 At a time like this, it's pretty much impossible to be 'normal'. But it is important to try and keep what you can as close to normal as you can while you can. 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 on Thursday and Friday. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
We have always taken great pride in having our store set up to display our wines by region, believing the environment and culture of where the wine is grown is paramount in shaping what the wine becomes. If there is one flaw to this methodology, it's when we have a great wine using a grape that isn't historically part of that region's reputation. Pinot Nero, or Pinot Noir, is cultivated in spots of Italy, mostly across the Northeast and Lombardy where it is used as the base of many sparkling wines or fairly basic reds. Nowhere does it take on the structure and seriousness that the varietal finds in Burgundy, yet amid the famous Nebbiolo vineyards around Neive in the heart of Barbaresco we find this fascinating example. If we were to sort by varietal here, this would sit proudly among our many Bourgogne Rouge selections and nobody would bat an eye at it being misplaced. Polished, elegant fruit with very little oak intrusion, fine earthy tannins that bring out the savory fruit and truffle-y flavors. Perhaps a touch of Italian wldness in the mix to make it stand differently than a Bourgogne, but every bit as tasty and every bit worthwhile for Burgundy fans to try at this price.
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 At a time like this, it's pretty much impossible to be 'normal'. But it is important to try and keep what you can as close to normal as you can while you can. 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 on Thursday and Friday. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
Most high end wineries don't specialize in just the expensive stuff, usually finding ways to spread their expertise into the more everyday wine realm. Often they will reinvest into lesser known growing areas nearby where the vineyards are less expensive and the potential is less explored, making the perfect opportunity to both create a quality money making value AND raise the perception of an area. The Brunier family, famed for their long time ownership of iconic estate Vieux Telegraphe in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, have been producing this wine from a blend of sites across the Rhone and Ventoux regions for over 30 years, sourcing and purchasing vineyards that have the materials to make a value wine that still carries the traditional characters found in their estate wines. Primarily Grenache with varying percentages of Syrah, Carignan, Mourvedre, and Cinsault depending on the vintage, this speaks of the intensity of the Rhone but also shows off impressive elegance and subtlety for the more patient drinkers. Deep dark fruits abound on the nose, especially when first opened, but gets wilder and savory as it opens up with loads of earth and herbs emerging. With much of the aging and fermentation happening in cement tanks, there is more of a natural fullness to the texture, mouth filling but not heavy or overly saturated. allowing the multi-layered plum, raspberry and black cherry fruit to mingle with the roasted game and savory. It's like a well cooked game bird was distilled down into bottle form, which is a classic Rhone wine character born from using all grape varieties at their disposal. Blends like this are great gateways into trying the traditional Chateauneuf producers, and ideal for cellaring on the cheap or enjoying over several hours.  At a time like this, it's pretty much impossible to be 'normal'. But it is important to try and keep what you can as close to normal as you can while you can. 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 on Thursday and Friday. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
The Paardeberg Mountain range sit along the borders of the Paarl and Swartland regions of South Africa. Babylon's Peak Winery occupies one of the highest altitudes for vineyards on the Swartland side of the mountains, which gives them uniquely rough porous limestone soils as well as a cooler wind-swept climate than the rest of the region. This provides their Rhone varietal wines a leaner, more elegant side that isn't so heavy and dependent on sweeter fruits. Not quite a replacement for a Northern Rhone wine, but definitely invites comparison. Deep and dark in color, it doesn't lack for impact on the nose with lots of currants and black fruits, but also hints of dark flowers, and peppery meats, more savory before the sweet. The palate is equally impactful, but with more polished textures and fine tannins than thick mouthfilling extraction. Elegant, lengthy dark fruits and savory tones, even a bit of acidity that brings out pops of higher toned blue fruits lingering on the finish. Would probably put this closer to the Rhone side of the variety (even though they chose to call it Shiraz like the Aussies do), but any fan of Syrah/Shiraz should give this great value a whirl.  At a time like this, it's pretty much impossible to be 'normal'. But it is important to try and keep what you can as close to normal as you can while you can. 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 on Thursday and Friday. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
Stefano Accordini has quickly become a store favorite since we first started working with their wines. From their uniquely high elevation vineyards above Verona in the Valpolicella region, they have given us several standout reds that many customers have fallen in love with. While white wines from the Garganega grape are known across the world from the city of Soave just to the East, they aren't known for their top flight quality many other places in the region. The higher altitude of the Accordini vineyards are what make this so distinctive, bringing a brighter, more vibrant character to a grape that often can be too soft and bland. Fresh flowers and straw aromas mix with lemon curd and zesty citrus on the nose, very Italian spring time-y sorts of aromas. The palate is super clean and fresh as well, showing plenty of body for the price point that brings out a bit more melon and a touch of the tropical towards the finish. Don't think of this as 'Soave Light', for it stands on its own merits, especially at this price.  California is a massive state with immense diversity of climates. Many of the famous growing areas gained their reputation as much from their proximity to high population centers as the quality of their wines, while more remote areas just barely scratch the surface of their potential. On the plus side, the wineries that strive to find those hidden gems can usually source fruit at a better price and deliver better values to the consumer. Broc Cellars is part of the new wave of 'hands off' winemakers, using native yeasts for fermentations, adding no outside agents during the process, and using as little SO2 as possible at bottling. The fruit for this wine comes from the Love Ranch vineyard that sits WELL off the beaten wine paths just South of Yosemite in Madera County. The isolated high altitude vineyard gives them the opportunity to dial in the farming exactly the way they want to, and still keep the pricing lower than in a more 'in demand' area. For a category of wines where it's hard to find true values, this is one that definitely over-delivers.
Built entirely from co-fermented white Rhone varieties (Marsanne, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, and Picpoul) farmed from the Love Ranch, the aromas burst almost immediately with tangy apples and musky melons, like fresh cut fruits at a farmers market. Some natural wines veer into the sour/cidery realm, but this stay fresh and pretty, the natural processes just tamping down the tropical or overtly floral tones. The palate is a bit quieter at first, quenching and apple filled, but gets juicier and more mouth filling as it opens up. The finish is the most complex part with melon and almost almond-y tones building with a long lingering fruit skin texture that hangs around for much longer than expected. This is a great Spring wine to pair with a diversity of lighter foods, especially things with a splash of citrus or vinegar.  Burgundy is a wine region shrouded in lore, mystery, magic, and ever escalating prices. With such small parcels of production for most wines and an international demand for it that pushes prices ever higher, it get extremely difficult to find and enjoy as an everyday wine or for the novice to dip their toes into (figuratively) to learn about the hype. Fortunately the 2018 looks to be a rare vintage where both the quality AND quantity of the harvest seems to be high. While that doesn't suddenly give everyone easy access to loads of Grand Crus at rock bottom prices, it does make for a lot more worthwhile and very satisfying basic Bourgognes. Most of them are not being built for long term cellaring and taking that long, circuitous path of evolution the top wines need to take, so they will have plenty to give in their first 5-7 years of life without worry. This 5th and 6th generation father & son producer farm exclusively from family plots in the Mercurey region of the Cotes Chalonnaise, which sits in-between the Macon and Cotes d'Or. Historically this area has a reputation for lighter, leaner styled wines that can be underwhelming to some in comparison to the bigger named sites, but wines like this point to a LOT of value coming our way from here in 2018.
A deep youthful crimson in the glass, the aromas pop fairly quickly with tart cherry and almost citrusy fruit, with background notes of dark tea and spice that emerge slowly as it opens up. Tank aged but with a little bit of stem inclusion, this shows off very fresh and natural for immediate gratification, with the stem inclusion knocking the sweeter fruits down a bit and pumping up the tea and spice. The palate is clean, full and vibrant with lots of cherry skin and fresh berry, almost refreshing feeling on the finish with a lingering red citrus finish and no ponderous oak tannins. This is a Pinot Noir that isn't trying to be anything else than what it is; a pleasure to drink at a very fair price.  The Catarratto grape is (yet another) one of those Italian varieties that few people have heard of unless they live or spend time in the regions they are featured. Even in Sicily it went largely under-appreciated until the last part of the 20th century when the wines of Mount Etna earned recognition. Like the red wines, the Catarratto based white wines most sought after come from older vineyards and often with an increasingly steep price tag due to the limited sources. This makes it hard for the novice customer to dip their toes in and see if this is a grape that fits their palate. Thankfully the growers on the island are increasing their planting, and importers are becoming increasingly able to source better values like this for consumers to test drive. Valdiabella is a unique cooperative of organic family farms near Palermo that pool their resources for several products, including this very reasonable lineup of wines featuring native Sicilian varieties.
A rich golden straw color in the glass, the aromas at first have a bit of the baked apple you may find in some unoaked Chardonnays, but picks up more crisp green citrus and herbal tints as it opens up. There isn't the driving minerality on the nose that comes from the volcanic soils around Mount Etna, more warmth and softness, but still very distinct and inviting. On the palate the texture is also warm and apple-y, with a touch of melon rind and green apple skin to the finish that brings out the fresher flavors, and with successive mouthfulls it gets more zesty and mouthwatering. A tasty introduction to this Sicilian variety and an ideal pairing to fish and poultry dishes with big herbal flavors.  South Africa has a long and complicated history with Europe and the rest of the world over the centuries of colonialism. The French have a strong influence on the history of wine industry here, not surprisingly, and has been a major factor in the country's reemergence since the fall of apartheid in the early 1990s. May de Lencquesaing was the matriarch of the esteemed wine chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, with family roots that traced back to the 1780 when her ancestor was appointed 'royal wine broker' for South Africa. In the late 1990s she set out to reconnect with those past ties by purchasing an estate in the Stellenbosch wine region, the oldest established wine area in South Africa near the port city of Cape Town. The property Glenelly sits on what was part of the original Ida's Valley farm ceded over to a French Huguenot family in 1682, which had vineyards through much of its history but in more recent time had been converted to solely fruit trees. Since taking over the winery has built itself up with a Bordeaux mindset as well as a bit of New World technology and sensibility, becoming one of the more impressive 'newer' producers in the country.
Primarily Cabernet Sauvignon and dominated by the other traditional Bordeaux varieties (Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot), this does have a healthy splash of Syrah in the blend, which have been a common aspect of the reds in this part of the world. What's uncommon here is the quality and intensity this wine is bringing for the money, drinking and smelling like a young Bordeaux that could bring twice the price. Deep in color but showing the slightest bit of color change at the edges from a bit of needed time in the bottle before release, the aromas are very Old School Bordeaux with lots of dark currant, black pepper, coffee roast, cedar and spice. As it opens up there may be a little more warmth of fruit and sweetness of spice to indicate it isn't French in origin, but it's pretty darn close. The texture in the mouth is equally big and bold, but with tannins that are surprisingly fine and polished, most likely thanks to the added Syrah and the bit of extra time cellaring as well. It makes for a wine that is fairly ready to drink right now, though it does have the potential to evolve much more if you wanted to. Either way there is lots of value here for Old World and New World fans alike.  A treat for Valentine's Day, reminding us that Champagne isn't the answer for every sparkling wine need, as well as that the fact that sweetness in a wine should be a wonderful thing when done correctly. This wine comes from Beaujolais and uses the 'methode ancestrale' to create the bubbles, which is different from the 'methode traditionelle' used in making Champagne and other like-minded sparkling wines in that it doesn't use a secondary fermentation in the bottle. That bottle fermentation is what allows the wine to have carbonation and be made completely dry, while ancestrale is only able to take the wine down to 8%-9% abv and still keep its carbonation. The ancestrale method exists well before the monks in Champagne refined their process, and many examples persist to this day in regions like Bugey Cerdon in Savoie and Clairette de Die in the Rhone that are OK with making a bubbly wine with a little bit of natural sugar left behind. It is important to remember this is very different from a Moscato d'Asti and the wines made in that method, as those wines are much lower in carbonation (no 'cork and cage' Champagne type stopper because of the pressure) and their alcohol is much lower due to less sugar being fermented out. There are no added outside sugars, no cheap shortcuts. And in the broad continuum of dry to sweet, this doesn't come across cloying at all, more of the sweet taste of fresh berries, natural and delicious.
Pouring with a youthful purple color and grape-y tinted foamy bubble that lingers at the edges in the glass, the aromas are somewhere between a juicy Beaujolais and a old school soda fountain drink, savory red berries mixed with cola and sarsaparilla. Don't know if it's the carbonation that brings out the soda-ish parallels, but they definitely show through more as the wine gets warmer, while the vinous aromas show more when the wine first comes out of the fridge. On the palate the flavors are fresh and grape-y, with very little sense of sugar or anything coating the palate, with a very fine prickle of carbonation and a dusty tannin creating a fairly dry sensation on the finish. A great lighter weight foil for less intensely sweet chocolates or chocolate-based desserts, but also worth pairing with lighter savory snacks, Beaujolais style, if you just don't want anything weighing you down with much alcohol.  Valpolicella is the most famous of the red wine regions near the Italian city of Verona, deservedly so because of the high quality and the reputation of higher end wines like Amarone. Just to the West, along the banks of Lake Garda, Bardolino sits in relative anonymity by comparison, utilizing the same grapes to similar levels of excellence but mostly just selling them to the lakeside population. Every once in a while, a delicious few will escape the lake and make it over our way. From the original area of Bardolino closest to the lake (which earns it the 'Classico' designation) this is parallel to a Valpolicella Classico in that there is no use of dried grapes or pressings the way an Amarone or Ripasso, just featuring the Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara grapes in their purest form. The biggest difference between the two regions is the higher elevation up in the mountains along the lake, giving the wines a slightly lighter body and a brighter underlying acidity. You will also tend to see less usage of oak here, especially newer barrels, so the wines tend to lean towards freshness and very natural expressions.
A deep dark cherry color in the glass, the aromas are a seductive array of red fruits with hints of tartness in the background and an almost sarsaparilla/old school root beer note that also kicks into light spices. Nothing sweetened at all here, no extracted heavy tones in the nose at all, and it extends onto the palate as well. Very soft texture with virtually no tannins, somewhat of a Beaujolais type fruit softness to the dark cherry notes and just the lightest of dustiness to the finish. This is ideal to pair with savory meat dishes that aren't fatty and don't need a robust wine to lean on, likewise a mushroom or lentil heavy vegetarian dish. |
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 2020
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