April 2010 Newsletter

Our April 2010 Tasting

Please join us as we welcome:
Dr. Dirk Max Ferd. Richter
For a tasting of German wines from the Mosel.
Wednesday, April 28, 5:30pm to 7:30pm 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.
(You may remember the wonderful 1981 Richter Riesling that we offered around Thanksgiving)

TAX DAY BEER TASTING

Thursday, April 15th, 5;30 t0 7:30pm
Sam Smith Brewery
Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England

BRAVE NEW WORLD OF SOCIAL MEDIA

While we generally need to be threatened with wines from Trader Joe’s before we’ll embrace a new technology; we have recently been active, thanks to Matt, on both Facebook and Twitter. ( click here to visit us on Twitter). It is apparently good to have lots of “fans”on Facebook and, since we are not above bribing people to be our friends,  we have decided to have a drawing from amongst just our Facebook fans with the winner receiving a $50.00 gift certificate. The drawing will take place on April 30th so, Click here to visit our Facebook Fan Page and sign on as fan and you’ll have a chance to win.

NEW ARRIVALS

Big Napa Cabs and Sexy Sancerre

2007 Plumpjack Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Oakville, Napa, California –“The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon cuvee from Plumpjack’s Oakville ranch, where Nils Venge once made the famed Cabernet Sauvignons under the Villa Mt. Eden label. (The 1974s and 1978s are still going strong.) Floral notes intermixed with creme de cassis, white chocolate, plum, and licorice characteristics are followed by a wine with supple tannins, fabulous concentration, a multilayered mouthfeel, and a finish that lasts 40+ seconds. This incredible Cabernet can be drunk now or cellared for 20-25 years. Winemaker Tony Biagia continues to fashion prodigious wines for both the Getty family and its partner, San Francisco’s mayor, Gavin Newsom. The 2007s are the most impressive group of wines Plumpjack has released to date.” (WA # 186) $108.95
2007 Orin Swift Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon “Mercury Head” Napa, California – “The brilliant 2007 Mercury Head exhibits a dense ruby/purple hue as well as classic notes of lead pencil, creme de cassis, black cherries, spice box, and cedar. Full-bodied, concentrated, deep, and layered, this impressive, but youthful, primary Cabernet needs 2-5 years of aging, and it should last for two decades.”  (WA# 186) $75.95
2008 Gerard Boulay Sancerre Clos de Beaujeu – We love Sancerre and here is a single vineyard offering from Gerard Boulay. This familys domaine of 9ha located in Chavignol can trace its history back to 1380 when land records for that year mention a Jean Boulay as owner of vineyards in Chavignol. At the time, the Clos de Beaujeu in Chavignol was already known for the quality of its white wine which is remarkable since Sancerre was known as a red wine area until after phylloxera. In the 14th century the Clos de Beaujeu supplied the Cathedral of Bourges with white wine. Clos de Beajeu is a single vineyard of about 1.8 acres (compare that with some of the figures above.) Hereis a review from Stephan Tanzer: “Sexy aromas of white flowers, mace, pear and Meyer lemon. Offers a suave blend of fleshy orchard fruits and nervier citrus elements, with strong mineral cut and building floral character. The minerality defines the long, sappy, focused finish, which leaves spice and talc notes behind. I really like this wine’s marriage of volume and vibrancy. (IWC, Mar/Apr 10) $40.95

2001 BAROLO

2001 was a tremendous vintage (capping off a string of great vintages from Piedmont) these are getting harder and harder to find on retail shelves. Here are a few that you can buy and start drinking in 2011:
2001 Vietti Barolo Brunate, Piedmont, Italy –“The 2001 Barolo Brunate presents a nose of toasted oak, spices, and minerals. It is quite round and soft-textured, with flavors of rich dark stewed fruit and licorice, closing with a very long, exquisite finish. I typically find the oak a bit overwhelming when this wine is young, but in my experience it tends to integrate with a few years of cellaring. It is a delicious Barolo. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2019.”  Wine Advocate # 167 $99.95
2001 Vietti Barolo Lazzarito Piedmont, Italy –“The 2001 Barolo Lazzarito is the darkest of these wines. It opens with a penetrating nose of toasted oak, cherries in liqueur, menthol, minerals and tar. The Lazzarito is a beautifully conceived wine that combines dark, backward Serralunga fruit and a very modern approach into a convincing whole, with excellent length and persistence on the palate. There is noticeably more extract in the fruit here to support the oak. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2019.” Wine Advocate # 167 $99.95
2001 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Falletto, Piedmont, Italy – “The 2001 Barolo Falletto displays a more deeply colored, rich translucent ruby color. It opens with a sweet, balsamic nose of spices, oak, and minerals, and is packed with layers of deep, dark fruit that gradually open to reveal themselves on a big, strapping frame, with outstanding length and a beautiful note of freshness to cap off the finish. An Azienda Agricola Falletto di Bruno Giacosa bottling. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2023”. Wine Advocate # 167 $119.9
2001 Ca’ Rome Di Romano Marengo Barolo ‘Vigna Cerretta’ – “Very complex aromas with coffee, plum and Indian spices. Full-bodied, with velvety tannins and a long, long finish. Loads of ripe fruit and character here. Very fine indeed. Excellent wine from here. Best after 2007. 300 cases made” Issue: Oct 15, 2005 $79.95

QUANTITY Vs. QUALITY

Some intersesting statistics on the production of various wine “brands. We forget just how HUGE some of the production is on these wines:    Kim Crawford: 344,000 cases per year (over 1,000 acres of vines).
Ménage a Trois: 1,325,000 cases per year (3,978 acres of vines)
Ch St Michelle: 1,284,000 cases per year (3855 acres of vines)
Barefoot Cellars – 7,500,000 cases (OK, that just wrong)
Some of these wines are produced in facilities that look like oil refineries (google images of Bronco wine co.).  Compare the above production with a few of the wines on our monthly specials list (which we think of as big production wines):  Ch. GAILLARD about 6,400 cases; FATTORIA BIBBIANI “Poggio Vignoso” about 16,000 cases; and BURGO VIEJO Crianza Rioja about 164,000 cases. While high quality and large quantity are not necessarily mutually exclusive, there is a point where something has to give.

MONTHLY SPECIALS