In Today’s Newsletter:
Amazing ’06 Lopez de Heredia Tondonia
Subscribers-Only 24 Hour 10% Off Sale:
Forman / Durand St Peray / Vieux Telegraphe Red
September Clearance SALE Extravaganza!
Sale Highlights – Collectible Cabs in Focus
Rave Review for a Near-Exclusive
Clos de la Roilette New Releases
St Innocent’s Temperance Vineyard
The First Growth of Hochheim
September Clearance Sale
Jump Start Offer
Lopez de Heredia
The Amazing 2006 Tondonia
Arriving in February 2019
One of the world’s elite wine estates, this is an historical estate that is held in the highest esteem among insiders. The most shocking secret about the winery? For all the extraordinary grace, complexity and age-worthiness of the wines these are simply the best value in wine money can buy.
Let’s do the math:
Tondonia, checkSuperior vintage?
2006, checkPraise?
Numerous & glowing, check
Average list price $2312006 Dom Perignon (96WA/96AG):
Average list price $1852006 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche (95WA):
Average list price $519
2006 Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Reserva (95WA/94JS):
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Our price $39/bottle & $199/six-pack
Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Reserva, Rioja DOCa 2006 750ML ($41.95) $39 pre-arrival special
Case-6 Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Reserva, Rioja DOCa 2006 750ML ($249.95) $199 pre-arrival special (that’s only $33.17/bottle and the lowest listed price in the USA today!)
Wine Advocate 95 points “The red flagship 2006 Viña Tondonia Reserva was inspired by the vineyards of the Médoc but produced with local grapes, 70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacho, 5% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo, which achieved 13% alcohol in 2006. It always matures in used American oak barriques for some six years. The oldest of all the reds I tasted, it was also the one with more freshness, which speaks to the quality of the vineyard. This takes the lion’s share of the 400,000 bottles the winery produces, with some 220,000 bottles filled over a period of 12 consecutive days in May 2014.”
James Suckling 94 points “This is a remarkably lively wine for a 12-year-old Rioja with notes of licorice and dried cherries and a very elegant tannin structure that runs through the medium to full body of this red like a silk thread. The dry finish is long and polished. Drink or hold.”
Subscribers-Only 24 Hour 10% Off Sale:
Robust Yet Balanced Reds & White
Subscriber-only special pricing ends Wednesday, September 25th at 6:00 pm
Discount will not appear online. We will apply it to your order before processing.
Forman Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2014 750ML ($119.95) Displayed price: $99, Subscriber-Only 10% Off Special: $89.10, 36+ bottles in stock now
Antonio Galloni 95+ points “A weightless, translucent wine, the 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon exudes class. Vibrant and finely sculpted, the 2014 possesses striking nuance from start to finish. Scents of lavender, rose petal, mint and sweet spice notes give the 2014 its brightness and sense of energy. Today, the 2014 is a bit compact relative to how it showed from barrel. I expect the wine will put on a bit more weight during its aging. Readers should plan on cellaring the 2014 at least a few years. Even today, though, the 2014 is a very pretty and pure wine.”
The average price is $109
Jeb Dunnuck 94 points “This team has made a terrific 2016 Saint-Péray, (50/50 Marsanne and Roussanne aged in 15% new oak) from an appellation that continues to produce more and more outstanding wines. Honeysuckle, white flowers, caramelized peach and white currant notes give way to a pure, elegant, layered white that has terrific purity and length. It’s going to drink beautifully for 3-4 years or more.”
Now it’s even lower!
The next best price is $25
Wine Spectator 95 points “This has a lovely, perfumy mix of savory, mint, tobacco, blood orange, cherry and bergamot notes, with finely beaded acidity and silky but ample structure. Long, mineral- and shiso leaf-infused finish. Best from 2020 through 2035.”JM
Wine Advocate 94 points “The flagship wine, the 2015 Chateauneuf du Pape, is a blend of 60% Grenache, 20% Mourvèdre, 15% Syrah and 5% other permitted varieties. It features delicate floral scents and ample cherry and licorice aromas. Somehow, it manages to be full-bodied and almost creamy in texture but without much weight, then it ends powerfully, with a flourish of rich Mexican chocolate on the long, silky finish. It should drink well for up to 20 years.”
The average price nationally is $79
Discount will not appear online. We will apply it to your order before processing.
September Clearance SALE Extravaganza!
Only 5 Days Remaining at the LOW LOW PRICING
Sale Highlights – Top Picks – Greatest Hits
Bow & Arrow Hughes Hollow Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2015 750ML ($41.95) Was $33, Now $29 September Clearance special, 36+ bottles in stock now
Grapelive 94 points “The rather exotic Hughes Hollow Vineyard Pinot Noir from Bow & Arrow is amazing stuff. It at first is tight and iron-laced in a way that reminds me of young Nebbiolo. A few swirls brings an exciting array of classic Pinot aromas and flavors out and, with further coaxing in the glass, a powerful sensation that you are tasting something otherworldly. Scott Frank, winemaker at Bow & Arrow, has done some thrilling wines from this unique north facing 30 year old site, and this 2015 is impressive. Hughes Hollow Vineyard (located in the South Salem hills on Jory and Nekia soils at about 675 feet [and] now farmed all organic) was a place Frank wanted Gamay from, but had to take Pinot grapes as part of the deal. Mercy be, what deal it has turned out to be…! This vineyard, fast becoming a favorite of mine in Bow & Arrow’s lineup, has its own personality. The vines here are own-rooted and have been dry farmed from the beginning which adds to the intensity of form and with a vintage like 2015, [where] ripe flavors, a savory bite and crisp acidity dominate. It bursts from the glass marked with the volcanic mineral and spice along with dried roses, tangy strawberries and minty herbs (stems?) before gathering its forces for a medium bodied, but powerful palate of black cherry, plum and briar laced raspberry along with cinnamon, black tea, earthy leather/porcini and lavender incense. This is a gripping Pinot, with a firm structure with young Vougeot-like tannins. The length is heavenly and long adding the vintage’s sweetness that offsets the rustic nature of this unpolished wine, this really sexy stuff. Drink over the next 3 to 7 years.”
Now it’s even lower!
The next best price is $37.99
Domaine Perrot-Minot Les Beaux Monts Vieilles Vignes, Vosne-Romanee Premier Cru 2010 750ML ($199.95) Was $179, Now $159 September Clearance special, 15 bottles in stock now
Antonio Galloni 91-93 points “The 2010 Vosne-Romanée Les Beaux Monts is deep, dark and sensual. It currently comes across as young, but there is gorgeous fleshiness and mid-palate pliancy that makes the Beaux Monts totally irresistible.”
Now it’s even lower!
The next best price is $186
Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Kabinett, Mosel 2016 750ML ($31.95) Was $26, Now $21.90 September Clearance special, 36+ bottles in stock now
Stephan Reinhardt-Wine Advocate 92 points “Opening with nice reduction but precise and ripe fruit as well as crunchy slate aromas on the nose, the 2016 Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Kabinett is pure and flinty, well-structured and quite aristocratic (though a frivolous aristocrat), with a firm structure, lush fruit and a lovely lightness and buoyancy. Very stimulating and mouthwatering, but it’s far too young to appreciate the full complexity it will deliver in a couple of years. Salty, grippy and fruity—just a perfect Kabinett.”
Stuart Pigott 91 points– JamesSuckling.com “Super-fresh and vibrant with a cool, mineral-herbal personality and a very clean, long finish. You could drink it any time during the next decade, but why wait?”
Mosel Fine Wines 90+ points “The 2016er Zeltinger Schlossberg Kabinett was harvested at 86-87° Oechsle. It develops a slightly ripe nose of pear puree, herbs and spices. The wine is nicely playful and delicately infused with herbs on the palate and leaves a juicy feel in the direct and elegant finish. This is still reduced and will need some time to develop its full potential. 2026-2041.”
September Clearance Sale
Sale Highlights – Collectible Cabs in Focus
Diamond Creek Gravelly Meadow Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2015 750ML ($249.95) Was $225, Now $199 September Clearance special, 15 bottles in stock now
James Suckling 96 points “The aromas of mint, blueberries and blackberries are very intense. Full-bodied, layered and softly textured; yet it delivers a firm and lightly chewy finish. Hot stones, too. This is a wine that will improve with three to four years of bottle aging.”
Winery notes “Our second coolest micro-climate is our five-acre Gravelly Meadow vineyard. Originally a pre-historic river bed, this stony, gravelly soil drains rapidly and the vines struggle for moisture. Gravelly Meadow is our lowest yielding vineyard. The wines are described as “earthy, cedary, jammy and ripe blackberry with a spicy expansive finish.”
The average price nationally is $212
“a beautifully composed effort of extraordinary depth and focus.”
Diamond Creek Red Rock Terrace Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2015 750ML ($249.95) Was $225, Now $199 September Clearance special, 19 bottles in stock now
James Suckling 97 points “This has amazing aromas of red licorice, tar, lead pencil, dark berries and blackberries. Full body, a very soft texture and fine-grained tannins. Lovely freshness and brightness. Sweet and sour underneath. A wine that gives such enjoyment already but it will improve nicely in the bottle.”
Connoisseurs Guide 97 points “One of the most consistent producers of collectable Cabernets over the years, Diamond Creek has come up big in 2015 with a brace of truly outstanding wines. At the very top of the list, the Red Rock Terrace bottling is a beautifully composed effort of extraordinary depth and focus. Its incisive, pure cassis qualities merge with perfectly fit elements of loam, stony soils, creamy oak and accents of raspberries, and never once does it trade in flamboyant ripeness. It is, in fact, a wine of remarkable polish and cohesion right down to the fine, seamlessly integrated tannins that afford it the structure to age for two decades if not more, and those fortunate few who manage to hide a few bottles away should not consider drinking even one until another six to ten years have passed”
Winery notes “Red Rock Terrace, a warm microclimate, is 7 acres of north facing vineyard. The red tinted soil is high in iron content. The wine from Red Rock Terrace is the most accessible and earliest drinkable of all our wines. Our winemaker describes Red Rock Terrace as “having velvety tannins, rich and well balanced, medium dark ruby color with cherry, mint and black currant flavors.”
The average price nationally is $221
Eisele is one of the most hallowed terroirs in the Napa Valley. Tucked into the foothills in Calistoga, it has produced incredible wines since 1971 for Phelps, Araujo and now (indirectly) Chateau Latour, who bought the property a few years ago. Araujo hit the 2015 version out of the park and it should stack up as one of the best Altagracia’s in a long time. While best known for their highest end bottling, their second wine, Altagracia, is a steal and even more so on our September Clearance Sale.
Eisele Vineyard ‘Altagracia’ Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2015 750ML ($149.95) Was $133, Now $121.90 September Clearance special, 36+ bottles in stock now
James Suckling 95 points “This is a dense and juicy red with characters of blackberries, chocolate and pine needles. Sweet tobacco, too. Full body and round, polished tannins. A more dialed-in, terroir character than in past vintages. 88% cabernet sauvignon, 7% cabernet franc and 5% petit verdot. (5/2018)”
Wine Advocate 94 points “Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon Altagracia has slightly muted black cherries, crushed black plums and cassis with hints of licorice, black soil and cracked pepper plus a waft of tapenade. Medium to full-bodied, rich and expressive in the mouth, it delivers a lot of layers and wonderfully fine tannins, finishing long and earthy.”
The average price is $144
We also dropped the price on two of Colgin’s flagship wines from the 2014 vintage—a notable success in Napa. These are some of the most sought after wines in the States, hunted by those that drink the best. The IX vineyard sits high atop Pritchard Hill in eastern Napa and produces the wines that made Colgin’s name—big powerful reds that have astoundingly long finishes. Robert Parker called the IX vineyard “as close to a viticultural nirvana as I’ve ever seen.” The wine definitely reflects that, but the prices, you’ll note, are lower than they should be.
Only ten bottles remaining!
Colgin Cellars IX Estate Red, Napa Valley 2014 750ML ($699.95) Was $499, Now $425 September Clearance special, 8 bottles in stock now
Robert Parker 98+ points “From their steep hillside vineyards on Pritchard Hill, the 2014 Proprietary Red IX Estate is an old-fashioned Médoc blend dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, but with some Cabernet Franc (rarely seen in the Médoc these years) as well as Merlot and Petit Verdot. Striking aromatics of violets, forest floor, loamy soil nuances, blueberry, black raspberry and blackberry soar from the glass of this spectacular 2014. The acidity seems reasonable but on the lower side, the texture is magnificent, and the overall purity and equilibrium flawless. This is a wine pushing, even demanding, a three-digit score once again, but I’m holding back – at least for now. This magnificent effort from Colgin should drink beautifully for 25-30 years.”
The average price is $561
“lush, savory, sexy and intense wine that is irresistible”
Colgin Cellars IX Estate Syrah, Napa Valley 2014 750ML ($349.95) Was $319, Now $289 September Clearance special, 3 bottles in stock now
James Suckling 97 points “Incredible aromas of grilled meat, blackberries, rose petals and black velvet. Medium to full body and ultra-velvety tannins — even if this doesn’t show at first. It lags for five or six seconds and then grows and grows. Linear structure.”
Robert Parker 95 points “Lastly, the 2014 Syrah IX Estate has this incredibly fragrant, flowery bouquet that makes it seem as if there were some Viognier co-fermented with it, but it’s always 100% Syrah coming from their steep vineyards. Oodles of honeysuckle, blackberry, black cherry, graphite and some exotic white fruits seem present in this full-bodied, lush, savory, sexy and intense wine that is irresistible in 2014, and for that reason, destined to be drunk in its first 10-15 years, although I suspect it could last longer.”
The next best price is $307
The average price is $338
Want to see all of the wines in the September Clearance Sale?
Keep reading until the end of the newsletter for the full list!
Rave Review for a Near-ExclusiveDomaine Font Sarade
Rockstar Southern Rhone Vacqueyras
Domaine Font Sarade Vacqueyras Les Hauts de la Ponche, Rhone 2016 750ML ($21.95) $18 special, 36+ bottles in stock now
Case-12 Domaine Font Sarade Vacqueyras Les Hauts de la Ponche, Rhone 2016 750ML ($249.95) $199 special (that’s only $16.58/bottle!)
Grapelive 93 points “The Domaine Font Sarade wines are crafted by the father and daughter team of Bernard and Claire Burle. They have done a masterful job of their Les Hauts de la Ponche Vacqueyras 2016. [It’s] a stunning wine from a stunning vintage, made from 50% Grenache, 25% Syrah and 25% Mourvedre. I’ve been wanting to try the wines from this small Domaine for a few years, so I’m glad I got my hands on some of this stuff, especially as 2016 is looking like a rockstar vintage, making this particularly good timing. The Burle’s are traditional in their winemaking and are looking to translate individual Lieu-Dits and showcase their unique terroirs. They make a few Cotes-du-Rhone(s), Ventoux, a Rose, Cru Gigondas and Vacqueyras from family owned and farmed vines. The 2016 Font Sarade Vacqueyras is 100% de-stemmed and is fermented and aged in cement vats for absolute purity and allows for the clay and limestone soils to shine through. With such a vintage as 2016 you get a massively appealing wine, rich in flavor, detail and life. Coming in at a full 14.5% natural alcohol this has as much impact as a Chateauneuf-du-Pape Rouge, but at a tiny fraction of the price, making it a steal! This 2016 is grapey fresh at first, [and] with air it gains a deeper almost chocolatey density with an appealing dark purple and garnet hue in the glass. It’s un-endowed by anything except fruit purity and terroir influences with layers of crushed violets, minty herbs, lavender and black currant, boysenberry and radiant kirsch, adding pepper, dusty plum, anise and tart strawberry with air, in an impressive, youthful and compact wine. The freshness combined with perfect ripeness makes this an outrageously good Vacqueyras that while tight expands on the medium/full palate, while the natural tannin keeps everything focused and well structured, this will be an intriguing wine to follow over the next 5 to 10 years, and while I usually like a bit of stem complexity, this wine seems to lack for nothing. It’s hard to imagine not to get a case or two, but harder to imagine not drinking as fast as you can either, this is everything you ever want from this region and more, I say get as much as you can, while you can!”
This is the only listing in the USA today!Also In Stock Now from Domaine Font Sarade:
Domaine Font Sarade Vacqueyras Premier Vin, Rhone 2015 750ML ($27.95) $24 special
Case-12 Domaine Font Sarade Vacqueyras Premier Vin, Rhone 2015 750ML ($299.95) $259 special (that’s only $21.58/bottle!)
Jeb Dunnuck 93 points “My favorite in the line, the 2015 Vacqueyras Le Premier Vin checks in as 80% Grenache and 20% Mourvedre that spent 14 months in French oak. It’s a killer bottle of wine and has lots of blackberries, cassis, smoked herbs and licorice aromas and flavors. Ripe, sexy and opulent, with low acidity and sweet tannin, drink it over the coming 7-8 years.”
Wine Advocate 92 points “A super effort, the 2016 Gigondas les Pigieres boasts complex notes of dried herbs layered over ripe cherries and raspberries. This full-bodied, unoaked blend of 60% Grenache, 35% Mourvèdre and 5% Syrah manages to be fully ripe and creamy in texture without showing any alcoholic warmth. Drink it over the next decade.”
Clos de la Roilette New ReleasesArriving Friday
The demand for Roilette’s wines is ever growing; the supply is not.
These wines are some of the most Burgundian in nature and worthy of following over a few years if not decades. Especially considering the vintage – 2017 splits the difference between the legendary concentration and structure of the 2015s and the classic vibrancy and elegance from the 2016s. Clos de la Roilette is always one of the most cherished Beaujolais producers in the shop. We’re offering the newest releases to you at prices that will make you reminiscence about what you used to pay for wines from their northern neighbors…
Clos de la Roilette Wines Arriving Friday, September 28th:
Clos de la Roilette Fleurie, Beaujolais 2017 750ML ($24.95) $19 pre-arrival special
Wine Advocate 92+ points “The youthful 2017 Fleurie wafts from the glass with aromas of red cherries, raspberries and potpourri. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with firm but fine-grained structuring tannins and a long, tangy finish. It will demand a couple years of bottle age. In this year’s rendition, the grapes of the Clos de la Roilette are supplemented by some purchased fruit, something that was authorized by the authorities in the aftermath of the hailstorms that struck Fleurie on the 10th and 30th of July.”
The average price nationally is $24
Clos de la Roilette Fleurie Cuvee Tardive, Beaujolais 2017 1.5L ($69.95) $49 pre-arrival special
Wine Advocate 93+ points “The 2017 Fleurie Cuvée Tardive reveals a deeper, richer bouquet of dark cherries, red fruit compote, quince and rose petal. On the palate, it’s full-bodied, ample and lavish, with a deep, concentrated core and rich structuring tannins. This is a decidedly serious Fleurie, its name alluding to its aging potential and not to a later harvest, and it will demand 3 or 4 years of cellaring at a minimum.”
The average price for the 750ml is $30
The next best price for the magnum is $54.99
VinopolNote: This wine is always a selection of some of the finest of Alain Coudert’s wines, aged in smaller (used) casks and left in barrel for a longer time. Darker and richer than the Fleurie or Cuvee Tardive, this wine will age magnificently and always bears a stronger resemblance to its neighbors in the Cote d’Or.
Importer note “Griffe du Marquis comes from the same two parcels of eighty-plus-year-old vines that go into Roilette’s Tardive wines. It is aged in old Burgundy barrels and structured to develop with age. From Alain Coudert: ‘The name comes from my parents’ surname in the village, which was Marquis. It’s definitely not from past lineage, so don’t think we’re royalists! I think it started with a good family friend who used to come over to drink a glass with my dad every day. He’d see my mom on the balcony and salute her, then tell people he’d seen the Marquise when he’d get back to the village. It stuck!’”
The average price is $43In Stock Now from Clos de la Roilette:
Josh Raynolds 94 points “Lurid magenta. A complex, expansive bouquet evokes ripe boysenberry and black raspberry, along with pungent floral, spice and herb notes. Coats the palate with sweet red/blue fruit, candied violet and spicecake flavors that deepen and spread out steadily with aeration. Conveys a suave blend of richness and energy and finishes extremely long and nervy, displaying harmonious tannins and resonating florality.”
St Innocent’s Temperance VineyardOregon Grand Cru
On the site of what’s thought to be an ancient volcanic rests one of Oregon’s greatest vineyards, Temperance Hill. The high elevation results in a long growing season, and is often one of the latest picked vineyards in a winery’s portfolio. St. Innocent sources fruit from some of the oldest blocks in the vineyard to craft this nuanced wine packed with flavor yet perfectly balanced and full of terroir essence.
We sold out of our first delivery, and knew we had to stock up to offer you a second chance at this fabulous wine. Drink now or cellar for another 10+ years.
Re-Arriving Tuesday, October 2nd:
“Truly exceptional.”
St. Innocent Temperance Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills 2015 750ML ($39.95) $29 pre-arrival special
James Suckling 95 points “A vibrant and incredibly spicy expression of pinot noir with a wealth of freshly picked blackcurrants, redcurrants, sour red cherries, orange rind and citrus. The palate doesn’t hold back though and is dense and well-rounded yet retains the same freshness as the nose with driven acidity. Just how this wine manages to combine such concentration and vivacity is a mystery. Truly exceptional. So delicious now but better from 2020 and beyond.”
Josh Raynolds-Vinous 94 points “(aged in French oak barrels, 21% of them new) Deep lurid red. An expansive, impressively complex bouquet evokes ripe cherry, black raspberry, incense and potpourri, and smoky mineral and Asian spice nuances build with aeration. Silky, sweet and concentrated, yet lively as well, offering palate-staining red and dark berry, spicecake and floral pastille flavors that show outstanding clarity and back-end lift. Supple tannins frame the red-fruit-dominated finish, which hangs on with outstanding tenacity.”
The next best price is $32.73
The average price is $35
Arriving in March 2019The First Growth of Hochheim
2016 was a glorious year for dry German Riesling, and the Grosses Gewächs (the Grand Crus of dry wines) sung with an unrivaled degree of harmony and purity. It was a year Terry Theise described as without “a dark side. At least where I tasted, it is almost never not delicious, almost never ungainly, unbalanced or unappealing… It is calmly and serenely delicious. Actually, totally fucking delicious.”
Kunstler makes fabulous Rheingau Riesling of grace and openness, that “are very pure, clean and precise, without tasting as though they’ve been sanitized and had the character stripped out of them. They are detailed and meticulous, but also delicious and satisfying,” to borrow more from Theise. Kunstler’s best wines reminds us of the days when ‘hock’ wine was prized above Bordeaux.
It comes as no surprise to us that Kunstler has picked up an emphatically enthusiastic review from Stuart Pigott. The Holle GG expresses the purity of the vintage coupled with the body, complexity and length inherent in the finest first growth Rieslings.
Arriving in March 2019:
Weingut Kunstler Hochheimer Holle Riesling Grosses Gewachs Trocken, Rheingau 2016 750ML ($79.95) $59 pre-arrival special
Stuart Pigott – JamesSuckling.com 98 points “All ripe yellow fruit, but without the slightest hint of exaggeration. Great concentration, combined with power and brilliance. Gigantic finish that doesn’t want to stop, but somehow it remains totally refined. From organically grown grapes. Fair’n Green certification. Drink or hold.”
Terry Theise note “This Hochheim “GG” seems always to show best in cooler years, when its savory generosity isn’t overbearing. Like now! A first impression of cask is quickly overwhelmed by a seductive palate, a savory malty wine, maple and candy-cap mushrooms; mineral embedded in the sweetest doughiest swoon of charm and loveliness.”
September Clearance Sale
Ends Sunday at 11:59 PM
Want to see all the fantastic wines on the September Sale?Just click here to head to our website or view the entire list below:
