 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 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 Thanksgiving approaching more rapidly than many of us would like to admit, it's actually a good time to start thinking about what to serve and accumulating some special bottles to avoid the late rush. Beaujolais and the Gamay grape is of course one of the classic all-purpose pairings, soft and savory with very easy tannins that meld with the broad spectrum of foods at the traditional holiday table. But Gamay isn't the only game in town, just the best publicized. Vespolina is the primary 'everyday' grape in the Northern Piedmont region near the city of Novara, at one time famous for Nebbiolo based wines from Gattinara and other sites, but post WWII lost a lot of the vineyards due to the rural population moving to big cities hoping to find work. The last few decades has seen a return to agricultural life here, and with it the rise of small producers revitalizing the sloped vineyards. Working barely 10 acres among three separate sites, Bonaperti has been a leading name here, and his Vespolina is routinely among the best examples of the grape every vintage. Juicy cherry and raspberry skin fruit on the nose with dark spice and tobacco leaf notes parallel the juicy/gamey combo of Gamay, a big aroma given some time open but never intense or blowing you back from the glass. The mouthfeel is a little fuller and darker than a Beaujolais but with similar juiciness and super-fine tannin texture that leaves just a kiss of dustiness behind, bringing out all the lovely dark savory nuances of the fruit. This is the type of wine that really shine with the gamey dark meats and savory side dishes, sausage or oyster stuffing, etc., but can still treat the lighter foods quite nicely.
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 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 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 Noir isn't often thought of as a grape of high potential in Sancerre, definitively second in plantings and reputation to Sauvignon Blanc, and even in the hands of the top producers it's primarily used for making Rose. Absolute dreamy, beautiful Rose that we can't get enough of, so it isn't a bad thing. There just aren't many producers putting the effort into making a Sancerre Rouge of much character; even one of the best and best known, Domaine Hippolyte Reverdy (not directly related), had to be convinced by the importer Kermit Lynch to develop theirs early on. When you get one that's really on it, that hits on every cylinder, they are every bit the equivalent of their Burgundian counterparts, and at this price they are a stellar value. Deep for a Pinot in color with some savory black cherry skin and dried red fruit aromas at first, a bit closed at first but getting brighter and riper over some time in the glass, a sign this wine definitely has some staying power for aging. The palate has a bit more oompf that your usual basic Bourgogne, mostly provided by that tell-tale chalky minerality so associated with Samcerre, really gives the elegant fruit and tannins some extra presence and intensity through the finish. Much like the Bordeaux in last week's Insider, this is a great wine for enjoying over a full day or two, giving it time to evolve and show more of the complexity hidden under it's youth, something rarely able to be done on a Pinot at this price.  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.
We have greatly missed doing in-store tastings over the last year (hope to return to doing them soon), not just because of the chance for you to sample the wines we enjoy presenting, but it gives us the opportunity to bring you some of the great personalities from the wine world. Importer Aymeric d'Alton had not been bringing in for long his family's selection of small hand curated estates before the shutdown, and even though he only came in a couple times to pour he quickly became a store favorite. The knowledge, the intelligence, the passion, the occasional cursing (but with a French accent, so it's charming) always made for an excellent day for everyone. It also makes life easier when literally everything in their book is a rock star. The family has a distinct idea in mind for the wines they want to represent, and from bottling to bottling each Chateau hits their mark with a classic, structured character with lots of evolution potential and value, from their least expensive to most prestigious estates. This newer arrival to us is just a baby, but with a little time and patience oh such a delicious baby. Mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with a healthy dose of Merlot and splashes of Cab Franc and Petit Verdot, this has immense dark fruit and tannic character for the price point, lots of black currant and youthful toasty character on the nose that deepens and sweetens over several hours open. Earthy and intense on the palate as well,lots of firm dark tannin that will soften some but stays fairly present throughout, as it should for a wine that can easily see another decade or more ahead of it. It's a weekend wine, in that you can easily enjoy it at your own pace over an entire weekend and never feel like it's doing to fade. This, like all the wines in Aymeric's stable, shows how great the value is within Bordeaux for those capable of seeing beyond the 'known' names and are willing to explore.  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.
Marietta Cellars and the Bilbro family are true royalty in the Sonoma/North Coast wine world, into their third generation of viticulture and genuine stewards of the land for all the historic vineyards they tend. Their most famous and widely available wine is their non-vintage 'Lot' series Old Vine Red, a value oriented throwback to the historic Californian field blends made by hundreds of immigrant families from the later 1800s well into the 1900s from the vineyards they cultivated and harvested, for sustenance well before they became fashionable or profitable. The next tier up from the OVR is their 'Family' series, three wines named after important figured in the Bilbro family, built from a more stringent selection of varieties and vineyards and with a specific historic blend in mind. One focuses on Zinfandel based blends, one on Cabernet Sauvignon based Meritage blends, and this one (named after Chris, founder of Marietta Cellars) based off of Rhone blends. The one slight Californi-fication that takes place is the substitution of Petite Sirah for Mourvedre, but otherwise they have the aura of a Southern Rhone down to a T, right down to even co-fermenting a slight bit of Viognier for a little extra pop of aromatics. Deep black fruits and dark spice on the nose, but also a coolness and a touch of smokiness as a lot of the Syrah comes from some of the cooler areas of North Coast, which really helps keep the fruit fresh and alive. On the palate the fruit is intense and immediate, filling your mouth with loads of blackberry and raspberry tones, but still has lots of savory to show and acidity keep the finish from feeling cloying or plodding. A great cooler weather wine to help warm your insides, both with the quality of wine as well as the history of the family behind it. INSIDER'S PICK: 2019 HEATHEN WINES 'CUVEE CREMISI' RED BALLARD CANYON SANTA BARBARA COUNTY $38.999/23/2021  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.
If a customer comes to us and says 'hey, would you like to try my new wine label?' we usually would respond with a healthy dose of side-eye and a heartfelt 'maybe'. If that customer is an accomplished Level 3 Master Sommelier, educator, heretic and all-around smartypants like Heath Porter, we listen. We listen even closer when we hear the fruit is from a choice site in Ballard Canyon and vinification was done via his friends at Melville Winery. Once we got to taste it, we were all in. Primarily Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon with equal doses of Sangiovese and Cabernet Franc, this was built with the same fun spirit and 'no rules/all taste' mentality those 'other' brands used to have early on before they became formulaic and lost all sense of personality or distinction. The single source gives the wine character: Ballard Canyon is a cool climate pocket in Santa Barbara, bringing better acidity and tension to the fruit, as well as the use of Sangiovese and Cabernet Franc to pop the palate and brighten the aromatics. Immediately pleasurable aromas from the get-go filled with intense dark cherry, cassis, and spiced black fruits that get warmer and richer as it opens up. The palate is where this really steps away from the competition, showing great life and brightness that bring complexity and interest to the fruit, not a plodding sweetness that hits like a soggy sponge. Completely fun to drink if you just want to kick back and not think about it, but full of thought-provoking context if you do. INSIDER'S PICK: 2020 PATRICIA GREEN CELLARS 'DOLLAR BILLS ONLY' PINOT NOIR WILLAMETTE VALLEY $22.999/16/2021  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.
The best wineries are the ones that can make delicious wines out of imperfect fruit. Patricia Green Cellars is definitely one of the great producers in Oregon, and what they would call 'imperfect' by their standards is pretty darn excellent for others. This is a value wine Patty Green Cellars doesn't set out to make every year, but some vintages give them enough fruit for it; not QUITE good enough to make it into their long lived single vineyard series, but not so weak that they choose to sell it off. From the 2020 vintage this is built from five vineyard sites (including the esteemed Freedom Hill Vineyard and their own Estate vineyards in Ribbon Ridge) and these lots were separated out early on to go into this easy-drinking treasure. The jukebox picture on the label (taken from a local Dundee joint) says 'Music For Everyone', and Dollar Bills Only takes that spirit to be a wine for everyone. Pure tank aged fruit on the nose is juicy and immediate, loaded with cherry and spiced raspberry, but also shows the breeding of its vineyard sources as it opens up with subtle notes of tar and savory notes. The palate is very soft and polished, full of juicy flavors that have a nice snap to the finish that's almost crunchy. Many wines like this would feel more extracted and saturated, but because the decision was made on these lots early the juice has a lighter body while still fully ripe in flavor, and cozies in under 13%abv without losing a bit of character. This is a great casual wine with some serious pedigree that really propels it well beyond its pop-and-pour nature. Also one of the rare Oregon Pinots we highly encourage you to NOT age, as this is built to consume on the quick.  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. Despite all the fame and international attention a wine region like the Piedmont has in Italy, they can still contain some unfamiliar or forgotten treasures that deserve to be re-discovered. Ruche is admittedly a bit of an odd duck relative to the more noted grapes of the region like Nebbiolo, Dolcetto, and Barbera, but that exotic side is what makes it so worthwhile. You also don't find much if any of it made as an inexpensive 'jug wine' as it isn't an easy or high volume grape from a growing perspective, so it's always been a niche wine for those willing to really go off the beaten path. The uniqueness comes from the nose, a surprising dichotomy of white wine flowery aromatics naturally overlaid with savory red tones, so much so you would swear it had been blended versus naturally occurring. Poured in a dark glass (or done blindfolded if you really trust your drinking companions) the burst of wildflowers and red citrus don't call many other red wine comparisons to mind, though after some time open the cherry, dried strawberry and savory tones do start poking through. On the palate the roles are reversed, showing a lot more of the red fruits and wild game with just a touch of white fruits coming through on the juicy texture, finishing on a drying note with fine but firm tannins. This has a similar appeal to a Beaujolais but with more intensity and a bit more body, and can do the same type of pairing of cured meats, as well as stuffed pastas with blue cheese, aromatic meat dishes like strongly fennel-d sausages.  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.
This is a callback to when we first got this winery in back in July, available thanks to the tireless efforts of one of our great local importers (get well soon, D!). Savoie has been more known historically for their white wines, and deservedly so as they are such a large part of their production. In recent years the reds from their local grape called Mondeuse have grown in interest, especially as more wine drinkers start looking for less aggressive or alcoholic options. The cool climate and relatively compressed growing season doesn't allow the grapes to develop as much sugar as those in other areas, so the final alcohol tends to run in the 12%-%13.5 range, even when the grapes reach their best potential and are fully ripened. If pushed to compare it to something else, Mondeuse exists somewhere in the theoretical Venn diagram between Pinot Noir and Gamay/Beaujolais, carrying a lot of the textures of the former and the savory fruit profile of the other. So if you're a fan of those two types of grapes, this should definitely be on your to-do list. Youthful and plum colored in the glass, the first aromas are mostly savory dark berry and forest floor, but build to dark cherry skins and wild game with some much needed air. The palate is polished with some firm tannins that need some air to soften out, so patience definitely is needed with this wine, but well rewarded. Excellent with lamb, cured meats or savory pot roasts.  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.
If we keep saying this is a wine for the last dog days of Summer, we have to be right eventually, don't we? If ever we had a 'no brainer' white wine in the Californian section, it would be this. Founders and husband/wife duo Spencer Graham and Elizabeth Pressler were an integral part of the Charlottesville wine scene in the 80s and early 90s before moving out to Napa and starting this winery in the heart of Rutherford. This Sauvignon Blanc has always been a favorite not only as a great value but one that showcases the oft-forgotten quality of fruit from Mendocino County. Consistently cooler climate to the more tourist driven Napa and Sonoma areas gives their wines some extra nerve, and this serves it up year after year. Fresh citrus and green apple tones on the nose, light of intensity but still giving a tingling of minerality if you sniff deeply enough, much less tropical that found in many other areas of California and completely absent of oak. The palate hints a little bit towards the Loire style of Sauvignon Blanc with the brightness and quenching tartness, but fattens up with white fruit tones that get juicier with each sip and gets more melon and pear into the finish. A great pairing with seafood and Summer salads, for however long they may last this year.  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.
Another fun wine to enjoy during what we hope are the last dog days of Summer, and it's a fresh batch of a store favorite for you Pet-Nat fans. The name means 'Unheard Of' and there is a lot taking place with this wine that is definitely unique, in all the right ways and for all the right reasons. La Staffa and its young owner/winemaker has earned a lot of recognition for already making standout traditional Verdicchio di Castelli di Jesi, working entirely organically and with minimal sulfites in some very old and distinctive vineyards. His youth has also enabled him to play around and have some fun with his winemaking, creating one of the few examples of a naturally fermented Pet-Nat wines using Verdicchio on the market (perhaps only example, we certainly haven't found any others yet). What we like so much about this wine is it never loses the character and flavor of the varietal as it delves into the exploration of Pet-Nat and the more 'natural' sides of the process. A still Verdicchio has a lovely green apple and citrus aroma to it, as well as some herbal or almond skin notes, right from the first pour these notes are in full exposure even with the initial yeasty/dusty notes from the low level carbonation. The palate is equally full of citrusy flavors given extra brightness by the bubbles and the higher altitude natural acidity, and the leesy texture also adds a touch of oyster shell type brininess. A great wine to chill down with an equally chilly plate of fresh oysters as well as any other lighter seafood dishes, especially ones with lots of citrus and herbs. |
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
July 2021
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