Are you looking for a “way out”?
21.10.2023 - 08:37 / forbes.com / Jane Austen / Marie Antoinette / Napoleon Bonaparte
The following wines made from eleven grape varieties in two hemispheres share a simple characteristic—they come from well established wineries that are between ninety and nine hundred years old.
South Africa - Western Cape
Klein Constantia. Vin de Constance. 2020. 98—99 points.
From a winery established in the year 1685, Vin de Constance was enjoyed by French Queen Marie Antoinette and Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte as well as by U.S. presidents George Washington and John Adams. It was also mentioned in writing by English novelist Jane Austen in her 1795 book Sense and Sensibility. Made from Muscat de Frontignan grapes, this South African wine comes from a sunny estate located east of Hout Bay and five miles south of Table Mountain. Explosive aromas of guava, mandarin, pineapple and apricot from a yellow-gold colored juice that appears to generate its own light. Full, rich, decadent and layered tropical flavors that evolve noticeably in the glass with time and temperature. Liquid pleasure. We tasted this with Dutch sommelier Marcel van Baalen at his renowned restaurant L’Atelier in Caunes-Minervois in southern France. His description: ‘Golden magic.’
Klein Constantia. South Africa. Vin de Constance. 2019. 98—99 points.
Aromas of honey, peaches, white pears, roasted apples and mint leaves. A kaleidoscopic miasma of flavors mid palate—a ticklish swirl, a golden stream of liquid Bartlett pears and fresh green apples and dark oranges mid palate. Textured, toned and with glowing embers of citric and spring orchard flavors. As always, a seductively attractive delight.
Italy - Puglia
Produttori Vini Manduria. Alice. Verdeca Salento. IGT. 2022. 91+ points.
From the oldest wine cooperative in Puglia, established in 1929. Made from the Verdeca grape. Aromas of strawberries, lime and honey. Beautiful oily mouth feel and flavors of green apples and grapefruit and gooseberries mid palate and mandarins on the finish. A sleek and easy drinking wine to be paired with—a neighboring American musician sagely suggests—pasta fettuccine and salmon.
Produttori di Manduria. Lirica Primitivo di Manduria. DOC. 2020. 93 points.
From handpicked Primitivo grapes. Aromas of chocolate Bourbon biscuits, Lapsang Souchong tea, malt balls, sultanas, molasses and tobacco. A crisp and textured mouthful that includes a mid-palate of dark fruit, mocha, cola and silky tannins, with a hearty cherry and treacle finish. Pair this with a beef and tomato dish or a dessert of black cherry ice cream. Warm and welcoming.
Torrevento. Castel del Monte. Ottagono Nero di Troia. DOCG. Red Riserva. 2014. 94 points.
Founded exactly one century ago by Francesco Liantonio, after he made his fortune in New York and returned to Puglia in Italy.
Are you looking for a “way out”?
The joy of spending the weekend in a city like Toronto is that you're going to be out all day long. There are fantastic restaurants; cool shopping streets; and a generally walkable heart of the city where you can bop from museums to vintage stores to Portuguese bakeries without missing a beat.
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