Wine Tasting – Rosenthal Wine Merchant

We are thrilled and honored to welcome Chris Johnson of Rosenthal Wine Merchant to the store on Wednesday, August 30th at 6 p.m. for a truly exceptional wine tasting!

Rosenthal Wine Merchant is one of the most respected importers of fine wine in the United States. From the outset, founder and CEO Neal Rosenthal has been devoted to working with small, family-owned estates who produce limited quantities of exceptional wines which reflect their place of origin with great character. Today the Rosenthal portfolio encompasses nearly every viticultural area of France and Italy, as well as Switzerland’s Vaud and Valais districts, Spanish Catalonia, and, most recently, four of Austria’s major winegrowing regions. Rosenthal prides itself on extraordinarily close relationships with growers – multi-generational, family-run enterprises that share the company’s founding commitment to the notion of terroir.

Chris will taste us through five outstanding treasures in their portfolio from both France and Italy:

Domaine de Montbourgeau Crémant du Jura (Jura, France) NV
Nicole Deriaux’s gold standard Crémant du Jura is always from a single vintage (though it is labeled non-vintage), produced from Chardonnay from her younger vines. After fermentation, the entire production is assembled and left for several months in cuve before being bottled. This is a true “brut zero” and never receives a dosage, resulting in a linear, racy sparkler of mouthwatering minerality and sizzling drive.

Lucien Crochet Sancerre Blanc ‘Croix du Roy’ (Sancerre, France) 2021
Sourced from several parcels of the estate that are planted in rocky, white soils with steep, east-southeast exposures, this cuvée is the most full-bodied and structured of the three core Sancerres from Lucien Crochet. Vinified in stainless steel with a late racking to ensure that the wine captures the essence of the terroir. Notes of black currant and white stone-fruits emerge, with a chalky minerality on the palate and a pleasing bitterness of yuzu citrus.

Monastero Suore Cistercensi ‘Coenobium’ Bianco (Lazio, Italy) 2021
Produced in an entirely natural manner under the guidance of Giampiero Bea, the Coenobium is a blend of Trebbiano, Verdicchio, and Malvasia, harvested together and co-fermented without added yeasts or temperature stabilization. The nose is evocative of autumn on multiple sensory levels, with aromas of fennel fronds, chamomile tea, almonds, and tangerine that lead into a full but delicately rendered palate.

Ficomontanino ‘Bulgarelli’ Rosso (Tuscany, Italy) 2021
Fermented naturally, with a two-week maceration, the wine spends the better part of a year in a combination of cement and steel vats, bottled without fining or filtration. This wine pulls in multiple directions; it is both fresh and deep, both spicy and politely earthy, and its dark red fruits soar high, unfettered by cellar manipulations. The ever-versatile Sangiovese finds a new and lovely register here.

Closerie du Pelan Rouge (Bordeaux, France) 2009
The 2009 Pelan is open-knit, fresh, and relaxed in its structure, offering gorgeous secondary notes of leather, tobacco, and sage, and integrated, supple tannins; it is a large-scaled wine without heaviness.