INSIDER'S PICK: 2018 DOMAINE NICO SOEUR ET FRERES PINOT NOIR VALLE DE UCO 'GRAND PERE' (Vinous 93pts) $31.99

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 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.

The various projects of the Catena family in Mendoza just seem to go from one knockout success to another, not only for the quality but also the innovation. This label was created by Laura Catena, daughter of Catena Zapata patriarch Nicolas, an an investigation of 'extreme high-elevation parcela Pinot Noir'. Sourcing family vineyards of various age ranging from 3600ft to just under 5000ft of elevation within the Tupungato region of Mendoza, Domaine Nico crafts 5 different wines that blow the doors off the concept that the region is solely about Malbec and the other Bordeaux varieties. Some of the sites are even uniquely North facing, since the pressures of frost are minimal, which allows them to manage the vineyards for longer hang time for the grapes and creating different intensity levels in the finished wines. The winemaking style also appeals to Laura's Francophile personality, building the wines with little to no new oak depending on cuvee, stem inclusion and native yeasts during fermentation, etc. Incredibly bright and light on its feet considering the intensity of aromatics, full of vibrant red berry and spice on the nose with a lot of acidity and underlying tannin on the palate, this takes some time to really open up and strut its stuff, but is so rewarding over several hours. It may remind fans of Santa Cruz Mountains Pinot Noir of some of the Mount Eden/Domaine Eden wines, or some of the cooler climate Northern California producers that tend to be more 'hands off' in their style. A beautifully enjoyable Pinot for the price. 

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