Barco Real

Just arrived and not expected to last long, this Tusan red shows intense red berry flavors with nice smoky spicy underpinnings. a joy to drink for only fifteen bucks!

Shop our Fine Crystal Department

Check our selection of hundreds of; wine specific glasses, decanters and accessories from Ravenscroft one of the finest European crystal craftsmen in the world, always free shipping and always at the best price on the internet.

Vodka of the Month Club	Bourbon of the Month Club	Scotch of the Month Club	Wine of the Month Club

These are great gifts that keep on giving. The lucky getter gets his first installment in December and then gets a nice surprise January, February…. For as many or as few months as you want. We use small batch Bourbons, limited production Vodkas and Single Malt Scotches and boutique wineries for our selection. Shop on line or call or visit the shop for enrollment details

Here’s the first rule of the eating and drinking game. Drink something you really enjoy, this supercedes food and wine pairing. If you are having a rare get together with your wine buddies and are dying to try certain bottles you’ve been saving, drink them. You can find some food on the table that will work with them or you can drink them on the couch before or after dinner. Whatever you do the pleasure principle is paramount.

The ideal of course is to harmonize the food and wine. The traditional Thanksgiving dinner is a harvest feast featuring  autumnal flavors such as; tangy cranberries, roasted or baked root veggies, gooey casseroles, spicy, rich and fatty stuffing, turkey, sometimes on the dry side, and rich creamy sauces and gravies.
All moral equivalency aside there are clearly some wines that do this spread much more justice than others. In my order of preference I choose:

First light to medium bodied flavorful reds not super high in alcohol and without much oak. To name but a few: Pinot Noir, mid level Bordeaux (and Burgundy), lighter Italian reds like Dolcetto, Barbera, softer Nebbiolo based wines. From Spain lighter Riojas, From the US all the favorite varietals are fair game as long as they are not alcohol or oak monsters, cab, merlot, even zin.

Second,  full bodied (not heavy) flavorful whites also with reasonable degrees of alcohol and oak. Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio are the most popular whites we sell so I say an appropriate Chardonnay (white Burg, Long Island, California with little or no oak), Pinot Grigio is too light but the Northern European producers make grea Pinot Gris, Riesling, Gewurtz, Gruner, Sauv Blanc.

And finally dry rosé can be ideal. You could use the lighter quaffing rosés of summer but look for more serious rosés that drink and chill like a white but have the intensity and flavor profile of a red. Our Fleming Jenkins rosé, Paige 23
and finally dry rosé can be ideal. You could use the lighter quaffing rosés of summer but look for more serious rosés that drink and chill like a white but have the intensity and flavor profile of a red. Our Fleming Jenkins rosé and Paige 23 rosé, Avanthia rosé, Muga rosé are big wines that are great foils for this feast.  Llopart rosé and Marques de Gelidas rosé are two sparkling wines, Spanish cava that will work well too.  I list  rosé last only because it is so summery although, I’ve served a rosé Champagne, for a full meal,  from start to finish, including the dessert for a dining experience I remember from ten years ago, and I usually can’t remember what I ate yesterday. There is a lot of flexibility with Thanksgiving which can be a wine adventure if you have adventuresome wine geeks over or you can tone it down and let the wine play a supporting role if wine isn’t everyone’s passion. In the end wine is a beverage whose highest purpose is to enhance our meals.

Relax Jacques, Thursday November 17th we will have three Nouveaux to choose from and to taste, on that day, starting at 4pm . We will have Duboeuf, naturallemente but two new ones as well.  Here’s our picks for the best producers. If I were you I’d mix up a case and just Beaujolais the night away.

The boys at La Madone	JP Brun from Terres Dorees	His Majesty King Georges Duboeuf

Domaine de la Madone Beaujolais-Vilages Nouveau 2011 $12.99
finishes consistently in top of Nouveau rankings Wine Spectator etc. This family has been pressing grapes for over 400 years (they must be tired by now) and the current crop of winemakers (shown above) get their juice from low yielding 100 year old vines from the superior, hilly northern Beaujolais. Parker is a big fan and notes, regarding the style of their wine,”…about as hedonistic and compelling an example of Beaujolais as readers are likely to find.”

Terres Dorees Beaujolais Nouveau 2011 $14.99
Jean-Brun wants to make old style Beaujolais, more like burgundy from up north, he uses traditional press wine fermentation,not the whole cluster
carbonic maceration typical in many Beaujolais, he also sticks to indigenous yeast and goes very light on the sulfer dioxide at bottling to preserve the fresh natural flavors. Beaujolais ferments very vigorously and kicks up a lot of CO2 anyway so a little left at bottling further protects the wines.

Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau 2011 $10.99
The go to Nouveau for us for over 20 years. We are flirting with a couple of new ones for variety but Georges Dubuoef is still the King of Beaujolais. This is the big “fruit bomb” Beaujolais that is the antithesis of the Terres Dorees, lush, ripe with tropical fruit notes and a grapey finish

We’ll be tasting all three of these tonight plus an exciting new wine from Emilia Romagna from Luciano Saetti, read more…

Luciano Saetti	Lambrusco Grapes	Solfitti? No Grazie.	Totally Organic Lambrusco

Luciano Saetti is a soft-spoken yet focused producer of organic Lambrusco located just outside of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Luciano began bottling his Lambrusco Frizzante Salamino di Santa Croce after working as an egg distributor (!) and selling his family’s grapes to the local co-op. The original plantings are from 1964. He stopped using SO2 in 2006 after a gradual reduction year after year. 2007 was the first vintage completely without sulfur.

Luciano begins by de-stemming in the vineyard with a little mobile de-stemmer. There is no press juice here so as to avoid using SO2. Primary fermentation is in open topped steel containers of 100 liters in size. These stainless steel containers are also brought out into the vineyards and the crush is done in the fields in order to preserve freshness.

The wine is hand riddled by turning the boxes and then disgorged using a jerry-rigged freezer. The Lambrusco is sensational. Red berry fruits leap from the glass and the palate is bright and crackling with a wonderful petillance.

The labels are actually made of fabric (looks like black denim) and each bottle has a little paper note under the capsule.

Black Friday is Friday November 18th this year
That’s when we’ll be pouring the new Quinta do Noval “Black” Port paired with chocolate at one of our rare, impromptu friday tastings.
This will be a busy week of tasting with the wine flowing Thursday, Friday and Saturday!
Noval’s Black is a very user friendly entry level port with a bright fresh character, more of the lifted blackberry, mulberry flavors, soft tannins and less of the mineral and spice flavors. Stop by and taste. This wine will be discounted for the tasting

Here’s my take on the line up from last Saturday, if you missed it you missed meeting the legendary Wild William Butzky, the larger than life cork slinging wine consultant and raconteur. It was a really good tasting. Please note I have the list prices here, the wines will stay on sale til November 17 so for the next few days you can get a good discount from these prices.

L’Ecole No. 41 Semillon Columbia Valley 2009 $14.99
91 Points – Wine Enthusiast, December 2010

“I really like this one very creamy with notes of pear and apple and a long persistent finish.  Try it with scallops, lobster or shrimp.” -Me
“Blended with 17% Sauvignon Blanc, this lovely Sémillon is exceptionally fragrant, satiny and rich, with fleshy, ripe fruits and just a hint of toast. A warm streak of caramel enlivens the finish, which lingers gracefully and fills the palate with delicious flavors of apples and spicy pears.” -Paul Gregutt

Vina Errazuriz Sauvignon Blanc Single Vineyard Casablanca Valley 2010 $14.99
90 Points – International Wine Cellar, May 2011

“This is great for white fin fish, nice grassy and citrus notes, a little sweet lemon curd flavor, very zippy and zesty” -Me

“Light gold. Exotically perfumed scents of passion fruit, tangerine and melon, plus a hint of honey. A round, fleshy rendition of the variety, offering lush orchard and pit fruit flavors and a hint of smoky oak spice. The broad, long finish features recurring notes of passion fruit and smoke.” -Josh Raynolds

Arizona Stronghold Dayden Rose Cochise County 2010 $16.99

“The jury is still out on the exact blend, we don’t believe it has white grape in it but I like, it is balanced and a good food wine but the finish is a little short” -Me
“Dayden is Apache for “little girl” and is a blend of Zinfandel, Grenache, Sangiovese, Malbec, Sauvignon Blanc. A knock out dry rosé that balances vibrant fruit with racy acidity. Offers zesty floral aromas of watermelon and spice, with layered strawberry and mineral flavors. The inherent casual nature of Rosé lends itself to simple lighter fare, such as charcuterie, smoked fish or ahi tuna sashimi. It is also quite at home in any picnic basket with cold roast chicken and potato salad, or a rare roast beef sandwich.” -The Winery

Wilson Daniels Pinot Noir Central Coast 2010 $18.99

“This was a really balanced Pinot sourced from Santa Maria at the northern end of Santa Barabara, it has nice sour cherry flavors with warm pie spice and a very smooth finish. It gets better and better with a little airing” -Me
“Strawberry and fresh Bing cherry aromas lead to exotic berry and Asian spice flavors. This wine’s true varietal character is demonstrated in its silky body and smooth finish. The grapes are sourced from Santa Maria Valley in Santa Barbara County” -The Winery

San Felice Chianti Classico Riserva Il Grigio 2007 $21.99
90 Points – Wine Advocate, August 2010

“I’m a big fan of San Felice wines as well as their Montalcino wines under the Campogiovanni label. This wine has solid structure with the characteristic berry flavors with underlying note of resin, leather and dry flower petals.  Very well balanced and ready for some lamb chops”-Me
“The 2007 Chianti Classico Riserva Il Grigio (Sangiovese) comes across as soft and pliant, very much in the style of the vintage. A warm, open bouquet leads to succulent ripe cherries, flowers and spices, all of which flow through nicely to the enveloping finish. Today the juiciness of the fruit makes Il Grigio very attractive, but readers who prefer more tertiary complexity will want to wait for a few years. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2017.” -Antonio Galloni

Arizona Stronghold Mangus Cochise County 2009 $25.99
“I really liked this one as well, some of the other wines from this winery, owned and run by the lead singer of the band Tool, are  a bit rustic for my taste, but this one was very user friendly yet had good solid flavors. I like a little fruit in the wines to balance out the spice and mineral notes and softer tannins are good too. This wine has all that and more. A good effort from an up and coming wine region.” -Me

“This wine is a medium to light bodied Sangiovese based blend displaying fragrances of dusty spice, dried orange peel, tart raspberry, flowers, graphite, and rustic dried herbs. There is a plethora of mouthwatering pomegranate, black cherry, strawberry, and slight rhubarb flavors, with light spice, dried fruit, minerals, focused acidity and fine dry tannins. Great with all kinds of pasta, hearty soups and vegetable brochette. Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot.” -The Winery

The best of Emilio Moro

Our epic wine dinner Monday November 14th with Jorge Ordoñez at Restaurant Mirabelle featured 9 wines (with 9 courses) and the star of the evening was in my humble opinion this great wine from Emilo Moro in Ribera del Duero. His top range of wines are the Malleolus wines and the top of that heap are the too single vineyards of which I favor the Sancho Martin property, a vineyard planted in 1964  and aged 22 months in oak.

Tasting notes brighter fruit, lush mouth watering, I preferred to Valderamirro. powerful perfumed nose of black cherry, blackberry, anise, slight tobacco and cigar box, crushed stone Palate of cherry, pie spices, a little cocoa a little tobacco, slight toasted bread and toffee with a tsunami finish, wowow.

Dark & Juicy

This new juice from Argentina is named after the kaikenes, wild geese that originate in Patagonia. The Malbec is sourced from prime vineyards in the “First Zone” Agrelo and Vistalba) s well as Valle de Uco. These are subregions of Mendoza. This is an Argentine project from the Montes family of Chile. Just arrived and highly rated