 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.
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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. 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.' |
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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