Harvest Photos from Praesidium in Abruzzo . . .

Antonia Pasquale sent us some great photos of the harvest at Praesidium.  Everything is hand harvested into crates.  The yield on these vines is tiny.  Looks like 2014 will be another good vintage. But we have to wait five years for it to be released!

Ottaviano Pasquale, winemaker for Praesidium with the fermenting Montepulciano and Cerasuolo in stainless
 

the grape must going into the basket press after fermentation 

Max says "Falanghina" . . . the new wine in our portfolio from Aia dei Colombi

In homage to Jeremy Parzen's Italian Grape Name Pronunciation Project, this is the first video in a series of Max and Taylor pronouncing Italian grape names (and maybe the names of my Italian produers).  I have already been told that I need to pay them in wine . . . uh oh!

Harvest at Tre Monti in Emilia-Romagna

 The harvest is in full swing at Tre Monti in Imola.  Check out the pictures of these grapes!

Intern? 

Albana di Romagna.  The golden wine.

Sangiovese di Romagna

Do I spy an amphora?

That is definitely clay pot cooking!

An Afternoon with Nicolas Joly . . .

An Afternoon with Nicolas Joly



Beaune Imports newest acquisition for California.  Check out my friend Allison Levine's blog posting about her visit to see him at his estate in the Loire.  The wines are arriving later this year.

Interview of me by Eric Guy of Protocol Wine Studio and True Wine Culture podcast . . .

This is a good way to get to know about how I got started in the business and how my business works and will give you a good idea of what I do exactly.

Click "here" to follow the link.

2002 Comte Armand Pommard Clos des Epeneaux

Tasting pretty fantastic right now.  Very dark with lots of mint and root beer in the nose.  Clean and lively on the palate but pretty weighty.  Excellent.

The real rose` season is upon us!

It is boiling out there and the best thing I can think of to cool down is to drink lots of Italian Rosato by the pool.

I have just a few cases left of the following:

Favaro 2013 ROSACHEROSANONSEI Rosato (VdT) 180/15

90% Nebbiolo, 10% Syrah Hand-harvested grapes are fermented at cool temperatures and aged in stainless steel tanks for four months. This wines has great acidity and nice tension that backs up a fullish rosato with nice mineral notes. Aromatics are floral with strawberry and raspberry flavors seasoned with mint.

or the

This is a picture of 2012 vintage.  The 2013 is even better!

Cirelli  2013 Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo DOC 144/12

The Cirelli Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo 2013 is tasting great right now.  Lots of cherry fruit and acidity and a little bit of that salty terroir thing going on, too.  It is also a critter wine, notice the beautiful butterfly, which I am sure is recognizable to all as the sign of freedom and transformation (okay, I am reaching here . . .) but whatever.  The wine is good.

The grapes for this wine were grown specifically to be direct press rose` and that has some advantages.  Lower alcohol and higher acidity would be the most obvious.  And now that the weather is getting really hot, and our rose` season is finally upon us, this is a great wine for those hot days.

Ask for them from your local retailer or email me and I can tell you the best way to get them to your door..

Cheers.

Justin