2020 Benanti, Nerello Cappuccio, Terre Siciliane Rosso

100% Nerello Cappuccio

This wine will change your night (for the better). It is one of our favorite finds of the year and we are delighted to be able to procure a few cases for our wine club members and to allocate a few remaining bottles for this beautiful holiday set. This is pure Nerello Cappuccio. A variety cultivated on Sicily's Mount Etna for centuries. The vines are over 30 years old in the Contrada Cavaliere vineyard, located on the southwest side of Etna. The soil is sandy, volcanic, and rich in minerals. An extremely suitable location for the cultivation of Nerello Cappuccio due to the lower rainfall and abundant brightness, with high ventilation at 900 metes above sea level, and significant temperature variations, allowing for these indigenous grapes to ripen slowly while retaining acidity and gaining complexity on the vine. The resulting wine is gorgeous! It is a medium concentration of ruby with blue tones and a slight haziness. The nose is spicy, with delicate herbaceous and red fruit notes. On the palate, it is dry and loaded with minerals and earthiness, mingling with bright red and purple fruit and baking spices. There is such an elegance to this wine and it builds beautifully on the palate expressing more savory fruit notes, and floral, and dried herbs, with medium-plus tannins providing texture, and filling the space of the medium-plus body. Our new fave Italian red.

2021 Daniele Conterno, Nebbiolo d'Alba, Piedmont, Italy

100% Nebbiolo

Daniele Conterno is a fourth-generation wine producer on a historic Piedmont farmhouse built in the mid-19th Century. He and his family put their heart and soul into producing uniquely elegant wines from the areas of Monforte d’Alba, Novello, and Madonna di Como, on steep terrain. The 2021 Nebbiolo d’Alba is quality in a glass. The wine has a medium-plus concertation of ruby—so clear and bright in color—with an orange-tinged rim and medium-plus aromatics. There’s harmony between ripe dark and bright red fruits—raspberries, strawberries, figs, plums, cranberry, orange zest and earthy attributes of dark earth, bark, mushrooms, and an abundance of freshly shaved truffles, and red rose petals. There’s a touch of well-integrated oak providing a spicy cinnamon and nutmeg. On the palate, it’s bone dry, with medium-plus acidity, medium plus-tannin that’s finely grained, and full-body. The ample structure is well integrated with the lush fruit, earth, floral, and barrel aging notes, providing for a long, interacting, and lasting finish. You guys … these truffle notes have my heart.

2017 Querce Seconda, Chianti Classico, Italy

100% Sangiovese

A small, organic estate in the northernmost corner of Chianti Classico, an area noted for producing wines with an alluring freshness. The estate covers 45 hectares of untouched forests, olive orchards, and naturally farmed vineyards. Niccolo Bernabei is the second generation of his winemaking family, and along with his wife, Linda, they are devoted to using only Sangiovese in their wines. The couple put a lot of effort into maintaining their soils in order to make sure the vines express the terroir of the area. These vines are 50 years old, farmed organically, and hand-harvested. The wine is fermented with native yeasts in stainless steel, then aged for 12 moths in a combination of 500-liter barrels and 10-year-old, 2000-liter French oak tonneau. This classic Chianti shows incredible depth of flavor, structure, and class, with a beautifully harmonious aroma; complex with notes of red fruit, currant, plum, spice, light balsamic, and eucalyptus. The palate reconfirms these characteristics along with a remarkable structure of integrated tannins, acidity, and a long, well-balanced finish.

2021 Tasca d’Alemerita Whitaker, Grillo, Mozia, Sicily, Italy

100% Grillo

The ancient Phoenician city and the Island of Mozia sat forgotten about for nearly two millennia until 1902 archeologist John Whitaker bought it with his family’s fortune. A historical place used as a trading hub and defensive outpost of the Phoenicians. This land has been researched and kept up by the Whitaker Foundation since then. In 2007 the family decided to restore the island's vineyards and turned to Tasca d’Alemerita, who have been at the forefront of Sicily's wine production since 1830, to carry out this project. The wine is clear, and bright with a medium concentration of lemon-lime with lovely notes of ripe brown pears, green figs, and golden raisins. It is delightfully floral and has a slightly chalky undertone and richness, with medium+ body and acidity with a nice extended finish. Delicious!

2022 Vietti, Roero Arneis, Piedmont, Italy

100% Arneis

Founded in 1873 by Carlo Vietti, and now for 4 generations, their vineyards include some of the most highly prized terroirs within the Langhe Hills and Barolo. Arneis is a local Piedmont variety that Carlo is credited with saving from extinction. We adore the grape variety overall, but Vietti’s are always just a step above in concentration of flavors, aromas, and finesse! This is such a delicious white with notes of ripe pear, melons, citrus, honeysuckle, basil, and almond. It’s unoaked, dry, medium-bodied, with mild texture, and mouthwatering acidity that keeps it fresh on the palate while the flavors evolve and persist. It is well-balanced with richness, elegance, and a lingering finish.

2020 Sono Montenidoli, Tradizionale, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Tuscany, Italy

100% Vernaccia

Montenidoli is literally and figuratively a mountain above the appellation of San Gimignano. It is a large estate of roughly 200 hectares, though just 24 hectares under vine. Elisabetta Fagiuoli is a pivotal figure in Tuscan winemaking, making highly appreciated terroir-driven wines for over 50 years. In 1965 she fell in love with the Montenidoli estate which she was able to purchase with the help of some money from her grandmother. The estate, both the vineyards and olive groves were in total disrepair. She began working towards restoring the property to its former glory. We are extremely lucky to have her wines here and perhaps more than any wine in this set, it speaks to us about how something so simple and so natural can be so beautiful. Here, her “tradizionale” Vernaccia is made in the old-style when white wines were made like red, with the skins of the grapes being pressed into the grape’s juice, providing a depth of color and texture. The wine has a golden hue with notes of ripe brown pears, savory herbs, minerality, honeycomb, and almonds. It’s dry on the palate with plenty of texture, savory and mineral notes, and a lengthy balanced finish.

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.