March 2010 Newsletter

Our MARCH 2010 tasting

Please join as we welcome PATRICIA GREEN for a tasting of
OREGON PINOT NOIR FROM PATRICIA GREEN CELLARS
Thursday, March 18th from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm at our Store on Grove Ave.
A list of wines will be posted in the store and there will be special pricing for purchases made during the tasting.

2000 Bordeaux – 10 YEARS AFTER

A Special tasting Event with Jim Tashjian-Brown

Thursday, March 25th 2010 from 5:30 to 7:30pm at our store on Grove Ave.
Join us as we sample the following wines from the great 2000 vintage:
Chateau Lanessan, Haut-Medoc
Château La Tour Carnet, 4th Growth, Haut Medoc
Chateau de Rouillac, Pessac-Leognan
Chateau Fombrauge, St. Emilion
Chateau Fourcas Dupre, Listrac
There will be special pricing for purchases made during the tasting

WHY YOU JUST CAN’T FIND A GOOD PINOT NOIR FOR UNDER $10

Last week we learned that twelve French wine industry figures were convicted of selling 18 million bottles (13.5 million liters) of Merlot and Syrah wine to US wine powerhouse E&J Gallo as Pinot Noir. The wine was ultimately sold under E&J’s ubiquitous “Red Bicyclette” Pinot Noir label. Officials became suspicious when the volume of Pinot Noir sold to the US far exceeded the total production in the south of France.  The French defense- “Hey, no one (American) complained”.

ODD DUCK 6 BOTTLE SAMPLER

Regular Price if purchased separately - $132.70 Purchased as a 6 bottle sampler - $99.95

Step outside your everyday wine box and get adventurous. Here are 6 very good wines from unusual geographies of the wine world offered together as a 6 bottle sampler at a price that makes it easy to experiment.
(2007) Nusserhof Blaterle – “Crisp green apples, pears, mint and jasmine are just some of the nuances that emerge from this beautiful, well-delineated wine. The Blaterle is surprisingly full of flavor considering its light to medium-bodied texture. This is a Vino da Tavola, so by the law the vintage can’t be indicated on the label but it is identified by the last two digits of the lot number in this case L07.  I can’t say enough good things about the wines of this small estate except to remind readers that these offerings are essential drinking for anyone who wants to get a sense of the artisan tradition in Alto Adige at its very finest.” (WA #179)  Reg. Price:$29.95
2007 Ameztoi Upelean Hartzitua Getariako Txakolina – The grape is Honarrabi zuri and the wine is from the Basque region of Spain - Lime, Grapefruit and white pepper; juicy acidity and bracing minerality. Perhaps a touch of sparkle with more depth then Vinho Verde but not dissimilar. A wine that is impossible to pronounce and impossible not to love. Reg. Price: $18.95
2005 Tissot Poulsard  - From Arbois located east of Burgundy and made from 100% Poulsard, a thin-skinned grape producing elegant red wines. This version, made by S. Tissot, one of the region’s great winemakers, has a distinct touch of the Burgundy barnyard and a very brisk bit of acidity on the palate. Nice dark cherry and raspberry flavors round out a very pleasurable, sophisticated red wine drinking experience. Reg. Price $22.95
2007 Peza do Rei Ribeira Sacra  - An old School DO Located in Galicia in the north west corner of Spain above the Portuguese border. 100% Mencia from a great vintage, red fruit intensity with an edge of chocolatey ripeness, and a mineral core. Reg. Price $23.95
2006 Chaussard “Patapon” Coteaux du Loir – The grape is Pinot d’ Aunis from the Loire Valley with good fruit and some zesty pepperiness; plus it has a disturbing clown portrait on the label Reg. Price $17.95
2006 iGreco “Cata” Gaglioppo Rosso IGT Calabria Italy-  100% Gaglioppo which produces a deeply colored with rich red fruit aromas and some weight in the mid-palette and sweet tannins.  Reg. Price $18.95

NEW ARRIVALS

1999 Fattoria di Felsina Chianti Classico Riserva Rancia Classico, Chianti, Tuscany – Here is a chance to taste a mature Chianti from one of the very best producers. We did a savvy buy of a case plus of HALF BOTTLES from the old distributor of Felsina and at a great price – Buy two for a full bottle and you will not spend much more then the regular full bottle price – if you could find a ’99. Here is the review: “The brilliant 1999 Chianti Classico Rancia requires 1-3 (review is from 2002) more years of bottle age. Revealing a deep garnet/ruby/purple color as well as a tightly-knit personality, it offers notes of leather, black cherries, currants, earth, and compost. In the mouth, there is considerable depth, medium to full body, moderately high tannin, and a firm, Bordeaux-like structure super-imposed on the wine’s fruit characteristics. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2015.” (Wine Advocate # 144) $26.95 (375ml)
2007 Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape Chateauneuf du Pape, Rhone, France – another beauty from the fabulous 2007 vintage. Beaucastel, with a few years aging, is among the most sophisticated elegant and complete CdP’s Here are comments form Parker: “Beaucastel’s 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape has turned out even better out of bottle than I predicted. An inky/ruby/purple color is followed by a glorious nose of blue and black fruits, truffles, pen ink, licorice, and meat juices as well as glorious levels of acidity and sweet tannin, buttressing the fruit’s fabulous freshness and vibrancy. This full-bodied effort still displays considerable tannin, no doubt because of the relatively high Mourvedre content. It should resolve its tannins in 2-4 years, and last for 25 or more.” (Wine Advocate # 185) $109.95 (Buy a six pack in wood and save 15%.)
2007 Thierry & Pascale Matrot “”la Piece sous le Bois” Blagny, Burgundy Rouge – We were tasting a series of 2007 Burgundies and we came across this standout Pinot Noir from an appellation on the slope above Meursault . Here is a review from Burghound:  “Curiously for a wine coming from a vineyard of considerable altitude, this is quite ripe with a liqueur-like nose of extract of red pinot fruit that is at once cool and elegant while leading to rich, generous and sappy flavors that completely coat the mouth on the mineral suffused finish. This is delicious and a wine of pleasure with buried tannins and again, this could be drunk young or left in the cellar for a few years.  - Comments: Sweet spot Outstanding”  (Burghound Issue 34) $54.95
2008 Saldo Zinfandel, California -  From David Phinney of Orin Swift Cellars - ripe, and full-bodied, with aromas of black cherry and bramble fruit. The tannins are soft but the wine has a huge mid-palate. $29.95
2007 Diatom Chardonnay Huber Vineyard Santa Rita Hills, California  -“Absolutely mind-boggling is the 2007 Chardonnay Huber. White citrus, wet stones, peach, and apricot blossom as well as tropical fruit oils give this wine extraordinary complexity and sensational richness. Remarkable purity and great length further characterize this wine, which should drink nicely for another several years. It is hard to know how these will age, but they seem incredibly pure and very long, although I would still opt for drinking them in their first 2-3 years of life.” (Wine Advocate # 180) $55.95
2007 Merry Edwards Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast - aromas of cola, red raspberries, plums and blueberries. This elegant Pinot shows a refined mid-palate followed by a finish that offers balanced, restrained tannins. $49.95

MONTHLY SPECIALS