October 6, 2022
United Cellars Annual Walk Around Tasting Event 2022
«United Cellars US hosted a wine tasting event gathering not only local suppliers and retailers but also clients all over the map.»
2022 … Time to get back to normalcy!
February 8, 2022
Discover the 54th edition of Vinitaly 2022
International Exhibition of Wines and Spirits. Four days of major events, technical tastings, prestigious vertical, walk around tasting, thematic areas and focus on the main markets.
Click here for more information
January 21, 2022
Tickets Are Now on Sale for the 2022 Food & Wine Classic in Aspen
The 39th annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen will bring together the biggest names in food and drink. The three-day culinary event, featuring cooking demos, wine seminars, and exclusive tastings, brings together the biggest names in food and drink to celebrate in Aspen, Colorado.
Click here to buy your tickets
December 12, 2021
Punto Ar «Nuit» Malbec 2018 release
Bodega A16 is an important winemaking project that began in 2007 as the sixteenth start-up by business owner Gerardo Cartellone.
The spirit of A16, our underlying philosophy from which the winery is managed, is based on care behind each detail in crafting excellent wines and love as the foundation to continue to grow within the industry.
James Suckling Shelftalker
April 30, 2021
It’s time to meet … Jose Pariente
José Pariente Apasionado … “An amazing sweet white wine, fresh and complex»
The result of our concern for a new and original sweet wine. After hard work in the vineyard and few small trials, we have come up with our Apasionado, a special and lively version of the grape Sauvignon Blanc.
José Pariente Barrel fermented … «Profound, smooth and complex»
Barrel Fermented is a wine with a meticulous wine process, allowing us to achieve a wine of extraordinary nuances, with a great balance of fruit and oak. This is the first vintage certified as an organic wine.
Click here for more information
March 31, 2021
2018 Escorihuela Gascón «The President’s Malbec – Malbec»
Rated 93 Points by Wine Advocate
«I simply love the 2018 The President’s Malbec Malbec, 50% Malbec from El Cepillo in the Valle de Uco and 50% Malbec from San Patricio de Chañar in Neuquén!…» Reviewed by Luis Gutierrez.
See the Tasting Note >
February, 2021
Tim Atkin – TOP 100
Ribera del Duero Special Report 2020/2021
This is the fourth time Tim has selected his favorite Ribera del Dueros. The latest Top 100 was chosen from 406 samples, which included wines from nearly all of the region’s leading bodegas.
Click here for more information
December 2, 2020
Sebastián Ruiz. Chief Winemaker of Viña Tarapacá. In charge of the production of the emblematic #1 Gran Reserva from Chile.
D.O. Maipo Valley
Sebastián Ruiz, firmly believes in the vast potential of Viña Tarapacá and his objective is to create distinct wines with origin, representative of the Maipo Valley but with the special conditions of the “Tarapacá Estate”. In this way, the unique style of the winery, and in particular the Gran Reserva range, can be harnessed.
TARAPACA ESTATE – Natural Clos
* The Maipo Valley is considered the best and most traditional region for producing bold, expressive red wines in Chile
* Unique geological characteristics
* Rocky, alluvial & colluvial soils
* Cooling Pacific breezes in the Maipo River Basin
* Significant diurnal temperature variation
* All combine to produce a classic Mediterranean Climate with a warm, dry growing season, allowing for wines with big body, mature tannins and medium acidity
Click here for more information
November 5, 2020
Introducing Escorihuela 1884 Selection to USA
Escorihuela 1884 – The leading winery in Mendoza, Argentina, finally arrives in Florida.
Producing and developing outstanding premium wines with more than 350 wine awards-winning, 135 years of valuable expertise, and the largest network of growers in Argentina.
Click here for more information
October 25, 2020
Decanter World Wine Awards 2020 Results
After a month of judging, the long-anticipated results of the 17th edition of the Decanter World Wine Awards are out now.
Discover which wines from Arzuaga-Navarro winery have been awarded in the 2020 competition.
Explore this year’s award-winning wines from the world’s largest wine competition.
Arzuaga Crianza 2017 – Gold Medal – 95 points
Arzuaga Reserva 2016 – Silver Medal – 90 points
Arzuaga Reserva Especial 2014 – Silver Medal – 92 points
Click here for more information
October 3, 2020
Proudly announce our new acquired in United Cellars Selection
After decades working in the wine sector in different parts of the world, a dream brought together all the protagonists of this wine: finding old vineyards in Spain that were ideal for making a great red wine.
Building a winery capable of combining new, modern oenology techniques with the greatest respect for tradition.
Making a wine that is capable of becoming a work of art. Ephemeral after each bottle. Lasting in the history of wines in Spain.
The dream slowly came true in the conversations which, accompanied with a good glass of wine, the protagonists of this beautiful project shared with each other.
A good wine unites. Even friends on different sides of an ocean.
Finally, José Ramón Ruiz came across a small hill behind Padilla de Duero, in the heart of Ribera del Duero.
In the Golden Mile, home to the most emblematic wineries of Spain.
Click here for more information
D.O. Ribera del Duero
Dominio del Bendito / Photo by DB Web
September 29, 2020
Antony Terryn, French winemaker in D.O. Toro – Dominio del Bendito is his passion and dream. Also, our new addition to our selection
The winery Dominio del Bendito was born in 2004, as the result of my passion and with the support of my family . I found the vineyards of my dream in Toro,
I’m a young Frenchman who has looked for a long time for a great vineyard that allows me to make wines of great character. I visited Chile, Portugal, Spain, the Pacific coast of the United States, and of course France. I thought first to start a winery in Washington State (Pacific Coast-Columbia Valley) but I finally found my dream in old Europe, a beautiful antique and desertic place : Toro.
Today Dominio del Bendito has, in addition to its growing fame and faithful followers, 13 hectares of vineyard, plus another 15 that are managed very closely, all with great respect for nature.
Click here for more information
Escorihuela Gascon MEG 2017 Uco Valley, Mendoza rated 96 pts Decanter / Photo by EG Web
September 4, 2020
Escorihuela Gascon is the leading winery in Mendoza, producing and developing outstanding premium wines
Towards the end of the last century, Mr. Miguel Escorihuela Gascón, a passionate and determined visionary, created one of the most prestigious wine companies in the Republic of Argentina since 1884: Establecimientos Vitivinícolas Escorihuela.
Escorihuela Gascon was founded in 1884 with the commitment to elaborate wines that represent Argentina in the world for their elegance and quality.
The vineyards are in Agrelo and Altamira, Mendoza, where the excellent climate and the quality of the soils blend to provide the optimum grape-producing conditions.
1884 RESTAURANTE by Francis Mallmann – Rated as one of the 50 best restaurants in the world by ‘Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2014’, 1884 offers a comprehensive wine list and a seasonal menu, created by the renowned chef Francis Mallmann, using local ingredients to create exceptional cuisine.
Click here for more information
September 2, 2020
New Peñín Guide 2021 in a challenging year for Spanish wine
Our Selection of Spanish wines was valued among the most acclaimed in Peñín Guide 2021
Another year, among the 10,500 wines tasted, the most valued wines from different appellation of origin were reviewed by the Guía Peñín Team. The online edition of the Peñín Guide to the Wines of Spain 2021 is now available through the company’s website. In this way, subscribers can access the complete version of the guide to consult all the information (winery, vintage, D.O., type of wine, grape varieties, score and tasting notes) of the more than 10,500 qualified wines. After more than six months evaluating the wines that will soon be on the market, the Guía Peñín tasting team has pointed out that «the viticultural photography of Spanish wine is, on a qualitative level, promising». He also wanted to highlight two important trends that he found during his tastings: on the one hand, «the proliferation of small projects with reduced productions, focused on the production of wines closely linked to specific places»; on the other, «the solvency of many large groups and wineries with a long history that, producing notable quantities, do so with mastery and professionalism». As stated by Carlos González, director of the Guide, “these are two very important pillars that, together with the upward trend at a qualitative level, especially at the top of the pyramid, and the good number of medium-sized wineries, confer to Spanish wine from a well-defined and well-defined strata system ”. You can read the full editorial with the impressions of the tasting team here.
Click here – Guia Peñin 2021 Reviews
Published: September 2, 2020
Words & Picture: GUIA PEÑIN – SPAIN
Ian Brand, The Chronicle’s 2018 Winemaker of the Year
August 30, 2020
knowing more about one of the rising winemakers from California …
On the Trail Blog – A Conversation with Ian Brand, Winemaker & Owner of I. Brand & Family Wines
BY MEGAN GREENE
Ian Brand is one of the hottest rising talents coming out the Central Coast right now. Recently named Winemaker of the Year by the San Francisco Chronicle, he is an incredibly passionate winemaker with a vision, not only for his own wines, but for the region as a whole. With no formal education in enology and no financial backing, he has propelled himself forward into the spotlight in a short amount of time. In 2012 (after only five years of making wines), he was named one of the “40 Under 40” by Wine Enthusiast, who described him as “innovative, experimental and eager to push the envelope in Salinas Valley and beyond.” Fast forward to today, and he has three wine brands, La P’tit Paysan, La Marea, and I. Brand & Family, each crafted to capture the unique beauty of the vineyards, the grapes and this distinctive region.
More information
Published: January 15, 2019
Words: MEGAN GREENE
The Vintner Project – A Chat With Monterey Winemaker Ian Brand
BY RANDY SMITH
California’s wine country doesn’t begin and end in Napa.
We hope that if you are a regular reader of this blog that you already knew that. If not, this week’s guest will help drive the point home. He and his wife are doing yeoman-like work trumpeting the wine potential of Monterey County.
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Published: January 18, 2019
Words: RANDY SMITH
No Relief for U.S. Wine Consumers! Trump Administration Keeps Tariffs on European Wines in Place
August 13, 2020
Wine Spectator News – August 2020
Trump Administration Keeps Tariffs on European Wines in Place
Trade Representative says 25 percent duties will remain in place for most French, Spanish and German wines; importers and merchants say the tariffs are killing American jobs.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer had no good news for wine consumers last night. The 25 percent tariffs his office (USTR) imposed on most French, German, Spanish and U.K. wines nearly ten months ago will remain in place for the foreseeable future, forcing wine lovers to pay more and inflicting economic distress on importers, retailers and restaurateurs just as the hospitality industry grapples with the economic downturn triggered by COVID-19.
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Published: August 13, 2020
Words: MITCH FRANK
Photography: ALEXI ROSENFELD/Getty Images
Illahe in the News! Everyone needs a little good news right now
July 19, 2020
Vinepair Article – July 2020
No Electricity, No Problem: This Oregon Grower Is Resurrecting Ancient Roman Winemaking Techniques
Brad Ford, the winemaker at Oregon’s Illahe Vineyards, is always tinkering with something interesting — a wine press rescued from a junkyard, a horse-drawn mower he engineered himself, amphorae he created from scratch. The need to make or restore his own tools has been driven out of financial necessity at times, as is the case for many small wineries. But it also fulfills his desire to explore every aspect of the art, science, and mystery of his profession.
In the lull provided by the Covid-19 outbreak, Ford has embarked on his biggest project yet: building a beam-style wine press similar to the one the Roman scholar Cato wrote about in “De Agri Cultura.” When finished, he expects the 1-ton, 60-foot press will be the longest in the United States.
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Published: July 19, 2020
Words: SOPHIA BENNETT
Photography: SOPHIA MCDONALD BENNETT
News from Spain!
July 22nd, 2020
Guía Peñín Article – July 2020
Much more than wines, the giants of the Peñín 2021 Guide
The wine that we were able to evaluate last week in our most illustrious exercise, the Collection of the best wines of the year from the Peñín Guide, still drips in our glasses. It was an incredible three days, intense, full of emotion, of comparative tastings, of internal debates and moments of silence. For those who do not know it yet, the second time involves tasting and comparing all those wines that have reached 94 points, except for generous and sweet wines, and one that obtained 93 points in its production area and we think it could improve.
It is an exercise that allows us to calibrate the valuation of each wine with greater precision, comparing it with others with a similar score, which allows us to increase or decrease its score to once again compare it with wines of higher or lower level, until that reference is it is on its own merits in the rating that works best, not being able to fight in fairness with wines of a higher score.
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Published: July 22, 2020
Words: Guía Peñin Editorial
Many merchants and consumers would be devastated by an increase in tariffs
July 15, 2020
James Suckling Reports – July 2020
U.S. wine industry must speak out (again) against proposed tariffs
I want to reach out today to all our readers and friends around the world of wine.
Most important, this is a chance to say I hope you’re well, and managing the multiple and extraordinary challenges that confront us all in our personal and professional lives. There is surely not one of us who hasn’t been affected by the pandemic and associated disruption. But I remain positive and hopeful that our community’s amazing and time-tested resilience and passion will see us through to better times.
At the same time, I want to make a very personal appeal to all of you in the U.S. who are part of this community.
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Published: July 15, 2020
Words: JAMES SUCKLING
Tim Atkin – Ribera del Duero Top 100 2019
Issue Date: December 15, 2019
This report is a result of a lot of tasting, travel and hard work, as well as no little pleasure …
95 points – Arzuaga Navarro Reserva Especial 2014
95 points – Pago de los Capellanes El Nogal 2015
94 points – Tr3smano 2016
93 points – Pago de los Capellanes Reserva 2015
Lagunilla Reserva Rioja 2014 – YEAR’S BEST RIOJA WINES by Wine & Spirits 2019
91 points (Best Buy)
Issue Date: November 2019
Broad in its black fruit and saturated with oak, this is a ripe, smoky Rioja with prominent fruit-skin tannins that lend it a gamey edge. It benefits from air, bringing tangy orange acidity to add some structural tension. For a grilled sirloin.