2021 Goldschmidt “Chelsea,” Guidestone Rise, Merlot, Alexander Valley, California

100% Merlot 

Guidestone Rise is a beautiful vineyard, just east of Geyserville in the Alexander Valley. The exceptional combination of climate, exposure, and clay soils stamps its signature on this classic varietal. This estate vineyard is slightly cooler than and is well-suited to growing deeply concentrated, powerful Merlot. This one is named after their eldest daughter, Chelsea. The wine has medium+ concentration of ruby, is quite aromatic with notes of juicy, ripe, and luscious blueberries, blackberries, and black plums with cinnamon and vanilla. There are earthy notes of tobacco, bark, and wet soil after a summer rain. The wine is bone dry, full-bodied, with medium+ fine tannins, all balanced by the fantastic acidity that holds everything together. Only 2500 cases made.

2019 Poliziano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

95% Prugnolo Gentile, 5% Colorino and Canaiolo

Now in the hands of the third generation, this estate began in 1961 when Montepulciano native Dino Carletti, acquired his first parcel of 22 hectares planted with Prugnolo Gentile (a clone of Sangiovese), which characterizes the wines of the region. The estate continues with the most attentive care to express the full potential of their territory so rich wine history. This wine is a perfect representation of the marriage between land and vine that Italians care so much for. It is medium+ concentration of garnet with a salmon rim showing development. It has notes of ripe and dried red fruit—cherry, red berries, and plums, with a hint of orange peel, spice, and abundance of earthiness reminiscent of dried forest floor and dried leaves. On the palate it is bone dry with medium body, medium+ fine tannins, and medium+ crisp acidity—all beautifully in balance with the earthy and savory red fruit finish that’s cohesive and lingering on the palate.

2018 Chateau Vieux Chevrol, Lalande de Pomerol, Bordeaux, France

80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon

Located just above the more famous region of Pomerol in the Chevrol "lieu-dit", the Champseix family has made wine at this chateau for multiple generations and continues to do so in a “natural” manner—making this off the beaten path Bordeaux appellation, indistinguishable from other more famous AOCs in the area. The wine is medium+ garnet with tones of ruby. The nose has a medium+ intensity with springtime aromas of fresh ripe berries–raspberries, strawberries, currants, dusty earth and clay, and subtler notes of green peppercorns and pine needles. On the palate the wine is bone dry. It is full bodied with medium+ tannins and a chalky texture, medium+ acidity that balances and elongates the finish. The tannins, fruit and earthiness all come together perfectly in this wine to create a harmony of the elements that make the Bordeaux region so famous for their blends.

2014 Senorio Peciña, Rioja Reserva, Spain

95% Tempranillo, 3% Graciano, 2% Garnacha

Bodegas Hermanos de Peciña is a traditional, old-school Rioja producer, one of the few left in the region. Pedro Peciña, the former vineyard-lead for La Rioja Alta winery. His vineyards are in the Rioja Alto zone at 500 meters asl. All work is done naturally. The 40–60-year-old vines are hand harvested and fermented with indigenous yeasts. This reserva is aged for 36 months in old American oak barrels, bottled unfined and unfiltered, and aged 18 months in bottle before release. The wine is garnet with notes of savory strawberries, cherries, and coconut drizzled in balsamic with cloves, cigar, dried flowers, and leaves. There is such freshness of fruit and balance of full body, medium-plus and velvety tannins, and medium-plus acidity with a long finish.

2019 Milbrandt, Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Wahluke Slope, Washington

100% Cabernet Sauvignon

Butch and Jerry Milbrandt planted their first grapes in their Washington vineyard in 1997 and quickly began to supply grapes to many acclaimed wineries in the region. In 2006 they decided to bottle their own wine. This estate-grown cab is medium+ concentration of ruby with tones of pink towards the rim with medium+ intensity of aromatics with notes of ripe juicy raspberries, blackberries, over-ripe strawberries, dark cherries, black plums, seasoned with notes of cinnamon, vanilla, and other warming spices, indicative of oak barrel aging. On the palate the flavor slightly shifts, and we add notes of allium and bell peppers. The wine is bone-dry, full-bodied, and smooth, with high and integrated tannins with a medium-course texture, that keeps it fresh on the palate and balances everything out on the finish. All in all, this wine is everything you could hope for in a small-producer, family-owned, classic West Coast Cab.

2018 Delaire Graff, Botmaskop, Stellenbosch, South Africa

59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, 10% Petit Verdot, 8% Merlot, 3% Malbec

Founded by Simon van der Stel in 1679, the 44-hectare estate is stunningly framed by two mountain ranges at 300-500 m asl—a microclimate conducive to making multi-layered and complex wines. In 1982 John Platter (wine writer), purchased and renamed it Delaire ("From the Sky”). Today it is owned by Laurence Graff and ranked as a top South African winery. The wine is dark ruby and bright with notes of soft and ripe black cherry, berry, plum, with cocoa, tobacco, exotic spice, bark, and earth. It’s dry, full-bodied, bold, smooth, and balanced with medium+ acidity with a lingering finish of ripe fruit and tannin.

PLEASE NOTE

• Purchasers must be 21 years of age or older and be present with an ID upon delivery.

• Price includes 5.50% Maine State sales tax and Maine’s fifteen-cents redemption deposit per bottle.

• If your billing address is different from your delivery address, please include your delivery address in the comments section at checkout.

• *Delivery is by Wine Wise—not third-party carriers. Our delivery area is Cape Elizabeth, Cumberland Foreside, Falmouth, Old Orchard Beach, Portland, Saco, Scarborough, South Portland, and Westbrook. We have a larger delivery area for Wine Club deliveries.