Dick and Nancy Ponzi helped put Oregon on the map in the United States and the world, and the Ponzi family has worked continuously for over 50 years leading and innovating in the region and, in the case of Pinot Noir, across the country and indeed the world.  Today, the estate continues their journey with the family of Champagne Bollinger, which acquired Ponzi Vineyards in 2021.  Their drive to create distinctly pure Pinot Noir, in a distinctly Oregon manner, has never been stronger.

In the late 1960s Dick and Nancy Ponzi uprooted their family to pursue a dream of producing world class Pinot Noir. After research trips to Burgundy and an extensive search, they purchased 20 acres on a small farm just southwest of Portland, Oregon. They believed the climate, soils and vineyard site meet every need of noble cool-climate grape varieties. The winery was founded in 1970, and the family plants their first Pinot Noir. The first 4 barrels of wine produced in 1974.  At the time, there are 5 bonded wineries in Oregon with 35 acres in production.  Ponzi has since become internationally acclaimed for its Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Today the estate is more focused than ever on its vineyards, in fact leading the charge for a new appellation that has been created within the Chehalem Mountains, the Laurelwood District.  These favored Laurelwood soils in the Northern Willamette Valley provide an ideal match to the Pinot Noir grape, lending intensity of flavor with balance.  The fact the appellation is named after and defined by its soils also makes it unique among all American Viticultural Areas.  All the vineyards with the exception of the original Estate vineyard sit, face north, and since 2000 all vineyards have all been LIVE Certified Sustainable, the highest international standard of sustainable viticulture.  Ponzi also encourages all grower partners to meet the same LIVE certified standards.

The Ponzi’s state of the art winery was built in 2008 around the principle of allowing gravity flow from grape handling to bottling through 4 progressive levels. It was one of the first wineries to be LIVE certified, a result of its environmentally conscious design. The winery allows Ponzi to follow its philosophy of attentive vineyard labor that ends with gentle cellar handling.  Other key tenets you will find throughout the wines: expertise drawn from both the Old World and New World; clonal selection and planting suited to each vineyard site and variety; and consistently outstanding, balanced wines.

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Finca Decero has become recognized not only for having one of the highest quality vineyards in all of Mendoza, but also for catapulting into an elite group of the most highly regarded producers in Argentina. The wines all come from the single Finca Decero vineyard, and the winery’s focus is entirely quality focused – the varietal Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignons they produce can easily be compared to wines selling for twice the price. These are serious wines that moreover showcase the best of Argentina: a beautiful mix of purity and elegance.

Born of the world-class vision of Swiss owner Thomas Schmidheiny, Finca Decero is an acclaimed wine estate and the location of the one-of-a-kind Remolinos vineyard (named after the tiny whirlwinds in the area that thread their way along the vines, keeping the grapes dry and in perfect condition) in Agrelo, Mendoza. In 2000, the decision was taken to start “from scratch” (as Decero means). Unencumbered by history, by starting with a blank canvas Finca Decero was able to make critical early decisions which crafted a clear path towards establishing an exceptional wine estate.

First and foremost was the carefully considered site selection of virgin land in the highest part of Agrelo. At an altitude of 3500ft, this land was chosen for its pristine water quality of glacial meltwater from an underlying aquifer and a unique tapestry of soils unmatched in the surrounding area. In these early days, experts extensively analyzed the environment both below and above ground and consequentially made variety and clone selection specifically suited to areas within the vineyard. The estate has followed an ‘amano’, or ‘by hand’, approach with the vineyards planted in a row direction of NNW/SSE, allowing for optimal sunlight exposure. Recognizing the natural environment, both hail protection and drip irrigation were installed to protect and nurture the vines in the most sustainable, sensitive way. Lastly, allowing for three years of natural growth, supported by sensory analysis, prior to commercial release helped understand further nuances of the Remolinos Vineyard. From the onset, these decisions proved worthwhile as the first vintage, in 2006, became award-winning. All the Decero wines come from the Remolinos single vineyard, all from hand-picked fruit.

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The impact and influence of the Guigal family across the Rhône Valley, France, and all the world of fine wine is so immense, it’s sometimes difficult to remember that it’s all happened so quickly. In a country with such a rich and deep wine history, the Guigal family’s story is only in its third generation.  The more you learn about the family, the more astounding becomes their story. Their wines are the benchmarks for every Rhone appellation, and over the last thirty years they have become arguably the most lauded producer in the world. Year after year the Guigal family produces wines of exceptional quality that in all classes offer exceptional value.

The remarkable story begins with Etienne Guigal, a remarkably independent and both intellectually and physically capable man. He was the youngest child in his family, but as the most resilient he was sent off on his own at a very young age when his family could no longer afford to care for him. He came to Ampuis, half an hour south of the city of Lyon and the home of Cote-Rotie, to pick apricots. In the early 1930s his brother helped Etienne, still only 14 years of age, secure a job in the vineyards at the largest winery in the Rhône. Etienne started pruning in the vineyards and rose to cellar master over the course of 15 years, before eventually leaving just after the war in 1946 to start his own firm, E. Guigal.

Etienne’s son Marcel became involved very early in the business when in 1961 he was forced to rush back from school because his father was suddenly struck with total blindness. Marcel has led the firm since, and his unparalleled work ethic and dedication to quality have lifted the Guigal wines to the pinnacle of the wine world, and the Guigal domaine to its status as the leading winery from the Rhône Valley. In the process Marcel brought attention to Côte-Rôtie and other appellations throughout the Rhône that were in danger of being lost in the annals of wine history, despite the region’s distinguished past of 2,500 years as a superior wine-producing area, and the cradle of wine civilization in France.

Today, Marcel’s son Philippe serves as Director and Oenologist at Guigal, and with his father is carrying on the tradition of leadership in the Rhône Valley and uncompromising excellence.

The Guigal firm is extraordinary in a number of dimensions. First is their decision that they will only purchase vineyards that are capable of producing truly great wines. Therefore despite their important production, they own only 150 acres, all in the Northern  Rhône. They own overwhelmingly the finest collection of vineyards in Côte-Rôtie, the finest, carefully selected sites in both Condrieu and Saint Joseph, four exquisite parcels in Hermitage, and some of the finest vineyards in Crozes-Hermitage. These 150 acres are truly the finest collection of vineyards in the Northern Rhône, and serve as the source for their estate-bottled wines and the foundation for their Northern Rhône appellation wines.

A second important dimension is Guigal’s approach to viticulture. The Guigal family is tireless in its work on the steeply sloped, terraced vineyards it owns, with views entirely to the long-term. They are methodically re-building vineyards today that won’t be planted for another five to ten years because of their belief in the soils, expositions and mesoclimates of these sites. Their philosophy in the vineyard is to prune low and strictly limit the number of shoots per vine, training for low vigor and low-yields and looking for natural balance and concentration in this manner. No pesticides, herbicides or chemicals are used in the vineyards, and the fact some of Guigal vines date back to the 1890s is a testimony to the nurturing, obsessive approach the Guigals have in their vineyards.

Thirdly, Guigal is a unique negociant company. The family knows the Northern Rhône like no one else, and supplements their holdings by buying grapes from long-time grower partners. In total, they vinify around 33% of Côte-Rôtie and 45% of Condrieu, and have access to top fruit in all the regions they work. In the Southern Rhône, they buy only wine, and with a distinctive approach. Namely, they do not have a single contract. Marcel and Philippe taste relentlessly – typically 200 wines a day before 8:30am, 7 days a week – and start from scratch every year. In a given year, they will purchase the top 1% of the wines they taste, and because of their longtime contacts, they have access to the best wines in the region; they select, in other words, 1% from the very finest wines in the Southern Rhône. Also important to note, they decide very early on what wine they will purchase, sometimes before malolactic fermentation is even finished, and they will not purchase later to meet demand. From their experience, access, and early work, they give themselves the opportunity to find the best possible wines, and if they find a great wine they buy it, regardless of vintage or price considerations. The Guigal’s work ethic in finding the best fruit and wines in the Rhône Valley can be summarized by the motto on the Chateau d’Ampuis: “Nul bien sans la peine” – no good without pain.

Fourthly, Guigal’s vinfication is singular in the world of wine, and allows their great raw materials to flourish in the bottle. Their vinification approach actually harkens back to tradition in the Rhône Valley, with long aging, which integrates tannins and flavors and creates wines of great complexity and refinement. Because of their superior fruit, the Guigals do not make “simple”  wines – these wines demand time to come together.  All wines undergo natural yeast fermentation, and intervention is at a bare minimum, with no fining or filtration. The top Guigal wines undergo famously long maturation period in barrel, up to three and a half years, but even parcels of old-vine Syrah for their Côtes du Rhône are aged in foudres for six months, completely atypical for the Côtes du Rhône category. The Guigals are so exacting about the aging process that, finding inconsistent barrels from even the best tonnelleries, they make every barrel used in their winery themselves. Every day, five barrels are produced by hand by their single cooper at the Chateau d’Ampuis; they are the only winery in the Rhône Valley with their own cooperage, and one of the only in France. These barrels are destined for their Northern Rhône wines, while they use foudres built to exacting specifications for their Southern Rhone wines. The reality is that it is enormously expensive to hold onto 3 or 4 vintages of Chateauneuf-du-Pape or Côte-Rôtie, or even to hold onto Côtes du Rhône that is two or three vintages behind what other producers are releasing, but it is done for the quality of the wine, and so that consumers can enjoy the wines for drinking upon release.

Year after year the Guigal family produces wines of exceptional quality that in all classes offer exceptional value.

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Chateau Montelena is renowned for consistently producing age-worthy, classically-styled wines that capture the nuances of each vintage and its distinct terroir. Widely known for winning the Judgment of Paris in 1976, it helped put California at the forefront of the wine world. Founded in 1882, the winery flourished until Prohibition. The modern revival of Chateau Montelena began in 1972 when Jim Barrett purchased the Estate. Recognizing the property’s unique potential, the Barrett Family invested in replanting the vineyard, modern equipment, and improving all farming and winemaking processes. Today Chateau Montelena is honored on the National Register of Historic Places and continues to be family-owned and operated by the Barrett Family.

Classically-styled, Montelena wines are delicious upon release but will only increase in richness and complexity over the ensuing decades. To showcase the ageability of Montelena wine, the winery re-releases the vintage of a decade prior alongside the current release of Estate Cabernet and the vintage of a half-decade prior alongside the current release of Chardonnay. Being able to taste back through library vintages provides the perspective to understand how these wines evolve over time.

Chateau Montelena’s fifty-year legacy endures today through continuous investments in both the winery and vineyard, wines that perfectly encapsulate the expression of the Montelena Estate and each unique vintage, and a deep institutional knowledge that serves as a reference point in the creation of these iconic wines.

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Bollinger is an icon in Champagne, all the more remarkable because its reputation rests entirely on the quality of its extraordinarily distinct Champagnes. Very simply, Bollinger is the outlier. The rigorous, obsessive attention to detail and preservation of artisanal, almost absurdly labor-intensive practices, makes Bollinger both a guardian of the past and, as we see with each passing year, the beacon of the future.

Each and every detail at Bollinger represents a quest for a certain form of perfection. Known around the world for powerful, polished Champagnes that are among the greatest of both Non-Vintage and Vintage Champagnes produced, any of the fundamentals to their approach and production would be special, but when taken altogether are utterly unique.

First, the Bollinger vineyards cover 405 acres, most of which are classified as Grand or Premier cru, and provide roughly two-thirds of the house’s needs. Decades ago, Bollinger wrote a quality charter that stated their own vineyard must account for at a minimum 60% of their production. This reflects their approach to always focus on quality, and not quantity.

Secondly, no producer is as associated with a single grape in Champagne as Bollinger with Pinot Noir.  The most demanding grape variety to grow in the region, it forms the backbone of Bollinger’s luscious style, making up around 60% of plantings and always 60% or more of each Champagne.

Thirdly, Bollinger is the only remaining producer in the region with its own cooperage, and keeps a stock of 3,000 oak barrels for fermenting the base wines for its Non Vintage and Vintage wines.  Their single cooper, an important link to historical knowledge, does not make any new barrels, rather spends his time fixing barrels, many of which are over 60 years of age. All Vintage wines are 100% barrel fermented, both alcoholic and malolactic fermentation, something no other major producer does.

Fourthly, Bollinger stores its reserve wines to blend into their Non Vintage cuvées in magnum bottles, an incredibly labor-intensive process that no one today undertakes. It requires opening by hand all the magnums to blend into the Non Vintage wines, crazy work that takes a team of 7 a full month to complete every year.

Lastly, all Vintage wines are aged under cork, and not under a crown capsule (like a soda capsule). This requires that every Bollinger vintage bottle bottle is hand-riddled, and then hand disgorged. Again, an unthinkable amount of work.

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Through tremendous vision and endless innovation, Masciarelli has not only become one of the most admired wineries in Italy, but is often regarded as the standard-bearer of the Abruzzo region. Founded in 1981 with only two hectares under vine, Gianni Masciarelli established rigorous quality-focused vineyard practices at a time when Abruzzo lacked direction as a wine region, taking his cues from Burgundy and Champagne and translating them to the varied terroirs of his home.

After years of continued experimentation with vineyard selection, reducing yields, working sustainably, and extended barrel aging, Masciarelli received due recognition as a groundbreaking and iconic winery in 2000, when the Villa Gemma Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 1995 was awarded “Best Wine in Italy” by Gambero Rosso (the first Montepulciano to ever receive this distinction). To the Masciarelli family, however, this was only the first step to bringing Abruzzo to the world stage, where this up-and-coming variety was destined to take the spotlight for years to come.

Today, the winery is led by Marina Cvetić, who took over responsibilities after her husband (and business partner) Gianni’s untimely passing in 2008.  Marina is joined by daughter Miriam Lee Masciarelli, together serving as enthusiastic ambassadors to the Abruzzo region; their eagerness to share the context of these unique  wines amidst the extraordinary panoramic backdrop of mountains, valleys and sea is undoubtedly contagious.

The dedicated team at Masciarelli continues to honor Gianni’s vision and obsession with quality. Even as demand for production soars, they still insist that all wines (including their widely available “Linea Classica” Montepulciano, Trebbiano and Rosato) come from 100% estate-owned vineyards, many of which are among the most coveted sites in the region. Today, Masciarelli is the only producer in Abruzzo to own land in all four provinces (Chieti, Pescara, Teramo and l’Aquila).

As a testament to Masciarelli’s continued pursuit of higher standards, a plaque at the winery serves as a constant reminder:

“The search for quality is not a single action that can be remembered once a week or once a month, it is a constant thought we wake up with each morning and fall asleep with each evening.” – Gianni Masciarelli

Learn more here.

Over the last 20 years La Fleur-Pétrus has become one of the most fascinating and, from a quality standpoint, extraordinary stories in Bordeaux. A wine borne of a great historic terroir, that through nurture and creativity has become something greater than perhaps could have been imagined, and a bright shining light of Pomerol.

Named for its position between Château Petrus and Château La Fleur, Château La Fleur-Pétrus dates to the 18th century and with a long reputation for producing great wines.  In 1950 Château La Fleur-Pétrus became Jean-Pierre Moueix’ first vineyard purchase.  His son Christian has overseen the re-ascension of this estate to the top of Pomerol’s hierarchy, through his incredibly meticulous vineyard care and delicate precision in the cellar, and the addition of two parcels, in 2005 and 2012.

The work of the last 20 years has produced a wine of genuine complexity and character; what fires the imagination is the thought of the next 20 years.

La Serre is one of the absolute little gems of Saint-Emilion, a property right at the top of the village, surrounded by many illustrious estates, and year after year producing fabulous under-the-radar wines.

Château La Serre has an exceptional position in the very heart of Saint-Emilion, six hundred feet from the town ramparts of this magical UNESCO protected area, on outstanding limestone soils with a due south exposure.  The history of the property dates to the 15th century, with the residence constructed at the end of the 17th century by a prominent local family.  Arnaud d’Arfeuille’s grandfather purchased the property in 1956, and his father Luc in particular worked on renovating the vineyards and cellars to produce wine equal to its terroir.

The estate spreads over 18 acres between Villemaurine and Trottevieille, on shallow clay over limestone – the road dividing the two major vineyard parcels on Château La Serre is in fact blocked off, since there is an old limestone quarry below the vineyard and it’s dangerous for cars to drive over it. The vineyards consist of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc with an average vine age of 35 years.

Petrolo is the definition of a cult winery, with an owner and a story that have helped create its legendary status. While the estate’s benchmark wine, the Merlot cru Galatrona, deservedly receives fireworks in the press and is part of the history of Tuscany’s quality revolution in the late 1980s and 1990s, the winery’s two other standouts, Torrione and Boggina, are an equally thrilling success – Sangiovese from a special and virtually unknown appellation bordering Chianti Classico that today produces wines of distinct regional identity.

Though virtually unknown even in the wine world, the Valdarno di Sopra denomination dates back to the days of the Medici family during the Renaissance, and the area has always been renowned for the winemaking potential of the tiny area of Tuscany near Chianti in which it is located.

In more recent times, Petrolo was bought in the 1940s by Gastone Bazzocchi, who was the first person to begin cultivating high-quality Sangiovese-based wines at the estate, but it is his grandson, Luca Sanjust, who has brought the winery the cult status it enjoys today. An art scholar and successful painter in his own right, Luca decided to change paths in the early 1980s and has dedicated his time and passion to Petrolo ever since.

Petrolo has a remarkable track record of producing some of the finest examples of very different native and non-native varieties in Tuscany. While Galatrona deservedly receives fireworks in the press and is part of the history of Tuscany’s quality revolution in the late 1980s and 1990s, Torrione and Boggina are an equally thrilling success – Sangiovese from a special area that long ago was left just outside Chianti Classico, and today produces wines of distinct regional identity.

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Le Macchiole can best be defined as the “Boutique Bolgheri.” The winery is known for its spectacular single-varietal wines, and their signature grape varieties are Syrah, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc and work is always conducted with the priority being “the expression of the land.” The winery continues to evolve in both the vineyards and in the cellar to allow the soil characteristics from this estate property to be the defining identity in the wines.

Today, Bolgheri is among Italy’s most famed wine producing regions, but this seemed far from a possibility in 1983, the year Le Macchiole was founded and a time when the area was known simply for a close proximity to the sea and having abundant fruit and grain agriculture. Yet, two natives of Bolgheri, Eugenio Campolmi and Cinzia Merli, were devoted to the idea of vine growing in their home region even when it was not considered a viable way to start a living.

“My husband Eugenio and I started off with very limited, if almost no, resources,” Cinzia recalls. “We gave up working his parents’ retail and restaurant business and bought a few hectares of land planted to wheat. We decided to plant vineyards starting with many varieties – sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, syrah, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and vermentino – so that we might see what grew best on our little property. That is how our life project began and, for me, our learning is still in progress. I believe that Bolgheri is in the early stage of development. It has just become aware of its potential and understanding of which grape varieties give their best to each part of the different soils; much is still yet to be accomplished here.”

As they cultivated and learned the possibilities for their land, Le Macchiole’s philosophy became to interpret their territory through single-variety wines, beginning with the 1994 vintage. This was an unusual, perhaps daring, plan for a winery of the region to commit to at the time; any known wines from Bolgheri were a result of the strong belief in blending varieties. The idea took shape gradually over years of tireless experimentation by Eugenio, Cinzia and with the help of Luca d’Attoma, the winery’s long time consulting enologist, who began working with Le Macchiole in 1991. Ultimately, vinifying separate varieties has been extremely successful for the winery, allowing the wines of Le Macchiole to demonstrate the potential of terroir in Bolgheri differently.

Massimo Merli, Cinzia’s’ brother, manages the agricultural work with meticulous and careful planning. The winery’s planting density is between 5,000 and 10,000 plants per hectare and vine growing is rooted in organic farming practices “first and foremost, out of respect for the people who work here,” says Cinzia. Manual harvesting is followed by the sorting of bunches and then berries on a double sorting table.

At Le Macchiole, the signature grape varieties are Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah, and work is always conducted with the priority being “the expression of the land.” The winery continues to evolve in both the vineyards and in the cellar to allow the soil characteristics from this estate property to be the defining identity in the wines.

Learn more here.