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Read more We have never been particular fans of Malbec’s expression in Cahors, but this recent discovery caused us to re-examine our prejudices. Benoit Aymard took over the small estate founded by his grandfather as recently as 2014. Previously, he served for many years as Maître de Chai for Georges Vigouroux, the man who put Cahors back on the map last century. He did not want to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, but he was interested in putting his own stamp on the family’s traditional wines. The land he inherited is already very complex geologically-speaking, and also relatively steep for the region. But he recently planted some very sparse parcels at 260 meters in elevation on limestone-rich soils dating to the Kimmeridgean era. Clos d'Audhuy FEMALE WINEMAKER Producer: Clos d'Audhuy Country: France Region: Cahors City of Origin: Cahors Date Founded: 2014 Owner Name: Benoit Aymard Vineyard Size: 34.58 acres Total Annual Production: 25,000 bottles/year Property History: Read more This is an old family vineyard. The vineyard is planted on a varied and beautiful terroir (limestone plateau, gravel, clay…). Benoit Aymard in 2014 began to work commercially with a little part of the vineyard. Owner History: Read more Berrit Aymard is Oeneoligist, he has worked for different companies in France, USA and Argentina. He specialized in Malbec and restored the family vineyard with the desire to produce quality in relation to the terroir. Wines By Clos d'Audhuy Clos d'Audhuy 2021 "Queue de Pressoir" (Vin de France)) View Wine Clos d'Audhuy 2021 "Les Polissons" View Wine Clos d'Audhuy 2019 Cahors (Malbec) View Wine

Read more We were tremendously excited to discover this dynamic Catalan producer based in the famous town of Manresa. Under the leadership of young Ramon Roqueta since 2006, it has achieved great acclaim in Spain and has embarked on a series of acquisitions and refurbishments designed to recreate some of the glory of the long and illustrious past of its forbears, who can trace a family wine history back to 1199. Among the several projects that they run, we were especially drawn to two : LaFou Celler and Joan Sardà. Joan Sarda FEMALE WINEMAKER Producer: Joan Sarda Country: Spain Region: Penedès & Cava City of Origin: Castellví de la Marca Date Founded: 1927 Owner Name: Family Roqueta Vineyard Size: 12 HA Total Annual Production: 35,000 bottles Property History: Read more JOAN SARDÀ is a winery located in Castellví de la Marca, in the Alt Penedès Region (Barcelona). Our wines and cavas are the reflection of a long wine tradition and a respectful commitment to the territory surrounding us, the Penedès, faithfully expressing the virtues of this historically wine-producing territory, its landscape and its more traditional varieties, which provides a unique character to our wines. Owner History: Read more The story of the winery began in 1927, with the help of an entrepeneur and visionary Tomàs Sardà; to this day, the Joan Sardà winery continues to preserve the entrepeneurial spirit of its founder. Wines By Joan Sarda Joan Sarda 2020 Xarel-lo View Wine

Read more Our favorite way to meet new producers is to have them recommended by our friends. So when Michi Moosbrugger of Schloss Gobelsburg said that he knew this “crazy guy in the Mosel” making great wines, our ears pricked up. The connection between them is famed Douro producer Dirk Neepoort, whose son Daniel lived with the Kettern family in Piesport for four vintages, followed now by his brother Marco. Together they have a project called Fio, making “Natural Wines” that challenge the old order and which we are now bringing in for the first time. Under the Kettern label, they offer the tried and true classics. In the 2020 Gault Millau Guide, Fio was anointed “Discovery of the Year” and both estates were promoted to 3.5 and 3 stars respectively. Schildknecht has also reviewed the wines most favorably, so we have a tiger by the tail, and you read about it here first! The estate was founded in the 1950’s by Lothar, but son Philipp has been in charge since 2009. To describe him as iconoclastic is an understatement. There is a paradox at work in Piesport which is that the easy-to-cultivate but inferior flatland vineyards on one side of the river cost much more than the fabled steep slopes of the Goldtröpfchen bowl on the other. But Philipp is a maniac for quality, so he traded almost all the land bought by his father for more challenging but infinitely more rewarding parcels in the Goldtröpfchen, including some in the great Falkenberg portion and other higher parts whose cooler micro-climates accord better with his aims. In the last year, he has expanded into Leiwen, buying parcels in the great Josefsberg vineyard, as well as increasing his holdings in Piesport. He has converted the estate to something approaching organic viticulture, while pushing the envelope with Fio and its low-sulphur wines. He has also converted most of his production to dry and off-dry wines, while maintaining the noble tradition of classically sweet Mosels to the manner born. In short, he offers us something of everything – bone Lothar Kettern, Fio FEMALE WINEMAKER Producer: Lothar Kettern, Fio Country: Germany Region: Mosel Subregion: Rheinland-Pfalz City of Origin: Piesport Owner Name: Phillip Kettern Vineyard Size: 16.5 HA Property History: Read more Our winery continues a centuries-long viticultural tradition began by the current winemaker's (Phillip Kettern) father over the last several decades. For more than 200 years Goldtröpfchen has been among the top location for family wineries producing world-famous Riesling. Owner History: Read more From youth, Phillip Kettern, the current winemaker, has been fascinated by wine and the steep vineyards of the esate. Phillip took over the winery from his father in 2011. Wines By Lothar Kettern, Fio Lothar Kettern, Fio 2019 Riesling Feinherb View Wine Lothar Kettern, Fio 2016 Piesporter Goldtroepfchen Riesling Spaetlese View Wine Lothar Kettern, Fio (2015) Spaetburgunder Sekt Rose View Wine Lothar Kettern, Fio 2020 Riesling "Teppo" (Mosel) View Wine Lothar Kettern, Fio 2021 Riesling "Fabelhaft" View Wine Lothar Kettern, Fio 2020 "Piu Piu" Pinot Noir Petillant Rose View Wine Lothar Kettern, Fio 2019 Riesling "Socalcos" View Wine Lothar Kettern, Fio N.V. "Drink Me" Riesling LITERS View Wine Lothar Kettern, Fio (2018) "Piu Piu" Riesling Petillant View Wine Lothar Kettern, Fio 2019 Piesporter Goldtroepfchen Riesling Kabinett (Mosel) View Wine

Read more No explorer in search of El Dorado ever experienced the thrill we did on discovering this property . Jaded over the years by a succession of uninteresting Vouvrays, we called “Eureka” on tasting this beautiful line-up. Vincent Raimbault is a disarmingly quiet and modest man, but his wines bespeak exceptional seriousness. Their hallmark is beauty and purity of fruit, and faith in tradition. The enthusiasm with which they have been embraced by our customers shows that our excitement was well placed. Vincent Raimbault FEMALE WINEMAKER Producer: Vincent Raimbault Country: France Region: Loire Subregion: Touraine-Vouvray City of Origin: Chançay Date Founded: 1904 Owner Name: Vincent Raimbault Vineyard Size: 39.5 acres Total Annual Production: 8500 cases Property History: Read more Two families, the Raimbault and Boucher families. are behind the Domaine de la Robinière. The paternal great grand father of Vincent Raimbault, acquired, en 1904, the house and the winery/cave situated at la Robinière. The great grand mother of Vincent Raimbault, owned the vines. Her son, Désiré Boucher, bought the house and the cave called "La Vallée du Vau" in December 1928. Owner History: Read more Vincent Raimbault took over in 1980. He developed sales at the Domaine, first from the "La Robinière" cave, then at the "La Vallée du Vau". He particpated in wine fairs in France and in Belgium. Since 1989, he has exported his wines, principally in Great Britain, the US, Canada, and Belgium. His son, Julien, began working with him in September, 2009. Wines By Vincent Raimbault Vincent Raimbault 2018 Vouvray Sec 'Bel Air' View Wine Vincent Raimbault 2018 Vouvray Demi-Sec 'Les Terrages' View Wine Vincent Raimbault N.V. Vouvray Brut View Wine

Read more Since returning to the family domaine more than twenty years ago, Stéphane Tissot has converted all 32 hectares to bio-dynamic viticulture and dramatically reduced yields. Vinifying terroir by terroir, he makes Chardonnay and Pinot Noir of Burgundian quality with a distinctive mineral expression. He also honors the family traditions with brilliant versions of the semi-oxidized wines of the region. One of the world’s most restlessly innovative producers, he never ceases to come up with daring new ideas relating to viticulture, wine-making and hitherto unthought-of products. The acclaim with which he been met is truly deafening! Tissot FEMALE WINEMAKER Producer: Tissot Country: France Region: Jura Subregion: Arbois City of Origin: Montigny-lès-Arsures Date Founded: 1962 Owner Name: Bénédicte et Stéphane Tissot Vineyard Size: 50 HA Total Annual Production: 140,000 bottles/year Property History: Read more Domaine André et Mireille TISSOT was created in 1962. The objective has always been a search for quality and an expression of the terroirs. In the beginning of the 1990’s, the work was essentially focused in the cellar. But quickly, we understood that the cellar and vinification have their limits. It was necessary to do more work in the vineyard. The opportunity to acquire exceptional terroirs like Curon, La Mailloche, Les Bruyères or Château-Chalon came our way. Today, our 50 hectares of vines are cultivated in bio-dynamic viticulture to allow the soils to live, the grapes to be untouched by chemical products, fermentations made with natural yeast, and to reduce the amount of sulphur used in the cellar. This evolution is a means and not an end - a means to enjoy what we do and to put our terroirs first. Today, there are 24 people who work year-round at the domaine in order to produce a harvest limited to 25 hectolitres per hectare. A research for diversity led us to produce 35 different cuvées. Often, terroir by terroir, with lots of innovation keeping account of the extaordinary potentional of the Jurassien vineyard with its white varietals - chardonnay and savagnin - and its reds - poulsard, trousseau et pinot noir. Finally, new projects are not lacking from the creation of new cuvées to replant very nice spot, without forgetting the desire to continue to increase the quality of all the wines which is so important to us...for always more pleasure in the bottle!!! Owner History: Read more History of the property Wines By Tissot Tissot Tissot N.V. Macvin du Jura Rouge View Wine Tissot N.V. Crémant du Jura Extra Brut [6/1500] View Wine

Read more Grain-farmer turned wine-grower Jean-Claude Roux turns out to have a deft hand with Sauvignon Blanc. With dynamic son Albin now at his side, the quality being delivered is higher than ever Jean-Claude Roux FEMALE WINEMAKER Producer: Jean-Claude Roux Country: France Region: Loire Subregion: Centre Loire City of Origin: Quincy and Chateaumeillant Date Founded: 1995 Owner Name: Albin Roux, son of Jean Claude Vineyard Size: 12 HA Total Annual Production: 5500 Cases Property History: Read more Founded by Jean Claude and started only with 1,5 ha of vines in Quincy back in 1995, the domain has now almost 12 ha of vines mostly in Quincy (9 ha) and Châteaumeillant. Using a very innovative way of working in collaboration with other colleagues for the management of workers and also under a shared-cellar but not a cooperative producing a single range of wine, we have managed to develop ourselves as well as the quality of our production. Owner History: Read more Jean Claude has been travelling the world before he came back to his passion : farm growing and then wine growing helped by professionnals. His elder son Albin, has also traveled and worked abroad (mostly in Asia) in the wine industry before he came back in 2015 to take over the family wine business. Wines By Jean-Claude Roux Jean-Claude Roux 2022 Quincy "Cuvee Jean-Claude Roux" View Wine

Read more This is the first producer we have worked with from the southerly Aube region since Fleury, back in the day. Jérôme is an impassioned man in his early forties who took over the family domaine at the age of 28 and decided to go in an independent direction. His particular story, unlike every other you will encounter, is that all his wines are made from one cépage, Pinot Noir, from one contiguous 6.5 hectare block of vineyards, “Largillier”, and from one year. Such an approach brings with it gains and risks, but we found the results quite thrilling. These are declamatory wines, endowed with the swell of fruit and power offered by the clay soils of this warm Côtes des Bars climat. They resemble nothing else that we offer and they are gratifyingly free from any adherence to fashion or trend. Jérôme supplements his income by pressing grapes for various customers. To this end, he has invested in the best Coquard presses that money can buy. The resulting finesse of the musts is palpable. Jérôme Coessens FEMALE WINEMAKER Producer: Jérôme Coessens Country: France Region: Champagne Subregion: Cote des Bar City of Origin: Ville sur Arce Date Founded: 2006 Owner Name: Jérôme Coessens Vineyard Size: 6.5 Total Annual Production: 20,000 cases Property History: Read more Since my family has owned vineyards in Ville-sur-Arce for 5 generations it was only natural that I decided to establish my own champagne house in 2006. We plough the soil under the vines to encourage the roots to delve deep into the ground and we grow grass between the rows in order to control the growth of the vines. All my champagnes come from a single region, La Côte des Bars, from a single plot called LARGILLIER (owned exclusively by my family) and from a single grape variety: Pinot Noir. In 2011 we undertook a number of excavations in Largillier and we discovered that the soil in this vineyard that is so dear to us, is a type called Kimmeridgian Marl. The soil, the sub soil and even the exposure, down to the very last detail, are exactly the same as in the very best areas of Chablis. The soil is made up of alternate layers of clay (which gives structure and body to the ‘attack’ on the palate) and layers of chalk from which the roots of the vines can draw their minerality (which accounts for the long finish of the wines). In more general terms, the soil in Largillier is a chalk and clay mix which is not very fertile and which restricts the energy and the development of the vines; as a result the grapes that are produced attain a high level of maturity with all the qualities to make a great wine. A taste that’s the pure expression of the soil it springs from. Owner History: Read more In 2006,Jérôme COESSENS decided to set up his own business: Champagne Coessens. With seven years' experience as chef de culture for a large champagne group, Jérôme COESSENS found that creating a range of champagnes was a response to his deepest aspirations, of which it was the very proof. The vineyard covers six and a half hectares, and the wines are taken exclusively from one place: Largillier, a monopoly that is solely owned by the COESSENS family, which takes form it only the Pinot Noir varietal as well as vines that are 35 to 40 years old. Largillier soil has a high clay content, which gives the wine structure and body. The wines are aged using lees, from alcoholic fermentation to second fermentation. That is how he produces 6 champagnes and 2 coteaux champenois still red wines Wines By Jérôme Coessens Jérôme Coessens N.V. Largillier Rosé Brut View Wine Jérôme Coessens N.V. "Les Sens Boisés" Brut View Wine Jérôme Coessens Jérôme Coessens M.V. "Exogyre" Brut View Wine Jérôme Coessens N.V. Largillier Brut View Wine Jérôme Coessens N.V. Largillier Brut Nature View Wine

Read more I first met Cyril Marès when he was a teenager, and his father Roger was still in charge of the estate and presiding over the appellation. He took over in 1998, married the girl next door (Nathalie Blanc of Mas Carlot) and took the domaine to ever higher heights. The wines always show exceptional aromatic appeal, supple texture and uncannily intelligent balance between fruit and oak. We never seem to buy enough of them, mainly because they have little to sell. Wines like these offer incontrovertible proof that not much money can buy you a lot of love. In a market now brimming with Nimois wines, these remain at the top of the pile. Since 2017, the estate has been in conversion to Organic viticulture. Starting with the 2020 vintage, the wines will be certified Organic. Mas Grand Plagniol FEMALE WINEMAKER Producer: Mas Grand Plagniol Country: France Region: Rhone Subregion: Costières de Nîmes City of Origin: Manduel, close to Nîmes Date Founded: 1966 Owner Name: Cyril Marès Vineyard Size: 111.15 acres Total Annual Production: 250,000 bt/yr Property History: Read more Bought by Roger Marès, originally a winemaker in Bordeaux. Owner History: Read more Henri Marès (1903-1994) established the vineyard of Château Puy Castéra in Haut Médoc, which was later managed by his son Roger. Roger Marès, Cyril’s father, trained in Bordeaux and put them into practice at Mas des Bressades during the 1970s. Cyril Marès, a graduate of Agronomy and oenologist, continues this ancestral tradition at Mas des Bressades today. Since 2018 Cyril manage also the neighbouring winery of Mas Carlot. Wines By Mas Grand Plagniol Mas Grand Plagniol 2021 Costières de Nîmes Rouge 'Tradition' ORGANIC View Wine Mas Grand Plagniol 2017 Costières de Nîmes Rosé View Wine Mas Grand Plagniol 2021 Blanc 'Tradition' (Costieres de Nimes) - ORGANIC View Wine

Read more The Markgräferland is, together with the Bodensee, the southernmost part of Baden. The soils here are predominantly limestone, which is immediately suggestive of a kinship with Burgundy, especially as there are remarkable climatic similarities between the two regions. Hanspeter Ziereisen is a huge personality whom everyone seems to know. He and his endlessly good-humoured wife, Edeltraud, preside over a compact domaine with an influence out of proportion to its size. He makes wines in a resolutely individual way, having long ago given up the notion of conforming to the straitened mind-set of the local wine authorities. Consequently, most of them are not submitted for approval as AO Baden wines, but rather are sold as lowly “regional” wines – albeit the most expensive of them are amongst the dearest wines of Germany. Call this the “Sassicaia Syndrome”. Without subscribing to the strictest dogmas of “Natural” wine, Ziereisen’s products can be described as nothing but. All vineyard work is manual, all oak barrels are local, no chemicals are employed in the vineyards, fermentations are spontaneous, no wines are filtered and everything is given time to relax on the lees before bottling and in the bottle before release – even if this runs counter to the cycles of the commercial clock. Each product is given a fanciful name in the local dialect, which is strongly influenced by the strange sonorities spoken across the border in Switzerland. Welcome to the wacky world of Ziereisen. slides down the throat as easily a hot knife slices through butter. Ziereisen FEMALE WINEMAKER Producer: Ziereisen Country: Germany Region: Baden - Markgräflerland Subregion: Markgräflerland City of Origin: Efringen-Kirchen Date Founded: 1991 Owner Name: Hanspeter & Edeltraud Ziereisen Vineyard Size: 19.5 HA Total Annual Production: 100-120,000 bottles Property History: Read more Hanspeter Ziereisen is a carpenter by profession. But at the beginning of the nineties he was seized by the wine virus, which was a passion for good wine, and he transformed the parental farm estate, into a winegrowing business. The winery Ziereisen today has about ???hectares of vineyards on which Gutedel, white and Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer Pinot Noir and Syrah are cultivated. The wines of Edeltraut and Hanspeter Ziereisen not only taste different than all others in the Markgräfler Land, they are different! The soils are extremely calcareous. Hanspeter Ziereisen's wines owe their visionary notion of quality, which is unparalleled in the German-speaking context, to the fact that they smell and taste full of character and quite contradictory. He dares to risk fermenting with natural ambient yeasts instead of the usual, safe 'pure culture yeasts and lets his wines mature unusually long on the yeast in the wooden barrel. With curiosity and great openness, Hanspeter Ziereisen devotes himself to the search for the true tradition in viticulture. Thus, over the years, he made his impressively independent white and red wines the avant-garde of spontaneously fermented, gently slowly matured wines in Germany. Hanspeter Ziereisen's Gutedel is one of the best on the market in bottle-aged, but unrecognized old grape varieties in this country. His white wines disarmingly honest and his very own structured Pinot Noir brimming impressively with the original character and show character strongly the signature of their winemaker. Owner History: Read more History of the property Wines By Ziereisen Ziereisen 2014 Grauer Burgunder (Baden) View Wine Ziereisen 2018 Weisser Burgunder View Wine Ziereisen 2015 Spätburgunder 'Rhini' (Baden) View Wine

Read more It is not entirely accurate to describe this Bordeaux stalwart as “new” because Bruno Baylet was a staple of the WineWise portfolio in its early days. But it is many years since we worked with his admirable wines, so we are taking the liberty of treating him as a newcomer, as to most of you he will be one. We could not be happier to re-engage with his uncompromisingly honest and forceful wines. The estate has the French certificate of sustainability known as “Haute Valeur Environnementale”. Ch. Landereau FEMALE WINEMAKER Producer: Ch. Landereau Country: France Region: Bordeaux Subregion: Entre Deux Mers City of Origin: Sadirac Date Founded: 1959 Owner Name: Bruno Baylet Vineyard Size: 80 Total Annual Production: 500,000 bottles Property History: Read more Bordeaux is reinventing itself and Bruno Baylet is at the forefront. Chateau Landereau bottles classic style red, white and rosé wines, made with modern techniques and vision (optimum maturity, plots selection, temperature control, inert gas and gravity are used in the winery) with recognized value. In the vineyard, reasoned and sustainable farming methods are in line with the life of the soil, the preservation of the ecosystem and the fostering of the vines. That is the reason why Château Landereau turned itselves to a the HIGH ENVIRONMENTAL VALUE certification (HVE3) and Bee Friendly label. Owner History: Read more Back from Algeria, Henri Baylet and his son Michel acquired Chateau Landereau in 1959, then Chateau de l'Hoste Blanc in 1980. Established in 1988, Bruno Baylet, the third generation, now operates 80 ha in Entre-deux-Mers. The last word is for the winemaker himself : "My definition of a good wine ? Whether it is great, famous or not, a glass of good wine should call for another. It has to bring pleasure.” Wines By Ch. Landereau Ch. Landereau 2022 Entre Deux Mers View Wine Ch. Landereau 2019 Bordeaux Superieur View Wine Ch. Landereau 2016 Bordeaux Clairet View Wine

Read more From a little-known satellite to the north of the Loire region, not far from Tours, comes this super practitioner of old vines Chenin Blanc (and Pineau d’Aunis), offering us yet another expression of this most miraculous of white grapes. The soils boast a lot of flint (rather like parts of Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé). They have 20 parcels spread over 30 hectares, all of which are laboriously worked ten times a year. Colin attributes the dependable acidity, even in hot years, to this practice. Patrice Colin FEMALE WINEMAKER Producer: Patrice Colin Country: France Region: Loire Subregion: Côteaux du Vendômois City of Origin: Thoré la Rochette Date Founded: 1735 Owner Name: Patrice Colin Vineyard Size: 61.75 acres Total Annual Production: 150,000 bottles Property History: Read more This estate has been passed from father to son for 8 generations.It was Emilien Colin in 1900 who developed the direct sale of wine and contributed to the enlargement of the estate with 6 hectares of vineyards and 2 plow horses.Today the estate extends over 25 hectares of vines, some of which are centenarians. The estate is located in the town of Thore la Rochette where Rochambeau, the commander of French troops during the American War of Independence , most importantly at the deciding battle of Yorktown in 1781, is buried. So yes, if you like "Hamilton," this is your wine. Owner History: Read more Patrice took over the estate in 1982 after specialized studies in the vineyard and wine. He enlarged the estate considerably and quickly oriented it towards organic farming. Patrice also created the winegrowers union of the Vendômois and was instrumental in the creation of the appellation Côteaux du Vendômois Wines By Patrice Colin

Read more This top-flight producer of dry, long-aged Cava is a superb discovery. With several geographically diverse parcels to work with, the resemblance to Champagne is suggestive. This is Cava with attitude from a woman-run estate that pioneered organic viticulture in Pénédès and is now certified by Demeter. After the recent triumphant visit to California of Olivia Junyent, we are happy to have several new wines from her to sell. Like Mestres, they use no giro-pallettes. Brother Josep is the impassioned director of viticulture and a fervent believer in bio-dynamism. Castell d'Age FEMALE WINEMAKER Producer: Castell d'Age Country: Spain Region: Catalonia Subregion: Penedès City of Origin: Piera Date Founded: 1988 Owner Name: Olivia Junyent Vineyard Size: 345.8 acres Total Annual Production: 130,000 Bottles Property History: Read more The Castell d’Age cellars are the original creation of women belonging to the Junyent family, in a place blessed by the Gods. Set in the Penedès countryside, sheltering under the Mediterranean sky. Here we have been making organic wines and cavas of the highest quality, from the very start. Products, originating from the land and the rain, which aim to touch upon the high point of our sense perceptions. Over 20 years ago, Anne Marie began to cultivate and produce our organic wines and cavas. As the new generation follows her footsteps, we have gone one step further with a move to biodynamic agriculture, a method that respects the relationship between man and earth. The results are there to be seen, and tasted. We started tending and caring for our vineyards over 50 years ago. Castell d’Age currently owns six estates, located in the Penedès DO, made up of different types of soil and situated at varying altitudes so that each variety finds the most suitable environment, where it can express its great potential. Castell d’Age wines and cavas are produced in the bodegas just as the vines are grown in the vineyard: respecting E.U. organic regulations. Patiently. We have all the time in the world… Owner History: Read more History of the property Wines By Castell d'Age Castell d'Age N.V. Cava Cuvee Anne Marie Brut Nature View Wine Castell d'Age 2018 Garnatxa SO2 Free (Pénédès) View Wine Castell d'Age 2018 Cava Aurèlia Brut Nature Gran Reserva View Wine