Category Archives: Sales

G.D. Vajra: A Victory for Value Sale 8-21-24

G.D. Vajra and Luigi Baudana
 

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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 simply the best in Piedmont today. At all price points they are benchmark wines against which all others are judged.
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Paitin di Pasquero-Elia Barbaresco 8-20-24

Paitin
 

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Unlike in neighboring Barolo, the vineyards of Barbaresco are still packed with under-the-radar yet magnificent producers—and none represents better buying opportunity than Paitin. Dante Scaglione of Bruno Giacosa fame serves as the family’s enologist, taking the incredible estate vineyards to the next level.
 
The winemaking here is all traditional. Despite a brief trial with modern techniques in the 90’s, the wines undergo gentle pump over and cap submersion during the weeks-long maceration. The wines then undergo an extended aging in neutral barrels and botti from Slavonia and Austria for up to three years.
 
The results offer a glimpse into the future of the winery and the wines to come. The wines are solid, deep, and built to last – echoing the family’s tie to their home and spectacular holdings within the Serraboella cru.
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Cayuse & Friends Sale 8-20-24

Cayuse
 

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“These are singular wines well worth the effort to track down… As I’ve said numerous times, Christophe Baron and assistant winemaker Elizabeth Bourcier produce some of the most singular and impressive wines out there.” —Jeb Dunnuck, Wine Advocate
 
It’s no secret that we’ve long admired the wines from Christophe Baron (and the man himself). This Champagnois-turned-Oregonian more or less put The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater on the map. His Walla Walla portfolio now includes Grenache, Syrah, Tempranillo, and more sourced from Oregon and Washington. Representing the pinnacle of the region’s reds, we’re never surprised when top notch scores are released, just pleased as punch that we continue to be able to offer you these mailing list-mostly gems.
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Donnhoff: The One And Only 8-19-24

Donnhoff: The One and Only
 

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The Nahe is Germany’s most compelling regions despite its small size. Combining the heft of the Rheingau with the elegance and minerality inherent in the Mosel, the region offers something no other can boast: winemakers Helmut and Cornelius Dönnhoff. That’s a lot of faith we place on the shoulders of this family, but anyone who knows the wines knows that it is well deserved.

Dönnhoff is one of our favorite German producers, and one we stock by the pallet-load. And we’re not the only ones obsessed. So often, folks tell us that a bottle of aged Hermannshohle GG or the humble yet delicious Estate Trocken or the fiercely mineral and refined Oberhauser Brucke Spätlese was THE Riesling that sparked their passion for German terroir (that last was mine).
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Lonardo Sale: Our Favorite Campanian 8-17-24

Lonardo: Our Favorite Campanian
 

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“… you only have to taste the wines of Contrade di Taurasi/Lonardo, Guastaferro, and Mastroberardino, for example, to realize that world-class wines could be made with the Aglianico grape” – Ian D’Agata, Vinous
 
The wines that Sandro Lonardo makes are some of the best values in powerful, Italian red wine. Based in Taurasi, he works primarily with the local Aglianico grape to produce wines that combine power and intensity with site-specific nuance that rivals the best wines in Barolo and Tuscany. Were we to transplant these wines to Tuscany or the Piedmont, you’d be looking at a triple-digit bill per bottle, but instead they’re the price of a mid-tier producer’s cru wines.
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