Spotlight

NEW ARRIVALS - 4/23/2009

Peter Michael “La Carriere” Chardonnay 2007
For California wine afficionados, the name Peter Michael needs no introduction. Although there are several top-quality producers in Napa and Sonoma turning out breathtaking Chardonnay, Peter Michael has a track-record that is as strong as any. With a few years of bottle age, these wines are prime examples of what’s possible with Chardonnay from California. While the “La Carriere” maybe isn’t priced for a Tuesday night dinner for most of us, if you’re at all into California Chardonnay, this is a great quality splurge where the hype is actually justified. $89.95

Vaca California Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
Perhaps it’s just us, but there’s always something a bit off-putting about a wine that seems specifically designed to capture a certain segment of the wine market rather than one that is birthed out a desire to capture the characteristics of grapes from a particular place from a specific vintage. Call us hopelessly high-minded or naïve—wine is big business these days, after all. However, once in a while we come across one of these “designer” wines that, as much as we hate to admit it, is actually very good. Unabashedly modern and sleek, this wine is loaded with fruit and a great texture and dose of vanilla and oak. Quintessential California Cabernet at a very fair price. $13.95

Hayman & Hill Sta. Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir 2007
We constantly struggle, and sometimes rather loudly complain about our struggle, to find solid, well-made Pinot Noir that we can sell for less than $15 that actually tastes like Pinot Noir. While we belly-ache and groan, somewhere somebody must be listening to our gripes, as once in a while we find one we actually like. We found this to be a very solid Pinot for the price, and certainly one of the most affordable reds from the Sta. Lucia Highlands that we’ve seen on the market. $14.95

St. Hallet “Poacher’s Blend” White 2007
We opened up a bottle of the “Poacher’s Blend” this past Saturday and we got a great response from the people that tasted it. An unusual blend of Riesling, Semillon, and Sauvignon Blanc from Australia’s Barossa Valley, this wine combines some of the best attributes of each of the three component grapes, creating a sum that’s greater than the individual parts. This is an emminently refreshing, bright wine that’s perfect for the summer-like temperatures that are coming our way. After tasting this wine, several of us on staff have already retracted some of the unkind things we’ve said about Australian Riesling in the past. $11.95

Domaine Billard Bourgogne Aligote 2007
Ahh, Aligote, the poor, neglected stepchild of the world of white Burgundy, forever condemned to a second-place showing next to its prettier older sister, Chardonnay. But relegating this wine to the footnotes isn’t exactly fair, as Aligote can make some very interesting wines that can still stand on their own despite the tall shadows of Chardonnay. Billard’s Aligote has plenty of concentration and Aligote-ish sweet-n-sour character, with the hallmark pop of acidity on the finish that cries out for seafood. Two cheers for white Burgundy’s Cinderella grape! $13.95

Mordoree “Reine du Bois” Lirac Rouge 2007
Considered by some to be one of the greatest Lirac producers in the Rhone Valley, Mordoree’s top-end Lirac Rouge is perennially a powerhouse of a wine that competes with many Chateauneuf du Papes in terms of complexity and ageability. From a very good vintage in a string of good vintages for the region, this is certainly a serious, cellar-worthy Rhone that won’t crush your pocketbook. $36.95

Waterbrook Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2007
When talking with visiting winemakers from the West Coast, we hear again and again about the great leaps and bounds that have been made in Washinton State winemaking in the past few years. While Washington State reds aren’t quite as hot here out east, more and more heads are starting to turn as these wines continue to earn fantastic press and respect from the wine-drinking public. Here’s a very good Cabernet Sauvignon from the Columbia Valley that definitely delivers and makes a good case for the region without a Quilceda Creek-like pricetag. $25.99

Mordoree Cotes du Rhone Rouge 2008
This is another wine that might not need much of an introduction amongst our regulars. Mordoree’s wines continue to be solid year-in, year-out, and the 2008 vintage of their Cotes du Rhone Rouge is no exception. If we haven’t beaten this point to death already, the recent vintages of Cotes du Rhones are some of the best quality-to-price ratio wines in the world, completely over-delivering for the money. We don’t want to insult anyone’s intelligence by being belligerently insistent upon this point, but we’re just trying to help everyone drink better after all… $13.95
Mordoree “Reine du Bois” Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge 2007
If you couldn’t already tell, the Mordoree fairy flew into town last week and left cases and cases of Rhones under our pillows. We tasted the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge several months prior, and while this is an untamed behemoth of a wine right now, we expect this to eventually come around to a nice happy place (in the meantime, drink up some of their delicious Cotes du Rhones and Liracs!). As usual with the Mordoree wines, Robert Parker from the Wine Advocate does leaping backflips for this wine and for the 2007 vintage as a whole. $89.95

2006 Uccelliera Rosso di Montalcino
Finding out that you enjoy drinking Brunello di Montalcino is one of life’s most wonderful/terrible maladies, especially when you’re the one shelling out the coin for the bottles. While it’s easier than ever to drink great Brunello these days, it hasn’t gotten any less expensive, and there’s still plenty of mediocre, insipid juice on the market that barely outpaces a great $25 Chianti Classico. Uccelliera consistently turns out fantastic Brunello, and while we’re eagerly awaiting the arrival of their much-hyped 2004 vintage, we have some great Rosso di Montalcino to drink in the interim. For any fan of Tuscan red wines, this is one not to miss. $32.95

April 23, 2009 4:23