Magnum Selection
David & Nadia Grenache Noir 2023 Magnum
"Four different vineyards on iron, granite, schist and clay soils, supply the fruit for this impressive Swartland Grenache. Fermented with 60% whole bunches followed by a further month on skins, this is deceptively light and ethereal, with redcurrant, strawberry and pomegranate flavours, fine-boned tannins and a mineral core." - Tim Atkin MW
David & Nadia “Elpidios” 2022 Magnum
"Featuring a highest ever Grenache component, Elpidios is completed by 35% Syrah, 3% Carignan and 1% each of Pinotage and Cinsault. Grippy, racy and beautifully balanced, it has rose petal and fynbos aromas, negligible oak, some clove spice from 50% whole bunches and flavours of cranberry, bramble and red cherry." - Tim Atkin MW
David & Nadia “Aristargos” 2023 Magnum
"Chenin Blanc based, with the other 49% made up of eight different, mostly Mediterranean varieties, this is a beautifully judged assemblage from David and Nadia Sadie. Curated in neutral oak, with subtle bitterness from partial skin contact, it has enticing layers of passion fruit, pear and lemongrass and a stony, slightly salty finish." - Tim Atkin MW
David & Nadia Chenin Blanc 2023 Magnum
"Our bread and butter", is how David Sadie describes this old-vine Chenin Blanc, sourced from eight different sites on the Paardeberg, most of which are on granite. Earthy, stony, layered and refreshing, it offers scents of fennel and lanolin and a palate of citrus, green apple, leesy complexity and a palate-cleansing finish." - Tim Atkin MW
Rall White 2023 Magnum
"This blend of Chenin Blanc 71%, Verdelho 26% and Viognier 3% that started it all for Rall wines back in 2008 now already in its 16th vintage remains the cornerstone of what we do. No other wine in the portfolio has achieved the level of consistency year on year over the last decade or so and this 2023 is no differnet.
Even after 7 consecutive 5 star Platters ratings this wine I believe is another step up. Grapes are still grown mainly in the ancient granitic soils of the Paardeberg and now also contains a big portion of fruit from the oldest vineyard we work with planted in 1969. All components are fermented naturally and matured separately in a combination of 2000 litre foudre, seasoned small French oak, concrete eggs and amphora before blending and bottling after 10 months with minimal filtration." - Winemaker's notes
Saint Cosme Côtes-du-Rhône Rouge 2022 Magnum
Saint Cosme Côtes-du-Rhône Rouge 2022," An 80-20 blend of Syrah and Grenache, sourced from the Gard and Vinsobres, the 2022 Cotes du Rhone offers up outstanding aromas of blueberries and stone fruit, with violet-like floral accents. It's medium to full-bodied, silky and concentrated—apt to make any bargain shopper very happy." - Joe Czerwinski, The Wine Advocate
Clos Cantenac Bordeaux Rosé Elégance 2022 Magnum
"Elégance rose - 100% Merlot - once again, the team behind Elégance rosé shows why, if you want good Bordeaux rosé, they are setting the pace. Pale barely-there blush in colour, savoury fruit of redcurrant and pink grapefruit, with rosebuds and a trace of white pepper spice. This is elegant and moreish." - Jane Anson
Petit Cantenac Saint-Émilion Grand Cru 2021 Jeroboam
"The 2021 Petit Cantenac has quite a plush nose of truffle- and leather-tinged red fruit, touches of sandalwood coming through with time. The palate is medium-bodied with plush tannins, and quite smooth and sensual – oddly New World in style, in a good way. This will have what the French call " - Neal Martin, Vinous
Petit Cantenac Saint-Émilion Grand Cru 2021 Magnum
"The 2021 Petit Cantenac has quite a plush nose of truffle- and leather-tinged red fruit, touches of sandalwood coming through with time. The palate is medium-bodied with plush tannins, and quite smooth and sensual – oddly New World in style, in a good way. This will have what the French call " - Neal Martin, Vinous
Clos Cantenac Saint-Émilion Grand Cru 2021 Jeroboam
"The 2021 Clos Cantenac has an attractive nose with pretty raspberry, wild strawberry and light minty aromas, less reductive than it showed out of barrel. The palate is medium-bodied with a fresh entry and crisp acidity, turning toward black fruit on the finish with light tertiary notes and decent salinity. This is a very commendable Saint-Émilion in a challenging growing season. " - Neal Martin, Vinous
Clos Cantenac Saint-Émilion Grand Cru 2021 Magnum
"The 2021 Clos Cantenac has an attractive nose with pretty raspberry, wild strawberry and light minty aromas, less reductive than it showed out of barrel. The palate is medium-bodied with a fresh entry and crisp acidity, turning toward black fruit on the finish with light tertiary notes and decent salinity. This is a very commendable Saint-Émilion in a challenging growing season. " - Neal Martin, Vinous
Château Séraphine Pomerol 2021 Magnum
Château Séraphine Pomerol 2021, "A strong effort in a challenging year, the 2021 Séraphine offers up pure and fruit-driven aromas of raspberries, plums and cherries, followed by a medium to full-bodied palate that's quite rich and layered by the standards of the vintage, exhibiting powdery tannins and good persistence on the finish." - William Kelley, The Wine Advocate
Champagne Pol Roger Brut Réserve Non-Vintage Magnum
Champagne Pol Roger Brut Réserve Magnum, “Pale yellow. Toasty melon and white peach on the nose, with orange zest and dusty minerals emerging with air. Lively, mineral-laced citrus and orchard fruit flavors show good palate-coating intensity without any excess weight. The clinging finish displays a subtle floral quality and repeating orange and melon notes.” – Josh Raynolds, Vinous
Bodegas y Viñedos Pintia 2018 – 3L
"The 2018 Pintia comes from a cooler and wetter vintage when the grapes were picked between September 20th and October 7th, and it fermented in their new fermentation room where they feel they can be more precise. The wine still has 15% alcohol, with a pH of 3.82 and 4.6 grams of acidity. It had a shorter élevage this year and matured for 10 months in French and 18% American oak barrels, 81% of them new. The nose is very expressive, with bright cherry fruit, and the wine is fresher than the norm in the region, with integrated alcohol and oak, reflecting a very cool year, floral and perfumed. The palate is medium-bodied and reveals very fine and elegant tannins. This has to be one of the finest vintages of Pintia. 251,512 bottles, 14,144 half-bottles, 6,543 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in April 2020." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Bodegas Vega Sicilia Valbuena 5˚ 2018 – 3L
"The 2018 Valbuena comes from a cooler vintage with good yields that required sorting and selecting in search of a happy and vertical version of Valbuena, pushing a little more and giving the wine a little more oak, especially American (5%). It was produced with 96% Tinto Fino and 4% Merlot that went through a three- to four-day cold soak and fermented with indigenous yeasts followed by malolactic in stainless steel. The élevage was in new and used 225-liter oak barrels and 21,000-liter oak vats. It has 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.8 and 4.78 grams of acidity (tartaric), so it's ripe and with mellow acidity that gives it a mellow mouthfeel. This is a very spicy vintage for Valbuena, getting closer to the style of Único (while at the same time I felt the 2018 Pintia from Toro was getting closer to the aromatics of some vintages of Valbuena, like 2010). It was a late-ripening year with a tendency toward freshness in the wines. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with very fine tannins that made the wine nicely textured and very elegant. There is a lot of regularity in the Valbuena of the last few years, here with more tension and freshness of the 2017, a little more balsamic even. 180,580 bottles, 5,528 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in May 2021." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Bodegas Vega Sicilia Valbuena 5˚ 2018 Magnum
"The 2018 Valbuena comes from a cooler vintage with good yields that required sorting and selecting in search of a happy and vertical version of Valbuena, pushing a little more and giving the wine a little more oak, especially American (5%). It was produced with 96% Tinto Fino and 4% Merlot that went through a three- to four-day cold soak and fermented with indigenous yeasts followed by malolactic in stainless steel. The élevage was in new and used 225-liter oak barrels and 21,000-liter oak vats. It has 14.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.8 and 4.78 grams of acidity (tartaric), so it's ripe and with mellow acidity that gives it a mellow mouthfeel. This is a very spicy vintage for Valbuena, getting closer to the style of Único (while at the same time I felt the 2018 Pintia from Toro was getting closer to the aromatics of some vintages of Valbuena, like 2010). It was a late-ripening year with a tendency toward freshness in the wines. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with very fine tannins that made the wine nicely textured and very elegant. There is a lot of regularity in the Valbuena of the last few years, here with more tension and freshness of the 2017, a little more balsamic even. 180,580 bottles, 5,528 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in May 2021." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Château de Pibarnon Bandol Rosé 2022 Magnum
"The citrusy, mentholated 2022 Bandol Rosé was crafted with a blend of 65% Mourvèdre and 35% Cinsault and matured six months in barrels. It displays aromas of pomegranate, citrus, spring flowers, iodine, jasmine and crushed stones, followed by a beautifully defined texture, a fleshy core of fruit and racy acids that underpin a delicate, well-delineated and calcareous finish. It's going to drink nicely in its youth, but I suspect it will also age gracefully over the next 2-5 years. Yohan Castaing, The Wine Advocate
Champagne Pol Roger Brut Vintage 2016 Magnum
"Pale yellow with silver highlights, the wine produces an alluring effervescence that rises from a cord of fine persistent bubbles. An especially open and expressive nose begins with notes of dried fruit, cocoa, almond and coconut. Allowed to breathe, notes of yellow fruits such as Mirabelle plum and eau de vie add complexity to the nose which, though young, is rich and promising.The palate is exceedingly fresh. Crisp acidity gives it a strong backbone that carries right through to the finish. Those aromas of dried fruits from the first nose persist, with nuances of citrus, lemon and bitter orange completing the palate and reinforcing the youth of the wine. On the finish, subtle notes of confected fruits come through, in particular candied orange peel." - Winemaker's notes
Valenciso Rioja Reserva Red 2018 Magnum
"The 2018 Reserva reveals developed aromas and a polished palate, tasty, almost salty flavors and a long, dry finish. It has notes of leather and meat and felt surprisingly ripe despite the cooler year, but the longer and slow growing season ripened the grapes thoroughly to 14.5% alcohol. It matured in French oak barrels, one-third of them new, for 18 months. It was bottled in December 2021. 67,000 bottles produced." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino 2018 Magnum
"Impressing from the first tilt of the glass, the 2018 Brunello di Montalcino makes itself known, with a heady burst of exotic spice and crushed ashen stone giving way to dried black cherries and grilled herbs. This combines the energy of the vintage with the dark balsamic-tinged fruits of Montalcino’s southern reaches, as zesty acidity maintains balance throughout, and flinty minerals saturate toward the close. It finishes long, savory and structured, yet its tannins are more rounded than anticipated, creating both a classic feel, but also leaving a mouthwatering sensation that tricks the taster back to the glass for more. Easily one of the top wines of the vintage, the 2018 is not to be missed." - Eric Guido
