Category Archives: Newsletter Archive

Los Bermejos Sale & Close-Out Featurette 5-23-24

In This Newsletter:
 
Los Bermejos
&
Vinopolis Close-Out Sale Featurette: Guy Charlemagne
 

 
Los Bermejos
 
Your Three-Day Discount Starts Now
 
Walk the moonscape of the Spanish island of Lanzarote, and you would never suspect the volcanic ash could support life of any kind. But grapevines, and in particular high-quality wine grapes, thrive in marginal conditions.
 
The few growers that remained on the island after volcanic eruptions in the 18th century carved hollows into the ash to help direct rain and dew towards the roots. The vines see half the average rainfall of typical wine regions. The ash provides unique protective properties, as it prevents phylloxera from taking hold. Grafting is unnecessary under traditional methods.
 
Ignacio Valdera founded Bodegas Los Bermejos in 2001.
… Read the rest

Arriving This Week 5-22-24 PM

In This Newsletter:

Arriving Soon: The wines of Vincent Paris and Coquina

-also-

Your Guide to Goodfellow Family Cellars

             Closeout Roses from Commanderie de Peyrassol
 
Arriving Friday
 

Vincent Paris.
 

 
The wines of Vincent Paris are often described as bold, but what does it mean to be bold? For the soft-spoken Vincent, one of the Rhône’s fastest rising stars, he would prefer to let his stunningly focused and evocative wines do the talking. And they are wines that beg to be noticed.
 
Vincent prunes his branches to just 4 bunches of grapes per vine (versus a typical five to seven bunches) which encourages a dense and powerful concentration in the fruit, but these are not heavy-handed. Quite the opposite, these are wines with a lift and freshness that complements the bolder aspects of the wine’s expression without tamping down its largesse.
… Read the rest

ArPePe Sale 5-22-24

In This Newsletter:
 
ArPePe
&
Vinopolis Close-Out Sale Featurette: Bodegas Maranones
 

 
ArPePe
 
Your Three-Day Discount Starts Now

As the Alps dramatically ease their way from the north of Italy to Switzerland, the small wine region of Valtellina is nestled between snow-peaked mountains, rolling hills, and meandering rivers. With regard to northern Italian wine and Nebbiolo-at-large, Valtellina is one of those best-kept-secrets. It is home to some of the most ethereal and mineral driven expressions of wine in the world. Naturally insulated from the rest of the country due to the topography, the villagers practice winemaking exactly as they have for centuries.
 
One of the region’s finest wine producers – and likely the best-known – is ArPePe. Arturo Pelizzatti Perego (who went by ArPePe) family’s winemaking roots in the area go back centuries, but they were forced to sell off their winery and some vineyards due to illness.
… Read the rest

Vajra Sale 5-21-24

G.D. Vajra & Luigi Baudana
 
Your Three-Day Discount Starts Now
 
It’s rare to find benchmark wines that remain affordable from one of a wine-growing region considered one of the finest in the world for centuries, but not impossible. Well, if you’ve read the title of this newsletter, there’s no surprise who we have in mind: G.D. Vajra and the now-sister estate of Luigi Baudana.
 
Check the purchase record of any staff member, and you’ll know why we call G.D. Vajra one of our favorite producers in the Piedmont. The estate responsible for some of the finest Barolos we offer and also excels with their more entry-level options. The lineup as a whole is quite simple the best in Piedmont today. At all price points they are benchmark wines against which all others are judged.
… Read the rest

Vinopolis Newsletter – Arriving This Week 5-21-24

 In This Newsletter:

Bonny Doon and Spanish history in a bottle

-also-

Your Guide to the Grill… PLUS a value from Cayuse
 
Arriving This Week
 
 
Bonny Doon Vineyard.

 
 
  
 
One of the pioneers of Rhône-styled wines in the United States as well as an early champion of terroir focused winemaking and Biodynamic viticulture, Bonny Doon Vineyard is a true original. Despite bringing a serious attitude to the quality of their wines, they were also pioneers in distancing themselves from the stuffy culture around fine wine with humorous labels, and flippant nameing conventions. This wine, “Le Cigare Volant,” for example, a Grenache dominant blend which has remained one of the most solid domestic Rhône blends for decades now, is a reference to and parody of, a law establish in the 1950’s prohibiting UFOs (known as “Flying Cigars” in France) from landing within the boundaries of Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
… Read the rest