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Gratitude

Bindi Sergardi
Tenuta I Colli
La Boncia 2023
Chianti DOCG
100% Sangiovese
Monteriggioni, Siena, Tuscany, Italy
Nicolò Casini – Bindi Sergardi & daughters Alessandra & Maddalena

Rubilicious color. There’s scents of dark cherry, all sorts of plums, raspberries, a depth that almost goes baker’s chocolate (just opened), and as it opens more a citrus back twang of grapefruit & a few red currants. Sipping away and there’s cherries, a cranberry or two, red & black currants, raspberries, blackberries (fruit, seeds & all bite), white & black pepper, a hint of that baker’s chocolate again, and as it continues to breathe it becomes more juicy.

Pairs with Cheez-Its: deliciously opens everything

This is a family with a long history and also one that is filled with gratitude. Nicolò writes he’s grateful to God & his ancestors, the lands, and most importantly his family: “Today my children work with me and this mixture of blood and earth makes me feel eternal.” His daughter Alessandra is happy she was born into a farming family and is “grateful to be able to live in close contact with nature whose teachings, sometimes hard and difficult, have opened me to different perspectives and filled life with meaning.” Maddalena (daughter) had taken time to explore the world while picking up more work experiences, but returned to her home..as she says, “I celebrate with gratitude the land that has always called me back.” Their words are so refreshing to me since so many in this world as of late have put more emphasis on entitlement. Thank you for making such a beautiful wine and bringing a warmth back to my heart. As I was telling someone this past week, “be kind, be nice & be grateful”. 🍷

#wine #vin #vino #vinho #wein #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #instawine #pairswithcheezits #cheezit #winelover #winetasting #wineoclock #wineoftheday #wineislove #winetime #italy #broadbentselections #bindisergardi #docwinebar #docwineshop

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This Is Not My Grandfather’s Wine

Terra di Seta
480 slm 2018
Chianti Classico DOCG
Sangiovese 95%, Cabernet Sauvignon 5%
Organic, Kosher, sustainable agriculture
Castelnuovo Berardenga, Vagliagli, Tuscany, Italy
Daniele Della Seta (husband) & Maria Pellegrini (wife)

Ruby stained glass. Scents float up of plums, prunes, dried & fresh cherries, raisins, smooth & expressive violets, a classic bit of leather book binding with a dash of tobacco that morphs into crunchy raspberries & smoke, and a dash of cloves, fennel, warm spice/pepper blend. All of the scents are in the taste along with dried figs, pomegranate, red currants, dark olives, fennel, and a modern light gentle dry dance that echos classical footsteps.

Pairs with Cheez-Its: a good bitter dried fruit richness

Must be wonderful to work side by side with the one you love, and also love your work. Maria’s from a winemaking family while Daniele’s background is in biology and from what I’ve found they both have their hands in every aspect of their organic farm, winery & wine tourism farmhouse “Le Macie” that looks like a place you would never want to leave (there’s an infinity pool & some of the apts have AC!). They also are “the only winery in Italy whose entire wine production, from its grapes – since 2008 – is supervised by strict Kosher certification”. Long ago when I was a kid, the only Kosher wine that my grandfather used to pick up to have with the holiday fruitcake was let’s say a certain Concord grape concoction that I bet many of you had the same reaction to it as I did 🤮. I can happily say “Terra di Seta” is definitely not my grandparents wine…it’s heavenly.

#wine #vin #vino #vinho #wein #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #instawine #pairswithcheezits #cheezit #winelover #winetasting  #wineislove #winetime #worldbyglass #italy #Tuscany #viaswine #TerradiSeta #docwineshop #docwinebar

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Nothing Can Be So Beautiful

Vini Conestabile della Staffa
Rustico 2020
Umbria Rosso IGT
100% Sangiovese
Organic
Monte Melino, Italy
Winegrower & maker: Danilo Marcucci

Ruby…think deep stained glass like Mary’s Immaculate Heart. Breathing in scents of cherry, plum, a dash of good funk then violets, mini roses, a slight vanilla touch, and a mix of blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and as it says a rustic vibe. Tasting and it starts off tart & alive with cherries & plums, oil cured olive pits, dried crushed herb blend maybe tarragon & thyme, smoke, black & white pepper, juicy blackberries, red currants, tart & fresh green & pink strawberries, and a wood shaving from my grandfather’s shop.

Pairs with Cheez-Its: deliciously smooth

Y’all know how much I love wine, but it’s also the tales, the history, and what draws people to work the vines. Reading about Danilo Marcucci on SelectioNaturel’s site and they write he’s the first to say this is his wife’s land and “he is merely a guest, married to the vines and his wife Alessandra’s noble lineage” (dating back to the Middle Ages w an arranged marriage in the 1700s sealing the families’ deal). He just rebooted everything, and was lucky that chemicals were never used on the land, since he’s been called “Italy’s Lord of Natural Wine”. He learned from old school masters after being introduced to a glass of nature, and his philosophy is “No chemistry in the vineyard, no technology in the cellar.” Sometimes keeping it all about nothing can make everything oh so beautiful.

#wine #vin #vino #vinho #wein #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #instawine #pairswithcheezits #cheezit #winelover #winetasting #wineislove #winetime #worldbyglass  #organic #sustainable #Umbria #Italy #viniconestabile #selectionaturel @viniconestabile @selectionaturel @docwinebar @docwineshop

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Living The Dream

Valdonica
COCO 2020
IGT Toscana Rosato Frizzante
Sangiovese 90%, Ciliegiolo 10%
Organic, unlined, unfiltered, not irrigated, vegan friendly
Sassofortino, Tuscany, Italy
Owner: Dr. Martin Kerres

Slightly salmon pink or almost a light hazy sunrise with a few bouncing bubbles. Breathing in nutty brioche toast, ok I keep fighting writing this bc I think I’m nuts but there’s a porcini sniff going on here in a good way (I will never forget my first smell & taste of a real porcini in Cortona while a student. It was orgasmic), a backyard gardening greenness, young not fully ripe strawberries, gooseberries along with a small bit of red currants, fresh picked bunch of daisies & few other wild flowers, and a whiff of smoke later that is so distant. Sipping and it’s tart, crisp & lively, those young strawberries & gooseberries again joined by a few raspberries & tart cherry with a squeeze of lime, salt and a lick of mineral rock, and a little of my guilty pleasure…almond croissant. Very tingly, vibrant, yet juicy in an addictively good way which as I love to say it’s a total party in your mouth.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: nope

Well, I have to say Dr. Kerres is living the dream! Originally from Austria, he was only looking for a summer home, but as he says, “Valdonica happened to me, it was not planned.” There wasn’t even a vineyard there before he took on the task of planting them which he started off with them being totally natural. Now he not only wants to share his wine but the whole experience with all of us. You can stay over in the hotel or the guestrooms, dine in their restaurant or cellar, join their community with the purchase os one of their winery lofts, or pick up a job for a season or life. Just check out their site and I bet you’ll be as tempted as me and will be dreaming of a new existence in all that beautiful nature within a modern flair. ❤️

#wine #vin #vino #vinho #wein #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram #wineoclock #instawine #petnat #Frizzante #bubbly #sparklingwine #worldbyglass #Tuscany #Italy #organic #winetime #livingthedream #cheezit #pairswithcheezits @cheezit @valdonica @wine4theworld @docwineshop @docwinebar

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To Sip…To Dream

Velenosi
Brecciarolo 2018
Rosso Piceno DOC Superiore
Company owned vineyards located in the districts of Offida and Ascoli Piceno
Montepulciano 70%, Sangiovese 30%
Hand harvested
Ascoli Piceno, Marche, Italy
Wine Team: Ercole & Angela Velenosi, Dr. Paolo Garbini, Filippo Carli & Luca Fioravanti (winemakers), and more

Bright ruby. Breathing in full on cherries & plums, dainty roses, vanilla, and a bit of warming spice. Lovely sipper of cherries fresh and dried, dark plums, dates with a teeny black pepper, and a rustic yet juicy vibe. Very friendly charmer that is ready to hang out with you and a good book right now.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: perfect but I’d even rather have a lamb chop

“Wine is an art capable of making people dream”…so very true (I’m not talking about those visions when you’ve had a few too many). This bottle is like a painting that is being created as you sip. Yes, it captures the history of the land and takes you on a little tour of tradition, but it also is filled with a modern brushstroke of innovation and everything merges together in harmony. Thank goodness it isn’t a NFT! For those of you that know me well, you know how I feel about them even in the wine world. 🙄

#wine #vin #vino #葡萄酒 #ワイン #winestagram  #instawine #winemaking #worldbyglass #cheezit #pairswithcheezits #italy #Marche #Montepulciano #Sangiovese #NFT #art @viaswine @docwineshop @docwinebar @velenosivini @cheezit

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Whole Lotta Love

Stolpman Vineyards
Love You Bunches 2020
Sangiovese
Natural, dry farming, carbonic maceration
Ballard Canyon, Santa Barbara County, CA
Owners: Pete & Jessica Stolpman and family
Vignerons: Ruben & Maria Solorzano 
Winemakers: Kyle Knapp & Matt Nocas

“You need cooling. Baby I’m not foolin” Bright maroon-plummy-rose glass. Breathing plums, cherry, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries with a funky depth in the back. Loving it! A sip and then a gulp of fabulous! There’s bright cherry (tart and sweet), dinosaur plums, raspberries, blackberries, pomegranates, and (don’t laugh at me) a little SweeTarts and a handful of Skittles. It’s juicy, tart, and smooth  at the same time. A crisp and crunchy party in my mouth.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: surprisingly lovely

One sip and you’ll know why the back label has “So Fresh” emblazoned on it. Whole beautiful uncrushed sangiovese bunches are left to ferment in stainless, and yes, I do love those bunches! It’s like a first kiss stolen. This is one of those wines you put on a flower wreath on your head and chase each other around and end up in a sweaty mess…or as Led Zeppelin said, Whole Lotta Love!

#wine #winelover #vino #vin #winelife #葡萄酒 #ワイン #cheezit #organic @worldbyglass #Sangiovese #pairswithcheezits #chilledwine #winetasting #winestagram #California #SantaBarbara #BallardCanyon #stolpmanvineyards #ledzeppelin #wholelottalove @docwineshop @docwinebar @stolpmanvineyards @cheezit

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Ancient Ways & New History

Pietro Beconcini Agricola
Antiche Vie 2020
Chianti DOCG
Sangiovese 80%, Malvasia 10%, and Trebbiano 10%
Organic
Grown in San Miniato, Tuscany, Italy
Wine Couple: Pietro Beconcini and Eva Bellagamba

Shining ruby that should be decanted for about an hour. I tried a couple different time frames and it seems to be the sweet spot. At first there’s a mellow morphing caramel scent, dark cherries, irises, forest earthiness, black pepper, and as it opens it’s more perfume. Tasting delicious cherries and dried cherries, plums, raspberry, boysenberry, blackberry, orange peel, white and black pepper, and digging in the dirt (earth)…yeah I have that Peter Gabriel song stuck in my head again. There’s also a small bite of rosemary and sage. All of this is joyfully light (that grows as it opens into medium) and lively with a seductive backbone, and this wine makes me smile and I feel like it’s winking back at me. 😘

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: deeper, darker and more sultry

Antiche Vie has ties all the way back to Pietro’s grandfather who back in the 50s bought their farmland, which is really important because it broke the cycle of being a sharecropper. Pietro’s Chianti celebrates the ways of old, the region’s indigenous grapes, and also his father who was a “pioneer in the cultivation of the vine in this area.” He also has written a new history with his San Miniato fed Sangiovese which was his 1st project and the grapes he is working with today in his “Wines of the Tradition”.  “Wines of Innovation” is the other route he has taken. They are the only ones growing Tempranillo in Italy, and their IXE will knock your socks off. As I keep repeating, it’s like Spain and Italy had a beautiful baby, and just like Antiche Vie it will be love at first taste.

#wine #winelover #vino #vin #winelife #葡萄酒 #ワイン #Chianti #Tuscany #Italy #SanMiniato #Sangiovese #Malvasia #Trebbiano #cheezit #organic @worldbyglass #pairswithcheezits #winestagram #pietrobeconcini @pietrobeconciniwines @soilairselection @cheezits

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Returning to the Start and Beginning Again

Buli
Estate 44 2016
Toscano Rosso IGT
Siena Italy
Sangiovese 60%, Cabernet Sauvignon 20%, Merlot 10% and Syrah 10%
Organic, hand harvested, and 70% Unilateral Cordon-spur trained (cane pruned) and 30% Guyot
Founder and owner: Robert Buly
Enologist: Diego Ciurletti
Agronomist: Alessandro Gemini
Cantina Chief: Stefano Censini

A shining garnet/ruby glass. Greeted by scents of dark cherries, deep plum, cola, and vanilla that daintily lingers and then hides and then pops back out to surprise you. There’s also earth, pine trees and needles. I feel like I’m walking through an enchanted forest. All sorts of flavors hit at first sip, so give it a little and enjoy cherries, plums, blackberries, raspberries, earth and cherry pit dark goodness, along with a shake of white pepper. This is a light bright velvety juicy red that as time goes by starts heading toward medium and can stand up and stand by to a fabulous plate of D.O.C. Wine Bar’s, Chef Stefano Baldantoni’s Lamb Chops.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: brings out a velvet oak dancing with the cherries and plums

This is my second dance with Estate 44. Almost a year ago, I met Buli’s 2015, and have worked my way through their whole collection, and they are consistently fabulous and fascinating. They capture Podere Collalto’s (Farm on a High Hill) essence and romance. Estate 44 is especially dedicated to the Allied soldiers that liberated Tuscany, and those that did not make it back. Thank goodness, Robert’s father made it back to the States, and brought along with him a beautiful Italian wife after an adventure that included a search for wine and a strong love at first sight that even involved reenlisting in order to get permission for the marriage. For more on that check out Ruby Velvet Romance. I’m so grateful to have been able to see Italy through Robert’s eyes and writings, and taste the wonders that can come from his 5 hectares of the world. And I will add once more, someone needs to make a movie of how this family’s whole story and Robert’s wines have played out. This bottle was like a return home for me. Cheers to them all and to what the future brings!

@docwineshop @docwinebarny @buliwine @darkstarimports @cheezits @stefanobaldantoni #cheezit #pairswithcheezits #wine #redwine @worldbyglass #needmorewine #organic #trequanda #toscano #tuscany #siena #italy #winestagram #instawine #Sangiovese #Merlot #Syrah

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Rugged, Handsome and Clooney

Tenuta Ghiaccio Forte
Morellino di Scansano DOCG 2019
100% Sangiovese
Hand-harvested
Scansano, Tuscany, Italy
Owner (since 1999) and artist: Sandro Chia; Winemaker: Filippo Chia

Glowing shiny translucent ruby. Rich beautiful dark cherry, prunes, and Mission fig aromas blended with earthiness and wet granite post a good summer rain. Sipping plums, cherries, dried figs (my favorite splash of richness), blueberries and earthy; yet it’s still bright, sweet, a smooth groove with just a touch of rugged handsomeness. Kind of like George Clooney. Yep, I’m drinking a glass of Clooney.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: deeper darkness goodness of lush flavors

Tenuta Ghiaccio Forte (Ice Fort, no this is not a GOT reference) has 20 hectares with 12 of those hectares in Morellino di Scansano located right next to the National Park of the same name and is the remains of an Etruscan city. So the tale of their iconic little handsome sculpture head on their labels, comes from an Etruscan sculpture that was stumbled upon or should I say driven over. One of their tractors, broke through the surface of the land into a cavern/tomb where this ancient sculpture was found. I can just imagine the excitement on the find, and the irritation and potential cursing of having to pull the tractor back out. Back to the wine, before 2018, their Sangiovese was blended with 15% Syrah. That’s now a thing of the past. Their 100% Sangiovese doesn’t touch oak, it’s stainless steel fermentation and 2 weeks of it with the skin on. It’s a genuine expression of itself, the history of this land, and the travelers and traders who have passed through its many years. Beautiful, distinguished, passionate, and still a historic wine that lives and has adapted in modern times.

@docwineshop @docwinebarny @filippoghiaccioforte @selectedestatesofeurope #wine #redwine #cheezit #winestagram #instawine #worldbyglass @worldbyglass #needmorewine #pairswithcheezits #Italy #TenutaGhiaccioForte #Scansano #Tuscany #morellinodiscansano #Sangiovese #maremma #GeorgeClooney

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A True Classic

Buli
515 S.L.M. 2016
Toscano Sangiovese IGT
Trequanda, Siena, Italy
100% Sangiovese
Organic and hand harvested in small baskets
Founder and owner: Robert Buly
Enologist: Diego Ciurletti
Agronomist: Alessandro Gemini
Cantina Chief: Stefano Censini

Shiny garnet/ruby glass that is a welcome start to my evening. Enchanting and yummy scents of deep cherry, vanilla, chocolate chips like in the fresh baked cookies you’ve pulled pulled open. Let it keep breathing plums and orange zest appear. A touch of salt like a breeze. Stop laughing this isn’t a potato chip commercial. I’m not on the “Cape.” This is from the hilltop where the grape is born. Now sipping cherries, prunes, dried figs and dates. There’s a dark depth but not an overly heavy wine, nor light. I’m happily floating in the medium realm. Now I’m also getting baker’s chocolate and chicory and as I exhale post sip…that taste of fine cigar smoke. Who doesn’t love one every once in a while. Now as I’ve spent the evening with this bottle’s last glass, it comes to a sweet smooth cherry end.

Pairs with Cheez-It’s: brings out blueberry/cherry mix and a more velvet feel that grows yet still that pinch of chicory at end.

This is my 5th Buli wine and my 2nd 515 S.L.M. When I was introduced to my first bottle, the wine just spoke to me and then their history made me fall in love. Ok, the tales didn’t sway my delight in each bottle because every one has proven their merit and deliciousness. This Sangiovese is a classic beauty that has a daring side. As I sip, it reminds me of John Singer Sargent’s, “Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau)” and her elegance, beauty, and flirtatious confidence (minus the scandal). This wine is a reputable beauty that’s not on a pedestal but on Podere Collalto’s “high hill”.

@docwineshop @docwinebarny @claudio @buliwine @darkstarimports @cheezits #cheezit #pairswithcheezits #wine #redwine @worldbyglass #needmorewine #organic #trequanda #toscano #tuscany #siena #italy #winestagram #instawine #Sangiovese #johnsingersargent #MadameX