Wines
19 Items Found
- Bibi Graetz Casamatta Rosso 2008 Product #22722 (In Stock)
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100% Sangiovese and 200% fun, this snappy, fresh, wine from Bibi Graetz has the bright acidity needed to complement a wide range of foods plus the juicy dark cherry fruit needed to stand on it’s own. A fine bargain.
“I continue to be impressed with the beautiful wines of Bibi Graetz. These are highly singular, expressive wines that merit serious consideration. It’s hard to find a better value in Tuscany than Graetz’s 2008 Casamatta Rosso. This medium-bodied, juicy red offers plenty of dark red fruit in an accessible style underpinned with a bright accent of acidity. The Casamatta Rosso would make a great house red.”Wine Advocate 87 points
“Sweet raspberry jam aromas lead to medium-to-full body, with delicate tannins and a fruity, tangy aftertaste. Sangiovese. Best Buy."Wine Spectator 88 points
- Bodegas Carrau Sauvignon Blanc "Sur Lie" 2009 Product #22795 (In Stock)
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This delicious Sauvignon Blanc is from the cool coastal regions of Uruguay where the weather and soil resemble the best white wine production areas of Bordeaux and New Zealand. Grown and made by a 10th generation family winemaker, the wine is picked and fermented at cool temperatures in stainless steel tanks and then given six months of “sur lie” (on the lees) contact to preserve fruit and add depth and complexity.
Like many Sauv Blancs, this is nicely aromatic and shows notes of lemon, tangerine, and other citrus fruits. In the mouth the fruit flavors focus on tangerine, lemon, a little green melon, and a note of tart lime candy with just a tiny hint of fresh grass. Although the wine’s firm acidity shows clearly on entry and the fresh, bright, finish, the vibrant fruit is swaddled in a creamy, rich, texture that makes it seem almost full-bodied and very, very, deep.
This is probably the most versatile Sauvignon Blanc you’ll find anywhere. It has all the bright citrusy fruit and zip that New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc drinkers crave, plus the richer, creamier, texture sought by folks who love white Bordeaux, Chardonnay or Pinot Gris. Sip it on its own or pair with meaty fish like halibut or swordfish, pasta and chicken salads, grilled white meats, or most any dish with a citrus or summer fruit element. - Anton Bauer Zweigelt Wagram 2007 Product #22676 (In Stock)
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Zweigelt just don’t get no respect. True, this is hardly a grape of ancient heritage - it was “invented” in Austria in 1922 by crossing the not-so-famous Blaufränkisch and St. Laurent varieties. But, on the right sites and in the right hands, Zweigelt produces a tremendously delicious and useful wine. Think slightly more weight than red Burgundy with a flavor profile somewhere between Malbec and Zinfandel. In other words, a wine that’s just perfect for drinking on its own or with a wide range of weeknight meals.
Anton Bauer’s take on Zweigelt is just classic. The wine is bursting with crunchy black cherry fruit complicated by notes of mocha and peppery spice. Local importer Klaus Wittauer always buys Anton’s Spring bottling of this grape to get the maximum amount of juicy fruit in every bottle. This struck me as a cross between a delicious young red Bourgogne and a more robust Rhone red. Pizza, burgers, grilled chicken, salmon - goes with just about anything! - Conceito Contraste Tinto 2007 Product #22807 (In Stock)
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Although Portugal remains more famous for its sweet Port wines, the real action here is with dry table wines made from the vast array of grapes unique to the Douro Valley. This blend of Tinta Roriz, Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional and Sousao from young winemaker Rita Ferreira should be all the proof you need. Remeniscent of more familiar wines like Gigondas or Priorat, it’s distinctively Portuguese - a little wild, a tad rustic, but joyful, exuberant and very refreshing.
Black plum, tart cherry, licorice root, and a distinctive olive note swirl together in the complex nose. In the mouth, lively and fresh with deep black fruit, licorice, and cracked black pepper flavors lifted by juicy acidity. The tannins are fine and firm with plum, vanilla, herbs, and a touch of oak on the finish. With air, hot tar and tobacco notes emerge as well. There’s plenty of big fruit here, but also a fine mineral streak that adds complexity and depth. This will sing with grilled lamb, kalamata olives, or hard cheeses and will age gracefully for 3-6 years.“Lovely aromas of plum and red fruits flow into the palate, along with raspberry and red cherry. Olive and savory herbal notes are well-defined on the minerally finish.” Wine Spectator 89 points
- Francois Chidaine Vouvray Les Argiles 2007 Product #22915 (In Stock)
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The 40 year-old Chenin Blanc vines at Les Argiles grow on a clay and chalk soil typical of Vouvray. The 2007 Les Argiles is completely dry and opens with scents of honey covered pear, quince and white flowers. The wine at first shows very broad on the palate with generous flavors of pear, orange pith, nuts, and toasted bread. The wine snaps into focus on the precise, taught, finish as flavors of honeysuckle and orange marmalade linger nicely. This keeps me coming back for another sip and would shine beautifully with a warm goat cheese and walnut salad.
“Though broad, with a wide swath of blanched almond, brioche, dried lime peel and pear flavors, this white is also taut, with an underlying lanolin note that leaves a firm, dry feel on the finish. 1,680 cases made.” Wine Spectator 91 points
- Grivault Bourgogne Blanc 2007 Product #22930 (In Stock)
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The past three vintages of this have each been our best-selling white wine of the year - all together, you’ve bought more Grivault Bourgogne Blanc than any other single wine we sell! And, we know the 2007 edition will be just as popular. Take a sniff and a sip and you’ll fine Meursault quality at Bourgogne prices!
This is quite simply one of the very best Bourgogne Blancs I’ve ever tasted. Clear as a bell aromas of hazelnut, fresh cream butter, apple, and apricot lead to a richly textured mouthful of nuts, butter, and stone fruits. The vibrant acidity carries through from beginning to end and a lovely minty/hazelnut shell note lingers on the finish. Many, many, producers struggle to make Meaursault this fine - to encounter it in a “simple” Bourgogne and at this price is amazing. Stock up! - Francois Chidaine Montlouis Clos Habert 2007 Product #22914 (In Stock)
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Unlike the other two Chidaine wines we’re offering, the Montlouis Clos Habert has 15 g/l residual sugar and hints at sweetness -- but it’s the sweetness of citrus fruit rather than sugar. Chidaine always picks Clos Habert late and in up to 4 passes - bunch by bunch selection to ensure full ripeness. Of the three wines we’re offering, this is the most immediately delicious. It’s medium bodied and loaded with loads of orange and pear fruit and a pronounced honey and a touch of very pleasing bitter almond at the end.
“Lovely, focused pear and quince flavors glide along, while honeysuckle and mineral notes extend through the pure, medium-weight finish. This is just off-dry in feel. 958 cases made.”Wine Spectator 91 points
- Orin Swift Saldo Zinfandel 2008 Product #22756 (In Stock)
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While prospecting for fruit to use in The Prisoner, winemaker Dave Phinney got his hands on several exceptional lots of Zinfandel from a many of the best old-vine vineyards across Northern California. Beginning in the 2007 vintage, Dave launched Saldo to show off how great California Zinfandel could be when not limited to a single AVA. The resulting blend is 88% Zinfandel from more than 10 vineyards across the Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Amador, and Contra Costa AVAs punched up with 8% Syrah and 4% Petit Sirah.
The inaugural 2007 version earned 91 points from Wine Spectator, and the 2008 is even better. Hot summer weather allowed growers across the state to bring in ripe, fully mature, Zin that still retains acidity and freshness. It’s a big wine - 15.5% ABV - but balanced and juicy. Generous aromas of black cherry fruit have some brambly complexity. Very big in the mid-palate, gushing with fruit and dark earth and then softly tannic on the long finish. Great wine, very limited. - Holloran Pinot Noir Le Pavillon Willamette 2007 Product #22894 (In Stock)
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Bill Holloran's Le Pavillon Pinot Noir is always a Dundee Hills classic – spicy and redolent of strawberry and raspberry fruit. As usual, the 2007 model is built to improve with cellar time – a 1999 Le Pavillon Pinot Bill poured for me last summer was still fresh and delightful! – but is more than accessible enough to enjoy now with a little air. There’s plenty of concentration and depth this year, but also a silky texture and sense of transparency that I prize in great Oregon Pinot Noir. Tasted blind, you’d swear this would sell for $50 or more. Fantastic value.
“The 2007 Pinot Noir Le Pavillon Vineyard delivers a more expressive spicy red fruit perfume along with a hint of cedar. This leads to a nicely concentrated, suave Pinot Noir with good depth, potential complexity, and excellent length. It should be at its best from 2011 to 2017.”Wine Advocate 90 points
- Ken Wright Chardonnay Celilo Vineyard 2007 Product #22903 (In Stock)
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Washington State. Ken chose to look outside the Willamette Valley for a Chardonnay vineyard, choosing a unique site on a 1,000' bluff overlooking the Columbia River and Oregon’s northern border. The vineyard lies on the south face of an inactive volcano and features soils of extremely porous, lose, pulverized basalt, which promotes deep rooting. Chardonnay from this site is richer than you’ll find in the cooler Willamette Valley but has more acidity and mineral character than is common from warmer Washington State sites. Pretty, ripe, and spicy. About 800 cases made.
- Grivault Meursault 2007 Product #22931 (In Stock)
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If you love Grivault’s Bourgogne Blanc and have never tried his “real” Meursault -- well, it’s time. The flavors and aromas in the Meursault are very similar to the Bourgogne but ratcheted up a notch. Aromas of hazelnuts, almond, butter, white flower and peach lead to a rich but vibrant mouthful of orchard fruits, nuts, butter, and a beguiling fresh mint note. This is a big wine, creamy and richly textured, but with plenty of acidity and minerality underneath. The layered flavors linger gently on the long finish. Very easy to drink now but with a good 8-12 years of development ahead of it.
- Brancaia Il Blu 2006 Product #22758 (In Stock)
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Brancaia’s flagship wine, Il Blu, is a blend of just about equal parts Sangiovese and Merlot plus 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Perhaps because Il Blu comes entirely from fruit grown in Brancaia’s Chianti Classico vineyards, this is one of the most consistent and truly “Italian” of the more famous super-tuscan blends. Always a big scoring wine in the US wine press, Il Blu has also earned the highest, Tre Bicchieri, award in Italy’s Gambero Rosso guild every year since 2003.
“The 2006 Il Blu (50% Sangiovese, 45% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon) is a striking wine loaded with vibrant dark cherries, violets, sweet spices and French oak in a powerful, structured style. Naturally the Blu doesn’t show the warmth of the Ilatraia but it does possess a touch more freshness and finesse, attributes which will allow the wine to age gracefully over the coming years. Once again, Brancaia has produced a gem in the Blu. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2026.”Wine Advocate 95 points
- Ken Wright McCrone Pinot Noir 2008 Product #22476 (In Stock)
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Yamhill-Carleton. A super-densely planted vineyard (1 meter x 2 meters) on well-drained, sedimentary, soil. The soil and vine selection here - half 18 year-old Dijion 115 and half grafted to Dijon 777 in 2000 - promote early ripening. One of Ken’s denser, darker, wines always bursting with black fruit, smoke and spice. About 700 cases made.
- Ken Wright Pinot Noir Carter Vyd 2008 Product #22905 (In Stock)
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Eola Hills. From a 25 year-old vineyard located just down the hill from Canary Hill. Carter Vineyard’s soil is very different from Northern Willamette - Nekia soil formed from weathered base rock. Carter always gives fairly firm, structured, wines of good concentration and depth that flower with two or three years in the cellar. Aromatic, with black fruit and fresh, healthy, earth notes, it’s always a wine of power and depth. About 650 cases made.
- Ken Wright Pinot Noir Nysa Vyd 2008 Product #22906 (In Stock)
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Dundee Hills. Located in the heart of the Dundee Hills, Nysa Vineyard lies between Domaine Drouhin and Archery Summit. As is typical in the Dundee Hills, the soil is decomposed volcanic rock called Jory soil. A classic Dundee Hills wine, Nysa always shows a mix of red and black fruits and has an elegant, silky, texture. About 350 cases made.
- Castello Romitorio Brunello Di Montalcino 2004 Product #21400 (In Stock)
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Pre-Arrival - Wine Arrives Late April 2010!
I liked this wine when I first tasted it nearly a year ago, but today - WOW! This is a very fine young Brunello that can be enjoyed tonight but will definitely improve in cellar. There’s a wonderful richness of texture here, but married to a vibrant palate and a fantastic floral note that comes and goes as the wine opens. This is going to be a very versatile Brunello at table.
“The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino reveals a dark, brooding expression of black cherries, menthol, licorice and flowers. The wine possesses lovely detail and clarity, in a somewhat compact, firm style. With air the wine fleshes out nicely. A final floral note gives the wine a sense of lift on the finish. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2022.”Wine Advocate 92 points
“Blackberry and dried flowers on the nose. Full-bodied, with soft and silky tannins and a long finish. Very approachable now, with bright fruit and fresh acidity. Long and beautiful."Wine Spectator 93 points
- Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino 2004 Product #21398 (In Stock)
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Unlike the Romitorio, I did not like this wine at all when I first tasted it in January of 2009. Well, I was just plain wrong. This is a very fine Brunello, possibly the best ever from this estate working with some of the region’s highest-altitude vineyards. In the past, they’ve struggled a bit with oak levels, but got just everything in the right place in 2004.
“Canalicchio di Sopra’s 2004 Brunello di Montalcino is an intense, full-bodied red that is simply captivating for its seamless dark fruit and superb depth. Rich, round and delicious, this racy Brunello offers plenty of dark fruit with sweet scents of licorice, leather and spices that linger on the long, refined finish. Clean notes of minerality give the wine superb balance. This is easily the most elegant, refined Brunello I have tasted yet from Canalicchio di Sopra and is one of the highlights in 2004. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2022.”Wine Advocate 93 points
“Delivers roses and dried berries on the nose. Full-bodied, with well-integrated tannins, chocolate, berry and vanilla. Long and caressing. Best after 2011.”Wine Spectator 92 points
- Sette Ponti Toscana Oreno 2006 Product #22859 (In Stock)
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#15 on Wine Spectator Top 100 2008
Sette Ponti is located in the Arno river valley south of Florence, not a site normally associated with great wines from Tuscany. Beginning with Sette Ponti’s debut release of the 1999 Crognolo, critics have started to change their minds. Antonio Moretti’s father purchased the estate in 1957 and launched a stud farm for race horses; breeding of native Tuscan Chiana cattle; a preserve for the Cinta Senese, a rare breed of wild pig; and fields of sunflowers and maize.
Moretti, Senior, had little interest in the estate’s grapes and sold their fruit off to other local wine makers until his son, Antonio, began running the estate. Antonio refurbished the vineyards, built a winery, and - in 1999 - made Sette Ponti’s first estate wine. In the 10 years since, Sette Ponti has become one of the best Super Tuscan estates in the central Chianti area.“Shows loads of black licorice, blackberry and toasty oak. Full-bodied, with super silky tannins and a long, long finish. Has wonderful concentration and balance. Structured. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sangiovese. Best after 2013.”Wine Spectator 96 points
- Grivault Meursault 1er Cru Clos Des Perrieres 2007 Product #22932 (In Stock)
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Every year, this wine makes the case that - whatever the official classifications say - there is Grand Cru terroir in Meursault. Focused minerality over rich fresh butter, nuts, mint, and orchard fruits with a delicious salty caramel note on the finish. Today this is verging on an oily texture and shows a lot of ripe fruit, especially for 2007. Give it 7 or 8 years and it will gain complexity, energy and - oddly enough - freshness to go with the deep, rich, flavors. Magnificent wine.
