INSIDER'S PICK:2019 UNION SACRE GEWURZTRAMINER 'BELLE DE NUIT' ARROYO SECCO $21.99

At a time like this, it's pretty much impossible to be 'normal'. But it is important to try and keep what you can as close to normal as you can while you can. 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 hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.

A new vintage for one of our favorite wines, not only because it's delicious but that it breaks down multiple misconceptions all at once. The Union Sacre label has been a source of great 'against-the-grain' Californian wines for several years now, as it is a side project between two wine making friends that allows them to work small batches and create wines that they find exciting. For the Gewurztraminer they go for an Alsatian style that focuses less on the sticky sweetness and more on the perfume, which is really the hallmark of the grape. When the grape ripens in a cooler climate, it doesn't get as much natural sugar and retains more acidity, which allows the finished wine to ferment more completely dry and keep a fresher, cleaner feel on the palate. The grape also ripens with a very slight pigment to the skin, so when the juice is aged on the skins to give it more flavor there is the slightest salmon color tint. This is NOT a sweet Gewurztraminer, and it is NOT a Rose wine in the traditional terms, so let those notions fly right out the window. Super spicy aromas of lychee fruit and magnolia blossoms, citrus zest and candied limes, nothing overpowering but enough that you can notice it a foot or two away from the glass. The palate is equally perfumed and refreshing, a little touch of juiciness in the fruit but nothing sticky or cloying at all, and an actual bit of skin tannin dryness on the finish. A must-have to pair with foods with a bit of spice to it, as well as any foods with nutmeg, like pumpkin soup.

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