European Dinner party
*Cases are out of stock*
Be sure to sign up for our newsletter for updates on our next mixed case!
Join us on a journey to the Old World through this curated 3-bottle mixed case featuring wines from some of Europe’s most dynamic and unique wineries. Hailing from Portugal, Italy and France, the wines will be accompanied by chef-inspired recipes and a musical pairing that will make this a memorable evening for you and your dining guests.
Tasting notes
2018 Pedra Alta Branco
The 2018 Branco is a refreshing, aromatic and textured white wine. Grapes are whole-bunch pressed and fermented by wild yeasts before aging ‘sur lie’ for 6 months prior to bottling. Loaded with delicate and varied aromas of ripe candied citrus, grapefruit pith and rich tropical fruits, the palate is mid-weight and bursting with flavour—citrus, passion fruit and pineapple. It is all balanced nicely by crunchy acids and a salty, mineral-inflected finish.
2018 Luretta Gutturnio
The 2018 Gutturnio is sourced from two vineyards planted in 1965 and 1995 on alluvial, clay marl soils. Vines are trained with single cordon and simple guyot technique. Grapes are fermented for 20 days and aged in 100% small French oak for 9 months, 30% new barrels. Bright and fruit-forward, this has delicate tannins and laser-focused acidity. The nose explodes with aromas of bing cherry, tart raspberry and spice box. The mid-weight palate carries those berry flavours forward, but adds notes of cedar, red currant, pipe tobacco and strawberry.
2020 Domaine des Schistes ‘Maury’
Roussillon wines are often, and unfairly, lumped together with the more ubiquitous wines from their eastern neighbour, Languedoc. And while there are some shared aspects of the
two southern French wine regions, there are plenty of cultural, historical and vinous differences worth noting. One such distinction is Roussillon’s passionate and lengthy production of the famed sweet wines from the villages of Maury, Banyuls and Rivesaltes. In fact, the region accounts for over 80% of France’s Vin Doux Naturel (VDN) production. VDN provide some of the greatest value in wine and are widely counted among the finest sweet wines in the world, offering up loads of concentration, complexity and intrigue. Like Port, VDN’s are fortified wines made by adding a neutral grape spirit to arrest fermentation, leaving some residual sugar in the finished wine. They’re made from a variety of local grapes, notably Muscat and all three Grenaches.
