Cascina Disa wines until, about six or seven years ago, a bottle of his 2004 Perno Riserva Barolo was opened for me by a winemaker friend in the Langhe who called Elio one of the best Old School...
Winery Notes: The vineyards are located at 130 meters up hill on a gently sloping south-east facing slope. The clay-limestone soil is composed of clay loam and fragments of limestone from the erosion of the slopes, alternating with marls and...
Importer's Notes: Considered one of the finest winemakers in France, Dominique Lafon produces some of the most coveted white Burgundies. He strongly believes in the potential in Maconnais where he has been making terroir-driven wines since 1999...
It’s been wa-ay too long since we’ve had the Odderos’ juicy, phenomenal-drinking Barbera d’Alba around, and we’re extremely pleased to see the newly arrived 2019 gracing our shelves. Not to be confused with their...
“Burgundy has Grand Crus, Bordeaux has First Growths, and Germany has Grosses Gewächs. These bone-dry, single-vineyard marvels are bottled in the smallest of quantities and greedily snatched up around the globe. If you...
Winery Notes: The 2020 is very similar to the 2019 – the fruit was ripe and absolutely stunning. The resultant wine shows lush black fruit, it is rounded and fleshy with a salinity that calls for a fine steak. This wine has a short vatting...
Vinous Media: The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon (Russian River Valley) is another positively stellar wine in this range. Rich, boisterous and super-expressive, the 2016 has so much to offer. Expressive savory and floral notes add tons of...
Importer's Notes: Ripasso is a red wine from the Valpolicella area located north of Verona in the Veneto region. “Ripasso” means “repassed.” The production process of fermented Valpolicella is added to a cask containing the...
Always the most exotic and easily identifiable wine in the cellar, this is super charming and aromatic. Cinnamon sticks, anise seed and a ton of almost blueberry-like fruit make this a standout. Wine Advocate: The Oddero 2017 Barolo Villero is...
This is, in many ways, the most representative wine in the cellar and always one of the best. The vineyard is so steep, standing in it, you feel like you’re about fall off! An elegant, ultra-refined vintage here with amazing lift and polish. This...
Importer's Notes: The estate cultivates some 20 different, small vineyard plots in and around the town of Bois d’Oignt, in sections called ‘Les Grandes Coasses’ and ‘La Carrière,’ at the southern tip of the...
This has been our biggest Barbera find ever even though its discovery was accidental- the byproduct of a dalliance with Palladino’s two amazing Serralunga d’Alba Barolos. It was the Palladinos’ importer...
PRIMA Notes: Sbragia sources the lion’s share of his production from his own vineyards and the level of control he asserts over the whole project has been a major driver in the quality of the wines. However, for the Russian River Valley...
PRIMA Notes: The Les Vaumuriens is a north-east facing vineyard located to the west of the village of Pommard, planted in the limestone-marl soil that gives French Burgundies their complex extraction and intriguing finesse. Being slightly...
The Cannubi MGA, is as familiar to Barolo fans as Romanee Conti is to Burgundy….it’s one of the largest crus in all of Barolo and its most centrally located. Perched right in front of the Castello di Barolo castle, it stretches over 90 acres...
Winery Notes: A strong and well-rounded wine, Barolo Villero reflects a soil richer in clay and limestone than that of Rocche di Castiglione, located in the same town. The bouquet offers intriguing and dense scents of violet, red fruits, cocoa and...
Winery Notes: Il Palazzino farm, owned by Alessandro and Andrea Sderci, is located in Monti in Chianti, 20 km northeast of Siena, in the southern part of Chianti Classico Area. The estate has a total of about twenty hectares (fifty acres), great...
Vinous Media: The 2019 Chardonnay Watson Ranch is open-knit and seductive. Orchard fruit, chamomile, spice and dried herbs all meld together in a pliant Chardonnay that offers a striking mix of textural richness and energy. Watson Ranch is the...
Winery Notes: Villa Collazzi is one of the most impressive estates in all of Tuscany. This architectural landmark was originally designed by Michelangelo in 1560 for his friend, Agostino Dini. It offers commanding views of the surrounding...
The Barolo Bussia, on the other hand, stands in perfect contrast. While Brunate is one of the oldest cuvees in the Ceretto cellar (we also have a 1970 here at PRIMA!), Bussia is the newest- the 2016 being only the second vintage since they began...