 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.
Because 'Beaujolais Nouveau est Arrive!' today, and people may be more in the mind of trying Beaujolais for Thanksgiving, we figured we should go ahead and get a Cru Beaujolais, the REAL stuff, out for the last Insider's Pick of November. Basically, you can consider the entire row of Beaujolais on the Thanksgiving recommended list, it just depends on where on the price spectrum you want to land. Julienas is one of the two northern Crus in Beaujolais, along with St. Amour, and doesn't get nearly the attention of its neighbors. High granite levels in the soil are what makes the Gamay grape really sing in this region, but in Julienas the clay content is higher so the wines don't have the reputation for being as intense and floral. This definitely does not fall into that category, delivering Beaujolais character every bit of the measure of any other Cru. Named for the blue stones in their vineyards (from the clay), this has lovely flowery aromatics, loads of cherry skin and tart cranberry but also darker fruits and even some earthy blueberry tones. The palate isn't as full and textured as wines from Fleurie or Moulin-A-Vent are famously known to be, more light and lip-smacking with bright acidity and very fine light tannins, but definitely pulls out some gamey tones in the finish. Not one to stash away for future Thanksgivings as it's pretty well ready to go, but do give it a decant or as much time open as possible to really allow the floral character to build, it will definitely make everything at the table taste that much better.
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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 measure of a great winemaker is what they are capable of creating in the more difficult vintages. Not only was 2020 difficult just because of everything in the world that was going on, frost issues early on and tough growing conditions throughout the growing season made it particularly taxing on Virginia wineries. Midlands Construction is one of the side projects for Early Mountain's winemaker Ben Jordan, based off of vineyards planted at his family's farm in Ft. Defiance between Staunton and Harrisonburg. While not to the intensity levels it has been previously (reflected in the price drop from last vintage), they managed to squeeze every drop of flavor and texture they could to make this very endearing and holiday-friendly wine. Co-fermented at roughly 80%CabFranc/ 20%Blaufrankisch with native yeasts, the black fruits are a bit subdued on the nose, giving more herbal berry and higher toned red fruits you usually get with Cabernet Franc. The palate is very polished and fuller than the aromas let on, especially with some time open, with more of the dark fruit and earthy forest floor tone showing through here, finishing with a dusty peppered cherry note. A perfect Virginian wine to have during the holiday that reminds us all to be thankful for all the positive things in our lives.  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 next few weeks will provide PLENTY of time for discussion about Thanksgiving wines (watch for our yearly 'Turkey Picks' email coming out early next week), so this one is all about knocking out that chill in the air that just dropped in this week. Too often the opinions of Australian wines are colored with the same brush, that they are all 'critter labels' and mass marketing brands that taste the same and have no subtlety or character. David Powell, the senior of the two Powells, represents everything that's right about the wines, a long time proponent of saving older vineyards at a time in the 80s and 90s when many sites were being ripped up for grazing cattle. His first winery, Torbreck, was at the head of the Aussie wine movement in the early 2000s with their exquisite lineup of wines made from some of the most prestigious ancient vineyards in the Barossa. After an unfortunate dispute with his partners forced him to leave Torbreck, David restarted his wine career with his son Callum at his side with their first vintage in 2013, still sourcing wonderful properties and still creating tremendous gems. Polished and warm red fruits and dark cherry tones on the nose with a hint of toasty oak that is mostly absorbed now and gets quickly replaced with dark spice tones as it opens up. The Mataro and Shiraz (misprint on the back label has Grenache named twice, but definitely 10% Shiraz) adds some dark tones and some acidity to the velvety lush fruit on the palate, a little touch of cocoa to the cherry tones of the Grenache. At their best, Powell & Son make some of the iconic wines of the Barossa; at their most affordable here, they deliver greatness we can all enjoy. |
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
October 2024
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