WINE TASTING ROOM-Completo's
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UPDATED AS OF September 24 2016
RESERVE DE LA
COMTESSE (PICHON LALANDE) 2012 PAUILLAC
$5.50/taste ($54.99/bottle)
Gerald's first place wine in a recent
blind-tasting of 2012 Bordeaux...it's predominantly Cabernet
Sauvignon with the other "usual suspects." They really did a
good job in capturing the Pauillac
character and making a showy wine.
Our friend May Eliane de Lencquesaing sold her interest in the estate to the
Roederer Champagne
folks who run it today. She's making wine now in South Africa.
VON WINNING SAUVIGNON BLANC
$4/taste
Delicious
dry Sauvignon Blanc which reminds
us of Smith Haut Lafitte's white wine...
except this doesn't cost more than $100 a bottle.
You'll be pleasantly surprised by this remarkable
wine.
BOOKWALTER Washington State MERLOT
$2.70/taste
Winemaker Caleb Foster is producing some
outstanding red wines.
We like a proprietary blend and this delightful Merlot.
RIVETTI/LA SPINETTA 2011 "PIN" $6/taste
"Pin" is an Italian nickname for someone named Giuseppe.
It's Giorgio Rivetti's dad's name and it's a marvelous blend
of Barbera with Nebbiolo.
Seriously good.
COLOME 2015 TORRONTES $1.40/taste
JM RAFFAULT 2015 CHINON ROSÉ $1.50/taste
If you like Cabernet Franc, you HAVE to taste this!
It is classically "Chinon" in aroma and flavor.
RAMEY 2013 Russian River Valley
CHARDONNAY $4/taste
One of our favorite California Chardonnays, this is a wine made with
an astute awareness of French White Burgundies, but with a
decidedly California accent. Very fine.
VIETTI 2015 ARNEIS $2.40/taste
The latest vintage of Arneis from Vietti is another benchmark
bottling...
Dry, no oak and perfect for summer aperitivo service and seafood dishes...
Linguine con Vongole, anyone?
SHUMI "TSINANDALE" Blend $1.40/taste
They've been making wine forever in Georgia (nowhere near Atlanta)
and this is a
delightful blend of Rkatsitelli and Mtsvane. Peachy and showing a woodsy
note.
CIU CIU 2014
PECORINO $1.50
A fantastic
example of the Pecorino grape...certainly this will appeal to you if
you're enchanted by crisp, non-oaked Sauvignon Blancs.
DEHLINGER 2013
Russian River Valley CHARDONNAY $4.00/taste
Tom
Dehlinger has been producing great Chardonnays since the mid-1970s. His
2013
is a classic...lovely ripe pear/apple fruit, toasty oak and a creamy element.
Very fine and very flashy.
DAULNY 2015
SANCERRE $2/taste
Crisp,
tangy, stony, minerally and bone dry...no oak.
Classic Sancerre at a rather modest price.
BURGESS 2011 Napa CABERNET SAUVIGNON
$3.50/taste
Burgess took over the old Souverain winery
back in 1971-1972 and they've been
making good Cabernets for decades. The 2011 is beautifully elegant and
mildly
cedary. It's a delicious Cabernet for immediate drinking or short-term
cellaring.
GREEN + RED
Chiles Mill Napa ZINFANDEL $2.70/taste
We're big
fans of Jay Heminway's wines...this comes from a great site above Napa
Valley not far from Lake Hennessy. Beautifully berryish with mild spice
notes.
DELILLE 2013 CHALEUR
WHITE $4/taste
From a snazzy
Washington State winery comes this terrific
blend of Sauvignon Blanc & Semillon. It's mildly toasty and
unusually complex.
FAILLA Sonoma PINOT NOIR $3.60/taste
This guy was the winemaker at Turley for many years, so it's
remarkable that he can go from making big, over-the-top
Zinfandels to producing elegant, cherryish Pinot Noir.
SUMMERS NAPA CHARBONO $2.30/taste
Jim & Beth Summers make our favorite California
Charbono...teeming
with blackberry & blueberry fruit...mild tannins...fairly full-bodied.
LUCIEN ALBRECHT GEWURZTRAMINER $2/taste
This is not an over-the-top fruity Gewurz, but you'll easily detect
the grapefruit and
rose petal notes typical of this variety...fairly dry, too.
ERMES PAVESE "BLANC DE MORGEX" $2.70/taste
Bone dry, light, crisp Alpine white from north-western Italy.
Prie Blanc is the grape...might remind you of a crisp,
flinty, non-oaked Chablis.
VENICA 2015 Friuli SAUVIGNON $2.50/taste
The Venica family make some exceptional dry whites in
northeast Italy...Friuli. Mildly herbal/grassy.
HUDSON Carneros CHARDONNAY $6.50/taste
The Hudson vineyard name is found on some impressive bottles of
California
Chardonnay. Lee Hudson launched his own label. Big.
CHAPPELLET 2014 MTN CUVEE $3/taste
A Bordeaux-styled blend with a California/Napa accent.
Dark fruit, berries, a touch of currants and a low level of tannin.
THE FORAGER CHARDONNAY $1.90/taste
Jonathan Pey offers a couple of remarkably good wines under
The Forager
label. If you don't like this, you probably should not be drinking
Chardonnay.
Sonoma fruit.
ELYSE 2012 Yountville
"Holbrook Mitchell" CABERNET SAUVIGNON $5.30/taste
Winemaker Ray Coursen is an old-timer...his single-vineyard Cabernet
is very showy,
with some brown spice notes and cassis-like Cabernet fruit.
CASTELL'IN VILLA 2011 CHIANTI CLASSICO $2.70/taste
Castell'in Villa is an old-school producer in south-east
Chianti...100% Sangiovese...no Merlot.
No Cabernet. No Syrah. This vintage is spot-on.
AVANIEL 2015
SPANISH ROSADO $1.30/taste
Teeming
with red fruits and nicely dry...this is a delicious wine
from Spain's Ribera del Duero. Tempranillo.
MASI 2012 CAMPOFIORIN $1.30/taste
They used to make this as a Ripasso wine, but today it's got a bit of
dried fruit. More gentle and less jammy/raisiny than an Amarone and
it's remarkably good "Valpolicella."
DOMAINE LA VERDE VACQUEYRAS $1.80/taste
A small domaine in the Southern Rhone Valley, this shows red berry
notes
and a faintly earthy tone...Grenache mostly.
ODOARDI 2014 SAVUTO $1.30/taste
Not many folks know the Savuto appellation from Italy's
Calabria...it's a
nice blend based upon
Gaglioppo and Aglianico.
VON SIMMERN 2014 TROCKEN (DRRRY) RIESLING $2/taste
Almost 'electric' with crisp acidity, this is a dynamite bottle
of
elegant Riesling from Germany's Rheingau. We love it with
Dim Sum and other Asian foods.
SWEET
WINES OPEN TODAY:
QUINTA DO NOVAL 2011 VINTAGE PORT $10/taste
The most recently-declared Vintage is offered today for
tasting...quite showy now and it
will repay cellaring handsomely.
CHATEAU HAUT-MAYNE 2010 SAUTERNES $3.80
You're not alone...nobody knows this fine little domaine...
JM da FONSECA 20 YEAR SETUBAL (Moscatel) $6/1 ounce pour
Hugely famous in Portugal and around Europe, they're a mystery to most
wine consumers in the US. Remarkable wine, though.
STONY HILL 2010 Napa SÉMILLON DU SOLEIL $4.50/taste
A sort of Napa Valley "passito" made of Semillon.
SMITH WOODHOUSE 2002 LATE BOTTLED VINTAGE PORTO $3/taste
Savvy wine buyers know this brand from the Symington Family (Graham's, Warres,
Dow's)
for its killer LBV Port...If you have taste for hundred buck bottles of Vintage
Port and are
on a budget, check out this delicious Porto!
LA MAGENDIA Jurançon $3.60/taste
From master winemaker Jean Bernard Larrieu comes this stellar sweet wine
which is
balanced by laser-sharp acidity.
CARMES DE RIEUSSEC 2005 SAUTERNES $3.50/taste
A second wine from the famous Chateau Rieussec, this is nicely honeyed and
rather affordable...
BARBADILLO 30 YEAR AMONTILLADO SHERRY $5/taste
When we pour a taste of this stellar Sherry, its perfume permeates the entire
shop...nutty
and very fine with an after-taste which lingers for a very long time.
NIEPOORT 1988 COLHEITA PORTO $5/1 ounce Pour
Dirk Niepoort is a leading light in Portugal and he makes some top Colheita
(single vintage tawny) Ports. Here's a nicely aged bottling...old,
but not too old and not too young...
PIETRI GERAUD 2005 BANYULS $3.30
France's answer to the question "Port?"
EXCINDRE MUSCAT DE MIREVAL $2.20/taste
Terrific Muscat from the south of France.
From the Republic of Georgia, there's a remarkable
dessert wine...claimed to be comprised of more
than
300 different grape varieties! It's along the lines of Port/Madeira, but
uniquely Georgian.
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