Salomon Undhof Hochterrassen Gruner Veltliner
Cooper’s Price $14.99
This landmark winery is located in the twin town of Krems-Stein in the wine-growing region of Kremstal, one of the oldest wine areas in Austria.
The region was founded in the eighth century when monks who followed Charlemagne’s army down the Danube saw the grape growing potential of its south-facing terraces. Grape vines like the sun!
In 1780 the Salomon family acquired the Undhof – a farm building once part of a Capuchin monastery – and started producing wines there in 1792. The Salomon’s ancestors were boatmen involved in the salt trade with their wine business only a side-line. Today Salomon is one of the most progressive and quality driven wineries in Austria, making Riesling and Grüner Veltliner of stunning purity and elegance.
In 1925, this pioneer of Austrian winemaking was the first to export its wines; now they export over half its production.
Vinosia Fiano di Avellino le Grade 2016
Regular Price $19.99 Cooper’s Price $16.99
Vinosia is young project founded by Mario and Luciano Ercolino, whose family founded Feudi di San Gregorio where Mario was formerly the head winemaker. In 2003, Mario and Luciano set out to make their own wines and founded Vinosia, a new place of wine.
Mario oversees the winemaking process with the highest level of precision and care, while Luciano manages marketing and distribution. Together, they are dedicated to expressing the potential and character of the region’s wines by putting a modern spin on native varieties.
Wine Education – The Grape, Region and Wine
Fiano is a high-quality, white-wine grape variety used widely in southern Italy, particularly in Campania. Used mainly as a varietal wine, Fiano is nutty and textured with floral and honeyed notes, spice and tropical fruit flavors like pineapple. Its main incarnation is as Fiano di Avellino DOCG wine.
Fiano di Avellino Wine – Fiano di Avellino DOCG is an appellation for white wine, located in the Avellino province within the Campania, Italy. It is regarded as the finest expression of the white Fiano grape
Amepelia “Unlitro di Costa Toscana” Rosso
Cooper’s Price $19.99 – 1 liter
Elisabetta Foradori, one of Italy’s top superstar winemakers, has come together with two friends, Giovanni Podini and Thomas Widmann, to develop Ampeleia: a completely unique project in the Maremma region of Tuscany, farmed biodynamically. Ampeleia includes a total of 150 hectares of which only 40 (100 acres) are planted with vines. The property slopes down towards the sea, where earlier Etruscans nourished the soil to grow grapes.
The Wine: The wine is packaged in a one liter as it is a lighter bodied red, meant to be shared with others over lunch or dinner. The wine is a blend of mainly Alicante (synonymous with Grenache, Cannonau, Garnacha) but also Carignano (Carignan), Mourvedre, Sangiovese and Alicante Bouschet.
It aged for 6 months in cement tanks and it is biodynamically farmed.
Kevin’s Notes: This wine is simply fun in the mouth, it’s wonderful! Unfortunately, the wholesaler can only get 56 cases per year of this wine so we quickly grabbed 5 cases. I can’t wait for our customers to try this wine.
Château Couronneau, Bordeaux Supérieur Rouge 2015
Cooper’s Price $19.99
The Cartier family lived for 3 centuries on the estate and invested on the splendid domain from the XVI century. The Piat family, the proprietors of Chateau Couronneau, have worked hard and meticulously in the vineyard to coax out the best possible fruit for their wine. This hard work includes a dedication to organic farming (they are certified with Ecocert), green harvesting in Spring, and limiting yields to an average 40% below what is allowed for the appellation. This wine is also biodynamic!
Wine Education: Green harvesting is the harvesting or dropping of unripe (aka green) green clusters of grapes from the vine. It is a form of crop thinning to help manage yield and to enable the remaining grape clusters to fully ripen according to the winemaker’s aims.
Wine Education: Bordeaux Supérieur is an appellation tier applied to wines made within the generic Bordeaux AOP zone. They are produced from the classic Bordeaux grape varieties. The reds are, as their name implies, intended to be a slightly “superior” form of standard Bordeaux AOC wines.
Kevin’s Notes: This is deep, full-bodied red. 2015 has been rated as an outstanding vintage!
