 The Languedoc has long been known as the bulk wine capital of France, and most of the time customers would be wise to give the stink-eye to a 'Vin de France' Cabernet Sauvignon from here. This is one of the exceptions that deserves a closer look under to hood to see the uniquely outstanding quality. A Kermit Lynch import (already a good sign) Traverses de Fontanes started as the home wine project for Cyriaque Rozier, long time winemaker and vineyard manager at Chateau La Roque. This acclaimed house has long been seen as the premiere winery in Pic Saint Loup, and one of the main reasons the appellation was formed within the Languedoc. Over time Cyriaque has turned his property formerly dedicated to olive groves into terraced rows of vines dug into the clay and limestone soils. The oldest vines are uniquely Cabernet Sauvignon, a grape not allowed under the Pic Saint Loup designation, but the quality pulled from the vines cannot be denied. Plump, plummy red fruits with no oak presence are dark and warm, less pencil-lead and earthy than a Bordeaux but not fruity or modern either. The palate has loads of texture and fine tannin structure to give the flavors lots of dry tones without hitting any astringency. You want to decant this for the aromas to build and fully reach their potential, not because it needs to soften at all. There is a little hint of tart minerality from the soils appearing in the finish that also signal its origins a bit. A great value for a mostly Old School Cab Sauv, durable and approachable, great to have on for any meals when you aren't quite willing to break out the REALLY good stuff.
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 We're two-handing the wines this week for the Insider's Pick! With very good reason, as we have grown to love this Central Coast bakery-turned-winery extraordinaire. The Viognier is brand new to us and extremely limited (<100 cases made), so we wanted to see just how awesome it was before we bought more, and decided to share with all of you. The Syrah is a longtime favorite, and we figured the best way to help you guzzle it down as frequently as we do is to share it out as well. The Viognier comes from a small vineyard in the Santa Rita Hills planted to vines cloned from the Alban Vineyard (the first and arguably most successful grower of Viognier in the Central Coast), then aged for 9 months in large glass demijohns before bottling unfiltered. Unctuous, loads of skin texture to bring up the intensity, slowly building the floral notes and ginger-spiced citrus that Viognier is so known for. More Condrieu-like with a little less acidity, maintaining a more subtle power that gives the palate more access to the drier flavors. The Syrah is also very Northern Rhone in style, with lots of peppery red fruits and savory black olive notes, almost Cote-Rotie level silky tannins that leave a lasting tart meaty flavor on the surprisingly fresh finish.
 Portuguese wines are one of the areas for tremendous wine growth over the last few decades, improving in exposure, diversity and quality while still maintaining some of the best values around. Outside of the Douro most regions are not known by consumers for creating much of quality, so for adventurous winemakers like Susana Esteban there are numerous opportunities to make an impact. Galician born, trained in the Douro, Susana found her calling in the Alentejano region in Southeast Portugal and is considered among the fiercest advocates for the older vineyards of their native varieties. This is a true 'field blend' of mixed grapes from one of her younger parcels (a mere 45 years old), but shows of the unique regional style found in the cooler higher altitudes and meticulously kept dry farmed sites. Pretty lime and citrus zest aromas, fresh and almost fruity but always keeping a mineral tangy note even as it opens and gets warmer in the glass. Round and lovely palate that gives all the fruit aromas a juicy flavor, with little prickles of acidity popping up here and there, finishing super clean with a bit of lime and salinity. Lovely wine for warmer weather fish and seafood dishes, citrusy poultry, and will really elevate just about everything around it.
 Don't know if April was officially International Carignan Appreciation Month, but darn it all we're going to celebrate as if it was! Like the Carignan in the Insider's Pick a few weeks ago from Chile, this is a unique example coming from an area where the varietal doesn't usually get featured. Mazuelo is the Spanish name for Carignan, and while it is a traditional variety in Rioja it is almost always a low portion of the blend as a supporting role to Tempranillo. More and more wineries in the region are playing with featuring the individual varieties of Rioja, nice for diversity as well as showing different ways to express the regional terroir. Carignan can be a very vigorous, high yield grape as we've stated before, so when a producer is able to get that vigor under control the depth and complexity really shines through. Dusty earth and bright currant aromas pop on the aromas, with a touch of toasty oak coming out that sort of sweetens the nose a bit. The palate is quite different than the Chilean wine, dustier with less weight of fruit, but a longer and finer finish of blackberry skin, racy cranberry and anise seed, carrying that fine Rioja elegance. Restrained, but at less than 13%abv it isn't lacking for complexity or flavor, a nice match with lighter savory dishes.
 Bordeaux is a huge region that produces a massive volume of wine each vintage, one of the highest producing AOCs in France. To stand out in this crowd simply making good wine may not always be enough. When the owners of this Chateau near the border of Castillon bought the property more than a decade ago, they looked to make large investments into improving the quality and stature of their wine. First off they went to a high-density planting pattern in the vineyards, which forces each vine to compete more with its neighbor for resources and (in theory) improves grape quality. They also converted most of their new vineyards to Malbec, usually a background blending grape in Bordeaux, but now THE headliner in this wine. I'm sure there are more than a few wineries in nearby Cahors saying 'Hey! Malbec is OUR thing!' But you can't argue with the results, as this is a much different think than the rustic traditional 'Black Wines' Cahors is famous for producing. Almost sweet blackberry and camphor aromas at first with some toasty oak tones, getting darker and more peppery as it opens up. The palate is distinctly Bordeaux in its polish and fine tannic mouthfeel, full but not ripe or sweet on the fruit like an Argentine version, finishing with lots of black fruit and berry skin and a hint of anise. A formidable Bordeaux built for robust meals, perhaps just in time for your Easter lamb
 In most parts of the world, Carignan isn't exactly a prized grape variety. More like 'tolerated' as a necessity, disdained as a viniferous weed though not to the extent of, say, kudzu in the South. It is the most heavily planted grape in France by a country mile, the backbone of the bulk Vin de Table industry as a grape that can produce almost ridiculous volumes of grapes with ease in the dry Mediterranean regions. It takes a lot of work to reign that growth in, more than many are willing to do to get higher quality results, but you do find the occasional success story in areas like Corbieres and the odd old-vine project in places like California (like store favorite Lioco). Surprisingly Chile also has a decent supply of older Carignan vines too, and in recent years more and more producers are taking on the challenge to tame this creature. A word to the wise: read carefully when shopping the Chilean aisle and don't confuse 'Carignan' with their more famous 'Carmenere' grape. Very easy to do, done it more than a few times ourselves. Terranoble is working with ancient vines from coastal dry farmed sites in the cooler Maule Valley, helping to dial back the vine's natural vigor and pulling better weight and flavor from the grapes. A savory mix of dark dried fruits and soft worn leather aromas, very naturally spiced fragrances without any toast coming from the barrels. On the palate the fruit gets more plummy and dark but also catches Carignan's natural acidity by throwing sone tart cherry skin and some zip on the fine polished finish. More elegant than expected, still persistent and sturdy, capable of working everywhere from grilled vegetables to pit fired beef and pork.
 There are a lot of preconceptions lumped under the moniker 'California Red Wine/Red Blend', hopefully we can break some of them with this wine. In most consumer's eyes the term stands for high volume wines that sell more for their branding than their contents, kind of boozy, and invariably have waaayyyy more residual sugar hiding in them than anyone would be willing to admit. Zinfandel is often a part of these blends and has gotten an (undeserved) reputation as the primary culprit. Treated correctly in the vineyards and the winery,many Zin producers have shown they can shave down the alcohol and extraction without losing any of the delicious character or complexity. They can even be made into wines that can be described as balanced and polished, elegant even. Maitre de Chai is a project started by two former restaurant professionals so their wine tastes obviously lean towards the more food-friendly styles, and this surprising blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache is their flagship. Deep red but not opaque in the glass, the aromas are a deviation from most Zin based wines showing lots of leather and dried spice at first, getting redder fruits as it opens along with some sweet tobacco. Even with a long decant the nose never gets opulent or intensive, more so fine-tuned and ever-changing with subtlety. The palate shows a little bit more of the Zinfandel ripeness and red berry fruit, but is tempered with some fine tannic structure and a savory background that gives everything a smoother texture into a slightly peppery finish. This is one of the least in-your-face expressions of a Zinfandel based wine you can come across, and may help renew some people's relationship with the grape.
INSIDER'S PICK: 2022 TENUTA DI CAPEZZANA 'BARCO REALE' DI CARMIGNANO (Vinous 91pts)-$22.993/27/2025  The Carmignano region is as historically important and prestigious in Tuscany as Chianti and Montalcino, but because of the small size is probably the least 'famous' to consumers. The area was championed by the Medici family throughout the Renaissance, and was one of four areas in Tuscany identified in a 1716 edict by Grand Duke Cosimo for producing superior quality wines (an early effort into what became their DOC/DOCG system). The connection to the worldly Medici family also brought wines and winemakers from across Europe to this area, which led to introducing Bordeaux varieties Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc into the allowed blends with Sangiovese and other local varieties. They are the original 'Super Tuscan', with much of their post-phylloxera plantings coming from famous growths like Lafite -Rothchild. Post-World War II, Capezzana and the Bonacossi family have been the leaders in re-establishing the greatness of Carmignano, with their top wines consistently looked at as the very best of the region. They also helped to establish the 'Barco Reale' level of wines, an entry level DOC that still shows off the unique regional character but built to be more approachable (think the Rosso di Montalcino to Brunello di Montalcino comparison). Primarily Sangiovese with varying amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Canaiolo, this sees very little oak aging but has savory red fruits and tobacco all over the nose, and the palate has tannic structure for dayyyyys. The bright natural higher toned red fruits of Sangiovese are on full display and comes across distinctly Tuscan, but the Bordeaux influence definitely leaves a mark. This doesn't need the cellar time of its bigger brothers but decanting and some patience definitely helps bring out the wow factor.
 With Spring spring-ing everywhere around us, it's a good time to start seeking out some warmer weather value wines to enjoy during outside socializing with our friends and neighbors. Wines with a bit of fizz can be fun, but there is a LOT of generic efforts out there, as if throwing a little bubble in some boring juice somehow makes it better. Good fizz starts with good juice, plain and simple. This bottling comes to us from the Mary Taylor portfolio of wines, an importer that helps to source and create the wines they bring in so that they can have traditional, well priced wines that properly represent their various regions across Europe. The grapes here are Glera, the backbone of Prosecco, as well as Garganega, and though the fruit all comes from within the Prosecco region it falls outside the standards to use that name. Don't sweat the lack of a name, because what's in the bottle is delicious. A light fizzy froth on the pour quickly calms down and leaves pretty golden apple and fresh pear skin aromas that stay crisper the cooler the wine is. The palate has a bit of tickle to it that gives a lot of refreshing texture to the core of white fruits, and gets slightly off-dry feeling the more the fizz falls away. Keep the cap screwed on between pours to keep it as lively as possible, and this will be a crowd pleaser for many months to come.
 It can be difficult to find a wine with both great flavor AND great purpose, but every once in a while a gem falls into our laps. Planet Oregon is a second label from Soter Vineyards, regarded as one of America's foremost proponents of Organic/Biodynamic winemaking. Their strict following of these principles is obvious in the quality of their single vineyard and estate bottlings, and are sought by collectors everywhere. This brand was created in 2009 because, in their own words, they "wanted (it) to have a purpose greater than what is in the bottle, and a reach beyond the confines of one property or a few wine collectors’ cellars." The fruit is sourced from local sustainable or organic vineyards, and as part of the 1% For The Planet initiative donate $1 for each bottle sold to the Oregon Environmental Council. Beyond their environmental do-gooding, the wine is great, a textbook Oregon Pinot in every positive sense. Dusty Bing cherry and tart raspberry aromas that get warmer as the wine opens up, but don't veer into the sweeter tones, always staying fresh and bright. The palate is equally energetic, juicy with a nice weight for the price point but shows lots of tang behind the fruit, finishing with super fine tannins and a hint of pepperiness. Impressively classy wine for the price that doesn't need any extra time in the bottle to really strut its stuff.
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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
February 2025
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