Le Sommelier presents three iconic April 4 Classics Releases…
April CLASSICS Release : A Pair of Italian Legends, and an iconic Rosé Champagne
Gosset Celebris Rosé Extra Brut 2007 E
Pira & Figli Chiara Boschis Barolo Mosconi 2015
Schiopetto Mario Schiopetto M 2017
This month takes us back to the essence of European soul and tradition, with the release of three very special wines, epitomizing three very special stories. Though we won’t be connecting with our European partners at ProWein or VinItaly this quarter as planned, we hold them in our thoughts, and their wines in our glasses.
Chiara Boschis has an incredible story. In a region where women winemakers are exceptionally rare, she has built a collection of wines that has earned the respect of all. She has even become a full-fledged member of the Barolo Boys club.
E Pira e Figli estate was passed from father to son for centuries, until the late 1980’s when Luigi Pira passed away. At that time his sisters felt that they could no longer maintain the estate. Hoping to keep the tradition alive they sold the estate to Chiara Boschis, whose family had long been friends of the Piras.
Chiara now has eleven hectares of vines under cultivation in the communes of Barolo, Serralunga and Monforte d’Alba. She retains the honour of being the first female winemaker in the Langhe, back in the 1990s. She is, by necessity, of unquestionable confidence, determination, patience, and charm. She ran the estate essentially by herself for twenty years, consistently producing stunning, highly lauded, and ageworthy wines. In 2010, her brother Giorgio, his wife Daniella, and their three daughters joined Chiara at E. Pira, which provided not only a welcome division of labour, but also a next generation of female successors. Beatrice, Elena, and Vittoria Boschis, Giorgio and Daniella’s daughters, are all working in the winery with Chiara.
Hers was the first estate in Cannubi to convert to organic farming, and she has since worked tirelessly over the last few years to convince the rest of the growers in the district to become organic as well. Releasing April 2, 2020.
Mario Schiopetto was a pioneer and is credited with giving birth to the era of modern white wine in Friuli and transforming the conception of Italian white wine. Mario was part of a group of producers who worked from the end of the 1960s through the 1970s to improve and modernize the methods of Italian wine production. The group was made up of some of the biggest names in Italian wine history, including Piero Antinori, Biondi Santi Franco and Jacopo, Niccolò Incisa della Rocchetta, and Angelo Gaja.
As Antonio Galloni noted, “Mario Schiopetto was an early visionary in making high quality wines in Friuli. Deeply influenced by his travels in France and especially Germany, he adapted much of what he learned to making wines in Friuli, most importantly the use of stainless steel to make crisp, fresh wines. Releasing April 4, 2020.
Founded in Aÿ in 1584 by Pierre Gosset, Champagne Gosset is the oldest wine house in Champagne. For 17 generations Gosset was owned by the founding family. In 1993, the company was sold to another legendary French wine family, the Cointreau family from Charente, owners of Frappin Cognac. The long history and high quality of the house earned Gosset the French government award of Living Heritage Company in 2013, making it one of only two such Champagne Houses to be recognized in this way.
Across all their wines, their house style is consistently linear, focused and precise. They do not use oak, nor employ malolactic fermentation, ensuring a structure built on purity of fruit, minerality, and long aging. Gosset has pioneered age-dated champagnes, much like whisky producers. Releasing April 2, 2020.
If you have any inquiries about these ageworthy wines, please don’t hesitate to contact me. To view the complete list of all the wines we have in stock by the case, please click HERE.
Cheers,
Le Sommelier
416.603.7026
bernard@lesommelier.com
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E Pira & Figli Barolo Mosconi 2015
This Nebbiolo was sourced from a 0.8 hectare plot within the clay/limestone hills of Mosconi vineyard in Monforte d’Alba, and the oldest vines of the property, averaging 50 years old.
After a two-week fermentation, the wine is then aged in lightly toasted French oak (1/3 new) for 2 years before resting an additional year in bottle prior to release. 800 cases produced.
Grape: Nebbiolo
Region: Monforte d’Alba, DOCG Barolo, Piemonte, Italy
Price: $120.00 (per 750 mL)
LCBO#: 11682
“Aromatic depth here, drawing you in with cascading layers of flowers and leaves, fresh-tilled earth laced with woody spices, white pepper and fresh red fruit. The palate carries a very sturdy frame of fine, dense tannins. This is placed in the top league of 2015 Barolo wines. Long and succulent build through the finish. Try from 2024.” – 97 points, JamesSuckling.com (January 2019)
Schiopetto Mario Schiopetto M Collio 2017
From the historic Friuli family estate, located in the cool microclimate of Capriva, this ultra-limited bottling is labelled M, known as Il Mario, and made in honour of the founder. From the estates oldest vines, planted in 1954 on clay and limestone (marna) hillsides, this is a blend of 95% Friulano, and 5% Riesling, fermented and aged for nine months on lees, in stainless.
Grape(s): 95% Friulano, 5% Riesling
Region: DOC Collio, Friuli, Italy
Price: $115.00 (per 750ml)
LCBO#: 13024
“The transparency to this is mesmerizing with fantastic depth and energy. It’s full-bodied yet driven and focused with subtle peach-skin, apple, white-pepper, crushed-stone and mineral character. Long finish. Tight and precise. Drink or hold.” – 98 points, JamesSuckling.com (December 2018)
Champagne Gosset Celebris Rosé Extra Brut 2007
In 1993, cellarmaster Jean-Pierre Mareigner decided to pursue a project that had originated with 15th generation Albert Gosset. This is prestige cuvée represents the best of Champagne Gosset and is sourced from vineyards in Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Vertus, Aÿ-Champagne, and Bouzy. Pristine and bright, due to the high proportion of Chardonnay in this cuvée (59%), the remainder comes from Pinot Noir, including 7% still wine. This spends a minimum of 6 years on lees, and 10 years all told in the cellar. It was finished with 5 g/l dosage.
Grape(s): 59% Chardonnay, 41% Pinot Noir
Region: Champagne, France
Price: $250.00 (per 750ml)
LCBO#: 13824
“The brilliant 2007 Celebris Rosé Extra Brut might be better described as “œil de perdrix,” so subtle is its hue; cellar master Odilon de Varine commented that the idea behind the wine was not so much to produce a rosé as to produce a Celebris with more depth and richness. The wine wafts from the glass with a lovely bouquet of yellow orchard fruit, beeswax, pain d’epices and clear honey, followed by a full-bodied, broad and crisply fleshy palate with a deep and tight-knit core, a bright spine of acidity and a long, mineral finish. To my palate, this is the finest of Gosset’s current releases, and it’s well worth a special effort to seek out. Drink 2020-2040.” – 96 points, William Kelley, Wine Advocate, (April 2019)
“This stylish, complex and elegantly powerful Champagne is the pinnacle of Gosset’s range and delivers such layered, fresh and complex style. The palate has a super smooth-honed, long and plush feel with a wealth of grilled almonds and grapefruit. Long, succulent draw through the finish. Magnificent. Drink now.” – 96 points, JamesSuckling.com, (September 2019)
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