: 2007 PETTRONE SANGIOVESE MENDOCINO COUNTY
•Click Here•
|
|
 |
|
|
 2009
COUSINO-MACUL CHARDONNAY
Often the wines we feature in a Select Six are
newer arrivals we want to get into people’s vision, or something
we got a terrific deal on and really want people to get excited
about it. This wine is more like a reunion with an old friend,
something we’ve been very consistent in carrying over the
last few years, and it seemed like no better time than now to
show off the most recent vintage. Cousino-Macul is one of the
older producers in Chile, and one of the best over the last decade
or so at making great wine with all grape varieties and at all
price points. This is their entry level Chardonnay, made completely
in stainless steel, and gives you everything you could possibly
want in a value Chardonnay (except phony oak and heavy butter).
Bright aromas of pure apple and lemon citrus on the nose and in
the mouth, and while the texture is not ‘buttery’
there is a nice roundness to the mouthfeel that smoothes out any
tart edges many drinkers take issue of in unoaked Chards. If you
MUST have oak in your Chardonnay they also make a lovely one for
a few dollars more, but for warm weather sipping there are few
better for the money.
Regular price $9.99, $8.49/case
|
2006 ALCESTI SYRAH SICILIA
The Syrah grape has grown in popularity over the last few decades
in many of the warmer growing areas across the world. Even in
the more traditional growing areas like Sicily, the potential
for international success with this grape has been noticed. Often
you will find it blended with their native Nero d’Avola
grape to great success, but more recently we have seen more and
more examples of wines where Syrah is flying solo. We have carried
several bottlings from this producer in the past, but this is
our first time venturing in with this wine, and it is a tremendous
surprise. Deeply colored as one would expect, the nose is full
of deep raspberry and black cherry fruit with background hints
of dusty chocolate and a Sicilian sort of warm spice. The first
sip is where this wine really distinguishes itself from the ‘typical’
Aussie or New World Syrah, as the full bodied texture is NOT sweet
or glycerol, actually balancing its fruit and alcohol, even showing
some tart red fruits on the finish to take some of the weight
off the finish. As the wine sits directly across from the Australian
section in the store, it will be very easy for Shiraz drinkers
to come over and try this one.
Regular price $11.99, $10.19/case
|
2003 BODEGAS NAVALON TEMPRANILLO VALDEPENAS RESERVA 'ANCIANO'
A large portion of the Spanish wine hype over the last decade
has been centered around the youthful, juicy, and very fruit forward
styles that represented such great values. Even traditional regions
like Rioja, long of a reputation for aging large portions of their
wines before release, started to see a greater portion of their
wines put out to the market only a year or so after the vintage.
While these types of wines are more than fine, it does take some
focus away from the unique pleasures found in older Tempranillo,
a silky and smoky character to the tart red fruits, and a surprising
ability to evolve Bordeaux-like finesse even at the less expensive
levels. While the Valdepenas region is more known for their riper
styled wines, there are some producers like this that still have
some in the old fashioned manner. Nice rich red color with just
the slightest hints of color softening around the edges from age,
the fruit is less jammy and sweet, showing more dried spices and
hints of sage behind the smoky red and black fruits. The texture
is nice and silky without loosing any sort of weight or presence,
wrapping the fruit around your palate as opposed to dropping its
rump squarely on top of it. A perfect all purpose red to go with
all manners of food, and still nice for sipping if you are not
a big fan of fruit bomb wines.
Regular price $11.99, $10.19/case |
2008 DOMAINE DES ALLEGRETS SAUVIGNON BLANC COTES DE DURAS
Though it butts against the easternmost edge of Entre-Deux-Mers
and Bordeaux, the Cotes de Duras is technically grouped as a wine
region with those of the broader (and distinctly less sexy sounding)
region of Southwest France. This causes many consumers to ignore
these wines, as most of the wines of the Southwest are rustic,
hearty reds, and most of the white grapes end up destined for
distilling into Armagnac. For all intent and purposes, this IS
White Bordeaux, because it drinks as well as any other in this
price point from there. Bright grassy Sauvignon Blanc aromas show
through very nicely at first, then evolves more subtle tropical
fruits. In the mouth the wine is impressively rich considering
there isn’t any Semillon here, giving the palate and finish
long creamy note. Another ideal wine for springtime cuisine and
outdoor consumption.
Regular price $14.99, $12.74/case
|
2008 ATMOSPHERE ROSE VIN DE PAYS DU VAR
Early spring is a great time for rose wines to
make an appearance in the Select Six. We can use them as either
a white wine or a red wine, depending on our needs (for April
we are considering it a white). This is also the time of year
when you start to find some really good deals on some releases
from the previous vintage as importers start to see some of their
newer releases make their way in. While the general rule with
rose is fresher is better, most of them are not as fragile as
a Beaujolais Nouveau. Wines made mostly from grapes like Grenache
are more fruity and lower in acidity and can fade quicker, but
those using grapes with more tannin like Cabernet Sauvignon or
more acidity like Cinsault actually maintain their flavors quite
well. This Provencal-style rose features both of those grapes,
and is holding its form extremely well right now, thank you very
much. Salmon pink in color, the aromas are all dusty strawberry
and light Provencal herbs with no signs of being an older vintage.
The texture and flavor in the mouth is typical Provence as well,
fruit staying a bit tart and lots of herbs and acidity bringing
some zip to the refreshingly dry finish. Not one to stash away
through the rest of the summertime, but over the next couple months
this will be a real treat as the warm weather hits.
Regular price $9.99, $8.49/case |
2007 XAVIER VINS COTES DU RHONE
Just when you’ve thought we have beaten the bushes for every
last possible great wine from the Rhone in the spectacular 2007
vintage, another one we just can’t stay away from appears.
Xavier Vignon has been a consulting winemaker for several years
with many emerging Rhone estates, and recently started putting
his expertise towards his own wines. Under his Xavier Vins label,
he sources fruit from several Rhone, Provence, and Languedoc appellations,
creating some truly impressive wines that more than live up to
the recent success of the vintage. We have worked with his Cotes
du Ventoux before, and those that follow the Wine Advocate and
International Wine Cellar will have noticed the extremely high
praise bestowed upon the domaine’s Gigondas and Vacqueyras
from both publications (a rare thing indeed these days), and this
newly arrived Cotes du Rhone is yet another top flight value.
Deep, intensely brooding colored, the nose is intense but not
dominated by strong Grenache notes of sweet strawberry and cherry,
instead showing plenty of black fruits, graphite, and herbs. This
has a stature closer to those of Gigondas than the typical Rhone
or Village. In the mouth the fruit is intense but again not Grenache
dominated, containing the alcohol very well and presenting lots
of dark tannins across the palate. When we got to meet Xavier
recently he emphasized how he wants to make a more traditional
styled wine even in a vintage like 2007 where it would have been
very easy to make more fruity and modern wines. This is the sort
of wine that all lovers of the Rhone will enjoy.
Regular price $16.99, $14.44/case
|
|
t con
|
