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Welcome.
Today's Featured Offer:
Debut of the "Best Le Volte" Yet, A Historic List of Monfortino, and One Special Gaia & Rey
May 16, 2013
A Note from Sergio
Ornellaia
is a press darling and an international superstar, no question about
it. Currently owned by the Frescobaldi family, Tenuta dell'Ornellaia is
one of the most well known Super-Tuscan estates, and it makes the kind
of wine that has fanatics counting the days until a new vintage comes on
the market. The
flagship wine, Ornellaia, is internationally beloved because it has all
the characteristics of worldwide wines like density, richness and soft
tannins, and it's internationally recognized because it acts like a blue
chip stock in the cellar. The
estate makes two of the finest Super-Tuscans on the market, its
eponymous flagship wine and Masseto, its famous Merlot. Capitalizing on
their first two wines, Tenuta dell'Ornellaia added to the stellar lineup
with two secondary bottlings, Le Serre Nuovo and Le Volte, wines that
hew so closely to the originals that were they to come from any other
winery, they'd be stars in their own right.
Ornellaia
has rightly gained their star in wine heaven. Today's debut of the 2011
Le Volte, the estate's third-tier wine, illustrates that. If this wine
came from an unknown producer, it'd be a sensation. You can always tell
the quality of a winery by its "calling card" wines. When that second or
third-tier wine is exceptionally good, it shows that the estate cares
from the top of its line down to the bottom, even to the wine that no
press is going to go wild about. This latest release of Le Volte is
exceptional. You'll want to get a case.
I'm
proud to offer a counterbalance to this beautiful everyday wine with a
list of beautiful, extraordinary occasion wines: Giacomo Conterno Barolo
Monfortino Riserva. It's a gratifying feeling to be able to offer 23
vintages from a range of 67 years of any great wine, but to do it with
the crème de la crème of Barolo is amazing. I don't need to tell my
clients about the rarity, the historical value or the sheer artistry of
these bottles. They are Piemontese gems, and like rare jewels, many are
in very short supply. However, all come with impeccable provenance.
Finally,
I'm happy to offer an addendum to yesterday's offer of Gaja Gaia &
Rey. One recent important vintage was missing from that list: the 2008.
I've managed to secure several more cases of this rich, kaleidoscopic
mono-varietal Chardonnay, and I'm delighted to be offering them at the
best price around.
Enjoy!
Today's Featured Sections Include:
1. Spotlight on Excellence: Ornellaia's First-Rate Third-Tier Wine
2. Time Sensitive Offer: Gaia & Rey at Special Pricing
3. Our Experts Suggest: Great Burgundies that Won't Break the Bank
4. Only At IWM: A Monumental List of Barolo's Best
5. Wine Events: Roses From Around the World
My Best,
Sergio Esposito
Owner/Founder
SPOTLIGHT ON EXCELLENCE
 There are lots of reasons to love Le Volte.The
third wine of Tenuta dell'Ornellaia, Le Volte is the estate's answer to
immediate gratification; Le Volte blends approachability with
affordability, allowing you to drink it now, and to drink it every day. Were
this wine to come from any estate other than Super-Tuscan great Tenuta
dell'Ornellaia, makers of Merlot wonder Masseto and its flagship
Bordeaux-style blend Ornellaia, you'd think it was first tier. Le Volte
allows you to enjoy Ornellaia's beauty at a fraction of the price.
But
when it's the 2011 Le Volte, it's even better. It's opulent yet
structured, full-bodied and balanced. In fact, the '11 Le Volte is so
exceptional that it has prompted more than one IWM Portfolio Manager to
say that it's the best bottling yet--high praise indeed. Today, IWM is
delighted to debut the ripe, aromatic, silky '11 Le Volte, and it's in
stock, ready to ship.
The
2011 vintage was hot, dry and early. While that sounds a bit grim, the
makings of a flabby wine low in acidity, Ornellaia's winemakers,
including the world-class enologist Axel Heinz, got a break when summer
rains hit, slowing the ripening and allowing the parched soil to drink
up needed water. The hot, dry September that followed was, according to
the estate, "picture perfect," and the resulting grapes showed great
extract and a lovely balance between acidity and tannins. Everything was
in place to make a great wine in 2011, and this vintage of Le Volte is
exactly that.
Tenuta
dell'Ornellaia, located in Bolgheri, the hotbed for fine Super Tuscans,
goes offsite for Le Volte, sourcing Sangiovese from several producers
in the form of a finished wine, with the objective of capturing
Toscana's range of terroir expression in Bolgheri. The blended wine is
aged for approximately ten months in two to four-year-old French oak
casks that boast a pretty significant history, having previously carried
the estate's landmark wines, Ornellaia and Masseto. Le Volte (half
Merlot, thirty-percent Sangiovese, and the remainder Cabernet Sauvignon)
seems to forget that it's the third wine in the Ornellaia hierarchy. It
certainly doesn't drink like a third: friendly, inviting, ripe with
berries, nicely spiced, and showing the kind of structure you'd expect
from the makers of Ornellaia and Masseto.
In
every vintage, Le Volte sells quickly, but we expect this 2011 bottling
to fly out the door. Try a bottle. It might be your very favorite go-to
wine, but it's one that you can enjoy right now or a decade down the
line.
(Italy, Tuscany- Sangiovese) |
TIME SENSITIVE OFFER
BEST PRICE IN THE US!
Yesterday,
IWM ran a breathtaking offer that spanned 27 years of Gaja Gaia &
Rey, the Chardonnay that may just be Italy's greatest White. But just as
we sent out our offer, one of our European sources came up with ten
cases of 2008, a vintage that was noticeably missing from this roster.
The 2008 Gaia & Rey offers pure delight, palate-coating rich fruit
held in an elegant, vibrant body. Today, we're delighted to offer our
clients this find at the very BEST PRICE in the country.
Why Buy This Wine:
- Just as Gaja's Barbarescos and Barolos
achieved nearly unparalleled beauty in 2008, so too did his
mono-varietal Chardonnay, Gaia & Rey; this wine is stunning.
- With
five years of maturity, this '08 Chardonnay is just entering its
drinking window now, yet it has years ahead of it left; Gaia & Rey
is one seriously age-worthy wine.
- Just 200 cases of each vintage of
Gaia & Rey are imported into the US, and they sell out immediately,
making this allocation unusual, rare and certain to go
quickly--especially at the BEST PRICE in the country.
- In Gaja's quest to bring attention to
Barbaresco and the wines of the Langhe, his Chardonnay opened the doors
in the US for trade and collectors alike to begin to understand this
obscure region from Italy at the time, making this wine both delicious
and historical.
- Fermented with naturally occurring yeasts,
Gaja & Rey is an exotic, hedonistic wine that's age-worthy, unique,
and something that only the master Angelo Gaja could create.
*Pre-arrival, Winter 2013
This offer is valid for 24 only and will expire on May 17th at 5:00pm EST.
OUR EXPERTS SUGGESTS
At
just 16, Justin Kowalsky was quite possibly one of the youngest wine
enthusiasts at the time he started. Now 38, Justin, Vice President of
Sales and French Specialist at IWM, has been in the wine world almost 22
years.
Drinking Today:
Chateau de la Maltroye 2010 Bourgogne Blanc
(France, Burgundy-Chardonnay)
$31.99 Reg $29.43 Case Price/btl
For The Cellar:
For complete descriptions of the wines and an explanation of why Justin selected these wines, please visit our expert's post at Inside IWM.
ONLY AT IWM
Twenty-three
vintages spanning 68 years: it's an offer of Giacomo Conterno Barolo
Monfortino Riserva that only IWM can bring you. In years of outstanding
quality, Giacomo Conterno selects the very best grapes in Cascina
Francia, and these become Monfortino. Monfortino is unquestionably a
benchmark Barolo, and the Monfortino Riserva shows the deft hand of its
maker in its mind-blowing complexity, nuance, power and ineffable
beauty. A Barolo for the ages that debuted in 1934, the Monfortino
Riserva defies any list of descriptors and must simply be experienced to
be believed. IWM is proud to feature historic vintages on this list:
multiple bottlings that come from Giovanni Conterno himself, as well as
bottles from both before and after the estate purchased its own
vineyards in 1974. All of these wines show this estate's winemaking
ability in its power, structure and incredible age-worthiness. Please
ask your Portfolio Manager to help you choose yours, but do so soon;
quantities are very limited.
Why Buy This Wine:
-
Giacomo Conterno crafts its Barolo Monfortino exclusively in vintages
of the highest caliber; between the years of 1959 and 2000, it made only
22 out of a possible 41 appearances, averaging fewer than 600 cases in
each vintage.
-
A wine of superior structure and ethereal qualities, Monfortino is the
most tannic and longest-lived of all Piemonte's Barolos; recent tastings
of this wine as old as the 1937 vintage we're featuring give evidence
to its extraordinary longevity.
-
This historic list includes benchmark vintages like 1964, 1982, and
1990, as well as bottlings from Giovanni Conterno himself, who assumed
control from his father, Giacomo, and served as winemaker from
1959-2004.
- Since
1978, Giacomo Conterno has crafted its Barolo Monfortino Riserva from
the highest quality Nebbiolo grapes grown in the Cascina Francia
vineyard in Serralunga d'Alba; before that time, the estate purchased
grapes from trusted growers.
- Unlike
other Riservas, Barolo Monfortino is not a wine that has simply been
aged longer; its grapes are destined from picking, vinified separately,
and aged in very large botti for seven years before bottling.
- Today's
offer is monumental and historic in scope, including many vintages of
wines that came from the hands of Giovanni Conterno himself, as well as
his son Roberto's; together they illustrate the long-ranging gift that
this estate has given to the wine world.
- All
of these bottlings have been sourced and vetted by Sergio Esposito
himself, ensuring the kind of provenance you expect from IWM.
*Pre-Arrival, Fall 2013
^Extremely Limited Quantity
All wines are being offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Please speak to your Portfolio Manager to help you select the wine best fitting your cellar and palate at (212) 473-2323 or at store@italianwinemerchants.com
WINE EVENTS
Saturday, May 18, 2013 1:00pm-3:00pm
$25.00
One
wine brings the blush to summer the world over, and that wine is Rosé.
This sit down tasting gives you a global view of summer's favorite
sipper. A finely made Rosé carries all the beauty, complexity and
three-dimensional flavor of a red wine--and all the freshness, purity
and sunniness of a white; it's the best of all worlds, from around the
world. Join us for a trip around the world in six beautiful blush
wines--so delicious, they'll make your head spin.
A Taste of Antinori: From Super Tuscans to Brunello, and Tignanello to Cervaro
Saturday, June 1, 2013 1:00pm-3:00pm
$75.00
Celebrate
600 Years of Italian winemaking during this special tasting that
presents the Antinori properties in Bolgheri (Guado al Tasso), Chianti
Classico (Vigna Tignanello), Montalcino (Pian delle Vigne) and Umbria
(Castello della Sala). Guests will experience the ripe, new release of
Italy's iconic Super-Tuscan Tignanello, as well as the more finessed
flagship Solaia. But the Super-Tuscan tasting does not end in Chianti
Classico; it extends to the Tuscan coast and into Bolgheri with the 2008
Guado al Tasso, an interpretation that IWM considers to be among its
finest to date. And while it is easy to recognize the Antinori
contribution to these pioneering Reds, the estate also changed the face
of Whites and dessert wines. Experience the unique opportunity to
experience one of Italy's finest White in Antinori's Cervaro and the
estate's classic Italian dessert wine, Muffato. A history lesson has
never tasted so delicious, all brought to you by IWM in its world-famous
Studio del Gusto.
Wine Events
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