Team C&J
The Best Cabernet In The World!
A Small Paso Producer is Growing
Let’s Double Cork that for Good Measure
Glam Adelaide – Amadio Wines’ 2021 Reserve Range Sebastien’s Cabernet Sauvignon Name best Cabernet Sauvignon in the world at AWC Vienna 2024.
Yep, and Australian wine took home the title.
From the article: An Adelaide Hills Cabernet Sauvignon has triumphed at renowned international wine awards in Vienna.
Amadio Wines’ 2021 Reserve Range Sebastien’s Cabernet Sauvignon has been awarded ‘best in the world,’ taking out first place in the Cabernet Sauvignon category at the International Austrian Wine Challenge “AWC” Vienna 2024.
The AWC Vienna 2024 is an international wine challenge and is officially recognized as the largest wine competition in the world.
Just shy of 11,000 wines from 1,400 producers all over the world are judged anonymously in a blind tasting by an international jury and are rated according to the international 100-point scheme.
Wine Business – Good Growing Season Conditions with Few Challenges in Napa has Vintners Excited About the 2024 Vintage
And in some good news for the wine industry, and at least in Napa, it looks like 2024 was a good harvest overall.
From the article: Despite some heat waves at the end of June and into early July, nearly 30 to 40 days above 100 F, a big difference from years past especially 2023 when there were maybe eight to 10 days of over 100-degree heat—nice soil moisture and vegetative growth helped vines cope with warm temperatures.
Press Release: Clos Solène Announces Hire of Will Fuhrman as General Manager
We love this winery and its wines. If you are in Paso, be sure to check them out. And it looks like they are expanding! Always happy to give them a shout out if the chance arises. Besides a new GM, looks like some big changes are in order.
From the Press Release: Clos Solène is poised to break ground on a state-of-the-art 19,000-square-foot underground cellar designed by renowned architecture firm Signum Architecture. Juancarlos Fernandez, Partner, and Gabe Muracchioli, Project Manager, are leading the project on the 27-acre estate. Doug Pedersen, President of Rogers & Construction, will lead the build-out of the cave infrastructure, member lounge, tasting suites, and offices. The cellar will not only serve as a crucial part of the team’s winemaking operations and allow Clos Solène more dedicated space for the craft of winemaking but will also create opportunities for new, elevated tasting experiences for members and new visitors alike. The project is slated to break ground imminently.
Wine-Searcher – Champagne Goes Under Cork
So instead of using crown caps (like you see on a bottle of Coke) when the Champaign goes through secondary fermentation, numerous Champagne producers are using Corks.
From the article:
“The cork stopper allows micro-exchanges between the oxygen present in the air and the wine in the bottle,” she explains, stating that the chemical reactions carried out during the wines’ aging period will be significantly different from bottles aged without oxygen exposure. Alpis finds that these micro-exchanges with oxygen ultimately result in Champagnes with more aromatic complexity, as well as a finer mousse characterized by smaller bubbles.
“The disgorging of bottles corked with crown caps can be mechanized, though those aged under cork must be disgorged individually by hand,” explains Alpis, citing the rate of mechanical disgorging as 1400 bottles per hour versus just 400 per hour when done by hand. “Of course, this manual disgorging takes time and is more expensive, but it’s worth it for the qualitative gain,” …disgorging by hand takes him around four times as long as when done mechanically, but the outcome is worth the output.
Picturesque Paso Robles vineyards. Outstanding Rhône-style blends. And an unforgettable tour experience. Clos Solene is a must-visit Paso Robles winery.
The story of how Clos Solène winery and vineyard in Paso Robles was founded sounds like it could have been written in a movie studio. Guillaume and Solène Fabre created Clos Solène in 2007. Guillaume comes from a multi-generational wine family in France’s Languedoc-Roussillon region. But the path to building the winery wasn’t easy, and it involved a mix of luck, risk, and hard work.
2019 Aubert & Mathieu Milo Minervois La Livinière
So, I thought I would choose a wine from the Languedoc-Roussillion region, where Guillaume is from.
Wine lovers started taking notice of young winemakers Anthony Aubert and Jean-Charles Mathieu of Aubert et Mathieu Milo wines when the Decanter World Wine Awards awarded their 2019 Aubert & Mathieu Milo Minervois La Livinière an astounding 97-point score. They gained even more attention when Jancis Robinson began reviewing their wines.
This is a beautiful GSM: 70% Syrah, 10% Carignan, 10% Grenache, 10% Mourvedre.
Out-of-towners may find the location for a steakhouse of this caliber a bit odd, and we would agree with you. The restaurant is located way out in Brooksville, Florida, which is an hour north of Tampa. The next best dining option in town is an Applebee.
Prime-88 has a classic steakhouse vibe with low lighting, cloth-covered tables, big, cozy booths, and a vibrant bar scene where the martinis are poured like water, and the conversion is always buzzing. The dining room has a beautiful floor-to-ceiling wine wall that displays the restaurant’s wine list selections. Tarec Verala, a level 2 sommelier, is responsible for curating the selections.
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