News from The Shepherd Company and Our Producers
Company News
Products and producers about to be Shepherded across the pond and into our portfolio.
Spring 2014 The Shepherd Company is pleased to announce the arrival of two new producers and their respective wines. After repeated tastings and the label approval process, we are ready for acquisition. The plan has been set in motion and everyone outside the company is on a need to know basis.
Since all of you need to know, here are the specifics:
The Shepherd Company ventured into the enological warzone of Italy’s Montacino municipality. After storming the region, we were assaulted on all sides with Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino producers of varying degrees. Some were open to outsiders and others remained heavily fortified in the surrounding countryside. The ensuing palate conflict resulted in the joining of forces with Collemattoni.
Collemattoni is the enological special forces unit of Montalcino, operating deep within the zone and taking orders from no one. After several surprise visits to their location, the General was able to secure a covert working relationship with this producer and plans were made to secret their treasures into the path of Shepherd Company loyalists’ palates.
The spoils of the mission have resulted in an outstanding line of sangiovese based Montalcino wines including two Brunellos, a Rosso di Montalcino, and a Rosso Toscano called “Adone”. Patient loyalists to the movement will be sensorialy astounded by these enological relics that few palates have been able to behold…until now.
While performing a reconnaissance mission deep behind known Italian wine hotspots for Maremma style sangiovese wines, our General’s right hand man stumbled onto Villa Patrizia following quiet whispers and tales of a unknown landscape harboring a rogue vineyard few have ever laid eyes or palates on. Their resistance to Maremma conformity intrigued our General , and subsequently, attack plans were drawn up to seek out this elusive producer. The producer was not easy to flush out because they were dug in the high ground above all other Maremma producers. Upon sighting the secretive vineyard, a producer biodynamically working the land and producing top notch wines was revealed in the geographical obscurity; making them perfect allies for The Shepherd Company.
We are proud to have liberated a wonderful Morellino di Scansano Riserva and two Montecucco style sangioveses from the wild lands surrounding Maremma’s Roccalbegna municipality. Soon loyalist followers of The Shepherd Company Italian wine movement will be able to reward their palates with clandestinely acquisitioned wines… for their palates only.
2013 A Year in Review
On the home front, The Shepherd Company has been working diligently the past year to secure more external units steadfastly determined to spread the word of The Shepherd Company Italian wine movement.
First to join the call was a North Carolina wholesaler by the code name of KTM Wine Wholesalers. Realizing the nature and value of our treasurers, they approached us for a possible coalition. Upon review of their projected strategy, we decided to join forces. Many of our clandestine libations can be directly acquired through them and the pipe line remains open for any wines that are not currently in their cache.
Second to join the movement was an Oregonian operative; operating under the name of Oregon Wine Sales. Discussions with this operative revealed that we had enological munitions that they had great interest in obtaining for their cache. Supply lines were drawn up and now many wines from the movement can be discovered in their selection. They are a solid conduit for all wines in The Shepherd Company stash.
Third to join the ranks was a special unit out of Illinois called Novovino Wine Company. Unaware that they had been performing surveillance on our enological movements, we were caught off guard when they approached us to secure relics in our possession. Upon review of their intended mission plans for these relics, we had no choice but to join forces. Negotiations for the release of these old world treasures proceeded and the result was a precise selection being liberated from our portfolio. Front line wine operatives in Illinois may approach them for these treasures and any others that The Shepherd Company may be hoarding…
Producer NewsStayed tuned to this frequency as our producers are consistently winning local, regional, and continental awards for their products and enological methods.
News 2014 The year begins with a continuing success
story centered around Chiappini wines. Following the outstanding success
of the Guado de Gemoli 2009 in the limelight, the 2010 vintage boasts
another accolade from yet another respected publication, Wine Advocate,
scoring an impressive 95 points. The proof is in the pudding or rather
the vintner-ing. Year after year Chiappini produces top notch wines
across all his offerings, constantly scoring well into the 90+ for the
Guado de Gemoli and high 80s to 90s for his other wines including two
Bolgheri DOCs, Felciaino and Ferruggini, and a white Bolgheri Vermentino
DOC called Le Grottine.
We advise all our wine adventurers to keep an eye on this producer and
be a part of the revolution. Top notch quality Italian wines especially
from Bolgheri don't always have to break the bank account and Chiappini
is proof. Although this producer has a rich local history, you are
witnessing international history in the making as they crawl out from
under the shadow of big name Bolgheri producers and make their own light
for wine adventurers to be called to.
News 2013
Once again the cat was let out of the bag and in a
big way. The Shepherd Company had been secretly distributing a fantastic
selection of Bolgheri wines from the producer Giovanni Chiappini for a
number of years. Our General stumbled onto this treasure many years ago
and knew that only good things were going to come from this producer. So
in early 2013, a series of events happened that changed everything.
A representative of Wine Enthusiast's Italian review panel secretly
happened upon Chiappini's tasting room. The family, having no idea who
this person was, proceeded to put on the wonderful tasting presentation
that all visitors can expect to receive at their cantina. After tasting
several wines and vintages, some still in the barrel, this person
requested a special bottle and their US importer contact information. A
bottle that would turn out to be very special indeed.
The bottle was submitted to the tasting panel with neither the producer
nor the importer being aware. The panel blind tasted several wines and
the result was one standing well above the rest. I will give you one
guess... Yes, the Chiappini's Guado de Gemoli 2009 received an
astonishing and overwhelmingly conclusive review. It is not often a
producer and their wine is rated 100 points but it does happen;
Chiappini is proof of this elusive scoring.
The Shepherd Company was promptly contacted for company information and
a bottle of Guado de Gemoli for the front cover of Wine Enthusiast's
April 2013 issue. We obliged Wine Enthusiast and immediately contacted
Chiappini to congratulate them. They had no idea what we were talking
about and after few emails and an eventual phone call, we discovered the
confusion.
Each company assumed the other must have submitted the bottle to be
scored, but you know our stance on ratings and Chiappini is a most
humble wine maker not concerned about ratings either. More calls were
made and questions were asked. The final result was that the
representative had told nobody of the true intension for the tasting and
the subsequent sample bottle request. All these events resulted in a
100pt wine and producer and importer being featured, front cover and
internal article, in a national and internationally recognized major
wine magazine.
Congratulations to Le Vigne di Ca Nova for producing a wonderful Italian wine that is a true treasure for us--respectfully.
