Collector's Corner
We offer a hand-picked a selection of Rare, Hard-to-Find, and Aged Worthy Classic Wines. The wines in this section make perfect gifts, and are great for special occasions or for trophies for your personal cellar.
COLLECTOR'S COMPLETE LIST INFO REQUEST
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'2000 Bue Apis Cantina Del Taburno Campania $78
"This wine is made from grapes grown in a pre-phylloxera vineyard where the oldest vines are almost two centuries old".
Campania Felix, that's how Campania, one of the most ancient Italian wine regions is Known. Naples-Pompei and Sannio, whose wines were already exported 2000 years ago. Falernum, Ellenicum, Cecubum were names known ever since and Plinio, Ovidio and Oratio praised their good qualities. But it isn't only history. In Benevento Province at the foot of Monte Taburno, the hills are still today covered by vineyard, made of small pieces of land worked with the care of people who love the land and have a direct contact with it. 100% Aglianico. 180+ year old vines planted to calcarous and clayey marl with a southeastern exposure. Maceration on the skins for 40 days in steel vats, maturation in French oak barriques (100% new) for 12 months. buy now
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'2000 Siepi Castello Di Fonterutoli Mazzei Toscana $85
"Top honors in all-star wine critic tasting of '00 vintage Super Toscans".

Created from a blend of Sangiovese and Merlot grapes harvested in the Siepi vineyard, situated at an altitude of 260 m. (853 ft.) and benefitting from exceptional climatic and soil conditions. A highly concentrated wine with sweet and dense tannins, it displays a unique and original character that is appreciated by wine lovers throughout the world. Fonterutoli is located 5 km south of Castellina in Chianti (Siena), on the hills facing the Val d'Elsa, in the heart of the Chianti Classico. Owned by the Mazzei family since 1435, it still retains its original form, that of a tranquil country village: a cluster of houses, the church of San Miniato and the villa, built at the end of the 1500s where the medieval castle once stood. Today, the estate boasts a total surface area of 470 hectares, of which 79 are devoted to specialized vineyards, divided between four areas: Fonterutoli, Siepi, Badiola and Belvedere, located at between 230 and 500 meters above sea level and exposed to the south and southwest. The soil structure is the result of the disintegration of limestone and sandstone boulders and is very rocky, so much so that Fonterutoli wine is also known as "vino dei sassi", or rock wine. These conditions require respect for the delicate environmental balance and a production volume of less than 40 hl per hectare, which guarantees high quality and a distinctive character. The vineyards? perfect exposure to sunlight, the excellent pedological and microclimatic conditions and the density of the vines, progressively brought up to over 7,000 plants per hectare, result in the production of complex, elegant and powerful wines. buy now
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2004 Michele Chiarlo Barolo 'Tortoniano' DOCG $55
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One of the world's top 100 wines"!

The wine producing firm of Michele Chiarlo was founded in 1956 by the sole and present owners, Michele and Giuseppina Chiarlo. Son of over seven generations of esteemed wine growers, Mr. Chiarlo is today one of the most respected producers of the fine wines of Piedmont and a leading figure in its viticultural industry. The present firm's foundation was built on the business of Mr. Chiarlo's father, then comprised of the estate's vineyards and family home, in Calamandrana, and the cellars and bottling facility, at nearby Susa. Since then its growth, focused on producing wines of the highest pedigree, has foreshadowed the continuing quest for quality on the part of so many of Italy's conscientious producers. The firm's early years were difficult ones; prior to the establishment of the Denominazione di Origine Controllata laws, establishing a reputation for consistently superior quality was a long proposition for a new producer. Excellent, small-production wines often went unrecognized in the absence of a universal and uniform system of classification which set forth methods, varieties and zones, a system which, ironically, has today been outdistanced by many producers.
This years Barolo is the most flavourful of Michele Chiarlo's recent efforts with billberries, licorice and spices pouring forth on the nose. The wine offers a tremendously long finish and is both silky and refined. buy now
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