Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate: 90-92 points

“The 2009 Rasteau Vieilles Vignes shows more powerful, masculinity, earthiness in a more rustic, rough-and-tumble style that will take several years to calm down in bottle, but it has loads of earth and chocolate to it.” – Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

“Luigi Ferrando has long been the leading winemaker of the Canvese where his family’s winemaking tradition goes back to 1900. Like many of our other producers, he has strong ties to his local region. his attachment and commitment run deep, and have led him to collaborate with other winemakers and academics. They are responsible for discovering and preserving local winemaking traditions that might otherwise have been lost.

Here they raise some interesting local grape varieties, and are particularly known for their Erbaluce di Caluso. Erbaluce is and ancient white grape originally form the alpine foothills of upper Piedmont. It has a bright acidity, an elegant underlying minerality, and an overall structure that makes it the ultimate flexible wine”

Excerpt from Neil Rosenthal Site

Angel Paulucci’s family has produced wine in Italy since the early 1800′s, and Angel arrived in Mendoza with his parents in 1953 at the age of 21. In 1960, he planted his first Malbec vineyard, and in 1970 he planted a special block of Malbec vines in Ugarteche at the southern limit of the Lujan de Cuyo department. If you get Angel talking, plan to stay awhile—he will regale you with childhood stories of enemy soldiers firing bullets into his family’s red wine barrels so that they could quench their thirst. And of course, he will tell you about his vineyard: very tight spacing, superficial irrigation, lime-laden soils, and Malbec grapes that make an old-timer smile.

This wine from a terroir neighbouring Santenots is a beautiful expression of the Pinot Noir grape. Thanks to the elegance and the purity of its fruit, it can be served alongside certain types of fish such as pikeperch and monkfish and goes well with poultry and grilled meat.

http://www.matrot.com/vins-meursault/en/the-estate.html

Well, we tried it! And we had to have it !

“Baby Blue is not only the first Texas whisky on the market since Prohibition, but so far we know the only blue corn whisky made anywhere.”

http://www.balconesdistilling.com/babyblue