My Picks: Vintages On-Line Exclusives -- June 2

Here’s my shopping list for this week’s Vintages On-Line Exclusives Release.

ALOIS LAGEDER HABERLE PINOT BIANCO 2008, DOC Südtirol-Alto Adige (Italy); #169102; 13% ABV; $24
100% Pinot Bianco (do I have to say Pinot Blanc…oder weissburgunder?) A wonderful summer wine…great as an aperitif, or with grilled asparagus or seafood. Large temperature variation between day and night during the growing season should make for crisp acidity. Fermentation in stainless steel tanks, followed by maturation on the lees for 4 months. One of Alto-Adige’s best-known producers, he does some biodynamic wines, but this is not one of them.

LE G DE CHÂTEAU GUIRAUD 2008, AC Bordeaux Blanc Sec (France); #166793; 13% ABV; $22
Interesting, this is a dry white wine from a Sauternes producer. A blend of Sauvignon Blanc (70%) and Semillon (30%). As with Sauternes, the producer handpicks the grapes, looking for ripe but not mouldy grapes (the mouldy grapes go into the Sauternes). Fermented for 2 weeks in barrels previously used for the Sauternes, then barrel-aged for 9 months, regularly stirring the lees for the first 4 months. Good, affordable Bordeaux Blanc is all too rare. G, better get some.

VILLA MATILDE FALERNO DEL MASSICO BIANCO 2008, DOC Falerno del Massico (Campania, Italy); #167817; 12% ABV; $24
100% Falanghina, one of those wonderful white varietals from southern Italy. Fermentation starts with a cold soak (juice left on grape-skins at low temperature), then 15-day fermentation after they remove the skins. Aged in stainless steel for 3 months. Look for ripe tree fruits and minerality. Might want to put this one away for a few years.

DOMAINE FAIVELEY CLOS DES MYGLANDS MERCUREY 1ER CRU 2007, AC Mercurey (France); #172742; 14% ABV; $34
Gonna buy myself a Mercurey. From a somewhat lesser known area of the Cote D’Or, the Cote Chalonnaise is the place to go for good, affordable Burgundy. Clos des Myglands is a monopole, meaning Faiveley owns all of it (all 6 hectares). They press the grapes on-site, and then bring the wine to Nuits-Saint-Georges where they age it in light-toast oak barrels (one-third new) for 14 to 16 months. And Faiveley is a famous producer…just ask Robert Parker.

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