12-2-15
Champagne New Arrivals; Oregon Pinot Noir Special Section: Newbies & Large Format; Muga; Donnhoff; Super Deals – Mondavi, Franciscan, and Ruffino; Kapcsandy New Arrivals
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Holiday Sale Ends Tonight!
This includes 55 different wines across different price ranges, styles, and regions.
Here are four great buys:
David Schildknecht 91 points “Though harvested around the end of September and in the context of a concerted effort to achieve moderate alcohol, at 12.5% the Pichler 2012 Gruner Veltliner Federspiel Klostersatz is on the border of what would when that name was introduced in1987 have qualified – just – as Smaragd, and made a vintner happy he could announce that on the label. Pungent notes of herbs and lentil sprout translate into a sappy, nutty-vegetal palate presence combining palpable density with considerable buoyancy on a soothingly silken palate. Smoky black tea, crushed stone, and saliva-liberating salinity add to the interest, invigoration and mouthwatering savor of a sustained finish. Lucas Pichler attributes both the surprising degree of levity and the extra measure of depth here vis-a-vis the corresponding Frauenweingarten bottling to the advantages of gravel versus sand. That having been noted and credited, I’m bound to say that the “sandy” Frauenweingarten displays levity, exuberance and charm of its own when one returns to it from a tasting of its ostensible betters. Plan to enjoy this Klostersatz through 2017.”
Joel Payne – Vinous 88 points “Fragrant aromas of yellow apple, tobacco and dill. Juicy and appealing, with crisp acidity providing a crunchy underpinning to the ripe melon, white pepper and wet stone flavors. Fun to drink!”
The average price is $39
Wine Advocate 97 points “Coming all from Manfred’s Eleven Confessions Vineyard in the Sta. Rita Hills and a blend of 77% Grenache, 22% Syrah and 1% Viognier (fermented with 25% whole clusters), the 2011 Grenache Patine spent a full 33 months in almost all neutral oak, with just 11% being new. It offers perfumed and spice-laced notes of white pepper, black raspberry, blackberry and ground herbs that flow to a full-bodied, elegant, nicely concentrated 2011 that has nicely integrated acidity, no hard edges and a terrific finish. It’s certainly one of the fresher, more elegant Grenaches from Manfred, yet it still has rocking levels of fruit. Give it 2-3 years of cellaring and enjoy bottles over the following decade.” JD
Wine Advocate 96 points “The 2011 Barolo Lazzarito is a landmark wine and one of the best expressions made region-wide in this challenging vintage. The bouquet is gorgeous thanks to the never-ending aromas of dark fruit, licorice and balsam herb that peel off the top. The Lazzarito vineyard in Serralunga d’Alba is characterized by thick soils and deep shifts between daytime and nighttime temperatures. These are important factors that lead to quality fruit despite the summer heat.” ML
Antonio Galloni 95 points “The 2011 Barolo Lazzarito is fabulous in this vintage. Rich, ample and structured, the 2011 is both opulent and savory in style. Iron, plums, dark red cherries, smoke, licorice and tobacco meld together in a remarkably harmonious young Serralunga Barolo. This is the first year the Vietti Lazzarito includes a second recently acquired parcel, which may be one of the factors that influences quality, but at the same time, the Lazzarito has been the most improved Barolo in the range. All the elements come together in the 2011, a wine that has it all. This is a great showing from the Lazzarito. Best of all, readers won’t have to wait forever to enjoy this beautiful, pedigreed Barolo.” AG
This is still the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The average price is $148
Antonio Galloni 92+ points “A deep, earthy wine, the 2011 Meursault 1er Cru Poruzots-Dessus hits the palate with tons of muscle and power. The style is bold and direct. There isn’t a whole lot of complexity here, but there is plenty of pure stuffing. It will be interesting to see where the 2011 goes over the coming year. Today structural elements dominate over fruit.” AG
The next best price is $99.99
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Champagnes Arriving Friday, December 4th
Moet & Chandon Dom Perignon Luminous Collection Millesime Rose 2002 750ML ($399.95) $299 pre-arrival special
Antonio Galloni–Vinous 98 points “The 2002 Brut Rose explodes from the glass with endless layers of huge, voluptuous fruit, A big, full-bodied wine, the 2002 is probably the most overly vinous, intense Rose ever made by long-time Chef de Caves Richard Geoffroy. Layers of cool, insistent minerality balance the fruit beautifully on the crystalline, vivid finish.” AG
The next best price is $349.95
Krug Grand Cuvee MV 750ML ($189.95) $149 pre-arrival special
Marie-Noelle Ledru Grand Cru Extra Brut, Champagne NV 750ML ($69.95) $59 pre-arrival special
Josh Raynolds–Vinous 92 points
Peter Liem: “Ledru owns five hectares in Ambonnay and one in Bouzy, with a total of 30 different parcels. All of the vineyards are planted with cover crops and tilled, and she uses no herbicides or insecticides, seeking to work her vines as naturally as possible. The same sensibility extends to the cellar, where she makes the wines without filtration, without cold-stabilization and without any sulfur at disgorgement. Fermentation is all in stainless steel and enameled steel tanks, for their neutrality, and the malolactic is allowed for all wines. “I do the malo because for me it’s natural,” she says. The wines are aged for a respectably long time on their lees, averaging about three years for the brut sans année and five years for the vintage wines, and all disgorgement is done by hand, in a fashion not dissimilar to how it might have been done two or three generations ago. Ledru only bottles about half of her production, meaning that there’s very little wine to go around, and the other half is sold to the négoce, most notably to the houses of Pol Roger and Deutz”.
Oregon Pinots – Special Feature
Belle Pente Estate Reserve Pinot Noir, Yamhill-Carlton District 2012 750ML ($51.95) $46 special, 24 bottles available
Josh Raynolds- Vinous 94 points “Brilliant ruby-red. A heady, strikingly pure bouquet evokes ripe red and dark berries, potpourri and Asian spices, along with suggestions of sassafras, cola and smoky minerals. At once concentrated and lithe, conveying superb energy and focus to its juicy raspberry, cherry and spicecake flavors. A suave floral quality emerges with air, carrying through a very long, sweet, gently tannic finish that leaves sappy red berry and rose pastille notes behind. Is this the best bottling yet to emerge from this winery, which has firmly established itself as one of America’s finest sources of elegant Pinot Noir? One thing’s for sure, it’s an excellent value.”
Arterberry Maresh
Arriving Soon!
Arterberry Maresh Wines Arriving December 11th:
Arterberry Maresh Chardonnay, Willamette Valley 2012 750ML ($59.95) $49 pre-arrival special
Wine Advocate 91 points “The 2012 Chardonnay includes some purchased fruit from the Coastal Range, a vineyard at 1,400 feet that is apparently “in the middle of nowhere,” where the fruit ripens only once every four years. It contains some fruit from the Weber vineyard, plus Dijon clones from Maresh. Basket-pressed to retain solids, it spend 26 months in used barrel and was bottled unfiltered. It has a very poised bouquet with flint and smoke infusing the lime flower and citrus lemon aromas. The palate is well balanced with fine acidity, slightly waxy in texture with tropical tones coming through on the finish, touches of candied orange peel lingering on the aftertaste. Excellent.”
Wine Advocate 92 points “Bottled after 20 months of long but passive lees contact, the Arterberry-Maresh 2011 Chardonnay Maresh Vineyard is alluringly and stimulatingly scented with fresh lime, tangerine, iris and ginseng, whose pits, rinds and roots piquantly lace an at once brightly juicy and subtly creamy palate. There are lovely clarity, buoyancy, and salvia-inducing salinity here such as one misses in Chardonnay from anywhere outside of Chablis or the Jura. Interestingly, Maresh will typically allow his Chardonnay must to settle, chilled, for two full weeks before letting it ferment spontaneously. I wonder what influence that might have on its longevity. All I know for sure is that from analogy with the corresponding 2009, I’m pretty confident that this long-finishing 2011 will reward through at least 2016.” WA
Arterberry Maresh Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills 2013 750ML ($27.95) $24 pre-arrival special
Josh Raynolds – Vinous 91 points “Bright red. Aromas of cherry pit and dark berry skin, with exotic Indian spice and woodsmoke notes adding complexity. Juicy, concentrated and smooth, offering gently sweet, palate-caressing blackberry and rose pastille flavors that show good depth and power for the year. Finishes smooth, sappy and long, with dusty tannins coming in slowly to add grip. A big success for an entry-level bottling from this vintage.” JR
Arterberry Maresh Weber Vineyard Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills 2011 750ML ($59.95) $49 pre-arrival special
Wine Advocate 92 points “Tart skin to ripe plum and singed edges to bloody red meat – along with impressions of moss, lichen and peat – mark the intriguingly complex Arterberry Maresh 2011 Pinot Noir Weber Vineyard. Polished but firm, it displays impressive penetration and grip. There is a stony impression here that adds to the metaphoric noir of this pinot, yet allied to the levity realized by low alcohol and to energetic, incisive juiciness courtesy inter alia of low pH. This paradoxical alliance of dark and bright elements, brooding and energy, is something I associate with many of the finest Burgundies; and I suspect that the bottling in question will only gain in intrigue through 2025, if not beyond, while retaining its stamina and even its ability to refresh.” WA
Josh Raynolds – Vinous 93 points “Brilliant red. Explosive mineral- and spice-laced red berry liqueur and cherry aromas, along with suggestions of incense and musky rhubarb. Sappy, sweet and palate-staining, offering intense raspberry and cherry-cola flavors that tighten up slowly with aeration. Deftly combines power with finesse and finishes spicy and very long, with fine-grained tannins making a late appearance and folding quickly into the wine’s energetic fruit.” JR
Arterberry Maresh Weber Vineyard Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills 2013 750ML ($69.95) $54 pre-arrival special
Josh Raynolds – Vinous 92 points “Vivid red. An exotically perfumed bouquet evokes fresh red berries, spicecake and rose oil, along with a smoky mineral overtone. Shows deeper dark fruit character on the palate, offering sweet, energetic black raspberry and cherry flavors and a strong spine of juicy acidity. Closes with repeating smokiness, fine-grained tannins and outstanding fruit-driven persistence.” JR
~ ~ ~
Large Format from Crowley
Magnums just hit the shelf!
Crowley ‘La Colina Vineyard’ Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2013 1.5L ($219.95) $169 special, 3 magnums available
Huet – New Rave Reviews
Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec 2014 750ML ($41.95) $28 special, 28 bottles available
Wine Advocate 94+ points “Intensely yellow in color, the 2014 Vouvray Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec offers a very clear, intense and aromatic bouquet of ripe yellow fruits along with crushed stone flavors. The Demi-Sec version is even more open than the Sec, and the attack on the palate is lovely, round and fruit-intense, but also very mineral and firmly structured in the finish. This is a very elegant and mouth-filling Chenin with great finesse and a lingering salinity. It has good and grippy length. This wine is dangerously accessible already, though with an aging potential of 20-30, probably more years. The 20 grams per liter of residual sugar tastes quite sweet at the moment.”
Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Sec 2014 750ML ($49.95) $39 special, 10 bottles available
Wine Advocate 96 points “Huet’s 2014 Vouvray Le Mont Sec is the other wine that wine lovers should buy and store, especially those with a heart for crystalline and extremely mineral wines. If Clos du Bourg is like something between Chablis and Riesling, Le Mont is comparable with Sancerre from Silex soils, but again also dry Riesling from the bedrock parts of Lower Austria (along the Danube river). Its aroma on the nose intertwines white and green fruits like apples and lemons with coolish flint stone, spicy and floral aromas in a subtly intense, very intriguing and complex way. There is a great purity and linearity on the complex and elegant, intense and persistent palate, but also some ripe fruit flavors that remind not just of crystalline Riesling but also aromatic wines from grape varieties such as Muscat or Sauvignon Blanc. This is a powerful and intense but much more finesse-full, purely mineral and highly elegant wine with a beautiful touch of sweetness (say roundness) and lovely citrus flavors. This is the most elegant and delicate Chenin of Huet’s dry trio and its aromatic length, energy, salinity and spell-binding finesse is truly unrivaled. This is simply great Chenin Blanc and Huet’s hallmark wine of the vintage. Chapeau!”
Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Sec 2014 750ML ($39.95) $31.90 special, 18 bottles available
Wine Advocate 94+ points “The 2014 Vouvray Clos du Bourg Sec is brighter colored than the Haut-Lieu and shows a white-golden color. The nose indicates a very delicate, fresh and mineral wine of great finesse and beautifully clear white fruit flavors, which changes somewhere between young Chablis and Riesling from a limestone terroir. This is just gorgeous (or will be one day) and provided with some smoky flavors of Speck or air-dried hamm (jamón serrano), along with lemon juice, chalk, carambola and some floral flavors. Like the 2014 Haut-Lieu Sec, the Clos du Bourg is also quite round and gentle on the first palate; it shows a great finesse, refined fruit elegance and enervating raciness that reminds me of the finest dry (German or Southern Palatinate) Rieslings, although the power and length seems even stronger towards the finish. I have rarely tasted a young Chenin that combines power, finesse, elegance and persistency in such a perfectly balanced way. This is surely a wine to buy, drink and store. The only error possible here is to buy too little of it.”
Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Haut Lieu Sec 2014 750ML ($31.95) $24 special, 36+ bottles available
Wine Advocate 93+ points “A golden yellow color dresses the 2014 Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Sec, which is still a baby on the nose, showing concentrated, almost tropical fruit flavors (pineapples, lemons) on the clear and fresh nose. Round and fruity on the palate, this medium to full-bodied, very elegant and persistent wine shows ripe and concentrated fruit, a delicately yeasty texture with a very fine grip, and is followed by a long, intense finish packed with minerals and stimulating dashes of lemon juice and limestone minerals. There is an excellent purity of fruit and a structure giving minerality here. Since we know how well also dry Huets can age, I would not touch it before 2020/21, although I am pretty sure the wine will be even better in 15 or 20+ years.”
Also Available from Huet:
Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux Clos du Bourg Premiere Trie 2008 750ML ($79.95) $59 special, 14 bottles available
Wine Spectator 95 points “Starts with a tangy crème fraîche note before giving way to green almond, green tea, chamomile, powdered ginger and mineral notes. So precise it almost comes off as dry in feel, but the finish belies its late harvest with a showy candied citrus peel note. Drink now through 2025. 880 cases made.” WS
Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Haut Lieu Moelleux 2005 375ML ($34.95) $21.90 special, 36 half-bottles available
Wine Advocate 92 points “Reflecting a combination of botrytis and sheer desiccation, the 2005 Vouvray Moelleux Le Haut-Lieu smells of spiced apple and quince jelly, grapefruit zest, peony and buddleia, ethereal, honeyed secretions of botrytis and snuffed candle wick. Elegant, wafting and bright on the palate, this finishes with superb clarity and concentration, honeyed richness yet a restrained impression of sweetness (albeit at around 50 grams residual sugar) and offsetting hints of bitterness. Certainly it will in time (and then probably for well more than a decade) serve admirably with a wide array of cuisine but ought on no account be treated as “dessert wine.”
German Masters
Twenty hectares (about 50 acres) of pure gold. Well, mostly slate, weathered volcanic rock, porphyry, melaphyr, red sandstone and loess-clay, on some of the finest terraced slopes and ideal expositions in all of Germany, and certainly in the region of Nahe. Dönnhoff is truly one of the greatest representations of classic German Riesling. The Dönnhoff family first arrived in the Nahe region over 250 years ago, and Helmut Dönnhoff has been recognized as a world renowned living legend for German winemaking. Helmut is now slowly passing off most duties to his son Cornelius, who since 2007 has worked alongside in the winery and in their 25 hectares of Erste Lage, or grand cru vineyards.
The wines of the Nahe show minerality and elegance, rather than big fruit and opulence. Yes, there are beautiful fruit components in these wines as well, but these wines are deeply rooted (literally) and have continuously shown a sense of place. Dönnhoff does not water their vineyards, in order to encourage deeply rooted vines, leaving the roots with no choice but to dig deep for all the minerals and nutrients needed. All the vineyards are farmed sustainably and some organically, with soils being covered strictly with organic materials which both preserve water and avoid evaporation and erosion in heavy rains.
Helmut explains that the aging potential of his wines are phenomenal, especially for the wines with less alcohol content and more residual sugar. These particular wines have the capability of aging for 20+ years, depending on the vintage and the vineyard. With patience and time, they no longer come off as ‘sweet’, having developed secondary and/or tertiary notes with incredible textures, flavors and impressive acidity levels.
We’re happy to stock a wide variety of these revered wines, all viewable below:
Weingut Donnhoff Norheimer Dellchen Riesling Grosses Gewachs 2014 750ML ($79.95) $59 special, 24 bottles available
Weingut Donnhoff Norheimer Dellchen Riesling Grosses Gewachs 2014 1.5L ($149.95) $125 special, 2 magnums available
John Gilman 94+ points “The 2014 Dellchen GG is another really stunningly focused young wine, with superb aromatic and flavor precision to go along with excellent structural elements and impeccable balance. The bouquet is a mix of grapefruit, tart orange, wild yeasts, plenty of smokiness, a fine base of slate and again, a distinct topnote of lemongrass. On the palate the wine is pure, fullbodied and rock solid at the core, with lovely focus and balance, racy acids and a long, refined and utterly seamless finish. Outstanding juice this year. 2022-2060+.” JG
Terry Theise notes “All of these had remarkable aspects and potentials but none of them was ready to rock. Felsenberg has tremendous aroma, almost fiercely smoky, with lemon and Indonesian peppers. Dellchen is fleshier but also, as is its wont, more inscrutable. Hermannshöhle was still on its first lees but was already showing depth and fragrance. If my “plusses” matter to you, and if I let myself prognosticate, it’s two for Felsenberg and Hermannshöhle and one for Dellchen. The wines will surely make a fool of me.”
The Wine Advocate “The 2013 Riesling is quite coolish and mineral on the nose, very clear with white stone fruit aromas. Light-bodied, salty and piquant, this is a sexy Riesling, a dying sort of Riesling, a Oberhausen Kabinett off-dry, a delicious, stimulatingly piquant wine which is almost completely exported. An extremely quaffable wine.”
Terry Theise notes “I think these wines show a paradox analogous to the thread-count in linens: the more there are, the smoother it feels. Each of these wines has so much sheer material the result is they feel not soft but caressing. That said though, this ’13 has greener flavors than usual, in keeping with the vintage character. It remains the world’s greatest wine value, and it seems that some of you have also made this discovery, as we have very few cases unspoken for as I write.”
Weingut Donnhoff ‘Felsenturmchen’ Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs 2014 1.5L ($149.95) $125 special, 1 magnum available
John Gilman 93+ points ‘The 2014 Felsenberg Grosses Gewächs bottling form the Türmchen section of the vineyard this year has turned out beautifully, wafting from the glass in a classic constellation of white cherries, pink grapefruit, complex floral tones, a fine base of slate, wild yeasts, lemongrass and orange peel. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and very refined, with a rock solid core, ripe, zesty acids, laser-like focus and a long, youthful and energetic finish. A beautiful bottle of dry Riesling in the making. 2020-2055″ JG
Terry Theise notes “All of these had remarkable aspects and potentials but none of them was ready to rock. Felsenberg has tremendous aroma, almost fiercely smoky, with lemon and Indonesian peppers. Dellchen is fleshier but also, as is its wont, more inscrutable. Hermannshöhle was still on its first lees but was already showing depth and fragrance. If my “plusses” matter to you, and if I let myself prognosticate, it’s two for Felsenberg and Hermannshöhle and one for Dellchen. The wines will surely make a fool of me.”
Donnhoff Grosses Gewachs 6-Pack 2014 750ML ($419.95) $379.95 special, 3 available
2 bottles each of the 3 Grosses Gewachs bottlings from 2014: Dellchen, Felsenberg, And Hermannshohle
Terry Theise notes “All of these had remarkable aspects and potentials but none of them was ready to rock. Felsenberg has tremendous aroma, almost fiercely smoky, with lemon and Indonesian peppers. Dellchen is fleshier but also, as is its wont, more inscrutable. Hermannshöhle was still on its first lees but was already showing depth and fragrance. If my “plusses” matter to you, and if I let myself prognosticate, it’s two for Felsenberg and Hermannshöhle and one for Dellchen. The wines will surely make a fool of me.”
Weingut Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Grosses Gewachs 2014 1.5L ($179.95) $149 special, 4 magnums available
John Gilman 94+ points “The Grosses Gewächs from the Hermannshöhle in 2014 is another outstanding wine in the making, offering up a superb and utterly suave aromatic mélange of grapefruit, tart orange, slate, wild yeasts, citrus peel and a lovely, discreet topnote of white flowers. On the palate the wine is deep, pure and full-bodied, with a superb core of fruit, ripe, seamless acids and superb length and grip on the tightly-knit finish. A really superb and suave young Hermannshöhle GG. 2022-2060+” JG
Terry Theise notes “All of these had remarkable aspects and potentials but none of them was ready to rock. Felsenberg has tremendous aroma, almost fiercely smoky, with lemon and Indonesian peppers. Dellchen is fleshier but also, as is its wont, more inscrutable. Hermannshöhle was still on its first lees but was already showing depth and fragrance. If my “plusses” matter to you, and if I let myself prognosticate, it’s two for Felsenberg and Hermannshöhle and one for Dellchen. The wines will surely make a fool of me.”
Weingut Donnhoff Kreuznacher Kahlenberg Riesling Trocken 2014 750ML ($39.95) $31.90 special, 36+ bottles available
John Gilman 91 points “The 2014 Kahlenberg Trocken hails from grapes with Spätlese must weights this year and is a notable step up from the first two, very good wines. The bouquet wafts from the glass in
a classy blend of white cherries, apple, spring flowers, a lovely base of soil and a youthful topnote of orange peel. On the palate the wine is medium-full, bright and nicely reserved on the attack, with a fine core, bright acids and superb backend energy and cut on the long finish. This is really high class juice that would age long and happily under cork, though I cannot remember which closure it was destined to receive. 2017-2035.” JG
Terry Theise notes “The Kreuznach site is a gentle slope on gravelly loam, but has long been regarded as an excellent vineyard. I’d been leaving it out of the offering in a fruitless attempt to keep it tidy, but tidiness has no place in either rock & roll or the fine wine business. So: I found this ’14 to be really deft, stern but breathy, wonderfully fragrant, mineral, hint of maize or wet cereal; a determined finish but really, only 70% of this note has any chance of being accurate six months from now.”
John Gilman 89-90+ points “The 2014 Krötenpfuhl Kabinett had just been bottled as well- this time only a few days before my visit and was a bit out of sorts as a result. The nose is open and juicy at the present time, offering up scents of apple, peach, lovely soil tones, a touch of beeswax and a topnote of citrus blossoms. On the palate the wine is medium-full, accessible and succulent on the attack, with a nice core of fruit, good complexity and a slightly pinched finish at the present time, from the very, very recent bottling. I am sure this will be very tasty, but it was not entirely on form at the time of my visit. 2015-2025.”
Terry Theise notes “Best! Ever! Vintage! Spritzy, brilliant, seeming to show every green thing (lime-zest, verbena, anise hyssop, wintergreen) atop the salumeria savor. Somehow this has fallen in love and is telling everyone in the world.”
Donnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Auslese GK 2014 750ML ($119.95) $79 special, 9 bottles available
Donnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Auslese GK 2014 375ML ($59.95) $49 special, 1 half-bottles available
Donnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Auslese GK 2014 1.5L 2014 ($249.95) $199 special, 1 magnum available
93+ points John Gilman “The 2014 Hermannshöhle Auslese is the only bottling at this Prädikat level in the cellars this year, and it is a very pretty and elegant example of the vintage. The wine delivers a refined and gently-glazed nose of pineapple, apple, bee pollen, wild fennel, tangerine and a lovely base of slate. On the palate the wine is fullish, elegant and beautifully balanced, with a very good midpalate
depth, impeccable focus and balance, vibrant acids and lovely grip on the long and zesty finish. 2023-2060+.” JG
Terry Theise notes “This may sport a “goldcapsule” but there’s only this Auslese plus maybe one other small lot destined for the auction—undecided in March when I visited. Vis-à-vis the Spätlese, they seem to run neck-and-neck, but the Auslese will draw ahead in the later laps. For now it concentrates the Spät without layering six coats of botrytis over it. In fact is has all the snap and vigor of the Spät with more overripe plum, more compote, and also verbena and spearmint, yet it’s the green flavors that are (at least now) most expressive, so an improbable Auslese with enormous lift and buoyance, and with a lacy richness.”
Donnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Auslese GK 2013 375ML ($49.95) $39 special, 2 half-bottles available
Wine Spectator 91 points “Balanced, with good focus to the juicy peach, apple and melon flavors, all supported by fresh acidity and lively spiciness. Hints of cream and anise show on the finish. Drink now through 2035.” WS
Wine Advocate 96 points “Intriguingly musky and subtly fungal as well as piercing in its evocation of distilled pit fruits and botanicals, the nose of Donnhoff’s 2011 Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Beerenauslese – which was picked alongside its Auslese counterpart – promises an intense palate experience that the wine very much delivers. Distilled extracts of wormwood, woodruff and anisette; maraschino and serviceberry seem to lace the amalgam of quince jelly with pear and white peach nectars in a lusciously multi-layered yet animated palate performance. A spicy and tropical suggestion of mango chutney compounds the vibrantly penetrating effect of pungent herbal and pit fruit essences in a tonsil-gripping, mouth-shaking finish.” WA
John Gilman 94+ points “As is the case with the Brücke Spätlese, the 2014 Hermannshöhle Spätlese is a superb bottle that may always live just a bit on the shadow of the pure magic of the 2013 version. The wine offers up an excellent and complex aromatic constellation of pink grapefruit, white cherries, slate, a hint of petrol, wild yeasts, orange peel and a topnote of lemongrass. On the palate the wine is medium-full, focused and very suave on the attack, with a fine core, ripe acids and outstanding length and grip on the still very primary, but utterly seamless finish. Fine, fine juice. 2020-2050.” JG
Terry Theise notes “A loving beaming grinning-like-a-dope vintage of this perennial masterpiece, transparent and lucid; indeed it’s a dialectical explication of Hermannshöhle; it reminded me of the ’08 but it’s more Eiswein-y, that sorcerous syrup.”
Weingut Donnhoff Norheimer Kirschheck Riesling Spatlese, Nahe 2014 1.5L ($99.95) $79 special, 3 magnums available
Terry Theise notes “Not so girlish or sweet-natured as usual; this is serious and wants to make a point—how strong and proud this terroir can be. A megalith of mineral here! Its cherry-dimples are discreet. Seems drier than usual, less comely, more complex, and utterly vivid and dazzling.”
Weingut Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Eiswein 2011 375ML ($239.95) $149 special, 5 half-bottles available
Wine Advocate 92 points “Musk and leather; prickly radish and lemon rind; caramel apple and honey; passion fruit and mango inform an intense aromatic as well as ultra-concentrated palate performance. Unlike with so many other 2011s rendered from frozen grapes in early 2012, one can’t complain here about a lack of Eiswein-like acidity – but it takes-on a somewhat detached, slightly metallic and strident edge. Perhaps this extreme wine’s caramelized and animal aspects will reconcile themselves in time with its sharp citricity and radish-like sizzle, but the ways of Eiswein in the bottle are capricious.” WA
The next best price is $178.49
Weingut Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese 2014 1.5L ($119.95) $99 special, 2 magnums available
John Gilman 93 points “The 2014 Brücke Spätlese is really a lovely wine this year, but it cannot quite compete with the really classic example of this bottling crafted here in 2013. The wine offers up a lovely and quite complex bouquet of tangerine, apple, a classy base of slate, wild yeasts, a nice touch of Brücke spice tones and a topnote of apple blossoms. On the palate the wine is deep, fullish, pure and seamless, with a rock solid core, ripe acids and excellent length and grip on the focused and vibrant finish. This is really a lovely bottle of Spätlese. 2020-2050.” JG
Terry Theise notes “It’s usually their ur-riesling, the one that feels Edenic or primordial, and the one that’s often inscrutable in its youth. Not this year. I’ve never experienced a young Brücke that’s so psychedelic and in-your-face, perhaps because it’s the only wine from Brücke this year (no Auslese nor Eiswein) and so all the best fruit is in here. After four weeks of tasting, hundreds if not thousands of wines, it is this one that haunts me, like the very map of your soul that you put down somewhere and now can’t locate.”
Weingut Donnhoff Oberhauser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett 2014 1.5L ($79.95) $69 special, 3 bottles available
John Gilman 90-92 points “In the past there has been versions of the Leistenberg Kabinett under both screwcap and natural cork, but this year, it is all under the screw, and this wine too had only been bottled for a few days prior to my visit. The bouquet is a very stylish blend of apple, pear, slate, lilacs and a touch of wild yeasts in the upper register. On the palate the wine is medium-full, long and succulent, with a good core, beautiful balance, ripe acids and very good length and grip on the finish. This too is a bit unsettled from its recent bottling, but will be very good. Pity about the closure…2015-2025.” JG
Weingut Donnhoff Roxheimer Hollenpfad Riesling Trocken 2014 750ML ($47.95) $36 special, 15 bottles available
Weingut Donnhoff Roxheimer Hollenpfad Riesling Trocken 2014 1.5L ($119.95) $89 special, 3 magnums available
John Gilman 91+ points “I did not take note on the alcohol level of the Kahlenberg this year, but the Höllenpfad Trocken bottling comes in between twelve and 12.5 percent alcohol, and I have to assume it is the same for the Kahlenberg. The 2014 Höllenpfad is really lovely in this vintage and very, very reflective of its unique, red sandstone soils on both the nose and palate. The lovely nose offers up scents of pink grapefruit, tart orange, lemongrass, a dollop of wild yeasts and a very complex base of minerality. On the palate the wine is medium-full, pure and more filigreed, with a lovely core, bright acids and lovely focus and grip on the long, vibrant and really quite elegant finish. This is a touch more feline than the Kahlenberg and gets the slight nod in 2014 as a result. 2018- 2035+.” JG
Terry Theise notes “It means, basically, “Highway To Hell.” I kid you not. It’s from the cadaster parcel Mühlberg, which could be a GG, but this is a famously tardy wine—Kahlenberg gives you a chummier greeting. I’m starting to sense this wine needs to attain at least some of its tertiary notes before we see what it is, and why it’s made dry. Helmut and Cornelius counsel patience as I sat kind of lost at the wine’s forbidding exterior.”
Wine Advocate 99 points “The over-ripe pear and quince featured in other nobly sweet wines of this collection are very much present in Donnhoff’s 2007 Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Beerenauslese, along with aromas of distilled gentian, gardenia, lemon oil, freshly baked bread, and white truffle. The intensity of inner-mouth perfume here – orchard fruit, floral, and herbal distillates – is nearly beyond belief. Pear nectar, quince preserves, apple jelly, liquid gardenia, brown spices, and a certain saline and smoky suggestions of things mineral inform a finish of trance-inducing duration. This amazing elixir – harvested largely in the Turmchen section of the site – should be worthy of 40 years cellaring. When Donnhoff laughingly referred to this as the year of Felsenberg, he was not in fact kidding, nor was he referring just to the sheer number of bottlings!”WA
Weingut Donnhoff Oberhauser Leistenberg Tonschiefer Riesling Trocken 2013 750ML ($29.95) $24 special, 9 bottles available
The Wine Advocate “The 2013 Riesling Trocken Tonschiefer is more sophisticated than the Gutsriesling, displaying pure, flinty slate aromas along with bright fruit aromas. Quite round and intense on the palate, this is medium-bodied, slightly piquant Riesling with a certain power, juice and length. A mouthful of wine with Spätlese level.”
Terry Theise notes “The estate wine from (mostly) Leistenberg which grows on a sandy slate called Tholeyer Schiefer. This is as limpid as spring-water, until it rears up with radicchio and with a slatey char. It’s for connoisseurs of the art of bitterness, in a jacket of cool freshness and the gleam of sunlight on the surface of the water.”
John Gilman 89+ points “The 2014 Tonschiefer is a lovely wine, with a bit different expression of minerality than the Estate Trocken, as these grapes hail entirely from the Leistenberg and are a on a bed of carbon-slate that is geological outlier of the coal beds in the Saar. The nose offers up a lovely constellation of tangerine, a hint of white cherry, wild yeasts, slate, citrus peel and a gentle topnote of lemongrass. On the palate the wine is medium-full, crisp and quite suave on the attack, with lovely focus and grip, ripe, well-integrated acids and a long, balanced and quite classy finish. Lovely juice and a fine value. 2015-2025+.” JG
Terry Theise notes “This is the dry wine from the (Oberhäuser) Leistenberg, on sandy slate. It’s pure mineral in 2014. Crisp almost to the point of brittleness, yet it’s so breathy and silky I know it will shine as it sheds its immaturity.”
The Real-Deal Rioja
Bodegas Muga ‘Prado Enea’ Gran Reserva, Rioja DOCa 2006 750ML ($79.95) $59 special, 6 bottles available
Wine Advocate 96 points “The 2006 Prado Enea is a phenomenal bottle of traditional Rioja at its best. A blend of 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha and the remaining 10% Mazuelo and Graciano aged for a long time in oak and bottled before release. This is a practice quite common from yesteryear, but that is a true rarity today. The technical data provided talks about incredible parameters, 14% alcohol and a pH of 3.39, both extremely low for a warm vintage like 2006. The grapes are sourced from higher-altitude terraced plots where the climate is cooler and drier and the soils are rich in clay. This is a wine that is not automatically produced every year. The wine spends its elevage in oak containers of different size, origin and age for no less than three years. The nose is intoxicating with a superb mixture of tertiary and more primary aromas like old furniture, cloves, cracked pepper, incense and cigar ash plus cherries in liqueur (that Garnacha!). The palate is medium-bodied, with great freshness (Jorge Muga tells me the pH is stabilized with aging in barrel), acidity and balance, with a silky texture, ultra-fine tannins and great persistence and length. This wine feels younger than it is, and seems to be aging at a glacial pace. With the stuffing and balance it has this should make very old bones, and drink greatly throughout its life. Superb! At this quality level the price seems like a bargain. 90,000 bottles produced. The next Prado Enea will be 2009 as they didn’t get what they look for in this wine in either 2007 and 2008. Those were two cold vintages, and 2007 had 100 liters of rain during the harvest. Prado Enea is harvested in November and in 2008 there was frost at the end of October.” LG
Bodegas Muga Reserva, Rioja DOCa 2011 750ML ($24.95) $21.90 special, 36+ bottles available
Case-12 Bodegas Muga Reserva, Rioja DOCa 2011 750ML ($299.95) $236 special, 4 bottles available
91+ points Wine Advocate “The 2011 Reserva is mostly Tempranillo complemented with some 20% Garnacha, 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo. There are no stainless-steel vats at Muga, so everything is fermented in oak vats and this wine is then aged for one year in new French oak barrels and a further year in used ones (three to six years old), fined with egg white and bottled. It is a Rioja that mixes the traditional and modern character with ripe fruit and contains oak aromas that are quite spicy and have some toast and smoke that should integrate with a bit of time in bottle. The palate is medium-bodied, has clean flavors that are balanced with sweet tannins. This is easy to drink, pleasant but not banal, and delivers a lot for its price. An impressive half-million bottles are produced of this wine, which is sold as Crianza in Spain and as Reserva in the rest of the world. Year after year, one of the most reliable and affordable Reservas.” LG
Bodegas Muga Seleccion Especial Reserva, Rioja DOCa 2010 750ML ($59.95) $39 special, 35 bottles available
Case-12 Bodegas Muga Seleccion Especial Reserva, Rioja DOCa 2010 750ML ($499.95) $439 special, 2 cases available
Wine Enthusiast 94 points “Tight as a drum on the nose, this rambunctious Rioja is throbbing with blackberry, plum and floral aromas. Intense and staunch on the palate, with plum, raspberry, cherry, herb and chocolate flavors, this runs long on the finish, with power and acidity to spare. Hold until 2017, then drink through 2035. Cellar Selection.” WE
Stephen Tanzer 93 points “(70% tempranillo, 20% garnacha, 7% mazuelo and 3% graciano; fermented in large oak vats and aged for 28 months in small French and American oak barrels of varying age): Inky purple. Flamboyant aromas of ripe berries, incense, potpourri, smoky oak and pungent minerals. Lush, fleshy and alluringly sweet, offering intense black and blue fruit flavors that coat the palate. Smooth, seamless and impressively concentrated but also lively, with sneaky tannins giving shape to the long, spice-accented finish.” ST
R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Reserva, Rioja DOCa 2003 750ML ($47.95) $33 special, 36+ bottles available
Case-12 R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Reserva, Rioja DOCa 2003 750ML ($499.95) $359 special, 5 cases available
Wine Spectator 91 points “Cigar box, cedar and balsamic notes frame cherry, raisin and licorice flavors in this lean, firm red. Displays grip and focus. A traditional style. Drink now through 2023.
Wine Advocate 93 points “The 2004 Vina Bosconia Reserva is a blend of 80% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacho and the remaining 5% Mazuelo and Graciano aged for five years in used barrels, racked twice per year and fined with egg whites before being bottled unfiltered. Dark ruby-colored, with notes of beef blood, iron, antique shop, incense, blood orange and a touch of volatile acidity, the palate is very fresh, with good concentration, clear flavors and enough grip and fruit to age gracefully. A perfumed and feminine great Rioja. The Bosconia vineyard wines are the only ones from Lopez de Heredia bottled in Burgundy bottles. Drink now-2024.” WA
Bodegas LAN Edicion Limitada, Rioja DOCa 2011 750ML ($41.95) $36 special, 19 bottles available
Wine Spectator 94 points — #23 TOP 100 2015– “This rich red delivers ripe, racy flavors of blackberry, kirsch, toast, spice and mineral. Plush but dense, with subtle yet powerful tannins and tangy acidity. A big wine, showing energy and style. Drink now through 2031.”
Bodegas Remelluri ‘Lindes de Remelluri Vinedos de Labastida’, Rioja DOCa 2010 750ML ($34.95) $29 special, 18 bottles available
Stephen Tanzer 92 points “Saturated ruby. Blackcurrant, smoky minerals and potpourri on the highly perfumed nose. Silky and sweet on entry, then packed with juicy dark fruit complicated by floral pastilles and a hint of blood orange. Powerful but lithe, with seamless texture, fine-grained tannins and impressive energy on the finish.” ST
Bodegas Remelluri ‘Lindes de Remelluri Vinedos de San Vicente’, Rioja DOCa 2010 750ML ($34.95) $29 special, 25 bottles available
Stephen Tanzer 92 points “Glass-staining ruby. Heady aromas of boysenberry, cassis, fennel and pipe tobacco, with a sexy vanilla undertone. Lush, velvety and sweet in the mouth, with sexy flavors of black and blue fruit preserves, licorice and floral pastilles. A fleshy, powerful but shockingly energetic Rioja, with supple tannins framing a long, sweet finish.” ST
Stephen Tanzer 92 points “(mostly tempranillo, with garnacha, graciano, viura and malvasia): Ruby-red. Redcurrant, cherry, rose pastille and spicecake on the highly perfumed nose and in the mouth. Silky, sweet and penetrating, with slow-building tannins and excellent finishing cut and length. A very successful wine for this difficult vintage, and it’s built to reward at least another ten years of aging.”ST
Wine Advocate 93 points “The 2009 Remelluri Reserva aims at showing the character of Remelluri, as this is the first modern vintage that does not have grapes purchased from external suppliers. These grapes are now in the Lindes range of wines, but in the past they were blended with the estate grapes. The cool Remelluri vineyards behave very well in warmer years. This 2009 is very clean with predominant aromas of earthy red fruit intermixed with notes of vanilla and cinnamon, a satin texture with round, fine-grained tannins and quite classical and very well-proportioned style. This is a great vintage for Remelluri Reserva.” WA
CVNE Compania Vinicola del Norte de Espana ‘Imperial’ Reserva, Rioja DOCa 2008 750ML ($47.95) $29 special, 40 bottles available
Case-12 CVNE Compania Vinicola del Norte de Espana ‘Imperial’ Reserva, Rioja DOCa 2008 750ML ($499.95) $299 special, 3 cases available
Wine Advocate 93 points “The 2008 Imperial Reserva is my favorite of the three Imperial Reservas that I tasted together as it has the perfect balance between ripeness, acidity and tannins, in a wine that is eminently elegant, but will require some time in bottle to gain complexity. The fruit leans more towards the red varieties (raspberries and strawberries), it is very spicy but the wood is almost fully integrated. Very balanced palate, with high-toned flavors that make it vibrant. Drink 2015-2021.” WA
Arriving Friday, December 4th
Michele Reverdito Barolo DOCG 2011 750ML ($29.95) $24 pre-arrival special
Case-12 Michele Reverdito Barolo DOCG 2011 750ML ($319.95) $259 pre-arrival special
Fattoria dei Barbi Cinelli Colombini Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2010 750ML ($59.95) $44.50 pre-arrival special
Case-12 Fattoria dei Barbi Cinelli Colombini Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2010 750ML ($599.95) $479 pre-arrival special
James Suckling 96 points “Aromas of burnt orange peel and cherry with hints of dried bark and mahogany. Full-bodied and very tight and dense, with a beautiful fruit, tannin and acid balance. Finesse and strength. Best wine from here for ages. Needs until 2018 to show its true quality.” JS
Wine Advocate 94 points “Fattoria dei Barbi’s 2010 Brunello di Montalcino starts with a tightly wound personality that begins to unravel slowly, one delicate layer at a time. As it does, you become aware of dried fruit, cigar box, crushed mineral, plum, tar and cola. The wine puts on a beautiful display. I also loved the mouthfeel of this beautiful wine: It is tonic, tight and brimming with energy. Well-integrated oak notes give the wine a spot of softness and velvety spice. This is one beautiful Sangiovese.” ML
Arriving Mid December
Schloss Gobelsburg GV Tradition Gruner Veltliner Reserve 2013 750ML ($79.95) $69 pre-arrival special
David Schildknecht–Vinous 97-98 points “Faintly yeasty and alkaline notes in the nose accompany intimations of the rich, earthy, umami-laden foundation of subtly caramelized root vegetables that the palate delivers, studded with peppercorns and drizzled with fragrant floral honey. Satiny in texture, searchingly expansive, yet buoyant and preserving a vibrant core of sheer refreshment, this enters a finishing realm of oyster liquor-like salinity, oceanic mineral and seaweedy depth, that will milk your salivary glands while leaving your mouth agape. (Any embarrassment will be well worth it.)” DS
Distributor Closeout
Arriving Friday
Robert Mondavi Winery Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2012 750ML ($119.95) $99 pre-arrival special
Case-6 Robert Mondavi Winery Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2012 750ML ($599.95) $536 pre-arrival special (That’s only $89.30/btl!)
Wine Spectator 95 points “An iron fist in a velvet glove, this begins with a supple, rich core of currant, black cherry, anise and sage, firming up with tannins from oak and grape. Glides along gracefully, never losing the core fruitiness, while the tannins and gravelly earth accents lend the flavors tension and traction. Drink now through 2029.”
The next best price is $109.90
Case-6 Robert Mondavi Winery Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2011 750ML ($499.95) $428 pre-arrival special (That’s only $71.33/btl!)
Wine Spectator 92 points “A wine of finesse and polish, this displays striking grace and elegance, with firm, refined red berry, currant, black cherry and subtle vanilla oak notes. The finish sails along smoothly. Drink now through 2022.”
The next best price is $85
Franciscan Oakville Estate Cuvee Sauvage Chardonnay 2012 750ML ($37.95) $24 pre-arrival special
Case-6 Franciscan Oakville Estate Cuvee Sauvage Chardonnay 2012 750ML ($159.95) $129 pre-arrival special
case-12 Franciscan Oakville Estate Cuvee Sauvage Chardonnay 2012 750ML ($279.95) $233 pre-arrival special
Wine Enthusiast 91 points “A classic Napa Valley Chardonnay, this is smooth, rich, balanced and well composed. Flowery aromas of honeysuckle open the way for lemon curd and ripe apple to compete with a depth of crème brûlée character that provides plenty of complexity, with additional accents of honey and spice.”
Ruffino Modus Toscana IGT, Tuscany 2012 750ML ($27.95) $21.90 pre-arrival special
Case-6 Ruffino Modus Toscana IGT, Tuscany 2012 750ML ($149.95) $119 pre-arrival special
James Suckling 94 points “A silky and refined red with currant, berry, mineral and dried flower aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, flavorful and delicious. A blend of sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon and merlot. Drinkable now but better in 2017.” JS
Kapcsandy Family
Arriving December 18th
Kapcsandy Family Winery State Lane Vineyard Grand-Vin Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 750ML ($599.95) $499 pre-arrival special
Antonion Galloni – Vinous 99 points “The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Vin opens with the most captivating, exquisite aromatics imaginable. A wine of arresting allure and total sensuality, the 2013 simply has it all. Today, the 2013 is a mere infant, but its personality, pedigree and overall class simply can’t be denied. An exotic mélange of lavender, violet, sage, mint and wild flowers are laced into the finish.”
Robert Parker 98+ points“The magnificent 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Vin State Lane Vineyard (87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot and 1% Petit Verdot representing 30% or 600 cases of their total production) completely obscures any of the new oak it’s aged in. The wine displays a bluish purple color and offers up a whiff of chocolate, cedar wood, graphite, blackcurrant and blackberry fruit. It’s full-bodied, has great length, still seems to be playing it close to the vest, and compared to the 2012, is not as ostentatious or dramatic. Nevertheless, it’s impressive and well-endowed. Forget it for 4-5 years and drink it over the following three decades.” RP
Kapcsandy Family Winery State Lane Vineyard Roberta’s Reserve 2013 750ML ($599.95) $499 pre-arrival special
Antonio Galloni 100 points “A magnificent towering wine, the 2013 Roberta’s Reserve is deep, powerful and massively tannic. Far from an easygoing Merlot, the 2013 Roberta’s Reserve is going to require considerable cellaring to fully blossom. Floral, savory and mineral notes are pushed forward, until a rush of blue and black fruits opens up on the mid palate and through to the finish. Lavender, sage, menthol, licorice and inky fruit add the final shades of nuance in an explosive Merlot to put away in the darkest corner of the cellar.” AG
Feel free to call us
at 503-223-6002 for assistance