Khanh Nguyen & Franco Batzella

Batzella

In 1999, Khanh Nguyen and Franco Batzella, a couple who had worked for over 20 years in international finance, decided to return to Italy to take up a new life challenge. They founded the artisan winery estate Batzella in Tuscany, that enchanted land of vines and wines.

Following their motto Quaerando invenietis (keep searching and you will find), they combine their passion for perfection and the best grape growing and winemaking practices. In fact, Khanh went back to school and got a Master degree in Vineyard/Winery Management under the direction of Professor Attilio Scienza at the University of Milan. Thus working from vineyards in the two best Tuscan territories -Bolgheri (home of Sassicaia) and Montalcino (home of Brunello), their aim is to make wines that express the very best of the local terroirs and traditions, the Spirit of the land or Genius loci as the ancient Romans called it. In praise of the beauty of these Tuscan lands, the names chosen for some of the wines have been inspired by poetry quotations from two famous ‘native sons’ Giosue’ Carducci and Gabriele D’Annunzio.

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Combier Crozes-Hermitage “Cuvee Laurent”

Domaine Combier

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Grape Varieties
100% Syrah

Food Matching Note
Outstanding with rich red meat dishes, game or even hard cheese at the end of a meal.

Tasting Note
Almost opaque with a purple hue, this is classic syrah from the Northern Rhone. Rich and spicy on the nose with an underlying savoury quality, the palate is rich and spicy too, with ripe approachable tannins. The finish is long, smooth and velvety.

Vinification Note
The Cuvee Laurent is a new addition to the range from Laurent Combier and exhibits all the class and finesse that we have come to expect from this extremely talented winemaker and charming man. The syrah is all hand harvested from Laurents own immaculate vineyards and is vinified in his new cellar, equipped as one would expect with the most modern equipment.

Laurent however believes - as do many of the great winemakers - that fine wines are grown, not made, and he takes as hands off as possible approach to the winemaking, using for example wild yeasts for fermentation. The wine sees a brief period in oak before being bottled and released.

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Domaine Brusset Cairanne Red Cuvee Hommage

Winemaking Process
De-stemmed, crushed, fermented on the skins for 21 days with caps punched daily and storage in a temperature-controlled environment. No yeast added.
Maturation: 30% in vats and 70% in 3 year-old casks for 14 months on fine lees. No filtration.

Grape Varieties
55% Grenache
30% Mourvedre
15% Syrah

This is Daniel and Laurent’s tribute to Andre, the founder of the Domaine, who died in February 1999. Selected from the best soils, blending Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre grapes taken from ancient vines growing on clayey hillsides.