When it’s too cold to go out, invite some friends over and enjoy
Matthiasson Napa Valley White 2017
This wine is our conception of a mythical “ideal” wine…a California wine with a spiritual connection to Friuli, Italy, but also drawing inspiration from the great whites of the Loire, Burgundy, Graves, Alsace, the Rhone, old-school Napa and Sonoma…actually the list of great whites we are inspired by goes on and on, and it is all wrapped up in this wine. This wine is an attempt at getting at the core of what white wine is all about, the archetypal “white wine,” thus the name. It’s a very intentional blend of four varieties from two vineyards. The blend is roughly 50 percent Sauvignon blanc, 25 percent Ribolla gialla, 20 percent Semillon, and 5 percent Tocai friulano. The Sauvignon blanc brings a clean fresh citrusy acidity and some tropical character. The Ribolla gialla brings seashell minerality, nuttiness, and structure to the blend. The Semillon contributes viscosity and waxiness that adds gravity and weight. The Tocai friulano adds spicy aromatic notes…The 2017 White Wine has its trademark spice and mineral quality, and despite the warm year the wine carries its trademark acidity and freshness...Trademark flavors include white peach, kafir lime, lychee nut, beeswax, ripe fig, and pineapple, with prominent wet stones, flint, oyster shells, and freshly baled straw… After ten months of barrel aging, the wine was filtered to prevent further malolactic fermentation, and then bottled. Intended to age, the White Wine is held in bottle for at least a year before release, but will reward much longer aging. (Winemakers Notes)
This white wine embodies Steve Matthiasson's skill in both vineyard and winery. A blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Ribolla Gialla, Semillon and Tocai Friulano grown in the ideal conditions of 2017 - defined by an early growing season due to previous heavy rainfall and temperate climate - this wine is simply stellar. A refreshing and satisfying bouquet is dominated by white flowers, mandarin blossom and lemon zest, complementing the generous, round mouthfeel which shows flavours of guava, pineapple and lemon preserve, followed by electricity and purity on the finish. (Decanter - 93 points)
Region: Napa Valley, California
Varietal: 50% Sauvignon blanc, 25% Ribolla gialla, 20% Semillon, 5% Tocai friulano
Price: $39.99
Maison Chanzy Mercurey Blanc 2016
Thr Mercurey Blanc Les Caraby has a spicy, floral and mineral character. Pair this wine with grilled fish or fish in sauce, cooked seafood, Asian cuisine, and hard cheeses. (Winemakers Notes)
The toasty and slightly salty and smoky nose leads onto a fresh, energetic and concentrated palate of cooked lemon and lime, toast and cream: a nice contrast to the salinity, like a margarita. The oak is integrated with a floral note on the long, satisfying finish. (Decanter - 95 points)
Region: Mercurey, Cote Chalonnaise, Burgundy, France
Varietal: 100% Chardonnay
Price: $29.99
Henri Perrusset Macon-Villages 2016
Perrusset's vineyards boast a limestone terroir that is more marly thank stony, which he says contributes to the grainy minerality in his wines. The result? Soft tones of Anjou pears and honeysuckle and a long, zesty finish. (Winemakers Notes)
Region: Macon Villages, Maconnais, Burgundy, France
Varietal: 100% Chardonnay
Price: $22
Domaine Gramenon Cotes du Rhone La Sagesse 2017
Like the name of the cuvée suggests, there is certainly wisdom in the old-vine Grenache that comprises this blend. It is the perfect expression of fruit and terroir for this fantastic Côtes-du-Rhône vineyard. (Winemakers Nates)
A blend of three parcels of grenache from the plateau behind the house. Wild aromas of dark, stony minerals, dark chocolate and pepper with plenty of spice and a flinty edge. Silky texture with a lot of ripe, wild raspberries, blackberries and fine layers of tannin. Fresh and elegant. Drink or hold. (James Sucking - 93 points)
Region: Cotes du Rhone, Rhone, France
Varietal: 100% Grenache
Price: $44
Big Table Farm Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2017
This wine has a beautiful balance of raspberry fruit profile with warm spice, black tea and a delicate cocoa. The fruit on the palate is juicy but if you lean in there is a quiet brooding character to this wine that still has a lot yet to give. The Acid holds the fruit in check and the tannins keep the gentle momentum into a long finish. In a word, ‘delicious’. (Winemaker Notes)
Enticing, fragrant complexity with ripe, boysenberry and red-cherry notes, married to a plush palate that has an attractive, balanced and velvety feel. Long, fresh-fruit flavors hold smoothly. Drink or hold. (James Suckling - 93)
It’s easy to see why Big Table Farm is quickly acquiring cult status. This is its big production Pinot Noir, with an artful label celebrating the winery pigs, Henrietta and Reina. The balance from first sniff to last swallow is spot-on, melding rhubarb, raspberry jam and pie cherry fruit with racy acidity. The tannins are fine and polished, with a trail of black tea running through the finish. Editors’ Choice (Wine Enthusiast - 93 points)
Region: Willamette Valley, Oregon
Varietal: 100% Pinot Noir
Price: $48
Felsina Chianti Classico Riserva Rancia 2016
Ruby red color with good intensity and shade. Spicy nose, floral notes and small red and black fruits, with mineral hints and a light toasted note. On the palate hints of spice with young, consistent and soft tannins, straight and tight in the finish, addictive to flavor and sour line. (Winemaker Notes)
The south-facing Rancia vineyard reaches altitudes of 420 metres, overlooking the lower-lying vineyards of Colli Senesi. It boasts complex soils of calcareous clay layered with the chalky white limestone-like alberese and schistose galestro. This 2016 vintage is simply stunning. It's stately yet gracious, with personality for days, leading with a sumptuous nose of smoke, exotic spice and iron-rich earth. Ripe fruit coats the mouth yet it remains buoyant and tangy as chalky tannins charge in to frame the palate. A seductive wine with an appetising, savoury edge and a long, long life ahead. (Decanter - 97 points)
The 2016 Chianti Classico Riserva Rancia knocks it out of the park. Like the other new releases from Fèlsina, this pure expression of Sangiovese needs more time to evolve and improve with bottle age. But even at this young stage, you are made fully aware of the beautiful intensity and complexity of the quality fruit at its core. There is so much energy and tension here, further reinforced by the fresh acidity of the vintage. There are vibrant tones of wild cherry, raspberry and spice, followed up by white truffle and tilled earth. (Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - 95 points)
A decadent Chianti Classico Riserva that shows plenty of cedar, spices, leather, wet earth and tobacco, but also really fresh undertones of dried orange rind and strawberries. Integrated and structured on the palate with a velvety mouthfeel and mouth-refreshing acidity. Drink now or hold. (James Suckling - 95 points)
This features ripe, juicy black cherry and black currant fruit, with licorice, earth and tobacco flavors. Firm tannins frame the elements, imparting structure and complexity for the long haul. Terrific texture. Best from 2022 through 2042. (Wine Spectator - 95)
Region: Chianti Classico, Chianti, Tuscany, Italy
Varietal: Sangiovese
Price: $56
Sara I Rene Partida Bellvisos 2011
When Sarah I Rene got the “coster” (steeply sloping traditional Priorat vineyard) back into production, they thought they had bought a plot of Carinyena (Carignan)… and to their great surprise, they found it had 40% of Garnatxa Peluda (Downy Grenache)…!!! This ripens before the Carinyena (Carignan) and expresses more freshness. It is the last piece of the jigsaw they needed to transmit the balance of Bellvisos.
A vertiginous wine with long maceration which needs oak and time in bottle in order to be reborn, fine, beguiling, fresh and powerful… anchored to the Llicorella (slate-based soil) which has shaped it. (Winemaker Notes)
The red 2011 Gratallops Vi de Vila Partida Bellvisos has a very classical Priorat nose with characteristics of a very warm vintage. This was the first year they used an 1,800-liter foudre (before that it was 300-liter barrels); the foudre was new at the time and marked the wine slightly. This has more or less the same quantity of Garnacha Peluda as it does Cariñena, harvested and fermented together. It has some grainy tannins and deep flavors and really transported me to the dusty roads of Priorat, with that heat and rustic character. I'm sure this is going to develop nicely in bottle. This is phenomenal. (Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate - 94 points)
Region: Priorat, Spain
Varietal: 100% Grenache
Price: $72
Colète, Merlot Napa Valley 2017
A Napa Valley Merlot by Rajat Parr and Marie Vayron Ponsonnet. Their inspiration comes from Pomerol, where Marie grew up and learned on the family vineyard, Chateau Bourgneuf.
Colète 2017 is their first vintage and unveils their project to restore balance and terroir to merlot from Napa Valley.
Region: Napa Valley, California
Varietal: 100% Merlot
Price: $84
Grounded Wine Co. Public Radio Paso Robles Red 2016
The 2016 Public Radio announces itself with a bright garnet red color and fresh notes of crushed red plum, cherry and raspberry. On the palate, the wine is compellingly youthful and instantly charming, with deeply resonant flavors of anise, strawberry, cherry pie, black tea leaf and cinnamon. The tannins are firm, yet velvety smooth, as the wine builds toward a luxuriously long, very fragrant finish.
Region: Paso Robles, Central Coast, California
Varietal: 64% Grenache, 27% Syrah, and Petite Sirah,
Price: $30