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. Anyone that has enjoyed the vastly improved quality of wines produced in the Muscadet region owe a debt of gratitude to Marc Ollivier and the wines of Pepiere. In the 80s when virtually all the wine in the region was made by co-operatives buying and blending fruit from all over, Domaine de la Pepiere was one of the very few making their own wines, and perhaps the first to be trying to elevate their wines into something a little more special. Identifying more unique soils and older vines to make more singular wines, extending the time on the lees during the time in tank before bottling to intensify the flavors, all things that take more effort than the general population thought the wines were worth. Now, most every Muscadet that's worth the time to export has some of those techniques involved in the making, and all for the better. Their Briords bottling (once labeled Clos du Briords) is one of their originals, from a single site of vines now approaching 50-70 years old; it isn't located within one of the 'Cru' areas of Muscadet, but is a site as distinct and important as any vineyard in the region. A clear green/gold in the glass, the aromas are all coastline and citrus, wet seashells and limes, oyster water and melon rind. It's one of the most 'of the sea' wines out there and why good ones like this draw comparison to Chablis. The lees aging gives the palate a lot of its weight and texture, making the acidity and salinity feel juicy and mouth-watering instead of hard edged. Muscadet in general is one of the great shellfish wines out there, this one just takes it to the next level.
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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. We revisit the Kellerei Kaltern co-operative winery fairly frequently for all of our various features here. Just can't help ourselves, too much quality and easily the best bang for the buck we can find from the Alto Adige. They also provide great introductions to some of the lesser known regional varieties, helping people learn that it's not just Pinot Grigio country up there. Schiava is a relatively unknown variety that has a lot of parallels to Gamay in Beaujolais, in that it produces a fairly soft and pale wine which doesn't make for earth-shattering high end wines, but is perfect for easy drinking everyday purposes. Transparent ruby and cherry colors in the glass with lots of dark cherry and violet flowers on the nose, as well as a (Gamay-esque) tone of wild game and smoke. On the palate the cool tones and higher acidity/lower abv takes the fruit into more tart cranberry and berry skins, while the powder fine tannins give the flavors and finish a very easy and enjoyable feel. Very quenching with light meals and charcuterie, something that doesn't need a lot of pomp and circumstance around 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 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. We might be trying to will in some Spring weather with this wine, hoping Puxsutawney Phil's hit rate of only 40% the last decade continues for this year. Ventoux is the less famous next door neighbor to the heart of the Southern Rhone, with all the known addresses like Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Gigondas, Rasteau, et al. While the region has equal longevity in its production to the other parts of the Rhone, dating back to the Roman era, there has never been higher achieving producers that brought the world's attention to the name and driven the success -and prices- forward. Pesquie as a farm and vineyard dates back to the1750s and became an independent wine producer in the late 1980s, achieving great success knowing its ALWAYS cool to be the best deal in town. Their 'Terrasses' series always hits well above the price point, and the white is a particular unicorn as the region trends towards having fewer white varieties planted. Predominantly Viognier with healthy portions of Roussanne, Clairette, and Grenache Blanc, the flowery aromas of the Viognier rule over the nose, with the other varieties turning down the volume a little bit and adding some tropical citrus notes. Those varieties come through more on the palate, adding some acidity and zest, bringing out more citrus tones and providing a mouthwatering freshness to the finish. A great Spring-ish salad or light seafood wine, good to have as a staple around the house. 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. Not the usual type of wine to do for a February Insider's, and a touch higher in price than we usually feature. But this is a fascinating wine from an equally fascinating source, and it deserves our full attention. Most of the excitement for older heritage vineyards in California centers around Zinfandel plantings (deservedly so because of their age and because there are so many of them), but there are corners and pockets all over the state that feature all sorts of other long lived and well loved vines, and there are more and more producers like this that embrace them. There is no 'Ruth' here, more of a nom de plume for owner/winemaker Evan Lewandowski and his deep seated agricultural beliefs ('Death is, indeed, the engine of life'). The wines here are very 'hands off' in style, and they pull from some of the most unique sites in the state. Cole Ranch is the smallest declared AVA in America, a single property in a pocket valley high up in Mendocino County first planted in the early 1970s. Cool climates gives the grapes extended time to ripen, and distinct soils impart a little extra nuance, resulting in one of the more exotic dry Rieslings you will come across from North American soils.The nose starts out with lots of cool white fruits but gets more intensely floral as it opens up; fairly new to the bottle, so this is a white that does very well with some decanting if possible to really unlock the nuance. After a while it gets into the stone fruits and even a bit of the orange citrus world, a lot more diverse than your usual Rieslings would. The palate has a lot of flesh and weight to it despite being quite dry, with a little bit of mineral zip to the finish to help lighten the load. Think Alsatian style dry Riesling with a little bit more pizzazz. |
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
October 2024
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