Massena / Jaysen Collins
Dan Standish and Jaysen Collins were college friends, and in the late 1990s they decided to put their talents together to produce wine. Recently, Jaysen Collins has taken charge of the "Massena" project on his own.The grapes are purchased from growers in Greenock, Kalimna and Koonunga Hill in the northwest Barossa Valley.
They are always very old plots and the yields are naturally tiny, but the grapes have an unequalled concentration and complexity. Despite the scorching dry summers, no irrigation is used (a method known as 'dry farming'). The Midnight Run, their first wine, was initially conceived as a wine for family and friends. Its name was inspired by their journeys between Barossa Valley and Clare Valley--during harvest they had to move from one to the other at night and it was then that they had the idea of working together. That blend was based on Grenache from vines over 120 years old. The remainder was Shiraz, Cinsault and Mataro (Mourvedre) in the style of the great Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
The Shiraz grapes for The Eleventh Hour come from a revered, if low yielding, plot in Greenock which was destined to be uprooted and replanted because no one was prepared to pay a higher price for the low yield. The name means 'the last minute', the two friends having saved these ancient Shiraz vines, in extremis, by blocking the bulldozers that had come to dig them up. Jaysen lets vinification take place naturally using indigenous yeasts without intervention. The style of Massena's wines is relatively elegant for the area. That doesn't mean that they have renounced the power and aromatic exuberance of the region, but a certain restraint and control over extraction bring both smoothness and tasting pleasure.
Producer
Bonvin
High above Sion, on the Clos du Château, is the heart of the oldest wine trading house in Valais – today's winery Charles Bonvin SA. The view sweeps over the wide Rhone valley, meets the two castle hills of Tourbillon and Valère and grazes on the magnificent Valais vine landscape with its countless terraces.
Bodega Palacios Remondo
He was born 'at home', right above his father's bodega – Álvaro Palacios, Spains star vintner. The scent of wine and barrels must have been lying in the air and thus dictated his further life. He studied oenology in Bordeaux and gathered professional experience at the Château Pétrus, and in London, Dublin, and California. Today, he owns vines in the Priorat county, in Bierzo, and at home in the Rioja, and proves his extraordinary talent with premium wines year after year.
Domaine Marcel Couturier
Founded by Marcel Couturier with his first vintage in 2005, this small estate has made a name for itself. The winery is located in the commune of Fuissé in the southernmost part of Burgundy, with stunning views of the village of Loché, Mâcon and the great plain of Bresse.