 Even though we will not be doing the public tasting portion of the Insider's Pick until further notice, we will still be offering the wine for purchase with the usual 10% discount. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We will be returning to doing just the one wine on Thursdays and Fridays until further notice. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
With various issues creating shipping dilemmas around the world the last half year or so, coupled with weather problems and the situations around American tariffs, wine availability and the arrival of new vintages from overseas has been a bit, well, constipated. Everything is delayed it seems, and it all has been taking longer to get through to the consumer once it's started. Roses are very strongly associated with Spring, so their delayed arrival has been a bit more obvious, but we finally seem to be seeing more and more options returning. Clos Cibonne is one of the most distinctive producers in Provence, a region awash in 'same-but-different' wines when it comes to Rose. The family grows the ancient Tibouren grape variety in their coastline vineyards for each wine to some extent, and have been doing things to make their wines stand out for years that are now being embraced by more avant-garde producers the world over (aging wines under 'flor' yeast as done in making Sherry, reusable wood foudres, etc). They also make some of the most age-worthy Roses in all of France which we always like to remind people of (the 2019s are still delicious!), with their top cuvees always released a year behind everyone else but capable of lasting a decade plus. This is their more entry level production, yet is still shows how distinct they are from the rest of the region. Minerally strawberry and tart red fruits on the nose, with a touch of savory herbs underneath that captures the windswept coastal terrain and the wild herbs so well. Bright and juicy on the palate as well, still showing those fruits and herbs but with an almost citrusy lemon tang to the finish. This is a wine that covers a lot of ground for a rose, making it perfect for a lot of lighter foods, starter courses and fish dishes.
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INSIDER'S PICK: 2019 RONCHI DI CIALLA RIBOLLA GIALLA FRIULI COLLI ORIENTALI (Vinous 92points) $22.994/15/2021  Even though we will not be doing the public tasting portion of the Insider's Pick until further notice, we will still be offering the wine for purchase with the usual 10% discount. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We will be returning to doing just the one wine on Thursdays and Fridays until further notice. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
Pinot Grigio is ubiquitous in the Veneto and across the Northeastern section of Italy, to the point that many people may think that it's the only white wine produced. Ribolla Gialla is special, a more noble and prized variety of Friuli, and is gaining in recognition as wines of Slovenia and Croatia become more popular. The bright natural acidity makes vibrant wines very easily, and rewards more quality driven efforts with intensity and dynamic flavors, so you can really have it almost any way you want it and besuccessful. It is even starting to find a more frequent foothold with American winemakers as well as the producers of 'orange wines'. Ronchi di Cialla is one of the most acclaimed producers in Friuli, and their Ribolla Gialla is one of the benchmarks for the region. Although it doesn't tread into the 'orange wine' neighborhood, this does see a healthy amount of aging on the skins, as well as the use of native yeasts and lengthy resting on the lees, so this lands on the fleshier side of what the varietal can do. Intense mix of white fruits and minerality on the nose, almost a sense of raw honey like you find in a Vouvray or other good Chenin Blancs, but with lots of energy and no sense of sweetness. The palate has a lot of bright apples and white fruit flesh flavors, but the vibrant acidity really makes the whole mouthfeel tingle and jump. Great with a flavorful shellfish dish, vegetables, and even lighter pork preparations.  Even though we will not be doing the public tasting portion of the Insider's Pick until further notice, we will still be offering the wine for purchase with the usual 10% discount. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We will be returning to doing just the one wine on Thursdays and Fridays until further notice. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
With vintners in Burgundy struggling this week with frost issues along with other parts of France and Europe, we felt we should help everyone raise a glass to them by featuring one of their better value wines. The main part of Burgundy around the city of Beaune is deservedly famous for making what many say is the finest versions of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the world. It's also one of the most compressed in terms of space, so there isn't a lot of room to make more and keep up with the international demand. When nature throws hurdles like this in at the start of a vintage, it can have many cascading effects by the end of the vintage; even if the quality ends up being fine, yields can be dramatically altered, and if some parcels are damaged enough entire wines could be eliminated. Inevitably, when rare things become even more rare, pricing bumps up quickly. Fortunately the Macon region to the South does not seem to feel these pressures nearly as intensely, with a wider breadth of vineyard space and not nearly the price scrutiny at the highest end of the spectrum. We have loved this little wine for quite a few vintages now, appearing in previous vintages in other promotions of ours, and just never misses for value. Sourced from the same 15 acres of vineyards each vintage with an average age well over 30 years (mature vines handle climate issues consistently better than younger ones), this is about as pure and clean a Burgundy as you can get for the price. Unoaked but full malolactic fermentation gives the wine lots of round texture but still maintains the fresh citrus and warm fruit on the nose and mouth, naturally full but not unctuous and not as minerally as a Chablis or cooler climate Chardonnay can get. A great segue from oaky/buttery Chards into the French style, tasty with many lighter foods or on its own.  Even though we will not be doing the public tasting portion of the Insider's Pick until further notice, we will still be offering the wine for purchase with the usual 10% discount. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We will be returning to doing just the one wine on Thursdays and Fridays until further notice. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
Along with the opening day of Major League Baseball (we missed you last Spring!) and April Fool's Day, today is the first day for the Insider's Pick where Spring is truly in stride. Days are getting longer and warmer, trees are flowering around the building, and our cars are starting to get that light yellow tinting from all the pollen. On the wine side it means we start looking for great 'back porch' wines, refreshing ones you can chill down and enjoy without too much food or pomp & circumstance, but are still unique and compelling every time you open them. For several vintages this winery in Slovenia has offered up great wines with a very minimalist sort of style, all the while maintaining a fantastic price point, so we try to find ways to feature it every vintage to help people find it. Made from primarily a blend of Welschriesling and Furmint as well as a smattering of native varietals, the aromas pack in a lot more intensity than the pale color and lower abv would first let on. Loads of green apple and citrus skin notes also pops with orange and citrus blossom, the epitome of Springtime, and picks up more white fruits as the wine opens and gets a touch warmer than 'fridge cold'. The palate is wet and refreshing at first, but does carry some texture from the grape tannins and a bit of a juicy mouthfeel, but there is no sweetness here as it finishes clean and minerally. A great liter bottle you can finally share with friends, but with the lower alcohol you'll be OK just splitting it between two people.  Even though we will not be doing the public tasting portion of the Insider's Pick until further notice, we will still be offering the wine for purchase with the usual 10% discount. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We will be returning to doing just the one wine on Thursdays and Fridays until further notice. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
Some family names have great importance in certain wine regions, where there is a dynastic sort of implication to what they are doing even if they aren't directly related. Perrin is such a name in the Southern Rhone, made famous by the branch of the clan that own and run Chateau de Beaucastel, turning it into one of the most important wineries in Chateauneuf-du-Pape over the last century. While not of that line, Domaine Roger Perrin did start from a branch with many generations of farming their vineyards before becoming their own winery in the late 1960s. While their wines may not reach the exalted heights of the 'other' Perrins, they are great in their own right, especially for fans of a more traditional character. Primarily Grenache but with a healthy dose of Cinsault, this carries some soft spicy red fruits on the nose as well as savory notes and tart cranberry from the Cinsault. The Cinsault also takes some of the ripeness out of the palate, which can sometimes become a bit jammy in Grenache dominated Rhones, so in this case the drier red fruit notes come through a bit more and the finish is full but less viscous. A great food oriented wine that will hopefully linger at this price for a while.  Even though we will not be doing the public tasting portion of the Insider's Pick until further notice, we will still be offering the wine for purchase with the usual 10% discount. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We will be returning to doing just the one wine on Thursdays and Fridays until further notice. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
Cabernet Sauvignon by its nature is a grape that can, and many think should, show a tannic side. Take too much of it away and you loose the structure, intensity and dark fruit that make it possible to be what many consider 'the King of grapes'. Conversely, you may not want SO much of it that the wine looses any ability to enjoy in the shorter term without extra forethought to open the wine in advance and/or decant. Here's one we found that can walk the fine line between those two ideals, keeping classic Cab quality while able to be ready to go on short notice. Sourced from several vineyard areas across Sonoma (including Rockpile, Moon Mountain and the Mayacamas range), this wine pulls a balance of characters from those areas to form a very polished, approachable Cab with lots of intensity for the price range. Big aromas up front of raspberry and blackberry as well as a cool dark note of spice and currants with a touch of new oak present, getting there pretty quickly without much air, though it does get better and more intense with some time. On the palate the tannins don't really hit at first, letting that rich polished fruit come through in waves, but shows up more on the finish and after multiple sip to firm up the mouthfeel. This is an extremely good cookout/grilling wine to pop and enjoy quickly and not sacrifice any quality in the process.  Even though we will not be doing the public tasting portion of the Insider's Pick until further notice, we will still be offering the wine for purchase with the usual 10% discount. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We will be returning to doing just the one wine on Thursdays and Fridays until further notice. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
Looking at the extended forecast, and judging by the crocus blooms sprouting up everywhere, I 'think' it's safe to start mixing in some more Spring-like wines to the Insider's Pick repertoire. This wine is a long-time representative in the store, often being our 'best buy' offering for a Pouilly-Fume. I have a hazy recollection of this being one of the first -if not 'the first'- Pouilly-Fume I was recommended to try when I first began learning about French wines from the original staff at Wine Warehouse in the '90s, broadening my focus from the craft beer scene. The rest is history. Still made from the same 3.25 acre plot of vines, still a pure and classic representation of Sauvignon Blanc from the region, and still an outstanding relative value. Clear, pristine cool fruit aromas on the nose with touches of gunflint and minerality that always seem to mark good Pouilly-Fume. The palate is quenching with cool white fruits a gain and lime, a nice tingle of acidity but not as piercing as the chalky notes from Sancerre can be from across the river. This is a prettier, more reserved and quiet style of Sauvignon Blanc, but still fantastic and delicious with a multitude of Spring dishes and almost anything with a dollop of goat cheese as an ingredient.  Even though we will not be doing the public tasting portion of the Insider's Pick until further notice, we will still be offering the wine for purchase with the usual 10% discount. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We will be returning to doing just the one wine on Thursdays and Fridays until further notice. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
One of the best things to come from the movement to/acceptance of more 'natural' winemaking styles and practices is that it has uncovered unique potential many producers never thought to expose. The Toro region sits downriver from Ribera del Duero and has long carried the reputation of being a lower potential, less finessed and 'supersized' version of its more famous neighbor upriver. But that's only true when trying to make wines exactly like the Ribera del Duero; high extraction and alcohol, lots of new oak, intended for lengthy aging. A wine like this one really explores other potential way for the local Tinta De Toro grape (descended but different from Tempranillo), and everything wine maker/maverick Kiko Calvo does to this wine runs counter to what has been known as 'traditional' here. Built from parcels of own rooted vines up to 100 years old, all the vineyard practices and winery techniques are used to get as much flavor out of the wine as possible WITHOUT ending up with a heavy, boozy monster; we love a well made monster, mind you, but it's great to see such new potential realized. First off, we will admit that usually the packaging is the last thing we look at, but the 'horns of the bull' on the label and neck tag are pretty badass. And the wine inside backs it up, with loads of graphite and smokey black fruit aromas that are more dusty than sweet, though they do gain a bit of perfume as the bottle opens up. The palate is decidedly where this wine swings against the norm, showing big flavors with great restraint, dark and earthy with lots of tannin and texture without sappy thickness or alcoholic heat. Folks that are usually scared off by this part of the world should definitely show some interest with this, calling to mind a Cahors Malbec or more rustic style Rhone/Languedoc that may feature a fair amount of Mourvedre. Brilliant to pair with hearty red meats, especially those dishes that may have more subtlety to than just 'grill it and eat it.'  Even though we will not be doing the public tasting portion of the Insider's Pick until further notice, we will still be offering the wine for purchase with the usual 10% discount. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We will be returning to doing just the one wine on Thursdays and Fridays until further notice. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
While this may look like a 'follow-up' to our last Insider's Pick with the Tuscan Cabernet Sauvignon, somewhat of a series featuring outsider varieties done in Italy, it actually isn't. Pinot Noir (also designated Pinot Nero) actually has a long well established history in this Alpine region of Italy, far before it became an internationally fashionable variety. Because of the cooler climate, they actually have quite a Burgundian aspect to their style, and with the fast escalation of Burgundy pricing not looking to subside any time soon, it's a great alternative that hasn't been really 'discovered' as much yet. The white wines from this high quality cooperative aggressively populate our store selection, and have appeared once or twice in the Insider's Pick before, so the fact they have such an excellent red should be no surprise to anyone. Polished savory fruit on the nose with touches of dark spice and cola-ish notes, with red berry tones coming out as it opens and evolves without much in the way of any oak coming through, a very natural expression of Pinot Noir here. The palate is equally elegant and flavorful, very pretty with again a polished character to the fruit with the fine tannins, more akin to a Cote de Beaune style in Burgundy versus the darker and more intense character usually found in a Cote de Nuits. If you are an Old World style Pinot fan, do NOT hesitate to give these a try.  Even though we will not be doing the public tasting portion of the Insider's Pick until further notice, we will still be offering the wine for purchase with the usual 10% discount. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We will be returning to doing just the one wine on Thursdays and Fridays until further notice. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
For Valentine's Day coming this weekend (just in case you forgot), we're showing off something nicer than usual in the Insider's Pick, as well as something a little atypical. Cabernet Sauvignon and the other Bordeaux varieties are very much interlopers in Tuscany, largely ignored and even discouraged within the Chianti borders until the success of early Bolgheri region wines in the early 1970s. It took until the 1990s for adjustments to be made to the Italian DOC laws to make inclusions that acknowledge the high quality potential for Cab Sauv here, and even then there was a lot of controversy about wineries trying to 'sneak it in' to their traditional wines in an effort to boost intensity. Now the region has evolved to be more inclusive, allowing wines such as this to not only exist but thrive. Nothing about this wine screams Tuscany at first glance, from being 100% Cabernet to the Thelonius Monk label image. But as most things complex and outstanding, it starts to make sense on closer inspection, such as the Monk photo is from a live album recorded in Milan in 1961. And while the wine won't be confused with a Chianti Classico, it's dripping with Tuscan character that definitely stands it out from a Californian or Bordeaux. Savory dark fruit, black spice and graphite on the nose with only a touch of well absorbed new oak at first, and evolving well over several hours in the glass or a decanter to bring out dried spices, anise and Brunello-esque dusty herbs. The palate is full but not saturated, lighter on its feet than even a Bordeaux, with very fine but firm tannins that give the flavors and finish plenty of intensity. A wine that easily has another decade or more of life ahead of it, but can make a long weekend evening that much more enjoyable right now. |
The Best of the Best.We offering free tastings on these wines in the store every Thursday and Friday, and a 10% discount off the retail price through the duration of the day. Come on by and give them a try! Archives
March 2021
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