Weimax Wines & Spirits



1178 Broadway -- Burlingame, California 94010
Telephone  650-343-0182


HOURS:
Monday 9-7 Tuesday-Saturday 9-7:30
Closed Sundays.
Closed Labor Day, too.



TO INQUIRE ABOUT A WINE:
gerald@weimax.com

Please check our Home-Page for Shipping Info.

 

SCHMELZ GOOD & TASTES GOOD, TOO

TWO GOOD ZINS
BANKNOTE
PLUNGERHEAD

VIBRANT VERDICCHIO

NOT-FOR-CRITICS RIOJA $13.99

FRESH GASCONY WHITE $8.99

2007 SANCERRE CUVÉE

LIVERMORE VALLEY WHITE RIVALS PESSAC-LÉOGNAN WINES

DELICIOUS, FRESH ROSÉS

SPICY FER SERVADOU $11.99

AMERICAN ARNEIS GIVES THE ITALIANS A RUN FOR THE MONEY

SONOMA VALLEY CHARDONNAY $12.99

CARIGNANO & VERMENTINO

A COUPLE OF GOOD SICILIANS

MOURVÈDRE RHONE REBEL $17.99

GOOD PINOT NOIR $19.99

KNOCK YER HAT OFF $10 WHITE

STELLAR SARDINIAN WHITE

EXCEPTIONAL & UNUSUAL ITALIAN WHITE

SONOMA CHARDONNAY VALUE

NOT-SO-PRIMITIVE
PRIMITIVO

FANTASTICALLY FINE CHIANTI

CHANGE OF PACE
FROM MONTEREY

EXCELLENT AMARONE

GREAT GRUNER VELTLINER

SUPER $12 ZIN

TIMELY WINES,
SECOND TO NONE

TROUBLEMAKING DUO'S SYRAH

ZIN TASTING WINNER  $16.99

GOOD TEN-BUCK CHIANTI

FAMOUS 12th CENTURY WINE MAKES A TINY COMEBACK

EQ=Excellent Quality

NICE TEN-BUCK PINOT NOIR

DOURO VALLEY RED
$10.99

SMART SHOPPER'S "SAUTERNES"

FLOWERY, CURIOUS RED

FIDDLING WITH NERO

OLD FAVORITE KIWI SAUVIGNON IS BACK

BRITISH CONQUER BERGERAC

OLD PATCH RED
ZIN BLEND

MALBEC FROM CAHORS

MONCUIT'S GRAND CRU CHAMPAGNE

ROCK
PAPER
SCISSORS
RED $8.99

WONDERFUL Napa CHARDONNAY

TOP NOTCH OAKVILLE CABERNET

GOOD WINES AROUND FIVE BUCKS

HONEYED MUSCAT

SPICY 
GEWÜRZTRAMINER


DELICIOUS VIOGNIER
$16.99

$5.19 Red Bargain !

Napa Valley Grape Info

Amazing FRENCH CIDERS

FIZZY LAMBRUSCO

 

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ALBA WINES EXHIBITION 2007

SCHRAMSBERG vs THE FAMOUS FRENCH

German Wine "Master Class" Tasting

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TEAR-WAH
TASTING

2008 SF INTERNATIONAL WINE COMPETITION
Periodically Amazing

2007 SF INTERNATIONAL WINE COMPETITION
The Nose Knows!

2006 SF INTERNATIONAL WINE COMPETITION.
SPIT HAPPENS

2005 SF INTERNATIONAL WINE COMPETITION.

2004 SF WINE COMPETITION TASTING

The 2003 SF WINE COMPETITION

2002 SF WINE COMPETITION TASTING 

A Vertical Tasting of Nalle Zinfandels

 

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RANTINGS & RAVINGS

WINE ROADS of EUROPE

Food/Wine/Friends
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MASTER OF WINE ESSAY TOPICS

Old Bottles: A TASTE OF HISTORY

Bob's Venetian Diary

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Wine Writer's Confession

NEW "CULT" WINERY

Some Restaurant Reviews

HOW TO SELL WINE.
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Wine Distributors.

HOW TO HOLD A TRADE TASTING

Study Reveals Experts Taste More Than What's In the Glass!

BRIAN'S 2005 SUMMER VACATION WITH UNCLE

Gerald's Tour de France 2006

GERALD'S TOUR DE FRANCE 2008

HOW TO SPEAK BETTER ITALIAN

ROOSEVELT'S 2005 CHILI COOK-OFF

ROOSEVELT'S 2007 CHILI COOK-OFF

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More Spanish Table Wines

The Lay of the Land...Backgrounder on Spain's Wine Regions

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
SEGURA VIUDAS
CREU de LAVIT
wpe21.jpg (3215 bytes)The large sparkling wine producer Segura Viudas is now sending some table wines to the West Coast.   We purchased some bottles of their various wines and were delighted to find such a stylish and flavorful wine amongst the group.  

It's a dry white wine made of Xarel-lo, one of the varieties used to make their sparkling wine.  You'll find this to be a very complex wine, having been subjected to some skin contact, barrel-fermentation in American oak and then aged on the lees for six months to pick up additional toasty notes.  The fruit reminds me of pears with a hint of citrus.  Then there's the hint of toasty oak and vanillin notes.  Dry.  Of course.   A remarkable wine and a refreshing change from drinking Chardonnay every time wine appears on the dinner table!  
Good luck on remembering the name.  Creu de Lavit.
Currently in stock :  2005 Creu de Lavit Xarel-lo  Special Order Item  About $16 a bottle




 
 



CLOS DE L'OBAC
This outstanding little winery is located in the village of Gratallops in the Priorato region of eastern Spain.  This is amazingly rugged country and you have to be crazy to want to spend your life making wine here.  The mountainous terrain is steep and the vineyards are typically terraced.  The rocky soil means the vines really have to struggle to exist and they produce small quantities of fruit, if you're lucky. 

Owned by the Pastrana family, they've got some 50 hectares planted at the present time.   These are about a thousand feet above sea level.
When we first visited some years ago, they had but 14 hectares!

The winery is called  Costers del Siurana and they make a few different wines, including a sweet red of Garnacha, Cabernet & Syrah!  But the famous red wine is called Clos de L'Obac, a blend of Garnacha, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot and Cariena.  

The 2004 is a huge wine...deep and dark in color...lots of black fruit aromas with some spice tones on the palate.  It's one of those wines which will certainly appeal to those measuring it on a numerical wine-tasting score-card.  We had a bottle with a prime rib dinner and the wine showed marvelously.  It's nice now, but we suspect it needs a few years to really blossom and come together.

While they do fine with egg whites, Clos de L'Obac is bottled unfiltered.  New barrels are the rule, being of Limousin, Allier and Nevers oak. 
Currently available:  
1994 Clos de L'Obac  $49.99
2004 Clos de L'Obac $76.99





MAS MARTINET
martinetbru.gif (5296 bytes)A neighboring winery to Clos de L'Obac, Clos Martinet is a 6 hectare estate. It's owned by Jos Luis Prez, who also was involved, apparently, with Carlos Pastrana at Clos de L'Obac at one time. The planting of Cabernet and Syrah is, apparently, a relatively recent issue, as they started this sometime during the 1980s.  Today  Prez is assisted by his daughter Sara, who's an enologist (and philosopher!).  

Prez makes two wines, the Clos Martinet being the best of their production and amounting to 40% of the output. That wine is about 35% Garnatxa (as the Catalonians write it), 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 15% Syrah. 

The little brother red vino is called Martinet Bru and this has less Garnatxa and Syrah and a bit more Cabernet and Merlot. 

The Clos Martinet is a big, deep wine and the 2004 vintage is one of the best.  It's more elegant and refined, showing 'finesse', which is unusual for the powerful Priorat wines.  It's quite lovely now, having sweet oak notes (all new French barrels were used to mature this wine) and it should cellar nicely for a decade.


                       
Currently available: 
Clos Martinet 2004 Priorat SALE  $79.99




CLOS MOGADOR
This property is owned by the large firm of Rene Barbier.  The vineyards from where this comes are in Gratallops, near Clos de L'Obac.  It is a lavishly oaked red wine, typical of these showpieces from this incredible area of Spain.   Garnacha is the base of this wine, augmented with a substantial contribution from Cabernet Sauvignon and a bit of Syrah.  Very nice, modern and, to my taste, an improvement over wines made in the early 1990s.

The 2002 is not as massive as the 2001, but it's still quite good.  I suspect this will arrive at its peak before the 2001, as well.  It's nicely oaked and gets a high "score" from Spain's top wine guide...

The 2003 is a big, deep wine.  I tasted it once, shortly after its arrival and the wine was good, but not quite "together."  I'll have to have another taste to see if it has bounced back from its travels from Spain.  Other's tasting notes I've read have been encouraging, though.

Currently available:  2002 Clos Mogador Priorat (List $82)  SALE $71.99
2003 CLOS MOGADOR  $89.99

 





CVNE or "CUNE" if you prefer
The abbreviation stands for "Compaa Vincola de Espaa," this is another old Rioja winery.  It's a very old and traditional property, having been founded in 1879.  They own some 1200 acres of vines, which accounts for about half their production.   

They also own an estate called "Contino" from which they make  estate-bottled, single-vineyard wines of the same name. 

The style of the wines is rather traditional and given the taste preferences of today's wine critics, the CUNE wines tend to be somewhat unheralded.  They are not deep in color, hugely alcoholic, massive red wines, so using the measuring stick of a hundred point scale, the wines merit good to very good scores, but rarely are they weighing in as "exceptional."  

On the other hand, if you're looking for an impressive wine to serve with grilled meats or a roast of beef or lamb, you might treat yourself to the 2000 vintage of CUNE's "Imperial."   I found this wine to be most impressive.  It's Tempranillo, of course, with about 10% of Graciano and 5% Mazuelo.  Nice oak this vintage...cedary, woodsy, toasty and a hint of vanillin.  The wine is quite drinkable now and should be good for another 5-12 years.

Currently available: Imperial Reserva  2000 $47.99
Available by special order.
Rosado $9.99
Monopole Blanco $15.99
Imperial Reserva  2000 $42.99
Imperial Gran Reserva 1996 $59.99
Via Real 2004 Crianza $16.99
Via Real 2000 Reserva $29.99
Via Real 1996 Gran Reserva $46.99
Contino 2000 Reserva $39.99
Contino 1996 Gran Reserva $59.99





BODEGAS FAUSTINO MARTINEZ
faustino.gif (8581 bytes)Another "old time" producer of Rioja wines, Faustino is located in the town of Oyn.  Their wines come in dark, frosted bottles and are certainly distinctive.  Happily, the wines are pretty nice.  The have a curious numbering system for their wines:  FAUSTINO VII is for their modestly-priced, normal quality.  

Their wines are rather "standard" in quality and the current line-up is okay.  I did not taste anything spectacular, but we can, of course, order their wines with ease.
Another "old time" producer of Rioja wines, Faustino is located in the town of Oyon.  Their wines come in dark, frosted bottles and are certainly distinctive.  Happily, the wines are pretty nice.  The have a curious numbering system for their wines:  FAUSTINO VII is for their modestly-priced, normal quality.  

Their wines are rather "standard" in quality and the current line-up is okay.  I did not taste anything spectacular, but we can, of course, order their wines with ease.
faustino.gif (8581 bytes)Another "old time" producer of Rioja wines, Faustino is located in the town of Oyon.  Their wines come in dark, frosted bottles and are certainly distinctive.  Happily, the wines are pretty nice.  The have a curious numbering system for their wines:  FAUSTINO VII is for their modestly-priced, normal quality.  

Their wines are rather "standard" in quality and the current line-up is okay.  I did not taste anything spectacular, but we can, of course, order their wines with ease.
Currently available:  By Special Order
Faustino VII  (Crianza)
Faustino I (Gran Reserva)
Faustino V (Reserva)
Faustino Rosado

 

 

More Spanish Wines

winepour.gif (12696 bytes)Wine Tasting Today

TO INQUIRE ABOUT A WINEgerald@weimax.com

Copyright © 1999 WEIMAX WINES & SPIRITS
Last modified: August 15, 2008