IL NATALE offers a selection of our favourite wines for the festive table. Covering all the bases for the holidays, these wines are sure to create a real sense of occasion.
CERRUTI
Ri-Fol 2023
Piedmont, Italy
Ezio’s Moscato begins fermentation in concrete, before being put into bottle with a little grape must kept aside from the harvest. The wine referments and there is no disgorgement, making for a gently perfumed col fondo with refreshing notes of citrus and minerals. One of our favourite sparkling wines for any season, few wines are as uplifting as this.
Moscato
MONTEFORCHE
Carantina 2023
Veneto, Italy
Garganega from vines up to thirty years old, planted over the region’s volcanic soils. This was fermented on the skins for three days with some whole bunches, before resting in concrete vats on lees for nine months. A brilliant shade of gold, this is a great expression of the land, with stone fruits, smoke and minerals combining to beautiful effect.
Garganega
TUTTI FRUTTI ANANAS
Toranja 2022
Roussillon, France
A direct press of Grenache Gris and Macabeo from a parcel planted over pure schist. A little reduced on opening, it carries a gentle spritz and offers real refreshment through a combination of minerals, lemons and sea salt. A wine with an almost tonic-like quality, it is an excellent way to begin a meal.
Grenache Gris, Macabeo
DOMAINE DE KALATHAS
To Kokkinaki 2022
Cyclades, Greece
This ‘little red’ is a blend of Mavro Potamisi, Koumariano and Kondoura from old bush vines. A true field blend, the grapes are harvested together, crushed gently by foot and pressed to vat for a year of rest. This vintage is a pale, delicate and perfumed rosè that impresses with wild berries, salt and brine. A wine of uncommon purity that offers boundless opportunity at the table.
Rozaki, Aspro Potamisi, Mavro Potamisi
OLIVIER BOULIN
Fenêtre sur Lantignié 2021
Jura, France
Gamay from seventy year old vines planted over pink granite farmed by the Collonge family in the Beaujolais village of Lantignié. The grapes were fermented on the skins for almost a month, before being pressed over several days to old casks for a year of rest. Reflecting the vintage, this is delicate and nuanced, displaying a pleasant tension and a touch of finesse.
Gamay
LES PETITES MISES
Sanguine 2021
Hérault, France
Carignan from vines between sixty and one hundred years old, planted over fine, silty soils down by the river. The grapes were destemmed and spent forty days on skins in vats, before the free run juice was transferred to glass demijohns for fourteen months of élevage. Luminous in the glass, reflecting the vintage this displays a pleasant freshness and is gently perfumed with red berries and bitter herbs. An uplifting wine that is full of sunshine.
Carignan