Founded in 1956 by his father, Paolo Marchi took over Isole e Olena in 1976. He transformed the estate to one of the leading wine producers in Italy. The observation of his vineyards, the promotion of Sangiovese as the estate's leading variety, lower yields, denser plantation and Massale selection for the Sangiovese were his key to success. As the DOC rules of the time did not allow to produce a Chianti Classico with 100% Sangiovese he invented Ceparello, a Super-Tuscan but pure Sangiovese, unheard at that time. 2022 was the last vintage of Paolo Marchi, he sold the estate to the French EPI group, also owner of -amongst others- Champagne Piper Heidsieck and the Tenuta Biondi-Santi. In 2023 Emanuele Reolon took over the management of the estate, a gifted vintner with the aim to continue the extraordinary work which as done by Paolo Marchi.

Thomas Cheurlin is deeply rooted in the magnificent wine landscape of Champagne. Here, where Jura limestone shapes the landscape and the terroir, he produces Champagne at a high level. He relies on his diverse vineyards, which are located in the small valleys known as “Vaucelles”. These valleys also served as the inspiration for the name of his new line.

Cloudburst has just presented its new collection.

Mariona Alabau and Gergö Borbély are the founders of LegaSea, a wine project to mature wines under water. Both are passionate divers and the idea of combining diving and wine production ended with the foundation of LegaSea. They are not only maturing their own wines in the Mediterranean sea but also bottles from other wineries. The estate of Witwe Thanisch has shared this extraordinary experience.

The new range of Champagne Frerejean Frères showing the unique style of the the house.

The new collection of Martin Korrell showed excellent qualities although the vintage was quite challenging.

Today's tasting features wines from the coastal region of Liguria and from the mountains of the Alto Adige. A "surf and turf" of two different terroirs yet two great wine experiences. 

The second part of the primeur tasting was held in Essen. A number of Châteaux have sent their samples and were tasted on arrival. The trend of wines with a lot of fruit in a slightly lighter style yet with very good persistence on the palate which was already observed during the primeur tasting in Bordeaux was confirmed.

The third tasting of the primeurs was held on May 8th and 9th in Essen. Over a hundred samples have been sent by the Châteaux. Now there will be some few wines announced for next week so that the final tasting notes will be online towards the end of the coming week.

A number of fine wines from Tenuta San Leonardo will be introduced to the market this spring. A preview of these wines was the topic of a very exciting tasting.

2024 – back to the essentials.

This year again the “en primeur week” started with an excellent report of Prof. Axel Marchal, University Professor at the Oenological Research Unit of the Institute of Vine and Wine. The report was not only high lightening the challenges of the vintages but also the positive aspects.

The year started with an exceptionally rainy winter with mild temperatures and little sunshine, which delayed bud break and limited the access to vine plots. Then a rapid early phenological development was significantly slowed down to cool and again wet weather from mid-April onwards. May was rainy and rather cool, lacking sunshine and resulting in a slow and irregular vine growth. Rain continued in June and caused a difficult flowering in the context of a high mildew threat. A fairly dry summer turned to a more positive side, but important water reserves in the soil led to a late and spaced-out version. The ripening period was from August onwards, before the sudden arrival of autumn in September. A spell of rain from September 20 disrupted the harvest schedule. However, in Sauternes, alternating dry and wet weather conditions were propitious to the onset of Botrytis cinerea and the concentration of the grapes.

Vintners had to react and so it is rather a vintner’s vintage than a terroir vintage, although a great terroir was very helpful to get excellence. In some moments of the tasting there was a reminder of the vintages in the 1980s and 1990s, which were lighter in alcohol as during the decades of the 2000s. But there is one big difference: the last three decades have seen a lot of positive changes in viticulture and vinification. Attention to the environment, harvest by smaller plots, extensive selection processes, a different approach on fermentation and maceration have led to upgraded precision, impressing elegance and in a lot of cases a very convincing persistence. This work has to be recompensated and therefore the ratings are not at the very top but on a quite upper level. It was a wise decision of a lot of Châteaux to put an accent on the purity of fruit rather than on massive extraction. Since a long time, alcohol levels have not been that low, although chaptalization has been used to be more precise in the fermentation process and get balanced wines. This « lighter style » has not to be a disadvantage. 2024 is not a great vintage but a vintage offering some great opportunities in a style of refinement and elegance. One could say we are back to the classic vintages with wines guaranteeing an excellent drinking pleasure. Interesting to observe, that the number of attributes used for the flavour profiles is lower than in previous years and is more focussed on fruit, floral components and aromatic herbs, complex spiciness and toasting components are less prominent. This might be caused by the lower extraction levels and the vintners focus on fruit promoting the varietal character. Some wonderful wines with stunning purity can be found in Sauternes and Barsac. Also, the dry white wines have generally performed better than the reds, although the aromatic profile of the different wines is much closer and uniform this year with an accent on citrus fruits and aromatic herbs.

How does Axel Marchal conclude his presentation: “It is clear that 2024 will not be remembered as an exceptional vintage for Bordeaux wines. Nevertheless, thanks to the considerable efforts undertaken in the vineyards and the technical progress that winegrowers now benefit from, the quality of the wines produced this year bears no comparison to the rainy vintages of the past. While it was obviously easier to make very good dry and sweet white wines, it would be a mistake to systematically overlook the red wines.”

Axel Marchal is right, a good number of high-quality wines can be found in 2024, one only has to look out for them.