PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Here's an interesting photo of some Nebbiolo grapes being raked out of the
fermentation tank in Barolo, Italy.
Many Piemontese winemakers would leave the grape skins in contact with the wine
for weeks after the fermentation had finished, resulting in red wines with a
significant impact of the tannins. It was not unusual for this maceration
period to be well more than a month and some would not get around to pressing
the skins for 5 to 12 weeks!
Many winemakers today will ferment the juice with the skins until the wine
finishes its fermentation, maybe a week, or so.
In Italy's Piemonte, though some enologists shortened their typical lengthy
maceration to a more conventional five to ten days, resulting in wines with a
different tannic structure than the old-school, conventionally-vinified wines.
Another aspect which was adopted by these so-called Modernistas is that
they would mature the wine in small French oak barrels instead of ancient,
neutral Slavonian oak tanks. Botte grande...big wood tanks.
Over the years most have slacked off on the percentage of brand new wood, but we
can tell you that some wines from the early 2000s which had shown a lot of fresh
oak, matured beautifully and the Nebbiolo character eventually took over as the
wood integrated into the wine.
We recall one expert wrote an article decrying the use of French oak for
Nebbiolo wines, but in the same article he tasted ten year old Barolos, rating
one very highly which (unbeknownst to him) had been aged exclusively in brand
new French oak!
The Nebbiolo grapes in the snapshot posted above comes from vineyards in the
town of Verduno, a site where the Barolo tends to be a bit lighter and more
elegant. The winemaker tells us he fermented this fruit using "whole
berries."
"This is not my invention, but I understand some winemakers in the town
of Verduno routinely did not crush all the grapes. It is not exactly like
a Carbonic Maceration/Beaujolais fermentation because the top of the
fermentation tank is open and the carbon dioxide can escape. But the
resulting wine has a really interesting fragrance that is highly perfumed and
very delicate."
We look forward to tasting this in several years!
But first he's got to put that fruit in the press and squeeze a bit more wine
out of those grapes.
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The winner of that Modestly-Priced Pinot Noir tasting is now in stock.
Sale priced at $19.99, a few of the tasters have reserved some bottles.
One of our wine-judging colleagues tells us she's not surprised to see this wine
faring well.
It took a Gold Medal in a judging she organizes.
We have seen a wave of customers buying a bottle or two to take for a test-drive
and now they've coming back for 6's and 12's!
Domaine Rimbert's "Beaujolais-Styled" Cinsault arrived this week.
$16.99.
He calls it Cousin Oscar.
The "legend" is that Oscar is quite the lady's man.
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Monday through Saturday until 5:45pm.
We're totally enchanted by the raspberryish Tempranillo from the New Clairvaux
winery in California's Tehama County.
$2/taste.
Elena Walch made a splendid 2020 vintage Lagrein...Deliciously cherryish and
gentle like a Pinot Noir.
We have a terrific dry Riesling from Germany's Von Winning winery in Deidesheim
along with a Sonoma Coast Pinot from Anthill Farms.
There's a 2018 Merlot from Peju that's surprisingly good and specially priced.
"TASTES" are roughly a two-ounce pour and priced 10% the retail price
of the bottle, so that Gewurz is $3.70/taste and the Cabernet goes for a mere five
bucks. The Barolo is $5.00 for a pour.
And there's a terrific, fruity German wine made of the Scheurebe grape...$2.20
for that.
CLICK HERE
to see what wines are offered for tasting presently.
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Who says there's no affordable Burgundy?
Sale-priced at $19.99, this Givry from Danjean-Berthoux is remarkably good.
When you think of Moselle wine, you probably expect it to be German, no?
But here's a delightful French white from the Château de Vaux.
It's about 86 miles northwest of the wine roads of Alsace and 72 miles southwest
of the German Mosel village of Bernkastel.
About half the blend is Auxerrois with Pinot Gris, Müller-Thurgau and a drop of
Gewurztraminer.
Mildly floral, crisp, dry and light, yet flavorful...$19.99.
The French Moselle region comprised 6000 hectares in the early 1900s, but
dwindled down to a mere 2 hectares in 1970!
Today there are some hectares of vineyards and the region is on the rebound
thanks, in large part, to this estate in Vaux.
We've routinely been tasting new wines...looking for good value and wines which
over-perform for their price.
This classic Spanish Albariño is crisply acidic and snappy...perfect as a
cocktail white or pair it
with some seafood.
$19.99
Elena Walch and her two daughters are making some remarkably good wines in
the Alto Adige of Italy.
This Lagrein is gorgeous and has the charm of a good Pinot Noir.
$19.99. It's open for tasting, too, by the way. $2/pour.
Here's an absolutely delicious Spanish white. 2020 Vintage.
Verdejo from the Rueda region.
Brilliantly citrusy, dry and crisp...
And it's a mere $13.99!
We asked the winery rep from Peju if they hired a new winemaker as this 2018
Merlot does not resemble wines we've tasted from Peju over the past
decade. He laughed and explained the second generation of the Peju family
is running the place and "dad" is retired.
The resulting wines are pretty darned good and this Merlot is a standout.
$60 at the winery. We have it for far less. Stop by and see.
It's also available in the Tasting Room for $3.50/pour.
Our monthly tasting group this past week surveyed 2017 and 2018 Chianti
Classico wines.
The first place wine was $45 and blended with Cabernet Sauvignon (we ranked it
6th out of 8, but these guys love Napa Cabernet and Bordeaux, so it is
understandable they preferred that particular wine).
Finishing a mere one point behind the top wine was this 2018 Paneretta. It
is 85% Sangiovese and the rest is Canaiolo and Colorino, typical Tuscan
varieties.
We brought some in as we're sale-tagging it for $19.99 and it's a good
introduction to Tuscan Sangiovese.
If you missed the Croatian wine from the Toreta winery last year, we just
received our second shipment of this year's terrific dry white made on the
island of Korcula of the Posip grape.
Last year we had the entry level bottling but this vintage, 2020, we were more
impressed by the fancier bottling (20% of the wine is matured in neutral
cooperage for a few months to give it a shade more body.
The sales rep told us they have plenty to last well throughout the year and two
weeks after getting our first order we asked for more and were told they are
almost sold out!
$21.99
The most thrilling wine we tasted this past week was from Antonella Corda, a
terrific vintner in Italy's Sardegna region.
It's made of the somewhat obscure Nuragus grape, a variety that's overshadowed
to some degree by Vermentino.
But the 2020 vintage from Corda is a stellar, snappy dry white wine, showing
some notes of citrus and lime with a stony, minerally note reminiscent of
Chablis or Sancerre.
We noticed one web site offers this for $45 a bottle while another is more
reasonably priced at $28.
Our price is a mere $19.99.
Don't miss it!
We were pleasantly surprised by the drinkability and charm of the Tre Monti
Sangiovese called Campo di Mezzo.
It's from Emilia-Romagna, just a short drive southeast of Bologna. No
oak. No Cabernet. No Merlot.
Just pure, unadulterated Sangiovese.
Sale price is $14.99.
Two weeks ago we splurged on a bottle of the 2007 Terlan Pinot Bianco.
They call it "Rarity," as the wine is matured on the spent yeast for
about ten years in stainless steel after its year, or so, in large wooden
vats. The wine retails for close to $200 a bottle and it was very good.
A few days later we opened a few bottles of Italian whites, including this
"Terlaner" from the Terlan winery. It's predominantly Pinot
Bianco with a bit of Chardonnay and a drop of Sauvignon Blanc. It was the
best white of that tasting. The apple and pear fruit of the Pinot Bianco
takes center stage...no oak coming through here.
Damned good and it stood up to our Artichoke Risotto, too.
$26.99
OPEN FOR TASTING PRESENTLY
Ercole Barbera comes from Italy's Piemonte region.
It's an economical bottling intended for "by the glass" service in a
restaurant where they can charge customers $8-$10 a pour. It's in a liter
sized bottle...just $15.99! Smooth, medium bodied and easy to drink.
People who've purchased their first bottle are now returning for an encore.
The 2019 Saddleback Zinfandel is a delicious, gentle red from old vineyards in
Napa.
And Saddleback has an old winemaker, too: our friend Nils Venge!
$48 at the winery...Sale priced at $39.99.
Berries and spice and everything nice.
OPEN FOR TASTING PRESENTLY
That Cabernet we mentioned winning (by a wide margin) a recent blind-tasting
arrived.
It's the 2018 Titus Napa Cabernet. The winery price is $62, while our
sale-price is $49.99.
It's a big, dark, purple-colored wine with black fruits, cassis, berries and
some sweet oak notes.
One customer who purchased a bottle on our recommendation last week, called the
following day and asked for a case!
Yes, it's that good.
OPEN FOR TASTING PRESENTLY
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A Weimax shopper and parent of a Roosevelt Elementary School student sent us
a screenshot of an online
"Teddy Talk" where a student was explaining the importance of
supporting community businesses and "shopping local."
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Ellen
had her picture on the front page of the New Year's weekend Daily Journal, a local
newspaper here in San Mateo County.
They did a story about holiday sales of wines and liquors, so we were mentioned
(and quoted) in that.
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The store is fully stocked...lots of good value bottlings and numerous
"fancy" wines, too.
Stop by and we can give you a little tour...Socially Distant, of course...Don't
forget a face mask!
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This car is "corked"!!!
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GIFT CARDS AVAILABLE...
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Had a nice mention in the Wall
Street Journal's 2016 story about wine store signage:
CLICK
HERE
The Most recent mention, September of 2017, is this one...Things Wine Shop
Owners Detest...
CLICK
HERE
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Australian Wine Writer Jim McMahon wrote
a nice article published on the web site of the New South Wales Teachers
Federation.
CLICK
HERE
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Did you see the article in the local newspaper, by the way?
CLICK
HERE.
It was printed
just before New Year's Eve...
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|
SOME
PEOPLE KNOW THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING AND THE VALUE OF NOTHING
We are
dinosaurs in the wine business. Weimax has been open since 1961
and Gerald has been in the business long enough to remember when young,
upstart wineries such as Caymus and Stag's Leap Wine Cellars opened
their doors and charged all of $3.75 a bottle for Napa Cabernet!
If you buy wine because it has a cute label or was given a 90-point
score by someone, we're probably not your wine outlet.
If you think you're really getting a deal buying a second bottle of some
over-priced plonk for a nickel, we're probably not your wine outlet.
If you're impressed by a huge selection featuring hundreds of
factory-made wines of mediocre quality, we're probably not your wine
outlet.
If you think you're really getting a deal at the grocery store with
inflated prices on their wine to give you a hefty percentage discount,
we're probably not your wine outlet.
On the other hand...
If you like wines made by the winemaker and not marketing department
geniuses, we have some interesting bottlings for you.
If you're looking for wines which "taste more expensive" than
they cost, we have many discoveries to share with you.
If you're interested in broadening your enological horizons, stop by and
have a chat!
If you're a fan of wines "made for adult" palates, please
visit us...
|
This site is a "work in progress." It is updated regularly.
We are wine lovers and write this for wine lovers.
We offer a large selection of wines for
tasting
Monday through Saturday in The Tasting Room. We also
organize formal, blind-tasting comparisons. There is a growing archive of
tasting results, so you might check that out while you're viewing this site.
Click
Here To Take A Peek of the Tasting Results
Those
of legal drinking age are welcome to peruse this site.
We
Taste Before Buying.
We do not purchase wines on the
basis of favorable reviews by various publications.
If you're looking for numerical scores of wines, you won't find them
here.
Unlike about 98% of Wine Shop sites, we write our own copy based on
personal opinion and first-palate tastings.
This is a
Parker-Free and Wine Spectator-Free Zone.
We hope this site will encourage you to
stop by our shop and peruse the incredible selection of wines in store.
We make every effort to assure the accuracy of availability and pricing, but as
we are only human....
SHIPPING
AVAILABLE
ALONG THE WEST COAST.
$9 for the Box (12 bottles) , $23 for UPS. $5
handling per box for gift orders.
No Shipments to Utah, Massachusetts or New Jersey, please.
Additional Fine Print:
Non-California residents are responsible for determining whether they may
lawfully import alcoholic beverages into their state. We make no representation
relative to your right to import wine or spirits into your state. Each state has
its own rules about alcoholic beverages. Better check before calling us with an
order.
We are not responsible for shipments damaged due to weather. Next day air
or 2nd Day Air shipments are routinely handled with more care, so you may wish
to request those services.
We are not responsible for the weather (like, duh!), so shipments to places with
extreme temperatures are a risk. We will not assume that risk.
WE
DELIVER LOCALLY...CHECK THIS PAGE FOR INFO
ON GIFT DELIVERIES
WHERE
WE ARE: <click here!> 1178 Broadway, Burlingame, California
NEWSLETTER
Check out the current newsletter.
STORE HOURS
Monday 9am-7pm
Tuesday-Saturday 9am-6:00pm
Sunday: Closed
|
Gift
Certificates Available!
We Gift Wrap, too.
Rantings
& Ravings
ODD
SIGHTINGS
TASTING
ROOM IS OPEN TO THOSE ADULTS
WHO HAVE BEEN DOUBLE VAXXED + 2 WEEKS
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FREE TASTE!
MENTION THE WORD (name) "BETTY" and we'll pour you a
FREE TASTE Betty O'Shaughnessy's Howell Mountain Cabernet.
It's a very good example of Cabernet from the prestigious Howell
Mountain region.
This Cabernet is sale-priced at $99.99, well-priced considering so many
Napa vintners think their wine is worth $200-$800 a bottle.
Small
Print: One free taste per household...one free taste of a
particular wine per person.
You must be 21+ years of age. |
HEY! We were listed amongst Food & Wine Magazine's 125
"Favorites" in the October 2003 Issue.
Thanks, Food & Wine!
CLICK
HERE
- Electronic mail
-
For: General Information, Comments, Queries, etc.,
Contact the Chief Cook & Bottle Washer, Web-Mister & Wine Meister.
gerald@weimax.com
- WEIMAX WINES & SPIRITS
1178 Broadway
Burlingame CA 94010
-
We built this site
ourselves using Microsoft's Front Page.
We "upgraded" to a new Microsoft program called Expressions...big
mistake!
While FrontPage was intended for novices, the new program is
intended for "experts" and programmers. Most "experts"
we know
view Microsoft with derision, much like wine drinkers look down
their noses at Gallo.
Now we know why.
We have been informed that
Netscape's Navigator doesn't present this format quite exactly as it is
intended. Sorry about that. We have also noticed it appears
differently on our browser than it appears as we've built it! Go figure...
"UNCLE BOB" GORMAN
1937-2012
Bob was in reasonably good shape in his later years.
In 2012 he had a bout of Bells Palsy in late Spring...
In early November he had a "dizzy spell" but said the hospital tests
were all fine.
Two weeks later he apparently suffered a stroke or seizure and ended up in the
hospital.
A series of further setbacks ensued and Bob passed away on Thanksgiving Day of
2012.
He was a bon vivant, world traveler and gourmand.
He appreciated art and photography, was a mushroom hunter and good cook and genial
host.
Bob wrote a book on California wine in the 1970s, a series of nice essays on
various varietals, with commentary on various wines and various food affinities.
Bob was especially proud that his book had been panned by The Wine Spectator,
while garnering good reviews from Gourmet Magazine's wine guru, Gerald Asher.
Julia Child also had been a fan of Bob's book, apparently.
He is greatly missed by Weimax regulars and his colleagues behind the counter in
the shop.
******
Jon Bonne, of the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote a nice article on
"old" wine books.
The March 2014 article featured a photo of a bunch of Jon's favorites, topped by
Bob's tome.
Read
Jon's article by CLICKING HERE.
"Quality first" is our mantra.
