: 2007 PETTRONE SANGIOVESE MENDOCINO COUNTY
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 2009
GRAN VINUM ALBARINO 'NESSA'
At least once a year we have to get in an Albarino
in our Select Six, because it’s a variety that is becoming
more readily available with each passing vintage. Found in the
cooler Galician part of Spain as well as northern Portugal, the
grape makes wines with very flowery aromas that can almost approach
the intensity of Viognier, but tempered by the cooler acidity
of the climate as well as a strong lime citrus note in many of
the more traditionally made versions. This is a great time of
year to add them into your drinking rotation as they work extremely
well with warmer weather foods and are very refreshing by themselves
to cut through the humidity. Immediate aromas of flower petals
and lemon pulp jump from the glass, the juicy and pulpy texture
in the mouth bring more pear and melon flavor in to accompany
the citrus, with a long wet finish that leaves with a slight tingle
of acidity. A fun match with spicy or citrus cured shrimp dishes.
Regular price $15.99, $13.59/case
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2007 AVERY QUINN MERLOT PASO ROBLES
Many of you will recognize the Avery Quinn label from past Select
Six’s we have done using either the Merlot, Chardonnay,
or Cabernet Sauvignon. This value brand from California is made
from selected tanks at X Winery and bottles solely for their Virginia
distributor. The project is named for the distributor’s
daughter who was born premature several years ago (and whose footprints
grace the back label) and a portion of the bottle sales is donated
to the March of Dimes. Past vintages had come from sources in
Lake County north of Napa, but this batch come from the warmer
southern vineyards of Paso Robles, which makes a sizeable difference.
From the first pour the wine shows warm red fruits, cocoa, and
hints of spice and hits the palate silky smooth from the get go.
The mouthfeel is loaded with strong cherry and blackberry flavors,
definitely not wimped out like many California Merlots are doomed
to be, but not as dark and plummy as those from Washington State.
A wine that over-delivers for the money and will surprise non-Merlot
drinkers with its fullness.
Regular price $12.99, $11.04/case
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2008 BENMARCO CABERNET SAUVIGNON MENDOZA
While there are lots of new labels out there from Argentina trying
to capitalize on our short attention spans, we find our favorite
producers are the older, more established names and players. Susana
Balboa has been a hot shot winemaker for many years (sort of the
Argentine version of Californian winemaker Helen Turley) as well
as her husband, viticulturalist Pedro Marchevsky, and together
have created the BenMarco line of wines. Using his sources and
expertise in finding and farming the best small plots of old vines
in Mendoza, they gather fruit for Susana to fashion into exceptionally
priced reds. This Cabernet Sauvignon drinks with the intensity
and dark spice of a $30 Napa Cab, but also shows the immediate
access a good value wine should always have. Deep purple color,
the aromas of blackcurrants and black cherry take almost no time
to show up in full force, and evolves more subtle cocoa and dark
spices as it evolves. The mouth is full but not sweet or overloaded
with tannin, allowing the rich fruit to come through with some
sense of balance. A wine every Cab Sauv fan should put into their
drinking rotation.
Regular price $18.99, $16.14/case |
2008 DOMAINEDE BELLE MARE LE DELICE DES ANGES BLANC
This is another fun little ‘alternative’ wine to help
keep you out of a Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc white wine rut. Many
white wines coming from the Languedoc can easily become flabby
and boring in the excessive heat and tendency towards excessively
high yields. That makes it all the more impressive when we taste
something like this that shows plenty of life and still shows
off the energy of the region. A fairly even blend of Roussanne
and Viognier, these grapes partner up very well across the Rhone
and Southern France. We tend to recognize Viognier more around
here in Virginia as so many wineries feature it, but it takes
a bit of a background role to Roussanne in this wine. Completely
unoaked, the first whiff has the pretty flowery aromas of Viognier
and only hints at the herbal, mint and citrus rind of Roussanne.
In the mouth, that trend is reversed, showing cooler racy flavors
and surprising penetrating acidity and citrus tannins. A tasty
wine with the body and complexity to serve lots of purposes at
the dinner table this summer.
Regular price $15.99, $13.59/case
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2009 LA BASTIDE ST DOMINIQUE PICPOUL
The Picpoul grape is a light, fairly crisp, and
overall highly unremarkable grape. We know about it here in Virginia
largely on the success of one importer’s Picpoul de Pinet,
routinely a solid value, softly fruity, never profound but never
missing the mark, either. You don’t really need more than
one version of Picpoul in the store, however, because they don’t
really do that much different from each other. This is a brand
new bottling from one of our favorite Rhone producers, and it
brings a whole new level of quality to the grape for a fairly
insignificant price increase. Clean white citrus fruit aromas,
bright and zippy on the palate with a hint of lemon rind towards
the finish, the wine reminds us in many ways of the clean Muscadet
wines from the Loire but without the strong acidity. It DOES match
Muscadet’s ability to match wonderfully with seafood, especially
oysters and the other more briny creatures.
Regular price $11.99, $10.19/case |
2007 I SASSI AGLIANICO DEL VULTURE
The southern Italian region of Basilicata is rugged, ancient,
and fairly obscure when it comes to its wines. The lack of suitable
land for vineyards limits the volume of production more than other
parts of Italy, and the limited economy base does not bring that
much attention down their way. There are many unique grapes grown
in these vineyards, but the ones that gain the most attention
are the Aglianico wines grown in the northern section called Vulture.
This is the only D.O.C. designated wine in Basilicata, famous
for centuries for their rough and wild character in their youth,
but it has been in the most recent decades that winemakers have
been able to wrangle the tannins into more easily accessed wines
in less than 6+ years. This is by far the best value we have come
across for an Aglianico del Vulture, with a nose and flavor that
will absolutely transport you. Intense aromas of dusty plums,
blackberries, and adobe emerge steadily as the wine opens up behind
its initial tarry black nose, and though the first sip brings
very chewy tannins that rival the French wines from Cahors or
Madiran, is silkens out to reveal loads of intense smoky red and
black fruits. Not a wine for the faint of heart or hurried drinker,
but a great wine to enjoy with fire roasted…. well, anything.
Regular price $14.99, $12.74/case
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