Trending Wines Not To Miss
Library Cayuse Syrah
Staff Pick: Value Brunello Edition
Austrian February Clearance Sale Wines
All the Points, Arriving Tomorrow
Stuart Pigott Joins Suckling and Reviews Selbach
Taylor Fladgate, Fifty Years On
#Trending
The Hot Wines of the Last Week
Case-12 Scacciadiavoli Sagrantino di Montefalco DOCG, Umbria 2011 750ML ($419.95) $316 special (that’s only $26.33/bottle!)
#66 Wine Of The Year – Wine Spectator Top 100 2017
Wine Spectator 92 points “This finely balanced Sagrantino layers creamy tannins with a pretty array of raspberry ganache, fig cake and dried sage flavors, accented by aromatic hints of rose petal and spice. Elegant and lightly juicy, with a subtle mineral streak that gains momentum on the finish. Drink now through 2027. 4,000 cases made.”
Case-12 Guy Breton Morgon Vieilles Vignes, Beaujolais 2015 750ML ($419.95) $319 special (that’s only $26.58/bottle!)Josh Raynolds–Vinous 94 points “Limpid violet. A seductively perfumed bouquet evokes fresh red berries, Asian spices and potpourri, and subtle cola and licorice nuances emerge with aeration. Juicy and pure on the palate, offering intense raspberry, lavender pastille and spicecake flavors and a refreshingly bitter touch of blood orange. Delivers a serious payload of vibrant berry and spice character without excess weight, and finishes extremely long and nervy, displaying no rough edges and lingering florality.”
#15 Wine Of The Year – Wine Spectator Top 100 2017
Wine Spectator 94 points “Alluring, with quince, creamed pear, verbena and green almond flavors allied to a creamy texture, all offset beautifully through the finish by light quinine and mineral hints. Approachable, but this seems built for the cellar. Best from 2018 through 2030.”
We Sold Out of Round One, Re-Arriving Wednesday:
Sauternes (Declassified D’yquem) 2010 750ML ($69.95) $59 pre-arrival special
VinopolNote: Declassified d’Yquem
Cayuse is Coming to Town
We’ve got a little back-vintage Cayuse coming this Friday, from a distributor’s collection (in their original 3-pack boxes). We fully expect a lot of it to sell out before it hits the sales floor and we’ll take orders first come-first served. If you want to head straight to the wines on the website, just click here to see all of the Cayuse.
Arriving Friday February 16th:
Cayuse Vineyards Cailloux Vineyard Syrah, Walla Walla Valley 2008 750ML ($179.95) $149 pre-arrival special, 3 bottles available
Wine Advocate 97 points “A vintage that saw rain in late September, the 2008 Syrah Cailloux Vineyard is a co-fermented blend of 90+% Syrah and the balance Viognier, that wasn’t harvested until October 10. Hitting 14.1% natural alcohol, it’s drinking beautifully today and offers a meaty, iodine, peppery and plum-pit bouquet to go with a full-bodied, refined and elegant feel on the palate. It shows more and more floral and rose petal qualities with time in the glass, has plenty of mid-palate depth and will have no issues evolving for another decade.”
Wine Spectator 95 points “Polished, refined in structure and exuberant in flavor, bursting with cherry, smoke, paprika and tar character, finishing with a mineral edge. This has a steely balance behind the open texture, and the finish just rolls and rolls. Drink now through 2020.”
Cayuse Vineyards Cailloux Vineyard Syrah, Walla Walla Valley 2009 750ML ($169.95) $139 pre-arrival special, 3 bottles available
Wine Spectator 96 points “Polished, effortless and juicy, with blackberry, currant, black olive and tar flavors, beautifully balanced to rotate all its facets as the finish keeps spinning. Harmonious and expressive. Drink now through 2019.”
Wine Advocate 96+ points “A hot vintage that has the grapes harvested mid-September, the 2009 Syrah Cailloux Vineyard offers lots of pepper, dried herbs, white flowers and black and red raspberry fruit to go with a gorgeously ripe, layered, full-bodied style on the palate. Slightly closed at the moment, with lots of structure, give it a few years and enjoy bottles through 2029.”
Cayuse Vineyards Cailloux Vineyard Syrah, Walla Walla Valley 2010 750ML ($179.95) $149 pre-arrival special, 3 bottles available
Wine Advocate 98 points “Coming from a cold, late vintage where the Syrah didn’t ripen until the first part of October, the 2010 Syrah Cailloux Vineyard showed spectacularly in the retrospective. Inky purple in color, it gives up classic floral qualities intermixed with ample olive tapenade, black raspberry, lavender, orange blossom and pepper on the nose. This gives way to a full-bodied, sexy, seamless and yet always elegant Syrah that has juicy acidity and ripe tannin kicking in on the finish. This was the first vintage where they moved part of the élevage to foudre, and this spent 16 months in roughly 15% new French oak.”
Wine Spectator 95 points “Dark and smoky, with bright blackberry and plum lighting up the core, balanced by black olive and stone overtones. This red matches intensity with sleek balance. Drink now through 2020”
Cayuse Vineyards En Chamberlin Vineyard Syrah, Walla Walla Valley 2008 750ML ($179.95) $149 pre-arrival special, 3 bottles available
Wine Advocate 98 points “The 2008 En Chamberlin Vineyard Syrah offers up notes of tar, licorice, earthy minerals, blueberry, and blackberry. Dense and powerful on the palate, this appears to be Baron’s take on Hermitage.” WA
Cayuse Vineyards En Chamberlin Vineyard Syrah, Walla Walla Valley 2009 750ML ($199.95) $169 pre-arrival special, 3 bottles available
Wine Advocate 97 points “Smoky evocations of peat and black tea along with pungent, well-hung gaminess are what first tweak the nose from Baron’s 2009 Syrah En Chamberlin Vineyard, followed by high-toned candied lemon and orange rind; bittersweet distilled floral essences; and evocations of kirsch and framboise eau de vie, a wealth of aromatic constituents that may well arise from the relative coolness and long hang time of this site. Bourcier suggests that there might be something about the 2009 growing season that particularly favors this vineyard, and it sure tastes that way to me! Its soaring and penetrating smoky and high-toned intensity seems to billow across the palate, where dark cherry and plum preserves mingle with marrowy rich meaty savor. Salt and crystalline impingements so vivid one seldom associates their like with red wine, lead to a finish that leaves my mouth tingling and my salivary glands helplessly stuck wide-open. (“Long hang time:” could have been a reference to my tongue on Chamberlin.) Above all, this wine is just plain mysterious, not only in the intrigue of its flavors, but in engendering wonder as to how it manages to taste as it does. Baron’s response to that thought is (no doubt but half in jest): “The monks and nuns of Cayuse need their own thousand years to figure that out!” Follow at least one or two bottles – assuming you’re lucky enough for this to be possible – well into their second decade.”
Cayuse Vineyards En Chamberlin Vineyard Syrah, Walla Walla Valley 2010 750ML ($179.95) $149 pre-arrival special, 3 bottles available
Wine Advocate 96+ points “A 100% Syrah and always the most exotic and wild of the lineup, the 2010 Syrah En Chamberlin Vineyard has the Cayuse peat moss, iodine, underbrush, olive brine and gamey qualities on full display. Blossoming in the glass and showing a core of sweet fruit, it has a rich, substantial feel on the palate with a concentrated, full-bodied mouthfeel, brilliant mid-palate depth and a focused, detailed finish that carries ample finely polished tannin. Very gamey and bloody on the palate, this singular beauty will be better in another year or three and thrill for 15 years or more. Drink now-2025.”
Cayuse Vineyards En Cerise Vineyard Syrah, Walla Walla Valley 2008 750ML ($219.95) $189 pre-arrival special, 3 bottles available
Wine Advocate 99 points “The 2008 En Cerise Vineyard Syrah offers up a remarkably complex, sexy perfume that leaps from the glass. Exotic spices, a velvety texture, and a succulent richness on the palate are sublime. It, too, can be enjoyed for a decade or more.”
Wine Enthusiast 98 points “A subtle, complex, utterly distinctive mix of flavors, with opening streaks of butter cookie, then mushroom broth, tightly wound berry fruit, earthy coffee grounds and even darker streaks of espresso and smoke and licorice. It is deeply layered with flavors that just keep piling on. Amazing wine.”
Wine Spectator 96 points “Rich and round, yet amazingly transparent as the cherry, mineral, tar and sassafras flavors expand over the long, expressive palate. This has richness and depth balanced with vibrant acidity, finishing with intensity. Best from 2012 through 2020. 355 cases made.”
Cayuse Vineyards En Cerise Vineyard Syrah, Walla Walla Valley 2009 750ML ($169.95) $139 pre-arrival special, 3 bottles available
Wine Advocate 96 points “Fermented in concrete, then aged in demi-muids, only around 20% of which were new, Baron’s 2009 Syrah En Cerise Vineyard incorporates a mouthwateringly savory alliance of smoke meat and soy sauce to its luxuriantly rich, silken-textured matrix of confitured cassis and cherry, further laced with salted caramel, while striking perfume of mint, gentian, cardamom, and rose wood hovers above the glass and inner-mouth. The finish here lingers with an uncanny combination of seductive caress, vibrancy, richness, and buoyancy, its many flavor strands – floral, fruited, animal, spice and mineral – dynamically intertwining. I would surely give at least some bottles of it 12-15 years’ opportunity to show their true potential. Cautious as I attempt to be in drawing such parallels, if Baron’s latest Cailloux bottling resembles Verset Cornas, then this En Cerise puts one in mind of another of his Rhone heroes and (albeit self-effacing) near-legends, Marius Gentaz of Cote Rotie, and in either instance Baron’s result measures up to that of these old masters.”WA
Cayuse Vineyards En Cerise Vineyard Syrah, Walla Walla Valley 2010 750ML ($169.95) $139 pre-arrival special, 3 bottles available
Wine Advocate 95 points “Showing consistently from barrel and bottle, the thrilling 2010 Syrah En Cerise offers up a perfumed, wild array of ripe, meaty black cherries, soy, black olive, smoked herbs and river rock as well as a full-bodied, voluptuous and awesomely textured palate that carries its core of deep, concentrated fruit beautifully. Showing the classic Cayuse funk, as well as a complex, layered profile, it will benefit from short-term cellaring and evolve for 15 years or more. Drink 2015-2025.”
Staff Pick: A Value Brunello Favorite
Some of our local regulars have been grabbing up this wine 6 bottles at a time, and for good reason. If you’re a fan of Brunello di Montalcino you really shouldn’t pass this up while we still have it at this killer $29 price. It’s drinking great now, beautiful aromatics, very firm structure; the fruit makes its presence know without being “fruity” and the long finish smacks delightfully of the terroir, earthy and rusty. I was once fortunate enough to sit in on a tasting and lecture with Master Sommelier Peter Neptune and he made a remark that has always stuck with me: oak on wine should be like salt, it should highlight the flavors and support them, but you shouldn’t taste salt. Well this Brunello is lightly salted with French oak, a subtle support to the rest of the act, perfectly integrated. The acid structure on this wine is a little aggressive which is very much to my liking and which also leads me to believe that this wine, while being deliciously drinkable now, will also age with the best of them.
Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Tuscany 2012 750ML ($39.95) $29 special, 36+ bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 92 points “This is round and laced with cherry, currant, tobacco and iron flavors. Firms up quickly, with a fine matrix of tannins for support. Balanced overall, with a long finish of tobacco and iron. Best from 2020 through 2033.”
Wine Advocate 91+ points “Caparzo’s 2012 Brunello di Montalcino is a mid-weight expression with bright berry aromas and a traditional approach stylistically speaking. This Brunello aged in large oak casks made from Slavonian and French oak. In fact, it shows a streamlined and compact texture with buoyant aromatic intensity. The focus is on raspberry, cherry and plum with distinct shadings of spice, licorice, tar and blue flower at the back. The overall effect is inviting and genuine. The mouthfeel is thin, but the wine offers nice freshness instead.”
February Sale Highlights: Austria
We have a ton of great Austrian wine in the store right now and need a little more of it gone, so these fantastic bottles are currently in the February Clearance Sale. Both Groiss and Pichler represent some of the pinnacle of wine production in Austria and the wines we’ve got here are some of the finest in their cellars.
If you want to see all 39 wines currently in the February Clearance Sale, just click here to head to the website.
Weingut Ingrid Groiss ‘Pankraz’ Gruner Veltliner Reserve 2015 750ML ($59.95) Was $49, Now $39 special, 5 bottles in stock now
David Schildknecht–Vinous 90-91 points “From old vines on a site near the Schablau, and featuring a similarly complex mix of sand, gravel, conglomerate and marl, this first-time Groiss offering was raised in older 500-liter Austrian oak barrels, with nearly one-third of the fruit having been destemmed by hand and its berries incorporated intact in the fermentation. When I tasted in June, the wine had only just been racked off its gross lees and berry remnants. Lime, rhubarb, white peach and fresh apple project a sense of brightness and primary juiciness that belie the effects of lees and skin contact, though there is also an impressive sense of midpalate density and finishing phenolic grip. Alkaline and chalky notes lend a certain austerity, but a succulent abundance of fresh fruit nicely complements that.”
Now it’s even lower!
The next best price is $51
David Schildknecht–Vinous 90-91 points “From a geologically diverse site, more of which Groiss has recently planted, this was raised in Austrian oak demi-muids and due to have been bottled at the end of summer 2016. At 13.5 percent, it’s the highest-alcohol among her 2015s, and a trace of warmth accompanies its textural richness and sumptuous meld of pear and mirabelle with caramelized parsnip and rutabaga. The resonant, low-toned finish is convincingly persistent and subtly underlain with wet stone.”
David Schildknecht–Vinous 92-93 points “Last tasted from tank soon after its June 2016 assemblage, and still on its fine lees, this was due to have been bottled in late summer. Pear, persimmon and green bean dominate the nose as well as a glycerol-rich and expansive midpalate that showcases the wine’s generous ripeness while preserving a crunch of green bean and introducing cooling inflections of mint and basil. Incisive white pepper, chalk, stone and savory blond tobacco add to the saliva-inducing complexity of a superbly sustained finish as mouth-cleansing and refreshing as it is succulently fruity.”
Now it’s even lower!
Wine Advocate 94 points “Like the Liebenberg from weathered granite and gneiss soils, but in a higher and cooler spot, the 2015 Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Dürnsteiner Kellerberg opens with an intense and herbal-flavored, rather spicy and stony bouquet of ripe and concentrated bright fruits. Full-bodied, ripe and piquant on the palate, this is a rich and powerful, well-concentrated and elegant Kellerberg with a rich extract and a long and persistent finish. The 2015 should be cellared for at least another 3-5 years.”
Wine Advocate 93-94 points “The 2015 Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Dürnsteiner Liebenberg comes from 70- to 80-year-old vines on a rare calcareous slate soil. The wine displays a very clear and pure, pretty open and lovely spicy, crystalline and flinty bouquet with ripe pip fruit aromas. Very distinguished and rather coolish in its expression. Full-bodied, round and elegant, with tension, salt and grip in the finish, this is a charmingly ripe and juicy but also challenging mineral and piquant Veltliner from one of the most exciting terroirs. The finish is powerful and complex but also fresh and stimulatingly piquant. Pichler has bottled this wine since 2010.”Wine Spectator 92 points “Crafted with precision, this white features notes of white pepper and chamomile accenting apricot and wet stone flavors, showing good harmony between the savory and fruity elements.”
David Schildknecht–Vinous 95-96 points “A pungently smoky, incisive, savory mélange of sage, dark tobacco and black pepper is allied to ripe peach and garlanded with heliotrope in a head-turningly intense nose. That full range of elements reprises on a polished palate, whose textural caress and sweet sense of ripeness are combined with welcome, tangy, chewy counterpoint of peach skin and a refreshingly juicy squirt of fresh lime. The finish offers a mouthwateringly prolonged, kaleidoscopic interaction of fruity, savory and smoky elements – plenty rich, yet with rare cut and animation for its vintage.”
Wine Spectator 93 points “Peach, apple and brown spice flavors mingle in this opulent yet structured Riesling, whose vivid acidity offsets the flesh. Underlying citrus and stone elements emerge on the finish. Drink now through 2023.”
David Schildknecht–Vinous 92 points “A site-typical meld of apricot and lime is garlanded with iris on the nose and reprises with wonderful purity and vivid freshness on a silken-textured, expansive palate. Piquant apricot kernel and a lick of wet stone lend counterpoint on a lusciously lingering finish that irresistibly calls forth the next sip.”
Wine Spectator 92 points “Lush, displaying apricot, peach, grapefruit and mineral flavors backed by a vibrant structure, this stays true to its core of orchard fruit, adding accents of elderflower and citrus on the long aftertaste. Drink now through 2023.”
See the complete list of all the
February Clearance Sale wines by clicking here!
A Delivery Truckload of Points
Including the 96 point, Under $40
Secret des Schistes
We have a delicious quartet of high-scoring wines arriving tomorrow, headlined by the Chateau L’Ou “Secret Des Schistes.” While the Schistes is the highlight, we also have three other killer bottles coming in as well. The 2014 Gloria is one of the deals of the vintage in Bordeaux, a sought after value from a great year. Rioja Alta’s Arana Reserva is one of the finest values in traditionally made Rioja—for the price of Crianza from Lopez, you can get a stellar Reserva from an excellent year. Finally, the 2012 edition of Gran Enemigo is one of the finest wines to come out of South America.
Arriving Tomorrow (Wednesday):
Chateau de L’Ou ‘Secret de Schistes ‘ Rouge, IGP Cotes Catalanes 2015 750ML ($49.95) $39 pre-arrival special
Case-12 Chateau de L’Ou ‘Secret de Schistes ‘ Rouge, IGP Cotes Catalanes 2015 750ML ($549.95) $419 pre-arrival special (that’s only $34.92/bottle!—the lowest listed price in the country)
Wine Advocate 96 points “Saturated black in color, the 2015 IGP Côtes Catalanes Secret de Schistes is reminiscent of Manfred Krankl’s SQN Syrahs with its deep, unctuous, layered profile. Cassis, chocolate, licorice, smoked herbs and ample minerality all emerge from this full-bodied, sexy beauty that just begs to be drunk. Possessing ripe tannin, a stacked mid-palate and a great finish, it will be better in a year or two and keep for a decade.”
La Rioja Alta Vina Arana Reserva, Rioja DOCa 2009 750ML ($31.95) $27 pre-arrival special
Case-12 La Rioja Alta Vina Arana Reserva, Rioja DOCa 2009 750ML ($349.95) $299 pre-arrival special (that’s only $24.92/bottle!)
James Suckling 96 points “This is a powerful and rich red with black truffle and blueberry character. Sweet tobacco, too. Full body, tannic and flavorful. Yet open and polished. Fantastic finish. Great ageing potential. Drink or hold.”
Chateau Gloria, Saint-Julien 2014 750ML ($49.95) $39 pre-arrival special
Antonio Galloni 94 points “The 2014 Gloria is a bold, powerful wine. Dark cherry, smoke, licorice, tobacco and underbrush effortlessly fill out its frame. Ample and richly textured, the 2014 offers remarkable depth, power and pure pedigree. Pomegranate, blood orange and iron add further complexity on the finish. This is a superb showing. Tasted two times.”
Bodega Aleanna ‘Gran Enemigo’ Gualtallary Single Vineyard Cabernet Franc, Tupungato 2012 750ML ($119.95) $99 pre-arrival special
Wine Advocate 98+ points “The nose of the 2012 Gran Enemigo Gualtallary Single Vineyard almost made me fall from my chair. It is the expression of elegance and austerity coupled with strong minerality. It is mostly Cabernet Franc from a very chalky vineyard in Gualtallary at 1,430 meters altitude that fermented together with a small percentage of Malbec. In 2012 they fine tuned the élevage and fermentation, which was in rolling 500-liter barrels that were new in 2006 (so by then quite neutral), where the wine was kept for one more year and then transferred to 1,000-liter egg-shaped cement vats for one further year. This reminded me of my favorite Bordeaux, Lafleur, because of the elegance, the refinement of the tannins and length. It has citric, effervescent acidity that makes you salivate. Winemaker and Owner Alejandro Vigil has done a very strict selection of the soils in the field, and only kept the very center of the vineyard where the high density (12,000 plants per hectare) generates a lot of competition, because the plants from the borders have more space in the sides, which means in 2012 he could only fill 1,800 bottles. Awesome, and ultra fresh for a vintage like 2012. Bravo!”
For 2016 Selbach-Oster Rieslings
From Stuart Pigott of JamesSuckling.com
Arriving ETA February:
Selbach-Oster Riesling Kabinett, Mosel 2016 750ML ($24.95) $21.90 pre-arrival special
Stuart Pigott – Jamessuckling.com 90 points “Prototypic Selbach-Oster kabinett with a medium-dry balance and fresh apple and cassis notes. Drink any time during the next five years.”
Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett Halbtrocken, Mosel 2016 750ML ($27.95) $21.90 pre-arrival special
Stuart Pigott – Jamessuckling.com 91 points ” This has the imprint of the sun and shadow, the rain and hot slate stones of the Mosel vineyards in it. A delicate wine with inspiring freshness. Drink any time between now and 2030.”
Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Schlossberg ‘Bomer’ Riesling Trocken, Mosel 2016 750ML ($37.95) $29 pre-arrival special
Stuart Pigott – Jamessuckling.com 93-94 points “As delicate as it is concentrated, this is a pretty serious wine with a long, sleek very mineral finish. A couple of decades ahead of it.”
Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Kabinett, Mosel 2016 750ML ($31.95) $26 pre-arrival special
Stuart Pigott – Jamessuckling.com 91 points “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?”
50 Years Old and Incredible
Colheita port is almost a lost art, at this point. Once more common, these single vintage tawny wines represent the pinnacle of the tawny genre. Like their cousins, vintage ports, these are only mad in great years and are often left for extended periods of time before release. These two, from Taylor Fladgate, are among the greatest made and are must-buys if for anyone who loves Tawny port.
We have the 1967 in stock now and the ’68 arriving in the fall, both perfect as birth-year bottlings to gift (or drink) for special occasions—or just because these represent incredible value in the world of fine wine.
In Stock Now:
Taylor Fladgate Very Old Single Harvest Port 1967 750ML ($279.95) $219 special, 4 bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 98 points “This draws you in, with aromas of warm halva and toasted pistachio giving way to a wide range of buckwheat, toasted sesame, walnut husk, menthol and licorice root notes that refuse to break down in the mouth. Exhibits remarkable length, with ample viscosity matched by steely tension, putting this in rarified air. Drink now.”
Arriving ETA September:
Taylor Fladgate Very Old Single Harvest Port 1968 750ML ($299.95) $219 pre-arrival special
Wine Spectator 98 points “Pretty gorgeous from the get go, with toasted sesame, green tea, walnut husk, pistachio cream and peanut toffee notes seamlessly layered atop each other, framed by a subtle singed alder hint. Everything glides with grace through the finish, like a gently wafting plume of white smoke off of burning incense. Drink now.”
The next best price is $229.95
The average price is $250
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