Vinopolis Newsletter 4-16-25 PM

 

 

 

Panettone!  It’s as much fun to say as it is to eat and that’s saying a lot…
 
This rich yet airy, sweet but savory Italian cake is the perfect accompaniment to your Spring feast this year! Cocchi is one of the oldest, most respected vermouth producers in the world and you do not need to be Robert Parker to sense the quality of the wine in this expertly infused confection.

Cocchi Panettone Vermouth di Torino 1PK $29 special, 26 cakes available
Winery note “The Cocchi Panettone features candied lemon and orange peels infused with our vermouth and dark chocolate drops. The Cocchi Panettone has been created to be served alongside Cocchi Vermouth di Torino, the recipe incorporating classic, moreish vermouth into the traditional ingredients. Produced with natural ingredients: butter, Italian eggs from pastured poultry, raisin and candied fruit, nuts and sourdough. Preservative free.”

 
 
 

 

 

 
Pork is a very sweet meat and then there’s the traditional honey glaze that usually accompanies it. Nevetheless most people want to drink red wine with it so you’re going to want something a little smoky maybe a little minerally, with a nice pop of acidity, but nothing too tannic for a nice roasted ham. A light sparkling red or a local pinot noir should do the trick.
 
Bini Festa Lambrusco Dell’Emilia NV 750ml $19 special, 12 bottles available
Importer Note “In case you hadn’t noticed, Emilia, the land of Lambrusco, has a revolution brewing (or fermenting, often in bottle). After too many years of industrially-produced mediocrity, Emilia is now home to a small but growing cell of artisanal producers who are farming carefully and returning to the metodo ancestrale of their grandfathers: secondary fermentation in the bottle, without disgorgement. Denny Bini is one of the humble heroes of this renaissance-revolution.… Denny also makes our FUSO21 Lambrusco dell’Emilia (a.k.a. the Festa! Label) from practicing organic vineyards from family and friends.”
 
Ayres Perspective Ribbon Ridge Pinot Noir 2023 750ml $29 special, 33 bottles available
Winemaker’s Note “A true snapshot of the Ribbon Ridge AVA! Our estate vines pair perfectly with neighboring vines from Armstrong and Lichtenwalter vineyards. Enjoy notes of boysenberry, cinnamon, and dried tobacco.”
 
Cameron Pinot Noir Willamette Valley #2 2023 750ml $26 special, 36+ bottles available
VinopolNote: This is one of the best wines we’ve had from the 2023 vintage yet! Enticing tart cherries on the nose, with a deeply satisfying savory character on the palette. This is yet another elegant, approachable entry level wine from Cameron. Simply delicious and an unbeatable value from our beloved Willamette valley.
 
 

 
You will want a wine with some fruit that’s also not too sweet (or the sweet potatoes will taste bitter) but you don’t want a wine that’s too dry or the wine won’t work! This is a tricky one, but fear not: Oregon Pinot Gris and off-dry Riesling are here to save the day.
 
Eyrie Estate Pinot Gris 2022 750ml $24.50 special, 12 bottles available
Eric Guido-Vinous 92 Points “The 2022 Pinot Gris Estate is delicate, with an understated bouquet of wildflowers and hints of ginger. The entry is round and soothing, contrasted by a reverberation of acid-driven tension as white pit fruits and sour melon nuances swirl throughout. The 2022 tapers off with a pleasantly bitter twang as lime and liquid stone suggestions fade slowly.”
 
August Kesseler ‘R’ Riesling Kabinett 2023 750ml $16.50 special, 36+ bottles available
James Suckling 94 Points “What a striking, barely off-dry riesling with a beautiful nose of bergamot, oranges and delicate spicy notes. Terrific structure beneath the wealth of fruit, the delicate spritz lightening this medium-bodied wine that has just 11.5% alcohol. Long, graceful finish. A cuvee of wines from sites in Rudesheim, Kiedrich, Hattenheim. Drink now.”
 
 

 
We love Asparagus as much as the next person, but the unique flavors of this spring veggie, specifically the naturally occurring  sulfuric compound called mercaptans, can easily turn many wines acrid or (if they have tannins) metallic. Instead, pick a wine with peppery or vegetal characteristics like a gruner or New Zealand sauvignon blanc.
 
Te Mata Estate Hawke’s Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2022 750ml $21.90 special, 32 bottles available
Erin Larkin-Wine Advocate 92 Points “The 2022 Estate Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc has been fully tank fermented, no solids, but it was left on the lees post-ferment for texture. There are notes of cheesecloth, pineapple lumps, Pink Lady apples and saline acidity. It’s fleshy, with preserved citrus, juicy acidity and plenty of brine, then sugar snap peas, Nashi pears and a hint of guava/lychee. The fruit was sourced totally from the estate vineyards in Hawkes Bay; Havelock Hills, Gimblett Gravels and Dartmoor. 12.7% alcohol.”
 
Alzinger Gruner Veltliner Muhlpoint Federspiel 2023 750ml $36 special, 17 bottles available
Anne Krebiehl MW-Vinous 90 Points “The 2023 Grüner Veltliner Mühlpoint Federspiel, a site just underneath Steinertal, in the lower reaches where there’s more loess in the gneiss deposits. It’s gently savory on the nose and delivers yeast and pepper. The palate has a lovely stoniness and a slender aspect, with the pepperiness shimmering on the yeasty mid-palate. Lemon, stone and pepper make for a juicy, light-footed Federspiel. (Bone-dry)”
 
 

 
Don’t judge us… just trust us.

Vietti Moscato d’Asti Cascinetta 2023 750ml $19 special, 15 bottles available
Winery Note “Bright straw-yellow color with slightly shimmering hints of gold. Intense aromas of ripe yellow fruit (peach, apricot), floral notes (rose petal) and hints of ginger. Sweet and delicate on the palate, with modest acidity, and good balance and complexity. Hints of fresh apricot on the finish. Drink as an aperitif, perfect accompaniment to Pan-Asian cuisine and lobster as well as pastry, fruit based and creamy desserts and blue cheeses.”

…but that’s not all! Don’t forget to keep the Bubbles flowing:

 
Champagne pairs well with everything! This vintage release from Diebolt-Vallois is a mighty and articulate exploration of everything that makes Champagne the drink of choice here at Vinopolis.
Diebolt-Vallois Blanc De Blancs Brut 2018 750ml $59 special, 36+ bottles available
Decanter 92 Points “All from the northern Côte (Cuis and Chouilly), this is a vintage cuvée that reflects the year’s easy charms and open stance. Creamy with white peach and nougat and bright with grapefruit peel and oyster shell. It’s snappy rather than structured or tense, tuned deliciously for mid-term drinking yet still offering the smooth, age-complexed texture expected at this level.”
 
Our best buy grower champagne for years now. Coutier is a staff favorite for good reason!
RH Coutier Tradition Grand Cru Brut NV 750ml $44.50 special, 33 bottles available
Antonio Galloni-Vinous 91 Points “The NV Brut Tradition Grand Cru is stellar. Kirsch, dried flowers, spice, dried pear and mint all show a slightly burnished quality that makes me think it is best suited to near term drinking. I don’t imagine ageability will be a problem, however, as most bottles will likely be long gone before that is an issue. The richness and breadth of Ambonnay Pinot are very much in evidence. There are no hard edges to this vinous, heady Champagne from Coutier. This release is 60% 2015 and 40% reserve wines. Dosage is 6 grams per liter. Disgorged: July, 2022.”
 
Local faves Goodfellow bring every bit as much nuance and old world-styled virtuosity to their sparkling wines as they do to their still pinots and Chardonnays. This wine is a lip-smacking triumph!
Goodfellow Willamette Valley Extra Brut NV 750ml $49 special, 14 bottles available
Eric Guido-Vinous 92 Points “Dusty florals and spices give way to yellow apples and hints of iodine as the NV Extra Brut evolves in the glass. Soothingly round and textured, it sweeps across the palate with ripe orchard fruits and a bead of creamy bubbles. This finishes remarkably clean and pure, leaving a resonance of ripe Anjou pear to linger on. The balance here is unreal. Dosage is 2.5 grams per liter.”
Winery Note “Comprised of 67% Chardonnay and 33% Pinot Noir, from vintages 2019-2022. Elevage is a range of larger format French oak and Acacia puncheons. This is an early disgorgement, but the wine contains a significant percentage of reserve wines aged 30 months or longer on lees in puncheon. My favorite things about this wine are its refinement, layering, and integration. It is both light bodied and ethereal, but with excellent texture and suppleness. It moves through a range of aromatics, stony, citrusy, with touches of yeast esters, a bit of stoniness, it’s both brightly fresh and yet texturally mature. Light in the mouth at 12.2%, it covers mineral notes, mandarins, and pastry dough. The polished elegance and refinement is balanced by a lovely freshness in the acidity. The bottle disappears quite quickly.”
 

 

 
 

 

“This wine is way too easy to drink” –Josh Raynolds, Vinous
 
We can’t say enough good things about Bow & Arrow and the wines they make. Scott Frank seems to have cracked the code to do two things that are nearly impossible for other Oregon wineries. First, he makes wines that are vibrant, fresh and delicious in a truly old-world fashion. The wines are awesome. There’s a liveliness that we find in the Bow & Arrow wines that can often be lacking from lots of other wines from this state—a zippiness, if you will. As a result, the wines (especially the wines we’re featuring today) can be compulsively drinkable. We may have mentioned this already, but the wines are great.

 NEW ARRIVAL  Bow & Arrow Rose 2024 750ml $21.90 special, 24 bottles available
Winery Note “This year’s rosé is a short maceration of Gamay from the organically farmed Rooker Vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA. Natural as can be! It’s a stainless steel fermented study on wet rocks and perhaps a border skirmish between watermelon Jolly Ranchers and Grapefruit Jarritos.  Unyeasted, unfiltered, unfined and unmanipulated. Only made in years that lend themselves to making quality rose.  Our smallest production.”
 
…also currently available from bow & arrow:
 
Bow & Arrow Fool’s Gold Willamette Valley 2023 750ml $24 special, 27 bottles available
Winery Note “50% Chardonnay/50% Sauvignon Blanc. After experimenting in 2019 with making a Cheverny Blanc style Chard/Sauv Blanc blend and having it exceed all expectations I am happy (relieved?!) to announce I went all in and made much more”
 
Bow & Arrow Gamay Willamette Valley 2023 750ml $21.90 special, 36+ bottles available
Winemaker Note “The spiritual heart of red wine production at Bow & Arrow.  The first “Loire” red variety I ever got my hands on so I’m 13 vintages in wrestling with this chameleon grape.  I tilted towards sappy and serious the last few years and decided to course correct back to highlighting the innate fruit character of Gamay with this iteration.  Juicy red fruits with a touch of grip as my faves tend to do it.”
 
Bow & Arrow Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2022 750ml $21.90 special, 36+ bottles available
Winemaker Note “The style I have been pursuing came into clearer focus the past year as I have become more and more charmed by the fresher, youthful expressions of Pinot coming out of Burgundy from the “next gen” of young producers.  There’s more whole cluster and red fruit character for sure.”
VinopolPick: I think this is the best pinot noir I’ve had at this price. With cherry, wet stone, and earthy notes with great acidity this is everything I love about Oregon wine. The quality is superb. This is the kind of wine I always have stashed away for social emergencies.