: 2007 PETTRONE SANGIOVESE MENDOCINO COUNTY
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 2009
LOVINGSTON WINERY ‘WAHOO WHITE’
Over the last few years Lovingston Winery has
emerged as one of our favorite Virginian producers, showing a
deft hand at crafting flavorful wines that can actually be considered
values. Not just ‘value for a Virginia wine’, but
actual values. Borrowing from the University of Virginia theme
of their inexpensive red blend called Rotunda Red, this new white
blend conjures up images of the fish ‘cleverly’ adopted
by students reputedly able to drink twice its body weight every
day. Refreshingly crisp and very moderate in alcohol, this is
delicious enough to make you drink it like a Wahoo. Primarily
Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay with a splash of Petit Manseng,
the aromas and flavors are all crisp white citrus of Sauvignon
Blanc, with the Chardonnay softening the palate and easing back
any grassy notes, and the Petit Manseng adds just a hint of honeysuckle
on the nose and a touch of juiciness to the texture. This is Virginian
summer sipping at its finest, ideal for any situation you would
be thinking about a Sauv Blanc from any region of the world.
Regular price $13.99, $11.89/case
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2006 PULENTA ESTATE MERLOT
The long and frustrating story behind this winery involves a local
distributor discovering and importing their wines a few years
ago before anybody discovered them, selling quite steadily in
the face of strong competition from other Argentinean wines. Then,
their wines began receiving strong press, about the same time
as which they hired a hot shot consulting winemaker. Part of this
winemaker’s deal was that all his wines had to be sold through
his distribution lines (cue image of Mr. Burns from ‘The
Simpsons’ rubbing his hands greedily and saying “Excellent!”),
removing the local distributor from being able to direct import
the wines and thereby wrecking the price point value of the wine.
The short of it is: this is a great Merlot for the price point,
more so than pretty much anything close to it from California,
but get on it now because once this vintage is gone it’s
gone for good. Lush silky plum and blackcurrant fruit, full flavored
but perfectly silky, this is a Merlot even a Cabernet Sauvignon
fanatic can’t deny.
Regular price $13.99, $11.89/case
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2007 PEDRONCELLI CABERNET SAUVIGNON DRY CREEK VALLEY 'THREE VINEYARDS'
(Wine Enthusiast 90points)
Good values in Californian Cabernet Sauvignon can be a bit hard
to come by, at least those that don’t loose their true Cabernet
spirit. All too often in less remarkable vintages the lesser quality
juice that goes into the value wines can be green and hard edged,
forcing the winemakers to take measures to soften the fruit as
much as possible, usually resulting in a wine that is barely discernable
from a Merlot. And if you wanted a Merlot you would have bought
one in the first place. In a great vintage for California like
2007, good fruit was much easier to come by, it’s just hard
to convince the wineries to sell it at a reasonable price. This
wine satisfies both criteria with ease, showing off true and sturdy
Cabernet Sauvignon flavors for a price that hardly anyone could
find fault with. Deep, deep ruby color and loads of redcurrants
and dried herbs on the nose, and an impressively rich mouthfeel
with no under ripe peppery notes and long silky tannins through
the finish. The grip may be a little firmer for those that like
Napa fruit, but you would be sacrificing about $10 more to get
a Napa wine with this much flesh and flavor.
Regular price $14.99, $12.74/case |
2008 CHATEAU DUCASSE BORDEAUX BLANC
The Cotes de Duras Sauvignon Blanc we had in the April Select
Six was a pretty, lighter styled White Bordeaux from the outskirts
of the region built for very short term consumption. This wine
is more of the classic version, blended from Sauvignon Blanc and
Semillon, and from much nobler soils. This great producer from
the stables of importer Kermit Lynch is primarily known for making
Sauternes, the famous rot influenced dessert wine. All his vines
are in the township of Barsac, and this dry wine is made from
the vines that do not have the botrytis rot forming properly and
are harvested early. The Semillon adds a rich, almost waxy texture
to the wine, softening the grassy notes of the Sauvignon Blanc,
and enables the wine to evolve much longer in the bottle past
when the Sauvignon Blanc would have lost its freshness on its
own. Still a tasty wine for warmer weather, the lusciousness of
the fruit helps the wine pair with fuller flavored seafood dishes,
and the lemony citrus helps cut through foods with more butter.
Genuinely an all purpose white wine for all occasions.
Regular price $17.99, $15.29/case
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2008 STEFANO MASSONE GAVI MASERA
(International Wine Cellar 90points)
Maybe we’re getting a bit jaded by the remarkable
same-ness found in every part of the world doing the same grapes
all the time. Maybe it’s the great string of vintages across
much of Italy, and the fact that their winemaking capabilities
across the country have greatly improved over the last few decades.
Perhaps both. Whatever it may be, we have definitely found ourselves
being more routinely jazzed up about recent Italian releases than
anywhere else as a whole, for both quality and value. Gavi is
the most noted white wine region of Italy’s Piedmont region,
directly above Liguria. The crisp and refreshing wines are the
pinnacle of achievement for the Cortese grape, and often get a
bit pricier than they deserve. Not this one, which we described
as ‘a slam dunk’ when we first tasted it. The first
aromas are pure Italian sunshine, crisp Mediterranean citrus with
cool herbal and minty notes underneath. The palate has nice fullness
but is all about the zip and zest of the fruit, crisp without
feeling lean, and lots of mineral notes on the finish. Another
wine that is remarkably flavorful without being overly alcoholic,
and perfect with grilled fish.
Regular price $12.99, $11.04/case |
2008 EMILIO MORO RIBERA DEL DUERO
'FINCA RESALSO'
(Wine Advocate 90points)
The Emilio Moro winery in Ribera del Duero is one of the great
producers of the region, enjoying incredible success over the
boom times in Spain over the last decade. Their stable of mid
to upper level wines have received consistently high praise from
all the major reviewers, but up to this point they had never extended
this expertise towards making a more value-oriented wine. This
wine is pulled from their estate’s younger vines and is
done in a ‘Joven’ style, seeing only four months of
barrel aging before bottling to show off the juicier, fresher
side of Tempranillo. Deep colored, the aromas are surprisingly
flowery and spicy behind the dark cherry and blackberry fruit.
In the mouth there is plenty of young natural tannin on display,
but the jammy forward fruit more than holds it in place, and as
the wine opens up the tannins become more subdued very quickly.
It seems like Spain is still on a roll, cranking out exceptionally
good value red wines for yet another year.
Regular price $15.99, $13.59/case
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