 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.
While the weather outside today may be a bit frightful, this wine should help to make everything else delightful. It's another journey into the more unique/esoteric side of Californian winemaking, this time with one of our favorite residents of Santa Barbara. For over 20 years Stolpman has been a champion of Rhone styled wines, most notably Syrah and the red varieties, but touching on the whole spectrum at their groundbreaking property in Ballard Canyon. Roussanne is the start of the most alluring, haunting and heavily discussed White Chateauneuf-du-Papes made, but is a bit tricky to grow so you don't see it experimented with as much as its usual partner grapes Grenache Blanc and Marsanne. When it's done right, though, it's otherworldly, and the Stolpman property really helps the grape achieve great heights. Chardonnay is a bit unique as a partner grape, but it isn't being brought in to feature any oaky/buttery flavors, instead adding a richer mouthfeel and bright citrus to the late ripening and often lower acidity Roussanne profile. The wine is built very naturally and fairly 'hands-off' with no filtering and a lower alcohol profile, so the aromatic power of the Roussanne is on high profile from the very start. Intense citrus oils and tropical fruit roll from the glass immediately, getting more layered and exotic over time as well as a bit of salinity. The Chardonnay brings a nice weight to the palate without feeling cloying which can often happen with a 100% Roussanne wine, and helps maintain a fresh sensation to he finish with the big flavors still performing to the end. The wine was first concocted in the 2016 vintage for a sushi group in Austin TX, and the pairing makes absolute sense, as well as richer pork or poultry dishes.
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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.
The Rubus line of wines are sprinkled around the store in a variety of countries, all of which represent excellent values for where they're from. The brand was created by one of Virginia's top international importers working with their most trusted wineries to source good juice for great prices. Dollar for dollar they have been some of the best values we can get our hands on from Europe, Australia, South America, and even California. Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon have been the backbone of their Cali line, and this marks the first foray into Pinot Noir, with fruit sourced from the Russian River Valley. This has all the hallmarks of the RRV signature style, except for the price tag. A deep ruby in the glass with loads of immediate, modern red fruits and blackberry on the nose with a touch of oaky toast, this gets open for business fairly quickly but earns some brambly spice as it opens up. The palate is equally up front with the fruits, with some nice acidity that brightens up the mouthfeel, gives the juicy textures some freshness. This punches well over its dollar mark for cocktails, can also go to the dinner table with salmon or pork dishes with some glaze or aromatic spicing.  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.
Kind of hard to pick a wine to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Snag all the great craft brewed Irish styled beers you want, we've got some great ones! Wine is tricky; considered some of the 'green wine' of Vinho Verde, but a little too on the nose. This fresh new Vernaccia works for us in our usual abstract and circuitous way, but it gets there and will be great. Vernaccia is the white wine of greatest importance in Tuscany, the first wine in all of Italy to receive a DOC designation when the system was enacted in 1966, and among the very few white wines to be elevated further to DOCG status. You very rarely find one made to be high end or collectible, so there isn't a lot of hype around them. What they do provide is a dependable unique freshness that is extremely food friendly, VERY fairly priced, and a true Italian classic. Clear in color with a slight greenish tint (for St Patty's Day!), the nose is crisp and fresh with a little nod of a Sauvignon Blanc-like grassy note but more green citrus and white flowers to the aromas. The palate is where it really shines, clean and vibrant with lots melon zest and green citrus, very tingly to the finish with a lingering minty/mineral sensation. Great with oysters, lighter pork and poultry dishes, and can cut through that corned beef and cabbage quite nicely. INSIDER'S PICK: 2019 DESCENDIENTES DE J. PALACIOS PETALOS DE BIERZO (Wine Advocate 93+points) $26.993/10/2022  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 a glass of wine from the Mencia grape in Spain over the last few decades owes at least a nod if not a full debt of gratitude to the Descendientes de J. Palacios winery. Founder Alvaro Palacios was first recognized in the early 1990s as part of the group that reintroduced high quality wines from Priorat, as well as the first proponent of Biodynamic viticulture in Spain. By the end of the 90s Alvaro looked to become a pioneer in another part of the country by teaming with his nephew Ricardo Perez to elevate the wines of the Bierzo region. At the most Northwestern corner of Old Castile on the border of Galicia, Bierzo was largely forgotten in the wine world, as well as the native Mencia grape both here and in the eastern Galician regions. The Descendientes project revitalized the best old vineyards in Bierzo, enough so that they were quickly able to introduce this value oriented multi-vineyard 'Petalos' bottling, sourced from as many as 180 individual growers. Polished and fairly modern in character, but still capable of showing the freshness and deep perfume character that long drew comparisons of Mencia to Cabernet Franc. Peppery plum and darker fruits, velvety and plush on the palate with very little oak showing through even in its youth (stronger oak being a common trait in the earlier versions), allowing some of the minerality through that's borne from the schist heavy soils in the best older plots. A very trend-setting wine that should expose many to a wine they never knew they wanted until they tried it! INSIDER'S PICK: 2020 VINOS LIBRES 'EL JEFE (GRANDE)' TEMPRANILLO TIERRA DE CASTILLA Y LEON $15.99/1L3/3/2022  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.
A little something easier this week for everyone to enjoy. Or should we say 'a Grande something'. This has to be one of the most glug-able and social wines we have in the store for so many reasons. At this price point in Spain you would usually be looking at a fairly mass marketed assemblage of sources, but for this it's all sourced from a single set of family run vineyards, all managed using sustainable farming practices. The juice is aged in concrete tanks that helps show off the deep fruit, and allows the wine to show well without much filtration to provide a richer than usual texture. All of this falls in a wine that is NOT the usual big and boozy style that many warm climate reds wind up in, instead actually keeping some wonderful freshness. And oh yeah, a nice liter bottle to help you splash it around to a few more people at the table. Round juicy black fruits and warm spice throughout, definitely a more modern style Tempranillo than old school, but so satisfying and full of value. |
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
May 2025
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