INSIDER'S PICK: 2021 BOSMAN FAMILY VINEYARDS CABERNET SAUVIGNON WELLINGTON 'GENERATION 8' $16.993/30/2023  South Africa is consistently a great source of value and quality in their wines, but is also growing to develop a strong progressive culture both in the vineyards and the society at large. Scholarships to promising native African students has provided strong involvement in the sciences and agriculture, bringing outstanding new voices into the industry, including some of the most important female figures in the business. The Bosman Family Vineyards are in their 8th generation at their Wellington farm, with the winemaking primarily female led and based in both environmental sustainability and social responsibility. This is a winery that truly practices what it preaches, and the value of the wines do not suffer for it in the least. A little quiet on the nose at first, the aromas get rolling after a few minutes in the glass with lots of dried cherry, raspberry and dusty cocoa with very little oak presence. The palate is very pure and naturally earthy, not to the point of mirroring Bordeaux but with the skin tannin bringing out the drier fruit notes and leaving a persistent dark finish. Excellent daily drinker that will go well with all sorts of hearty meals, and shows well the next day if you want to split it into two nights of fun.
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 This week's Insider's Pick is part two of our cleansing efforts to make more room for the incoming '22 vintage roses arriving soon. Good quality roses are a lot more durable than most people realize, with many of the best examples thriving for more than a few years, not just surviving. But Spring is the season of rebirth and renewal, and the fresh new batches of roses arriving from around the world are a part of the new wine releases of the past vintage, an early look at the quality ahead. Lots of great stuff coming, so it's best to get a little extra space ready for them. For today we will also have our good friend Brock Kappers from Winebow in the store from 4-6pm to help talk about these wines from his portfolio.
 This week's Insider's Pick is part one of our cleansing efforts to make more room for the incoming '22 vintage roses arriving soon. Good quality roses are a lot more durable than most people realize, with many of the best examples thriving for more than a few years, not just surviving. But Spring is the season of rebirth and renewal, and the fresh new batches of roses arriving from around the world are a part of the new wine releases of the past vintage, an early look at the quality ahead. Lots of great stuff coming, so it's best to get a little extra space ready for them. This week and next week, ALL the 2021 vintage rose remaining in the store (12+ labels at this time) are available for the Insider's Pick discount of 10% off by the bottle. The wines we are pouring each day are ones to help inspire your palate to give them a try and to remind you just how tasty they still are, but are not the only ones getting the discount. Wines must be purchased on Thursday or Friday (we can't hold wines for later purchase), and only applies to the 2021 vintage of roses in stock. Please let us know if you have any questions, this is a great tie to get some special wines for a nice price!
 In geological terms, a 'bench' is a flat, generally narrow stretch of land bordered by steeper forms on either side, usually hills and a river or dried river bed. For wine fans these are interesting formations because they generally indicate unique changes happening in the soils from long periods of erosion that wouldn't be found in most flat terrain, and soil change is a hallmark for distinct character in wines from their neighbors. One of the most famous American examples is the Rutherford Bench in Napa, bordered by the Mayacamas Mountains and Napa River and home to a high concentration of fabled vineyards for well over a century. For this producer their goal is to source fruit from only benchland style vineyard sites to capture more of this distinct character, primarily Knight's Valley in this case. The results are evident on the first pour, full of cassis and dark red fruits with an earthier edge of dust and dried wood, intense but not from heat or sweet extracted fruit. The palate is remarkably polished for the price point, silky and cool with lots of dark earthy fruits and some fine lingering tannins only showing through on the finish, bringing out some acidity and higher toned red fruits there. It drinks a lot 'cooler' in character and with some restraint, even reigning in the alcohol, but it isn't lacking for flavor in the slightest. The California landscape is littered with Cabernet Sauvignons that do far less for far more money; this is an overachiever.
 A good week to be a Fiano fan, as we also featured one in our newly released Select Six for March/April. The grape has decent presence throughout the Southern end of Italy, but it reaches its greatest heights in the mountains above Naples (pun intended) alongside the Greco di Tufo and Taurasi DOCs. Volcanic soils are prevalent here as they are adjacent to the famous Mount Vesuvius, but their location high in the mountains make these vineyards distinct in the intensity and complexity. Fiano has the reputation for making the most ageworthy white wines in this area, often drawing parallels to Chablis for its combination of texture and minerality. Lots of crisp apple, citrus peel and cut hay on the nose that gets richer as it opens up but doesn't get into the tropical or heady side of things. The palate has loads of texture, and is where I can really see the Chablis comparison, with lots of pulpy mouthfeel and skin tannin, finishing with bright lemon/lime minerality that's not quite the chalky intensity of Chablis but approaches it. Sunny and enjoyable, this works as a fantastic match to richer, creamier seafood and poultry dishes, as well as citrusy seasoned white meats.
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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
September 2023
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