 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 are also doing both a white and a red option each week, with the white wine available for the discount on Thursday and Friday, while the red wine available on Friday and Saturday. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
Even a region with a storied tradition like Rioja can stand for a little jostling of its sensibilities every now and again.Tempranillo has always been the signature grape in the region, the backbone for the structured and long lived wines that have made them famous in much the same way Cabernet Sauvignon has served the Medoc area wines in Bordeaux. Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano are also allowed red grapes in the blend for Rioja, but usually only a small portion. For this bottling Palacios Remondo decided to flip the script and give their Garnacha center stage, a very unique take that is noticeably different than the norm but undeniably delicious. Immediately warmer and red-fruited on the nose, but not as jammy and sweet on the aromas as Garnacha from the Mediterranean coast, maintaining more than a hint of pepper and black spice. The palate is also more lush, definitely lower in acidity and tannins than expected in a Rioja, but not heavy or overly extracted, delivering vibrant red berry flavors, touches of anise and herbs, and a fresh polished finish. This may not be what a traditionalist is looking for, but it's a great expression of the region. What's next, a Merlot from the Margaux region in Bordeaux? (Hint: that IS a thing, and we have one....)
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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 are also doing both a white and a red option each week, with the white wine available for the discount on Thursday and Friday, while the red wine available on Friday and Saturday. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
We don't often get to use the word 'Unicorn' to describe a wine (meaning that it's so rare it's like spotting a unicorn) being featured in the Insider's Pick, but this would definitely be in the discussion to qualify. The nice thing is, it isn't priced anywhere close to what those unicorns usually would be. The Borgogno family is one of the most important in Barolo, family owned and run for over 120 years and instrumental in elevating the Cannubi vineyard to one of the top Crus in the region. Nascetta is a native grape to the Piedmont, but rarely named in blends much less featured (our only example in the store has been as part of the Luigi Baudana 'Dragon' Langhe Bianco), and always in very small amounts. Hopefully this historic grape is getting a boost in planting, because the quality of wine it makes is quite exemplary, especially in the hands of such great winemakers. Round rich aromatics of dried white fruits and cooling mint touched with savory herbs, and a powerful texture on the palate without the need for oak aging or malolactic butteriness. Unctuous dried fruits with lots of minerality and skin tannins give the flavor and finish lots of intensity, capable of standing up to lots of robust pork and poultry dishes. Needless to say, this won't be around for very long....  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 are also doing both a white and a red option each week, with the white wine available for the discount on Thursday and Friday, while the red wine available on Friday and Saturday. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
We always recommend looking outside the more famous names in the wine world to find great values and new ideas. In some cases it's because there are fewer restrictions in vineyards 'off the beaten path', and winemakers a re more free to do what they want. Often, though, it's purely economical, and they can actually afford to work the vineyards in these regions without as much of a reputation. When the young couple Anne-Claude and Bertrand looked to start their own family winery, they looked to make wines in the style of their favorite style, the Rhone. Financially, though, it made much more sense for them to establish their organic farmed vineyards in Ventoux, adjacent to both the Rhone and Provence but with a lesser reputation than both so MUCH more affordable. Since we were first able to have access to their wine a few vintages back, this has routinely been a sneaky star for fans of the region that don't need to have the name 'Cotes du Rhone' appear on the label. Primarily Syrah with a healthy chunk of Grenache (sometimes Mourvedre as well, but not in this vintage), this play with both power and subtlety, with lots of black fruit and wild garrigue spice on the nose, with a touch of powdered cocoa dustiness. The unfiltered nature of the wine comes through on the texture, giving a slight texture to the tannins and a bit of that cocoa-ish dustiness to the fruit, but also shows nice savoriness on the finish as well. This has a lot of full bodied flavor and warmth for the price without being plodding or overwhelming, great for hearty cold weather meals.  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 are also doing both a white and a red option each week, with the white wine available for the discount on Thursday and Friday, while the red wine available on Friday and Saturday. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
Most people will recognize the King Estate name as one of the more prevalent producers of Pinot Gris out of Oregon. Over the last 30 years they have been a major factor in bringing the grape variety more attention in America, helping it to become a signature grape of the region. While their regular bottling is fairly prevalent, their Domaine bottling is their flagship for the variety, made from their oldest vines off the original estate which has been certified organic since 2002 and is the largest Demeter certified Biodynamic property in the country. Do not confuse the two; this is built for serious business, even worthy of cellaring like the better Pinot Gris from Alsace. Fresh pear and white fruits mix on the nose with underlying zest and mineral tones, floral and pretty but also very vibrant. The palate is unctuous and rich but not cloying thanks to all the acidity and natural texture from the skins, just filling every corner of your palate with flavor. Folks that want a rounder texture in their white wine but don't want the buttery aspects so often found in Chardonnay should be all over this, serving it with crab cakes and rich creamy poultry or pork dishes. While it's likely that everyone's Thanksgiving plans will be looking very different this year, it isn't too early to start thinking about the wines you may serve then as well. This will really compliment the diversity of a holiday table as well.  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 are also doing both a white and a red option each week, with the white wine available for the discount on Thursday and Friday, while the red wine available on Friday and Saturday. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
Many people view Rose wines as only good for a 'season', and like white pants after Labor Day just won't have them once that theoretical end date has passed. To help remind everyone that these wines are great to have all year round if you enjoy them, and are actually quite valuable to have around Thanksgiving and the holidays, we are going to have a double feature of Roses for this week's picks. To stay with the white/red theme we've been doing, this one is the darker colored of the two. For fans of the 'newly discovered' wines from Mount Etna in Sicily, Massimiliano Calabretta is a modern throwback, tantamount to new old stock if you are into vintage vehicles or bicycles. Access to old vineyards in the heart of the lava fields, organic since the start, and with a traditional mindset about production. Nothing has changed about what he does, even in the face of recent recognition and acceptance of more modern styles. This Rose is from his most used varietal, Nerello Mascalese, which often has a Nebbiolo-like aspect of fruit and higher acidity, and carries through into this wine beautifully. A deeper ruddy color from soaking on the skins a bit longer, with a nose full of savory red fruits and a little touch of the dusty funk from using naive yeasts. Not a full-on 'natural' wine profile, but a nod in that direction in aromas. On the palate the natural acidity and volcanic minerality really pops the drier raspberry and smoky cherry fruits, also bringing in some notes of citrus on the finish, almost orange-y. Plenty of substance for a Rose, making a nice match for antipasto or lightly marinated red meat dishes.  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 are also doing both a white and a red option each week, with the white wine available for the discount on Thursday and Friday, while the red wine available on Friday and Saturday. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
Many people view Rose wines as only good for a 'season', and like white pants after Labor Day just won't have them once that theoretical end date has passed. To help remind everyone that these wines are great to have all year round if you enjoy them, and are actually quite valuable to have around Thanksgiving and the holidays, we are going to have a double feature of Roses for this week's picks. To stay with the white/red theme we've been doing, this one is the lighter colored of the two. We are always enamored with Sancerre Roses when we get a chance to have them, but there just aren't that many producers so they aren't always present in the consumer's attention. This bottling comes from the 'Les Chailloux' vineyard, which is noted for having a uniquely large portion of white flint (known as 'Silex') in the soil that is usually found across the river in Pouilly-Fume, which really brings some extra vibrancy to the Pinot Noir planted here. Fresh dried strawberry and red fruit skins are all over the aroma, with a dusty cool minerality that prickles the nose, and that brilliant piercing minerality continues onto the palate. This has plenty of tingly texture that leaves no doubt about there being any sweetness hiding here, with lots of zip and zest to the finish. A lively wine to have on hand for a broad spectrum of dishes, from lighter sushi to the diverse table of Thanksgiving, and also does well with holding for a few years to pop up the complexity if you choose. INSIDER'S PICK: 2017 XAVIER VIGNON BEAUMES DE VENISE ROUGE (Wine Advocate 90-92points) $21.9910/9/2020  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 are also doing both a white and a red option each week, with the white wine available for the discount on Thursday and Friday, while the red wine available on Friday and Saturday. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
After a brief time unavailable in our area, Xavier Vignon wines are back in, and with a flourish of new releases. A store favorite for delivering hearty, robust Rhone wines, you are well worth trying any of the several bottlings we have in, but we wanted to focus on this one for the Insider's Pick because the appellation may cause some confusion. Even though the area of Beaumes de Venise is directly beside Vacqueyras and Gigondas, well known red wine producers, it is most known by far for making 'Vin Doux Naturels', sweet fortified wines made from the white Muscat grape. Red grapes are not uncommon to be planted there, but usually get blended into other Cotes du Rhones or Village designated wines versus being featured on their own. More wines like this will definitely change that trend. Xavier takes a unique approach with this bottling, co-fermenting all the varietals used (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault) together instead of vinifying them separately and blending together after fermentation. It's a bit more risky, and can be difficult to get all the grapes to ripen properly at the same time, but the complexity is definitely heightened. Loads of black fruits and dark spice on the nose, and impressively full on the palate; still very youthful, but was allowed some extra time in the tank before bottling so it shows some polish on the finish. This darker character is pervasive through the Xavier Vignon wines, as he tends to feature Mourvedre frequently. Put this up against any similarly priced Rhone and you will be duly impressed.  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 are also doing both a white and a red option each week, with the white wine available for the discount on Thursday and Friday, while the red wine available on Friday and Saturday. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
In a recent article for the Financial Times, noted wine writer Jancis Robinson proclaimed Riesling to be 'the greatest white wine grape in the world.' While it's certain not every palate will agree with that statement, it is DEFINITELY the most misunderstood. Many consumers still believe that Riesling=Sweet Wine, based all too often on the really bad mass market inexpensive versions that are so prevalent in chain stores across the country (if all you have is a fast food burger, you'll probably have a bad opinion of beef as well). The truth is that Riesling excels at making wines of all sugar levels, from full on sweet to off-dry, right on down to bone dry and steely. Often they can hide their dryness behind aromatics and ripe fruit, a 'sense of sweetness', but examples like this one from Austria will help get you behind the Riesling excitement if you aren't already. From a single site (used to be called just 'Berg' for many vintages) with lots of loose stones in the soil, this has the classic nose of cool white fruits, wet stones, and a hit of the 'petrol' vapors at first that's common in drier Rieslings from almost every part of the world. Don't worry if you're adverse to that, as it does blow off fairly quickly with a bit of air or a splash in a decanter. The fruit on the palate is full of minerality and energy, fresh and quenching with no sugary components or austerity, comfortably away from those extremes. So food friendly with white meat dishes, sauteed vegetables, dishes with some spice to them. Hmmm, perhaps Jancis is right after all.....  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 are also doing both a white and a red option each week, with the white wine available for the discount on Thursday and Friday, while the red wine available on Friday and Saturday. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
Throughout most of the Langhe region, Dolcetto is considered a more pedestrian grape, always doing the labor of making easy drinking everyday wines from lesser quality sites, while Nebbiolo and Barbera get the notoriety and star treatment. The rare exception is in the region of Dogliani, just South of Barolo, where Dolcetto actually gets top billing, even having a DOCG status for certain levels of quality. Boschis Francesco is one of the top producers in the region, with over 50 years as an independent producer in an area that was largely co-operatives, as well as using an older clone of the Dolcetto grape that is not often planted because it doesn't produce at high volumes, which is what most growers want.This clone usually only appears in vineyards where the wineries want to get the best out of the variety, so it's no surprise that each of the four Boschis Francecsco vineyards feature it. Simply put, you haven't tried Dolcetto at it's best unless you've tried a wine like this, and the price point for reaching this top level is shockingly affordable. Deep, dark color with loads of savory aromas over the dark cherry and red fruits, gamey and peppery and a little bit wild. Equally mouthfilling with some chewy tannins that bring out the savory flavors on the finish even more than on the nose, though the texture does soften as the fruit and perfume emerges with some time open. This is optimally a food wine, perfect with hearty comfort foods made simply with high quality ingredients, or even a deep dish homemade lasagna. The pinnacle of a 'peasant meal'.  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 are also doing both a white and a red option each week, with the white wine available for the discount on Thursday and Friday, while the red wine available on Friday and Saturday. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.
Though they aren't part of the early history of Burgundy, the name Olivier Leflaive is definitely integral in the more recent time period, and a major part of shaping consumer's understanding and awareness here in America. When he first took over the family Domaine production in the early 1980s he helped to build them into one of the more acclaimed producers in the Montrachet area. During his time there he also started his own 'negociant' winery, buying grapes from growers versus owning and farming the vineyards themselves as they do with the family estate. They also formed a relationship with an importer in America to help quickly sell these wines in many major markets, almost instantly becoming a major source for well priced wines out of the most famous sites in the region. For many American Burgundy fans that learned about the wines in the 90s, the Leflaive wines were their first exposures to the uniqueness of Meursault, Montrachet, and the other small appellations, and continue to be among the most fairly priced. Consistently staffed with prominent winemakers over the years, the name continues to be a name consumers seek out and can find with some regularity. Les Setilles has long been their flagship regional label, built from a broad selection of plots within the Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault villages. With a quality hand and only a small portion of the juice matured in new oak, this is textbook Burgundy, showing the round texture we expect from Chardonnay layered with the fine subtleties that should be provided by the prestigious vineyards from which it comes. We love when we can find small lesser known producers to champion and feature, but this level of quality is impossible to ignore regardless of the source. |
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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