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Domaine Denis Mortet + Casanova di Neri + Girolamo Russo + Blood Moon Tasting Saturday 28th 3pm-6pm

by Annandale Cellars

Domaine Denis Mortet

Arnaud Mortet - the son of Denis Mortet, is without a doubt, one of the greatest growers in the Côte de Nuits. Arnaud is carrying his father's legacy of producing refined, elegant and ageworthy Pinots that speak to their site with his wines being increasingly compared with those of his uncle - Charles Rousseau. Now having worked for 20 years as a winemaker for the estate, Arnaud is showing no signs of slowing down with his viticultural vigour and tasteful hand in the cellar.

Denis Mortet was already moving towards wines of elegance by scaling back the extraction, but Arnaud has coupled shorter and gentler macerations with a scaling back of new oak as well (something that many of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy are doing). Arnaud is trialing organic and biodynamic practices on his 1er and Grand Cru sites and a horse is used to plow these sites to minimise soil compaction. Machines are not used at all on any sites and even spraying of copper/sulphur is done with a backpack spray. The new cellar is being stocked with large oak and concrete fermenters. Large portions of grapes are de-stemmed with scissors which is an incredibly labour-intensive method that takes 4 people 1 hour to fill 1 barrel and involves cutting out the central axis of each bunch to ensure the berries are retained intact on their pedicels. The aim is to get the positive aspects of whole bunch fermentation (fine tannins and lifted perfume) without some of the negatives (coarser tannins and lower acid from the stems). This process has been fine-tuned over his almost 2 decades at the helm of one of the greatest estates in Gevrey-Chambertin.

We've recently picked up some of these wines from the excellent 2022 vintage and have some of his top wines from 2020 as well. The '22 'Bourgogne Cuvee de Noble Souche Rouge' is one of the greatest Bourgognes out there - coming from a single vineyard near Marsannay at 400m above sea level and sees 25% new oak. Very serious for a Bourgogne that could be aged if you wanted to. Then we have the '22 'Marsannay Les Longeroies' which is one of the sites in Marsannay that is expected to be promoted to Premier Cru when Marsannay finally receives its dues. This one represents excellent value in the Mortet range, especially before the inevitable price hikes should it be promoted. The '22 'Gevrey-Chambertin Mes Cinq Terroirs' is one of the most iconic Gevrey Village wines, comprised of 5 exceptional sites and sees 30% new oak. This wine is an exceptional introduction to Arnaud Mortet's work. We also have a single bottle of the '20 'Gevrey-Chambertin Lavaux St. Jacques 1er' which is his coolest site and right next to the legendary Clos St. Jacques vineyard. Finally, we have a single bottle of the '20 'Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru' from some of the oldest vines in the Grand Cru. These are some of the most well-crafted wines in Burgundy, pick these up as we only have a tiny amount of each!

 

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Casanova Di Neri

Although Montalcino traces its origins back to Etruscan times, this estate started in 1971 by Giovanni Neri - a 48 year-old grain merchant with a passion for wine. Passionate about wine, Neri had long dreamed of making a great Italian red, and although the long-established wine zone of Chianti Classico was just on his doorstep, it was remote Montalcino and its austere Sangiovese wines that fascinated him. The farm of Podere Casanova had caught his eye during his forays to the area as the aspect, altitude and soil composition showed the potential for making high-quality Brunello.

Casanova di Neri works with 7 incredible vineyards in the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG: Fiesole, Cerretalto, Collalli, Podernuovo, Pietradonice, Giovanni Neri and Cetine. Their diversity of soil, exposition, microclimate and age of the vines create their concept of terroir as well as the identity of their wines and outstanding personality. They show the unique potential of their Sangiovese and their extraordinary quality comes from the combination of a suitable territory, work, knowledge, experience and passion. All of their grapes are grown from Sangiovese Grosso grown on the Cerretalto vineyard which have slowly developed enough adaptive characteristics to now be its own clone of Sangiovese which is now a hallmark of Casanova di Neri.

We've picked up some wines from the new release, including a couple bottles of the extremely rare top bottlings. The '20 'Brunello di Montalcino' is an icon and great point of reference for the region, always producing a wine of immense complexity and ageability. This is also great value relative to the region. We also have the 'Tenuta Nuova' in '17 and '20 vintages. This wine is a single-vineyard in which Sangiovese had never previously been planted (hence the name "new property") after Giovanni Neri put a ridiculous amount of time and research into studying the local microclimates and used the most sophisticated scientific investigations to determine the clones, rootstocks, cultivation practices, plant density per hectare and every possible particular to obtain excellent Sangiovese grapes. This wine also represents great relative value compared to other Brunelli in the same price bracket. Now for the extremely limited wines - we have 2 bottles of the '20 'Giovanni Neri' named after the founder, this wine comes from an untamed vineyard of vines over 50 years old, spending 30 months in barrel and another 22 in bottle. This is a unique expression of Sangiovese that will age for decades. Finally, we have 2 bottles of the '19 'Cerretalto' which is the pinnacle of the estate and one of the best wines in the region alongside Biondi-Santi and Soldera. The grapes for this wine hail mainly from a vineyard situated in a natural amphitheatre alongside a small river near their white truffle reserve. This wine is known for its concentration and ageability with notes of graphite and sanguine undertones. This spends 36 months in barrel and 24 in bottle. 2019 is also considered by many to be one of the greatest vintages of all time and the critic scores agree with just about everyone giving this 100 points. Truly a legendary wine. This is the perfect time of year to be picking up some top-notch Brunello - secure yours today!

 

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Girolamo Russo

Girolamo Russo was re-established by Giuseppe Russo in 2005, dedicated to the memory of his father Girolamo. The winery is a powerful expression of Giuseppe’s desire to respect and conserve his family’s traditional values, but interpreting those values in a new and personal way, introducing and developing new approaches to winemaking while remaining in the village of his birth, Passopisciaro – the centre of the recent renaissance in the great red wines of Etna.

Set on the north slope of the mountain, at an altitude of 650-780 metres above sea-level, the winery’s vineyards cover 18 hectares, surrounded by hazelnut and olive groves. All the vineyards are farmed organically and worked with traditional methods. At harvest time, all plots are harvested and fermented separately to maintain the essence of their terroir. The terroir has been formed by centuries of volcanic eruptions, each lavaflow which has cooled and solidified on the mountain’s slopes has been shaped and transformed by the passage of time and by human activity, rendering Etna’s contrade or districts, very diverse – as are the wines produced by Giuseppe.

"A wine giddy with sun and with light and with the song of the wind in the valley. A wine that carries the breath of the volcano: a blend of smoke and ashes and ripe, fragrant fruit – a fruit which yields to the bite like a gentle caress."

We've picked up 2 great wines from this estate - 1 white and red to share with you. The '23 'Nerina Bianco' is comprised of 75% Carricante and the remaining quarter made up of native varieties: Catarratto, Inzolia, Grecanico, Minnella and Coda di Volpe. This is what we all know and love about Etna white: fresh, savoury and mineral. The '22 'A Rina Rosso' is a blend of 90% Nerello Mascalese and 10% Nerello Cappuccio and show elegance and complexity with beautiful fruit balanced with an earthy savouriness that can't be found outside of Etna. These are some of the best wines from Etna, stock up on some of this cult producer for winter!

 

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Blood Moon Tasting

Saturday 28th

3pm-6pm

Join us this Saturday as we taste through the excellent wines of Blood Moon. Blood Moon was established in 2014 by Matt Aulich - a former guitarist turned winemaker.


Matt sources fruit from responsible growers mostly in northern, western and southern Victoria and works with both French and Italian varieties. Matt makes wines with a sense of time and place in low volumes with a minimal-intervention approach in the cellar.


"minimal intervention, maximum love
conceived under a blood moon."


These are the wines that we'll be pouring on the day:


2024 Blood Moon Moonrise Fiano Vermentino

2024 Blood Moon Seeker Chardonnay

2023 Blood Moon Dream of a Dream Pinot Noir

2023 Blood Moon Sang Des Etoiles Sangiovese

2023 Blood Moon Autumn Moon Shivers Nero D'Avola


These are some exciting and affordable wines from some great sites in Victoria, come down to the store and check these out!

Wishing you a great week from the team: Chris, Pete and Aaron.

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