This week’s fixed-price selection is a focus on all things…non-French! Whilst iDealwine’s speciality remains firmly in the world of fine wine from the Hexagon, we’ve also got a growing range of cuvées from incredible countries beyond the border. You can count on the most renowned critics to guide you in your choices, too. Our team has redoubled its efforts to bring you this offer enriched with myriad new products. Caiarossa, Contador, Almaviva, Phelps…Let’s go through a journey of new flavours and distant lands!
Piedmont | Italian prestige
This northern Italian region is known above all for two DOPs, Barolo and Barbaresco, classified as part of UNESCO’s World Heritage! These four names are a good place to start.
Roberto Voerzio‘s cutting-edge estate has grown from two hectares to 52, becoming an icon of Piedmont’s vineyards and now one of the region’s finest signatures.
Luca Roagna is now a source of great excitement for enlightened wine lovers, and is certainly one of the great up-and-coming figures in the world of Italian wine. The finesse and freshness of his wines, as well as his hostility to the excessive use of barrels, have made him a must-try!
Angelo Gaja made a major contribution to the international reputation of the great Piedmontese wines, particularly barbarescos and barolos, by distinguishing himself through new techniques, considered revolutionary for the time because they broke with the practices then in force in the region.
Andrea Sottimano respects his different terroirs by following the principles of organic farming. Between tradition and modernity, the estate ages its wines in barrels according to the Burgundian method, abandoning the tuns which don’t fit into the spirit of the estate.
California | Sun, sun, sun
This land of glitter and Hollywood cinema has been decidedly won over by wine. Many French estates and groups sensed the strong potential of this part of the world and have invested in its vineyards, now the 4th largest expanse of winegrowing land in the world.
The coming together of Philippe de Rothschild and Robert Mondavi in the early 1970s resulted in the creation of a wine of remarkable quality called Opus One. The objective of Opus One was simple: to combine the know-how of Mouton-Rothschild and Mondavi in order to produce the best possible red wine, the equivalent of a Bordeaux First Growth.
Whilst Gideon and Saron Beinstock learned the wine trade at the pioneering Sierra Foothills estate in California, they then had the opportunity to take care of a tiny parcel of vines previously planted in Cabernet on the “Oregon House” terroir. The couple decided to opt for pinot noir, a grape variety that they felt would be better suited to the coolness of the region. Clos Saron was born, named after the winemaker.
If you like the sound of these wines, continue your tasting tour of the United States with the wonders of Joseph Phelps from the Napa Valley.
Tuscany | In the shadow of the cypress trees
Another legendary Italian region, Tuscany overwhelmingly produces red wine using its local star, Sangiovese (also known as Montepulciano or Brunello). Here we have three more estates that you should add to your European wine list.
Tignanello is the archetypal fruity and elegant Tuscan, and it was the prestigious Antinori estate that started it all. 1970 was the first vintage produced here, and the estate finds itself alongside the likes of Sassicaia as a ‘Super Tuscan’. An initiative from the 60s, the range has made space for some of the country’s finest wines.
Le Macchiole boasts a gorgeous location near the Tyrrhenian Sea, just outside Bolgheri…and their wines finally feature in our selection! Eugenio Campolmi gave the domain a much-needed boost in the 1980s by planting new vines, unsatisfied by the results of his father’s work. The estate is now in the hands of his wife, Cinzia, who continues to craft supple and juicy cuvées.
Tenuta di Valgiano is located fifteen kilometres north-east of Lucca, and is ideally situated, forming a sort of natural terrace between its various plots, which contributes to the great complexity of the estate’s wines. In 1993, Laura and Moreno Petrini began viticulture with the aim of making a simple wine. Aware of the richness they had in their hands, they took their production more seriously, switching to organic and then biodynamic farming, in order to constantly allow the wines to express themselves to the full.
Mosel Saar | Kingdom of Riesling
At the confluence of these two rivers, this wine region is especially appreciated for its exceptional Rieslings, which grow on some of the steepest hillsides in the world. From here, you must taste the wines by these two winemakers.
Markus Molitor is a passionate, visionary winemaker, dedicated to his native Mosel. His philosophy is based on simple principles: nature, terroir, complexity and ageing potential. Each of the wines produced by Markus Molitor reflects this statement, whether they are dry, soft-dry, sweet or dessert wines.
Egon Muller: this German estate has quite simply produced one of the most expensive wines in the world. A visionary ancestor foresaw in 1797 that this Scharzofberg hill could one day produce elegant and pure wines.
See all our Fine wines of the world here
