Tag Archives: wine of the day

Wine of the Day: Holden Wine Company Willamette Valley Pinot Blanc 2015 7-12-16

Holden Wine Company Willamette Valley Pinot Blanc 2015 750ML ($19.95) Buy Now: $16 special

Why stop when you’re on a roll? One more quick bit on a fantastic offering from Holden, one of my personal favorites.

The 2015 Pinot Blanc from Holden delivers delicate fruit notes, breezy floral elements, and a mineral-laden finish. A light and clean wine with lots of energy and grace; a prime example of Oregon’s ‘Other Wine Grape’. Really pretty texture, with tangerine and lemon meeting up against white flowers and a hint of cashew. It ain’t trying to be anything it’s not; just pretty, transparent winemaking in a suave little package. – Tyler… Read the rest

Wine of the Day: Stift Goettweig Messwein Rose Pinot Noir Kremstal 2015 7-11-16

Stift Goettweig Messwein Rose Pinot Noir, Kremstal 2015 750ML ($21.95) Buy now: $18 special

Fine wines have been made at Stift Goettweig since the 11th century. Originally a Benedictine alter wine (messwein), this rosé from Austria’s Kremstal region is made entirely of Pinot Noir. Light and dry, its strawberry, cherry, and raspberry notes mingle deliciously with some spice. Note the Rococo cherub on the label, and the screw cap’s pastel god reclining in horse-drawn chariot! A touch of old-school class for a divine little rosé. – Daniel… Read the rest

Wines of the Day: Chassagne Rouge from Morey, Gagnard, Moreau, & Pillot 7-10-16

Domaine Jean-Noel Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet Cuvee L’Estimee, Cote de Beaune 2011 750ML ($37.95) Buy Now: $29 special

Domaine Bernard Moreau et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge Vieilles Vignes, Cote de Beaune 2013 750ML ($69.95) Buy Now: $59 special

Domaine Jean-Marc Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge, Cote de Beaune 2013 750ML ($49.95) Buy Now: $39 special

Thomas Morey Chassagne-Montrachet Vieilles Vignes Rouge, Cote de Beaune 2013 750ML ($39.95) Buy Now: $36 special

It’s tough to straightjacket wine, though laws and preconceptions sometimes try. Most of us think of Burgundy’s Chassagne-Montrachet as a white wine village, for good reason: they’re some of the world’s finest Chardonnays. Yet only a few generations ago Chassagne produced more red than white. The soils, of course, didn’t change. Limestone marl dominates portions of Chassagne’s vineyards, to the joy of Pinot Noir.… Read the rest

Wine of the Day: Domaine Robert Chevillon Bourgogne Passe-tout-grains 2013 7-9-16

Domaine Robert Chevillon Bourgogne Passe-tout-grains, Burgundy 2013 750ML ($36.95) Buy Now: $18 special
Case-12 Domaine Robert Chevillon Bourgogne Passe-tout-grains, Burgundy 2013 750ML ($359.95) Buy Now: $189 special

I repeat, I repeat: Passetoutgrain wines have a special place in my heart. For one, throwing a little Gamay into the Pinot terrain makes for a more playful, textured wine. To be frank, it’s not all that fashionable a wine, which is fine by me: the underdog status keeps the price down!

Domaine Robert Chevillon is a time-tested, reliable producer whose Nuits-Saint-Georges single-vineyard bottlings exhibit a wonderfully diverse taste of various terroirs. The Bourgogne PTG in question is a 2/3’s-to-1/3 blend of Gamay and Pinot derived from 45-year-old vines planted in clay and limestone soils.… Read the rest

Wine of the Day: Holden Wine Company Johan Vineyard Chardonnay 2014 7-8-16

Holden Wine Company Johan Vineyard Chardonnay 2014 750ML ($27.95) Buy Now: $24 special

I’ve been training myself off of superlatives lately – wine sales and criticism bear no shortage of ’em, after all, and ‘Best Ever’ doesn’t carry the same weight after a half-dozen or more proclamations. Even so, I’ll proudly confess that this year, I have yet to experience a white wine as lovely as Holden’s 2014 Chardonnay.

Holden’s offerings are marked with an energetic, unique edge; you’re welcome to call them anything you’d like outside of ‘boring.’ While value is meaningless without quality and quality suffers when value is lacking, their Chardonnay delivers such a lovely combination of the two. I can’t really say enough good things about their lineup, so I’ll wrap things up with a few thirst-inspiring descriptors…

The Johan Chardonnay is layered and nuanced, going through malolactic fermentation while being spared overmanipulation.… Read the rest