 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.
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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.
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 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 2024
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