COUPS DE COEUR

THIS CELLAR'S HIGHEST SCORING WINES

GORGEOUS GRENACHE, OLD VINE SMALL BATCH HANDMADE NO. 1, RIVERLAND, MCLAREN VALE, 2021, LOT 3813, P35

EVERYDAY DRINKING

DOMAINE DES TERRES GENTILLES BOURGOGNE ROUGE, VIEILLES VIGNES, AOP, 2021, LOT 3835, P48 DOMAINE BONNARDOT BEAUNE PREMIER CRU BELISSAND, AOP, 2019, LOT 3842, P50

TE MATA ESTATE CABERNET/MERLOT, HAWKE'S BAY, 2021, LOT 3791, P14

CELLARING POTENTIAL

2017 Producers in highly frost prone areas, like the higher altitude Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, deployed preventative measures in time to avoid major losses in the spring of 2017. Otherwise, the summer was mainly sunny and dry, leading to an early harvest. 2017 is considered a classic, if lighter-bodied, year; defined by bright fruit, lively acidity, and supple tannins. The vintage is already drinking well with good medium term ageing potential.

2018 A wet winter and spring gave the vines much needed water reserves to counter the intense, arid heat of the summer. While localized hailstorms damaged vines in certain Côte de Nuits appellations including Nuits-Saint-Georges and Côte de Nuits-Villages, the overall Burgundy harvest was bountiful. Often compared to the famous heatwave vintage of 2003, the wines of 2018 are ripe, lush, and amply proportioned with just enough refreshing acidity for balance. Good mid-term ageing potential.

2019 The 2019 vintage was a season of contrasts. Extremes of cold and warm weather plagued the winter and spring, leading to minor frost damage and poor vine flowering. Temperatures then soared in June and July, with sunny, yet milder conditions marking the end of the season. 2019 is a small, yet well regarded vintage of powerfully structured, highly concentrated, flavourful wines for long term ageing.

2020 For traditional Burgundy lovers, 2020 is the vintage of note. The growing season was warm, yet not excessively hot, with well-timed rains in August to offset the otherwise dry weather. Quality was deemed equally outstanding for both red and white wines across the region. Critics praise the freshness, elegance, depth, and textural appeal of the vintage. 2020 is a great year to invest in top wines for cellaring, but also to seek out value appellations like Bourgogne, or Rully in the Côte Chalonnaise.

2021 After such a banner year, 2021 proved a challenging vintage for Burgundy growers. Four days of punishing spring frosts led to widespread damage, notably to the earlier budding Chardonnay grapes. Relentless rains hammered the region for much of July, finally tapering off early August. The harvest was exceptionally small, yet of surprisingly good quality. The delicate, perfumed, ethereal wines of 2021 should drink very well over the short to medium term.

COMMUNITY Meet Your Masters Of Wine

From the beginning, and for 50 years now, Opimian has relied on the expertise of a Master of Wine to ensure that only top-quality wines from around the world are offered to Members. Kenneth Christie MW started it all and then passed the mantle to Jane Masters MW in recent years.

To mark our 50th Anniversary, we are excited to begin introducing you to your new Masters of Wine. Together, they will continue to provide a curated range of exclusive wines to suit all occasions and tastes. In addition, the diversity of opinion and style will take your Member experience to the next level of enjoyment. Meet Louise Wilson MW and Michael Palij MW, the two experts who selected all the wines in this Cellar. Together, they tasted 157 wines and spirits over three days in our Montreal Head Office in order to make the selections for our 300th Cellar.

For the first time, two literal masters of tasting were able to make their assessments of each wine and then compare their notes. The result is a stellar lineup of wines for you to try. Michael Palij MW is a Canadian living in England. He specializes in Italian wines. The result when his first trip to Italy in 1993 sparked a passion for the country, as well as for their food and wine. Having worked closely with vignerons for years, he is regularly asked for technical advice in the winery to help blend or comment on different ferments. Over the years, Michael has introduced Opimian to some truly special producers. In this Cellar, Michael tasted and wrote about some very special Australian and Burgundian wines. You may now be familiar with Louise Wilson MW, who joined our ranks last year as Opimian’s Senior Manager - Procurement & Category Management. Louise lives in the Niagara region and is one of ten Masters of Wine in Canada. She has worked in a number of different fields including export, retail, hospitality and education. One of the highlights of her journey to becoming a Master of Wine in 2020 was the honour of receiving the Yalumba Scholarship and having the opportunity to visit Australia’s oldest winery. Louise brings her expertise to the wines from New Zealand and Australia in this Cellar.

e Best in a Box e Masters Case

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The Masters Case wines for this Cellar come from Bec Hardy Wines, an award-winning winery in McLaren Vale, Australia. Bec Hardy is a 6thgeneration winemaker who was recognized as one of Australia’s Finest Young Business People at the ‘40 Under 40’ Business Awards 2021.

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