INSIDER'S PICK: 2018 CHATEAU LAROZE LABATISSE HAUT MEDOC $19.99

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 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.
We have greatly missed doing in-store tastings over the last year (hope to return to doing them soon), not just because of the chance for you to sample the wines we enjoy presenting, but it gives us the opportunity to bring you some of the great personalities from the wine world. Importer Aymeric d'Alton had not been bringing in for long his family's selection of small hand curated estates before the shutdown, and even though he only came in a couple times to pour he quickly became a store favorite. The knowledge, the intelligence, the passion, the occasional cursing (but with a French accent, so it's charming) always made for an excellent day for everyone. It also makes life easier when literally everything in their book is a rock star. The family has a distinct idea in mind for the wines they want to represent, and from bottling to bottling each Chateau hits their mark with a classic, structured character with lots of evolution potential and value, from their least expensive to most prestigious estates. This newer arrival to us is just a baby, but with a little time and patience oh such a delicious baby. Mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with a healthy dose of Merlot and splashes of Cab Franc and Petit Verdot, this has immense dark fruit and tannic character for the price point, lots of black currant and youthful toasty character on the nose that deepens and sweetens over several hours open. Earthy and intense on the palate as well,lots of firm dark tannin that will soften some but stays fairly present throughout, as it should for a wine that can easily see another decade or more ahead of it. It's a weekend wine, in that you can easily enjoy it at your own pace over an entire weekend and never feel like it's doing to fade. This, like all the wines in Aymeric's stable, shows how great the value is within Bordeaux for those capable of seeing beyond the 'known' names and are willing to explore.  

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