WINE TASTING ROOM-Completo's
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We are pleased to welcome adults who've been Double-Vaxxed
to our reopened Tasting Room.
Tasting Hours are 12pm until 6ishpm. Monday through Saturday.
UPDATED AS OF September 10, 2022
PENFOLDS 2018 BIN
389 CABERNET/SHIRAZ $6/taste
Penfolds makes a benchmark red called
"Grange."
It was formerly called "Grange Hermitage," tipping its cap to the
Northern Rhone Syrah wines
made in the Hermitage appellation.
Some years ago they removed the "Hermitage" name from the label.
That wine put Australia on the world's wine map...an incredibly deep,
impressively complex wine!
It was always premium-priced, but these days bottles come with a ransom note,
not a price tag.
Penfolds BIN 389 is pretty damned close to the Grange bottlings in terms of
quality, but happily
the price is far more sensible. And compared to Napa Valley reds, you'll
be delighted by our
current $59.99 sale price.
Lavishly oaked...lots of black fruits...moderately tannic, but certainly this
can be enjoyed tonight
with a grilled steak or prime rib roast.
FEUDO MONTONI "CATARRATTO" $2.20/Taste
This is a deliciously minerally dry white from Sicily.
The grape is Catarratto and the vineyards and cellars are southeast of
Palermo.
It's the sort of wine which will appeal to those with an appreciation for
Sancerre and Chablis from France...or some Iberian Peninsula dry, non-wooded
white wines.
CHÂTEAU LA CANORGUE 2019 LUBERON (RHÔNE
BLEND) $1.90
Canorgue
is a leading light in the appellation of Luberon in the
Southern Rhône Valley.
Grenache and Syrah...the Margan family has been farming organically
well before that was viewed as a marketing chip.
This is now a father & daughter team and they've been doing
a splendid job the past decade as the wines have seemed to improve
(and they were pretty good to start with).
Berries and spice...
DELILLE Washington State CHALEUR BLANC $3.50/taste
We
loved the white Bordeaux from Smith Haut Lafitte, but now that it's north of
$100/bottle
(closer to $150 these days), we've looked for alternatives.
The crew at Delille are also fans of Bordeaux wines and their Chaleur Blanc
often hits the mark.
The 2020 is exceptional and displays the herbal notes we like in Sauvignon Blanc
and the texture
of the Semillon. They use a fair bit of new French oak so there's a rather
woodsy
character here, too.
Very showy white wine...
(We tasted the 2021 recently...maybe it's too young?)
But the 2020 vintage is "off-the-charts" good.
PEIRSON MEYER 2019 Napa
CABERNET $10/taste
These
two fellers worked for the Peter Michael winery and now have their own little
sideshow.
The current Peter Michael Cabernet goes for north of $200/bottle, so by
comparison
this $99.99 bottle is a relative bargain.
The grapes come from a little vineyard in Calistoga and the wine spends about 3
weeks
on the skins to pick up color, tannin and some complexity. From there,
it's matured in
a high percentage of brand new French oak barrels.
They only made 7 barrels of this...damned good...drinkable now and
cellar-worthy, too.
ONE STONE 2021 PINOT NOIR ROSÉ
$1.60/Taste
From a winery in San Luis Obispo...they are not
far from Pismo Beach and a few minutes' drive from
Morro Bay.
It's made of Pinot Noir from vineyards cultivated with the idea of making a
Rosé.
Beautifully refreshing as it's dry and crisp, with snappy acidity.
And yet the flavors are very much those of Pinot Noir.
Oh...the price is refreshing, too!
RIOJA ALTA 2015 VIÑA ARDANZA
$4/taste
The
Rioja Alta winery makes classically-styled Tempranillo-based wines.
They're in the "Rioja Alta" region of Rioja, a slightly higher
elevation area
so the wines tend to be a shade lighter, crisper and more elegant.
They don't make big, fruit-bomb reds.
The wines are matured in a high percentage of new oak barrels and they
use American oak.
If you look at the photo in the banner of this web page, you will see a
snapshot I took in their cellar a few years ago.
This 2015 Viña Ardanza is a most impressive wine, especially if you
appreciate the American oak.
In Spain this is paired with grilled lamb chops, but we've enjoyed it
with a good Paella, too. And a steak is a lovely partner as well.
BURGESS 2016 Napa CABERNET
SAUVIGNON $5/taste
The Burgess family sold its winery and brand to the owners of Heitz Cellar.
This comes from two vineyard sites in the environs of Napa's Howell Mountain
area east of St. Helena.
It's predominantly Cabernet with a small percentage of Petit Verdot
and Malbec.
They used but 15% new French oak, so the Cabernet fruit takes
center stage...the wood is well in the background.
Special sale pricing is $49.99.
(A fellow who never spends fifty bucks on a bottle of wine tasted this
recently and splurged saying "Wow, this is really good!")
ACRE 2018 Napa Valley ZINFANDEL
$2.70/taste
So
many vineyards of various grape varieties have been pulled out in the Napa
Valley
and replaced with the "Money Grape," Cabernet Sauvignon.
Happily there are some growers who cultivate other grapes.
In the Oakville area, though, we're told there are less than 20 acres
remaining of Zinfandel.
This newish label, Acre, is owned by a couple who had been in the
wine distribution business before this project.
We like the mild spice and bramble notes of the Zinfandel and
it displays a touch of oak, having been matured in both
French and American barrels.
COLTERENZIO 2019 "LAFÓA"
SAUVIGNON BLANC $4.30/taste
The
Lafóa label is used by Colterenzio for their premium bottles from a special
vineyard site near the winery in Italy's Alto Adige.
Half the juice was fermented in stainless steel tanks and the other half
saw its vinification in barrels and puncheons.
This is a remarkably intense, complex Sauvignon Blanc, made of some French
clones and produced along the lines of top French white Bordeaux.
It's an exceptional dry white.
Don't miss it.
COCHON 2019 Russian River PINOT
NOIR $3.00/taste
We've
sale-tagged this amazing Sonoma Pinot Noir so our customers
can buy something at the modest price of $29.99 which compares
favorably to many $50-$80 bottles.
We've had a red blend from Cochon in the recent past and this
Pinot Noir is remarkably charming and complex.
The color is light red, so if you judge a wine by its hue, this may
not be for you.
But take a sniff of the intensely aromatic, cherryish Pinot Noir
and you'll likely be seduced (as have many others).
It's a smooth, charming red. They claim to have made a mere
200 cases.
Delicious!
PATZ + HALL 2018 SONOMA
CHARDONNAY $3.60/taste
From an old-timer in
Sonoma, winemaker James Hall barrel-ferments Chardonnay
using a modest percentage of new oak barrels.
His wine is a delight! Toasty, creamy and full-flavored...
Lots of Granny Smith apple fruit and creamy, vanillin notes from
the French oak.
Very fine.
ZAHEL "ORANGE T" $1.90/taste
There's
a grape found interspersed with various local varieties in
vineyards around the Austrian city of Vienna.
Many of the little family wineries there use it for their white wine blend
called Gemischter Satz, a field blend of numerous grape varieties all
harvested and fermented together.
The grape to which we refer is called Orangetraube.
It's long been planted in Viennese vineyards and the Zahel family
realized it gives their field blend a unique character.
So in the 1960s, Karl Georg Zahel planted it entirely in a single parcel to
facilitate making it one its own.
We've heard a story suggesting the grape isn't precisely authorized
for bottling on its own -or- it's not an approved or recognized grape type.
As a result, Zahel can't legally label it with the grape name, Orangetraube.
You'll see on the label it's called simply "Orange T."
But don't mistake this for a skin-contact "orange wine."
It is not.
But it's damned tasty and well priced for such a rarity.
SHAFER VINEYARDS 2019 Napa Red
Blend TD-9 $6/taste
The
Shafer family used to bottle a Merlot on its own (mostly) but
came up with this remarkably showy blend a few years ago and it's
a winner!
The TD-9 designation refers to the old International Harvester tractor
driven in the vineyards by winery founder John Shafer back in the late 1970s.
The lack of the Merlot designation on the label allows Shafer to blend as
they see fit and we've found this to be one of the flashiest and best
"Bordeaux Blends" in Napa where you'll find similar quality reds as
Phelps' Insignia or Opus One.
The 2019 is 47% Cabernet with 37% Merlot, 11% Malbec and 5% Petit Verdot.
It's nicely oaked and is one of the showiest blends in Napa.
These days we can say this is most attractively priced.
LE MARQUIS DE CALON SEGUR
Saint-Estèphe $4.50/taste
Our
little private tasting group evaluated a set of 2019 vintage
Bordeaux. We did not have any expensive bottles as we routinely
search for wines with sensible price tags.
The tasting was pretty good, but damned near everything was
within a narrow band of quality except to one or two wines.
This second label from Calon Segur ran away with the tasting and
it's a bargain at $44.99.
After the tasting we bought some other "first label" wines
from wineries in the same neighborhood and those retail for
$65 currently.
We found those more costly wines to be perfectly acceptable,
but they did not have excitement factor of this wine.
THOMAS FOGARTY 2018 Dry
RIESLING $2.00/taste
The
Fogarty winery is a bit below the radar for many wine drinkers,
but it's a really cool producer located up in the Santa Cruz Mountains
just south of the town of Woodside.
If you know of Alice's Restaurant, this winery is a short hop, skip and a jump
south of there.
Dr. Thomas Fogarty is an American hero in our book...an inventor and
famous cardiologist (at Stanford).
These days his son Tommy runs the place and he strikes us as a thoughtful
and wine-focused fellow.
Anybody that dabbles in Nebbiolo and Riesling is clearly a passionate
vintner.
Fogarty's 2018 Riesling, a dry wine by the way, comes from a special
vineyard site in San Benito County. The granite and limestone soils of the
Wirz vineyard in the Cienega Valley makes a soulful Riesling...comparable to
top wines in Germany, Austria and Australia.
We love the limey and petrol notes on the nose and palate.
$28 at the cellar door, we have it sale priced at just $19.99.
BUEHLER 2018 Russian River
CHARDONNAY $1.50/taste
Here's
a nice little Sonoma white from our friend John Buehler
and his family up in the eastern hills of the Napa Valley.
The wine is a bit of a throwback and there's a hint of wood
and the wine is dry and appley.
We have it sale-tagged at $14.99
LLOYD 2020 Carneros CHARDONNAY $3.50/taste
The 2020 vintage from winemaker Rob
Lloyd is a classically
Californian take on Chardonnay.
Barrel fermented in American oak, it's a big, full-throttle,
creamy, nicely oaked Chardonnay.
Many fans of Rombauer have enjoyed Lloyd's wine and
this 2020 is a showy, flashy wine.
TRAMIN "STOAN" WHITE
WINE BLEND
$3.50/taste
Winemaker Willi Stürz is
a perfectionist and he makes an amazingly fine
portfolio of wines, white, red and sweet.
"Stoan" is a marvelous blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot
Bianco and there's
a drop of Gewürztraminer in there, too.
The wine has a bit of oak, but it's a far cry from typical California
Chardonnay.
The Sauvignon Blanc gives a touch of a citrusy note...Pinot Bianco adds an
appley note and the Traminer gives a bit of lift to the fragrances.
It's a wine damned near everyone who tastes it gives the thumbs up.
TITUS 2019 Napa Valley CABERNET
SAUVIGNON $5/Taste
We
had the 2018 of this wine in two blind tastings of Cabernets last year and this
was
our top wine in both.
Phil Titus and his brother have vineyards in and around St. Helena and they make
a nice range of wines. His day job is that as winemaker at the Chappellet
winery on
Pritchard Hill.
It's a really inky red wine, with youthful purple tones and plenty of dark
fruit.
There's a nice bit of oak here as it was matured in French and Hungarian
barrels.
Something like 60% of the barriques were brand new.
This goes for $62 at the winery.
We sale tag it at $49.99.
The 2019 is equally showy...dark fruit, teeth-staining and yet easily drinkable
in its youth.
TERLAN 2020 TERLANER
(Italian White Blend) $3.20/taste
The
Terlan co-op winery in Italy's Alto Adige makes some pretty damned good wines.
They distinguish themselves with their work incorporating Pinot Bianco.
We visited the cellar a few years ago and they still had a tank of 1979 Pinot
Bianco that is a
"work in progress," awaiting bottling one of these years!
In early June we splurged and bought a bottle of their "Rarity" Pinot
Bianco...2007 vintage and
it's fairly recently bottled.
This was a magnificent wine, but it's price for its scarcity: $180/bottle!
A few days later we popped the cork on a few wines we'd bought in hopes of
making a
discovery and this 2019 "Terlaner" was exceptional. Not only
that, we can buy more than
six bottles of this compared to one of the Rarity!
The 2020 is currently in the shop...
The Terlaner appellation is a bit obscure, but it's a white wine blend based on
Pinot Bianco
with Chardonnay and, in this case, Sauvignon Blanc.
It's mostly fermented in stainless steel, but about 20% of the juice is vinified
in large wood to
add a bit of complexity. Happily, the wood is not prominent here and the
wine displays the
bright, appley and peachy notes of Pinot Bianco and Chardonnay.
SOALHEIRO ALVARINHO
$2.50/taste
The
2020 has been wildly popular...everyone who tastes this buys a bottle (or two)!
This is routinely one of our favorite, off-the-beaten-path dry white wines.
We brought a double magnum of the 2016 to dinner during the
San Francisco International Wine Competition and it was a hit with the
judges (from all over the world, too).
We brought this vintage recently to dinner with some friends at Dumpling Time in
San Francisco...thoroughly delicious!
Stony, nicely fruity with a hint of a spice note...
CIÙ CIÙ 2020
PECORINO $1.80
A fantastic
example of the Pecorino grape...certainly this will appeal to you if
you're enchanted by crisp, non-oaked Sauvignon Blancs.
This is yet another great, flavorful alternative to the "water"
that
many commercial cellars bottle as "Pinot Grigio."
FORTIFIED & SWEET
WINES OPEN TODAY:
PFEIFFER Rutherglen TOPAQUE (Muscadelle) $4.00/taste
Here's a really delicious Australian "Sticky" that used to be
sold as a "Tokay."
Beautifully sweet!
ANDAU 2015
SCHEUREBE Beerenauslese $4/taste
The
Scheurebe grape makes some enchanting dry white wines and yet this late-picked
version from Austria is off-the-charts good.
It's just at a beautiful stage of development, sweet, honeyed, aromatic and
intensely
fruit with apricot and peach notes.
The acidity balances the sweetness.
Half bottles are sale-priced at $19.99.
TIRECUL LA
GRAVIERE 2003 Cuvée Madame MONBAZILLAC $7/taste
Tirecul
makes sweet wines rivaling those from nearby Sauternes.
Its wines are considered to be the benchmark for the appellation.
The importer still
had some 2003 in the warehouse and we picked up
some bottles at a good price for the consumer.
BARBEITO 5 Year Old BUAL MADEIRA $2.40/taste
Not exactly dry but not precisely sweet...a nice 5 year old Madeira from a prestigious,
traditional winery.
GRAHAM'S 2006 "MALVEDOS" VINTAGE PORTO $6.50/taste
The Malvedos bottlings from Graham's are routinely very good and this is
showing beautifully!
GRAHAM'S 10 Year TAWNY PORT $3.30/taste
Nicely nutty and sweet!
FLORIO 2003 "TARGA" MARSALA $3/taste
A special bottling of Vintage Marsala from the historic Florio winery in
Marsala.
SANTA JULIA "TARDIO" (Late Harvest
Torrontes) $2.40/taste
From
Argentina...fruity and mildly sweet...lots of floral notes here.
BERNHARD 2011 Hackenheimer Kirchberg RIESLING AUSLESE $2/taste
This
11 year old Riesling is still youthfully fruity, with beautiful balance.
And it's well-priced, too...actually, it's got an old price tag on it.
Don't miss this if you're a fan of fruity Rieslings.
ALSO:
CRUZ VIEJA OLOROSO SHERRY $3.80
A well-aged, beautifully nutty dry Sherry...
