 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.
AMENDED HOURS FOR CHRISTMAS EVE-9:30-6:00pm CLOSED CHRISTMAS DAY Last minute gifts needed? Got a get-together you forgot about and need to make an impression? Just found out that present you were counting on isn't going to ship in time and need to pivot quick? We got you covered with an under the radar producer that's been a great source for high quality at some unexpectedly great prices for several vintages. There are more than a few higher end producers in Sonoma's Knights Valley (Peter Michael perhaps the best known) but the value for the dollar is this strong, and the wines do tend to offer a difference to their Napa neighbors. A little darker currant, a little more tannin and earthy structure, perhaps a little more acidity and less 'weight' which gives them some freshness. This is an offering that shows it all off, as well as a bit of added polish to the texture from having a bit of time in the bottle. The oak notes also drop away fairly quickly with a decant, making this a great one to enjoy with any upcoming festive meals.
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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.
We love consistency from a producer, being able to lock in their spot on the floor from vintage to vintage almost without needing to taste them (though we always do). When it comes to Rhone varietals from California, Andrew Murray is about as consistent a source as it gets over the last decade or so. Syrah in particular has been exceptional even in some of the more difficult vintages, a credit to the time they've put in at their estate and their vineyards have matured to optimum efficiency. A lot of Syrah planting really didn't kick in until the latter part of the 1990s, so it's taken a while to get the quality and volume from these vineyards to get consistent values year after year. Tous Les Jours is the winery's multi-vineyard blend, and about as strong a deal as you will find in California from almost any varietal. Dark in color and immediately pleasurable from first pour with loads of warm cherry and black fruits on the nose that evolve more currant and dark spice as it opens up, really filling the space around the glass with its perfume over time. The palate is everything that California Syrah has become, with fine polished tannins similar to a Pinot Noir but more flesh and darker, more structured fruit to the mouthfeel. It also doesn't have the boozy extracted side that Australian Shiraz is prone to, instead hitting a plush balance. A great wine for people looking for a 'bigger' flavor in their wine that still don't want something aggressively tannic, and perfect for hearty Winter meals.  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.
Progressing into the Winter season, with more consistently cold days and early arriving nights, we tend to make heartier meals to help keep us warm. Bigger wines are where our tendencies go to pair with these meals, and most people go for things like Bordeaux, Cab Sauv and the like, all of which are wonderful choices. But those wines often take some time to really be at their best, either decanting or a number of years in the cellar, and can be lacking in adaptability or spontaneity. When you want a more 'pop and go' type red, wines like this Mencia are a great one to have at hand. This red grape is prevalent in the Spanish regions along the Old Castile/Galician border, and performs very well as either a robust, extracted and oak aged wine or in a leaner, more approachable one without losing any complexity or intrigue. This pours in the glass with no lack of color or aromatics, with lots of briary dark fruits, dried sage, anise notes and bitter cocoa. The palate isn't thick in texture, but it doesn't taste like there's anything missing from the wine, and the dark fruit flavors are fully ripe and penetrating with no hard edges. The fine persistent tannins definitely bring home the savory herbs and dusty fruit to the finish, easily helping it stand up to most meat dishes without being a bruiser on its own. Great with leaner dishes as well that may not have a lot of fat to cut through. INSIDER'S PICK: 2019 HERDADE DO ROCIM TOURIGA NACIONAL ALENTEJANO $19.99 (Wine Advocate 89points)12/2/2021  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.
Lots and lots of fun, diverse wines coming out of Portugal these days. Real game changers in terms of quality and value, great mix of traditional character and modern innovation. Most of the wine consumers recognize comes from the North in the Vinho Verde, Douro and Dao regions, but the wines of the South are growing in notoriety, especially those in Alentejano. Herdade do Rocim is one of the most exciting wineries here, working with the native varietals in an organic/vegan process and mixing in things like amphora aging and natural fermentations with more modern methods. You see a lot more of Touriga Nacional in the Douro and Dao regions, the backbone of Port and increasingly featured in the more hearty dry wines of the region, but Rocim put a delicious twist on it. Still an inky purple/blue in the glass, but fresher aromatics of blue fruits and fresh tar, even a hint of citrus zest. The palate is a lot less dense and extracted than expected as well, purposely so to avoid the harder edged tannins Touriga can often deliver, and this wine wants to be easy to access. Supple dark berries all over the place on the palate with a little bit of fine edged tannins that give a dusty finish but don't stain it for hours. A very gulpable food friendly wine that can even stand a touch of chill in warmer weather but also stands up well to Winter comfort foods.  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.  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.  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.
Another pre-Thanksgiving wine to get you in the mood. We always love recommending Alsatian wines for this time of year for their versatility over the broad spectrum of foods and flavor combinations that make it to the holiday table. Many people may feel adverse to trying them expecting them to all be sweeter (a pre-associated prejudice against the tall narrow bottles, perhaps), but by and large they are much drier than people think. Grapes like Pinot Blanc and Chasselas make up a lot of their everyday wines and blends, and both are very dry and clean tasting. Riesling here also tends to be much drier and minerally/stony on the palate than in most parts of the world, though sweetness does creep in. Point being, you stand to get a fairly dry wine when picking an Alsatian wine, and a 'Metiss' field blend (also called a 'Gentil' by many producers) are a great way to introduce yourself to the region. Bott-Geyl is one of the long-standing greats of the region, known for high quality as well as one of the longest followers of organic/Biodynamic viticulture in the region. Their blend is primarily Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Chassselas, but also has a splash of Muscat, which brings a touch of perfume and prettiness without influencing the overall sweetness. Clean and forward on the nose with lots of cool pear and white fruits, fresh mountain streams and a bit of orange blossom and wildflower from the Muscat. Just enough weight to the palate to give the fruit some body and intensity, but no sugary sweetness, nothing cloying at all, just pure juice with some acidity to the finish that brings some tingle to the tongue. The clean fruit character handles all the savory and sweet combos in the food, while the body can contend with a lot of the creamier sides and diversity of meats.  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.
With Thanksgiving approaching more rapidly than many of us would like to admit, it's actually a good time to start thinking about what to serve and accumulating some special bottles to avoid the late rush. Beaujolais and the Gamay grape is of course one of the classic all-purpose pairings, soft and savory with very easy tannins that meld with the broad spectrum of foods at the traditional holiday table. But Gamay isn't the only game in town, just the best publicized. Vespolina is the primary 'everyday' grape in the Northern Piedmont region near the city of Novara, at one time famous for Nebbiolo based wines from Gattinara and other sites, but post WWII lost a lot of the vineyards due to the rural population moving to big cities hoping to find work. The last few decades has seen a return to agricultural life here, and with it the rise of small producers revitalizing the sloped vineyards. Working barely 10 acres among three separate sites, Bonaperti has been a leading name here, and his Vespolina is routinely among the best examples of the grape every vintage. Juicy cherry and raspberry skin fruit on the nose with dark spice and tobacco leaf notes parallel the juicy/gamey combo of Gamay, a big aroma given some time open but never intense or blowing you back from the glass. The mouthfeel is a little fuller and darker than a Beaujolais but with similar juiciness and super-fine tannin texture that leaves just a kiss of dustiness behind, bringing out all the lovely dark savory nuances of the fruit. This is the type of wine that really shine with the gamey dark meats and savory side dishes, sausage or oyster stuffing, etc., but can still treat the lighter foods quite nicely.  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.
Pinot Noir isn't often thought of as a grape of high potential in Sancerre, definitively second in plantings and reputation to Sauvignon Blanc, and even in the hands of the top producers it's primarily used for making Rose. Absolute dreamy, beautiful Rose that we can't get enough of, so it isn't a bad thing. There just aren't many producers putting the effort into making a Sancerre Rouge of much character; even one of the best and best known, Domaine Hippolyte Reverdy (not directly related), had to be convinced by the importer Kermit Lynch to develop theirs early on. When you get one that's really on it, that hits on every cylinder, they are every bit the equivalent of their Burgundian counterparts, and at this price they are a stellar value. Deep for a Pinot in color with some savory black cherry skin and dried red fruit aromas at first, a bit closed at first but getting brighter and riper over some time in the glass, a sign this wine definitely has some staying power for aging. The palate has a bit more oompf that your usual basic Bourgogne, mostly provided by that tell-tale chalky minerality so associated with Samcerre, really gives the elegant fruit and tannins some extra presence and intensity through the finish. Much like the Bordeaux in last week's Insider, this is a great wine for enjoying over a full day or two, giving it time to evolve and show more of the complexity hidden under it's youth, something rarely able to be done on a Pinot at this price. |
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
May 2022
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