Gary's Wine Club News Monthly

May Case Club Selections

2011-05-02T10:45:00.000-07:00

The selections for May's Case Club have been revealed. You're sure to enjoy these!

Gary's Case Club provides you, the budding wine enthusiast, with a 12 bottle case of wine three times a year that will expand your palate and your enjoyment of wine from all over the world!

2008 Inception Pinot Noir Central Coast

Grape variety: Pinot Noir

Region: Central Coast, California

Food pairing: Roasted salmon salad with fennel

The vineyards of California’s Central Coast are some of the up-and-coming vineyards for Pinot

Noir, and still at a price that’s a bit

approachable than those from the Sonoma Coast. Inception’s bottling of 2008 Pinot Noir hails from vineyards in seaside Mon

terey, the French Camp Vineyard in Paso Robles, and the Cottonwood Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley. They aim for a Pinot that’s fruit-driven but still crafted in the

tradition of Burgundy, and with a nose that exhibits bright berry tone

s, yellow raspberry and wild strawberry with hints of cola, Earl Gray tea an

d sweet spice on the palate, I’d say they hit the nail on the head.

More Information: 2008 Inception Pinot Noir Central Coast

2009 Lail Blueprint Sauvignon Blanc

Grape variety: Sauvignon Blanc

Region: Napa Valley, California

Food pairing: Humboldt Fog California goat cheese

One of the original forefathers of Nappa winemaking was Gustav Neibaum, the great great grand-uncle of Robin Lail, steaward of Lail Vineyards. Neibaum founded Inglenook vineyards in

1879, making history in this still-young winemaking region. Today Robin carries the torch with Lail Vineyards where they make this Blueprint Sauvignon Blanc (an homage to her husband’s profession of architecture) from a single vineyard in St. Helena. With the help of well-known French winemaker Philippe Melka (Vineyard 29, Bryant, Melka Metisse), Lail produ

ces this beautiful Sauvignon Blanc in the style of Sancerre, crisp and mineral-laden but with a decidedly Californian ripeness of fruit. Look for notes of Florida grapefruit, citron, honeydew, toast with lemon curd and just a hint

of ginger spice.

More Information: 2009 Lail Blueprint Sauvignon Blanc

2009 Joostenberg Little J Red

Grape variety: Chenin Blanc, Viognier (5%)

Region: Paarl, South Africa

Food pairing: Waldorf or other fruit-laden salad

Tyrrel and Philip Myburgh are the fifth generation stewards of t

he Joostenberg family farm in the Western Cape of South Africa. Here they have some very old un-irrigated Chenin Blan

c vines, but from 1947 to 1999 winemaking ceased and the grapes were sold off to the local co-op. In 1999, the brothers revived the family w

inemakin

g tradition, resuming their non-interventionist winemaking techniques and working toward organic certification.

Their “Little J” Chenin Blanc (with 5% Viognier for a little aromatic lift) is made to be a

n approachable, easy-drinking every day white wine with just a hint of melon sweetness. Peachy, floral aromatics make this a delightful wine to serve lightly chilled with a fresh fruit-laden salad on a warm spring or summer day.

More Information: 2009 Joostenberg Little J Red

2010 Finca La Linda Rose Malbec

Grape variety: Malbec

Region: Mendoza, Argentina

Food pairing: Crab salad with avocado

Fortuitously the advent of the warm weather, and hence the need for chilled quaffs, and the arrival of the fresh rose wines from the preceding growing season coincide.

One of the 2010 arrivals we’re excited about is Luigi Bosca’s Finca la Linda Rose of Malbec from Argentina. Made of 100% Malbec grapes grown in Barrancas, Maipu in Mendoza, this wine should be served lightly chilled and exhibits aromas of fresh strawberry and stone fruits with just a bit of floral undertone. The finish is soft, clean and ripe, with just enough swee

tness to invoke strawberry fruit but not enough to make it off-dry. Enjoy on a warm day, preferably outdoors.

2009 “1883” Chardonnay

Food pairing: New England lobster rolls

Grape variety:Chardonnay

Region: Sonoma County, California

Eighteen eighty three was a good year for the Wente family. It was the year in which C.H. Wente founded his northern California

winery, beginning what would become more than a century-long family foray into winemaking. Wente is still a family-run winery, and to pay homage, they produced this special bottling called “1883” to honor their founder.

Produced in the cool coastal vineyards of Monterey, this Chardonnay carries ripe white fruit flavors of apple and tropical mango, balanced by a hint of vanilla-spiced oak. I love Chardonnay as a pairing with a summer favorite of mine, New England lobster rolls. The buttery oak matches the buttery lobster and roll, while the clean acidity refreshes the palate nicely.

More Information: 2009 “1883” Chardonnay

2009 Ocaso Malbec

Grape variety: Malbec

Region: Mendoza, Argentina

Food pairing: Gorgonzola topped filet mignon

In Spanish, Ocaso means sunset. In ancient mythology, Ocaso meant the goddess who would sing to the sun as it set behind the mountains each evening, giving thanks f

or the “fruits of nature.” In our stores, Ocaso means good affordable Argenti

ne Malbec.

“What really impressed me about the Ocaso Malbec was how food-friendly it was,” says Gary’s wine associate Kathy Brindle. “It stood up to a gorgonzola-topped grilled filet mignon, but it didn’t overpower a side dish of angel hair pasta and summer veggies. And I could

imagine how the ripe blackberry fruit flavors and long smooth finish would also make it a great match for BBQ chicken.” It seems that the challenge may be in finding a number of dishes that don’t pair well with this soft and pleasant red wine. Of course, it should be no surprise. It hails from the good-food-lovin’ country of Argentina. And there is a goddess involved. That never hurts.

More Information: 2009 Ocaso Malbec

2007 Sincero Ribera del Duero

Grape variety: Tempranillo

Region: Ribera del Duero, Spain

Food pairing: Aged Manchego or Garroxta

Many people know Rioja as the region for great Tempranillo, but more and more of us are getting familiar with the distinc

tly good Tempranillos that come from Ribera del Duero. There, they maintain that their Tempranillo (which they often call Tinto de Toro) is completely different t

han the Rioja variety. Call it a Sharks and Jets kind of situation; it really just comes down to whose turf is best. Sourced from some of Ribera’s highest elevation vineyards, the nose reveals cedar, mineral, earth and black fruits, with a palate that’s rich with red fruits and solid, gripping tannins. At less than $20, the turf war is clearly in Ribera’s favor with this one.

More Information: 2007 Sincero Ribera del Duero

2009 Jean-Marc Burgaud Morgon Les Charmes

Grape variety: Gamay

Region: Morgon, Beaujolais, France

Food pairing: French charcuterie (pate, saucisson sec)

In most vintages, I have to admit that Bea

ujolais is not one of my favorite wines to drink.

re sourced from single vineyards and aged in barrels prior to release, carry more nuance, spice, and terroir than I’ve formerly found. This one in particular, from Morgon les Charmes, carries truly interesting notes, as David Schildknecht said, of “ripe dark cherry and blackberry, smoked meat, walnWhile I appreciate the freshness and approachability, the Gamay grape just isn’t amo

ng my usual favorites. But in 2009, a banner year for Beaujolais, I discovered something completely different. The cru Beaujolais from this vintage, wines that unlike the “Nouveau” a

ut oil...and a long lip-smacking intensity of fresh berry skin and mineral salts.”

Drink over the next three years.

2009 Pey de Faure Bordeaux

Grape variety: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc

Region: Bordeaux, France

Food pairing: Hard aged cheese or strong blue cheese

It’s all well and good to talk about the first

and second growths of Bordeaux, those bottles that in good vintages and bad seem to rise astronomical

ly in price and reputation, and which collectors can never seem to get enough of. But what ab

out the little guys? In the best of vintages, like 2009, the “baby” Bordeaux can be stunning values, drinking like something of much higher pedigree and in the end being just what everyday Bordeaux should be: a bottli

ng of Merlot, Cabernet and Cab Franc that expresses the left and right ban

k terroir just as it should, with fruit, tannic structure, and a little grace. This one, more Merlot than Cabernet, exhibits notes of blackcurrant and morello cherry and a harmony of fruit and spice on the persi

stent finish.

More Information: 2009 Pey de Faure Bordeaux

2008 Sorrel Canyon Meritage

Grape variety: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot

Region: North Coast, California

Food pairing: Aged gouda and other hard cheeses

We’ve been fans of the Sorrel Canyon brand for quite some time now, sourced from a growing empire of q

uality North Coast California wineries. Until now, Chardonnay and Cabernet were all we could get, but with the growth of the brand they acquired some great sources of Merlot, and the Sorrel Canyon Meritage was born. Meritage (pronounced like “heritage”) marries the best of both worlds: bold, structured Cabernet and velvety smooth Merlot, creating a blend that’s at once ripe and rich yet still smooth and delicate. (We have to give Bordeaux the credit for first coming up with the idea, b

ut California’s really taking off with it.) This is a fantastic everyday wine you’ll want to come back for, pleasantly ripe, smooth, easy to drink and easy on the wallet as well.

More Information: 2008 Sorrel Canyon Meritage

2009 Two Jokers Shiraz

Grape variety: Shiraz

Region: South Australia

Food pairing: Dry rubbed BBQ brisket

The Two Jokers brand of wines was created to enca

psulate the mood of South Australia. In the redgum trees just outside this winery, two loud and cheeky Kookaburra birds often sit, sending an infectious “laughing” call across the vineyards in the morning. So the winery found it fitting to name this fun and relaxed bottling after their two resident jokers.

Australian Shiraz tends to be richer and sweeter-fruited than Syrah from the cooler climates of France and even California, often bordering on raisiny. But a well-made Australian Shiraz achieves that richness without going over the ripeness border. This one is smooth and easy to drink, with flavors of bursting-ripe blackberry and star anise.

More Information: 2009 Two Jokers Shiraz

2009 Michel Gassier Nostre Pais Blanc

Grape variety: Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Roussanne

Region: Costieres de Nimes, France

Food pairing: Sole Meunier

The French AOC of Costieres de Nimes used to be considered part of the Languedoc region, but as the wines they produce more closely resemble those of the Rhone Valley (Grenache and Syrah based reds and Grenache Blanc/Rousanne based whites), it was eventually given its own appellation in 1989. This white wine blend of Grenache Blanc, Viognier and Roussanne from Michel Gassier is a tremendous value for the price, exhibiting “a honeyed, rich, full bodied effort with plenty of texture as well as pure notes of quince, white currants, flowers and unmistakable minerality.” (Robert Parker.)

More Information: 2009 Michel Gassier Nostre Pais Blanc

May Wine of the Month Selections

2011-04-29T11:02:00.000-07:00

Wine of the Month Club:

Women in Wine

May Wine Club Selections

Not that we’ve conducted serious analyticalresearch on the topic, but lately as we’ve perused our aisles, we’ve noticed that our shelves have been graced with quite the plethora of impressive bottlings from talented women wine makers. Now we won’t enter into the debate over whether women really do have superior taste-buds and olfactory sensors (although there is some evidence to support the theory of “female supertasters”), and we won’t get into the glass-ceiling politics behind women on this career path as opposed to that. But we will say that more than a fair share of our own favorite wines are being produced by winemakers with two X chromosomes, and we think these ladies may be on to something. So in celebration of women and all their super-tasting ingenuity, we’ve selected a roster of wines made or inspired by women this month, from all regions and all walks of life. From amother-daughter winemaking team on the Mediterranean coast of France, to an Argentine trailblazer and a few very talented Californians, these are the women at the forefront of the wine industry today: scientists, artists, cultivators and culinary masterminds wrapped into one. We couldn't think of a better month for this lineup than the one in which we honor our mothers, so be sure to share a glass with your mother or your lady, and tell her what great taste she has. Cause you know she does. And because she does, she’ll love these...

Vintner Selection

2009 Domaine Gaujal de Saint Bon Picpoul de Pinet Cuvee des

Dames

Grape variety: Picpoul Blanc

Region: Coteaux de Languedoc, France

Food pairing: Bagna Cauda (see recipe)

While the world-famous regions of Bordeaux and

Burgundy take most of France’s winemaking limelight, the small sub-appellation of Picpoul de Pinet remains relatively unknown in the Coteeaux du Langeudoc. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t pride themselves fiercely on their local varietal, Picpoul Blanc. Picpoul is a Mediterranean grape that thrives in the hot climate of Southern France, and retains its crisp acidity well. (The name literally translates to “sharp lip stinger.”) Domaine Gaujal de Saint Bon is a small estate run by a mother-daughter team of Simone and Virginie Gaujal (rather fitting for this month, we think.) Their white wine made from 100% local Picpoul Blanc is extremely refreshing served chilled on a hot day, with aromas of fresh melon, citrus and mineral and a crisp, clean palate.

Vintner Selection

2008 Torremoron Ribera del Duero

Grape variety: Tempranillo

Region: Ribera del Duero, Spain

Food pairing: Grilled Spanish sausages

The sub-appellation of Ribera del Duero is made up of some very small towns in the Castilla y Leon region of Spain. The town of Quintanamanvirgo, in which this wine is made, boasts a population of 106 people. The Torremoron winery supports most of the families in this tiny town.Bodegas Torremoron is a collective founded in 1957, comprised of 300 associated vine growers and encompassing 500 acres of vineyards. Winemaker Sandra Ayuso is the one who pulls it all together, bringing 300 growers’ grapes together to make a comprehensive blend of 100% locally grown Tempranillo. You’d think a wine hailing from 300 different growers might lack harmony, but Ayuso brings it all together in a balanced fashion, marrying the flavors with four months in French oak barrels, for a finished wine that offers notes of savory black fruit and spice box and a smooth finish.

Reserve Selection

2009 Lail Blueprint Sauvignon Blanc

Grape variety: Sauvignon Blanc

Region: Napa Valley, California

Food pairing: Bagna Cauda or Humboldt Fog cheese

When we talk about forefathers of our country, we have endless numbers of people to thank for pioneering different industries. But for Napa winemaking, one of the true forefathers was Gustav Neibaum, the great-great grand-uncle of Robin Lail, steward of Lail Vineyards. Neibaum founded Inglenook vineyards in 1879, making history in this still-young winemaking region. Today Robin carries the torch with Lail Vineyards where they make this Blueprint Sauvignon Blanc (an homage to her husband’s profession of architecture) from a single vineyard in St. Helena. With the help of well-known French winemaker Philippe Melka (Vineyard 29, Bryant, Melka Metisse), Lail produces this beautiful Sauvignon Blanc in the style of Sancerre, crisp and mineral-laden but with a decidedly Californian ripeness of fruit. Look for notes of Florida grapefruit, citron, honeydew, toast with lemon curd and just a hint of ginger spice.

More Information: 2009 Lail Blueprint Sauvignon Blanc

Reserve Selection

2008 Susana Balbo Malbec

Grape variety: Malbec (90%), Cabernet Sauvignon (10%)

Region: Mendoza, Argentina

Food pairing: Beef ribs with cocoa-spice dry rub

Susana Balbo isn’t the only female winemaker in a country dominated by male winemakers, but she’s certainly among the most accomplished. She has been making wine since she earned her enology degree in 1981, and in that time has probably worked on a larger variety of wines than any other winemaker in Argentina. She was the first Argentine winemaker to be hired as a consultant outside of Argentina, and has made wine in Australia, California, Chile, France, Italy, South Africa and Spain. After 20 years of making wine for others, she finally decided to make a wine with her own name on the label, and her signature Malbec represents everything a good Malbec should be: ripe, plummy, accented by hints of vanilla and chocolate, rich and velvety but never heavy or alcoholic. Serious but fun wine, just the way Susana likes it.

Cellar Selection

2007 Viader “DARE” Cabernet Sauvignon

Grape variety: Cab

ernet Sauvignon

Region: Napa Valley, California

Food pairing: Cedar-smoked pork loin

Argentine-born winemaker Delia Viader has always lived by the motto, “Dare to be different.” An innovator from the time of her very first plantings on Howell Mountain in 1989,

Delia was among the first to bring the Bordeaux style of vineyard cultivation to California. Against some pretty vehement criticism, Delia decided to plant her vines in rows going up and down the steep mountainside, following the path of the afternoon sun to optimize exposure. Today she honors that tradition of “daring to be different” with her “Dare” label of Cabernet Sauvignon. With the help of her son Alan, she has crafted a bottling flavored with dark, ripe black cherries, currants, cassis and tobacco, with a finish of caramel and a hint of cedar imparted by its 21 months in French oak. An approachable but nicely finessed bottle now, this should drink well for three to five years more.

More Information: 2007 Viader “DARE” Cabernet Sauvignon

Cellar Selection

2008 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars “Hands of Time”
Napa Valley Red Wine

Grape variety: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah (3%)

Region: Napa Valley, California

Food pairing: Beef and fingerling potato kebabs

Many wine enthusiasts know that Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars was founded by Napa pioneer Warren Winiarski, and that their Cabernet famously won the Paris tasting of 1973 against the most highly regarded Bordeaux. What many don’t realize is that in subsequent years, Warren has mentored and ushered into careers dozens of Napa’s finest winemakers, including Paul Hobbs, Dick Ward, John Kongsgaard, and their present talented winemaker, Nicki Pruss.

The Hands of Time Meritage blend was made to commemorate all the hands that took part in making Stag’s Leap what it is over the years, overseen of course, by Nicki herself. Like all of Stag’s Leap’s wines, it strikes an artful balance between ripeness and restraint, softness and structure, and is a real pleasure to enjoy.

Premiere Selection

2008 Buccella Merlot

Grape variety: Merlot, Cabernet (6%), Malbec (2%)

Region: Napa Valley, California

Food pairing:Organic dry-aged ribeye steak

Annual Auction trip to Napa, February 2011. Eight a.m. on the second day. Gary, Brian, and I are getting ready for a full day of back-to-back winery visits when the first vintner on the docket cancels at the last minute. It looks like it’s shaping up to be a bad morning. That is, until Bill Deem calls. How fast can we get down to Napa?
Forty minutes and one quickly scarfed Bouchon muffin later, we’re all sitting around a conference table in a nondescript industrial park, tasting the 2008 Buccella Cabernet, Merlot, and Reserve Cab called Cuvee Katrina Eileen. We had fallen in love with Buccella’s heady, hedonistic but gorgeously balanced Cabernet when we bought the 2007 vintage, but we had never met proprietor Bill Deem or his full-time winemaker Rebekah Wineberg, and we had never tasted their Merlot. We did, however, know consulting winemaker Celia Welch (of Scarecrow fame) quite well, and we knew that any project she worked on was one to keep our eyes on. So this was a tasting not to be missed. To say that was one of the most fortuitous changes of plans we’ve ever had would be an understatement. On that annual trip, we spend the week tasting easily hundreds of Cabernets, and for a Merlot to blow us away it truly has to be something special. Their Merlot, sourced from the famed Hyde vineyard in Carneros (known mostly for Chardonnay) is as lush as they come, and could hold its own with any Cabernet. Prior to February, I didn’t even know that the famed Hyde vineyard in Carneros produced Merlot at all. Now I’m wondering why they don’t plant more of it. This relatively new wine is notoriously hard to find on the East Coast, only 233 cs made, so we consider ourselves very fortunate to share some with you.

“Very lush on the palate with dark fruits, chocolate ganache and a shot of great espresso. Though it is decadent there is still enough acidity to lift this wine off its feet. Possibly California’s best Merlot.” (Brian Maxwell, Wine Buyer)

More Information: 2008 Buccella Merlot

Premiere Selection

2008 Pride Mountain Vineyards Merlot

Grape variety: Merlot

Region: Napa County and Sonoma County, California

Food pairing: Black tea poached duck breast with black cherry reduction

High at the top of Spring Mountain, on the crest that straddles Napa and Sonoma Counties, sits a 235 acre estate originally planted to grapes in 1869. The original stone winery built in 1890 was mysteriously destroyed by a fire during prohibition, but today it has been rebuilt on the original foundation and restored to its glory. Today 83 acres are planted, all above the fog line allowing for sun exposure from sunrise to sunset. And because the winery spans two counties (a brick inlay on the crush pad literally represents the county line), winemaker Sally Johnson gets the best of both worlds when blending her grapes.
Merlot is the really the pride of Pride, produced each year from roughly half Sonoma county fruit, half Napa, all from their estate. Robert Parker called it a “sexy, full-throttle, heady Merlot”, full of “abundant aromas of black cherry and mocha-infused fruit intermixed with hints of white chocolate, roasted herbs and coffee.”

More Information: 2008 Pride Mountain Vineyards Merlot

Recipe

Hot Veggie Bath (Bagna Cauda)
Serves: 4 as an appetizer (approx. 1 cup)

Wine Pairing: Lail Blueprint Sauvignon Blanc or Domaine Gaujal de Saint Bon Picpoul de Pinet Cuvee des Dames

This simple dipping sauce or “bath” for raw vegetables and crusty bread is adapted from a recipe in the famed revolutionary chef Alice Waters’ classic “The Art of Simple Food.” One of the most influential female chefs of all time, she taught us to delight in the simple things rather than fussing them up too much. I take the liberty of adding fresh parsley to this classic dish, but it’s equally good without.

5 salt-packed anchovies
6 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Zest of one lemon
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. finely chopped fresh parsley (optional)
Assorted raw vegetables and crusty Italian semolina bread

-Soak anchovies in water for 5 minutes, then debone and finely chop.
-Heat water to simmer in a double boiler. In the top pot,
combine all ingredients. Heat and stir until butter is melted. Salt to taste.

-Serve warm as a dipping sauce for bread and vegetables.

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April Wine Club Selections: A Good Kind of Green

2011-04-04T08:12:00.000-07:00

We’re hearing the word “green” thrown around quite a bit these days, in reference to everything from household cleaners to transportation. But in the wine world, calling a bottling “green” hasn’t always had positive connotations. In less eco-conscious times, a “green” wine was a wine made from grapes that had been picked a little too early, before they were fully ripe, resulting in a thinner texture and tart vegetal taste on the finish. But today, we often call wines “green” as a form of praise for their eco-friendly farming practices. Here at Gary’s, we’ve begun identifying wines that we know to be either organically, biodynamically, or sustainably farmed with “Gary’s Green Selections” tags. It can be tricky to navigate the intricacies of the terminology (after all, “organic wine” has an entirely different meaning than “wine made from organic grapes”), but we think that sharing this information is at least a step in the right direction toward being ecologically-informed wine drinkers. So this month, in celebration of Earth Day on April 22nd and all things deferential to Mother Nature, we tip our hats to the wineries that, in some form or other, have “gone green” in the best sense of the word. No vegetal tang, we promise.

Vintner Selection

2009 Pullus Pinot Grigio
Grape variety: Pinot Grigio
Region: Podravje, Slovenia
Food pairing: Truklji (Slovenian farmer dumplings)

Sharing the same position in latitude as Piedmont and Bordeaux, Slovenia may be one of the best kept secrets in winemaking. The producer of Pullus, Ptujska Klet, is the oldest winery in Slovenia. Its cellars dating back to 1239 lie in a labyrinth beneath the city of Ptuj, and since Slovenian independence was established in 1991, the winery has embraced modern practices of international winemaking including organic methods of grape growing.
And yes, it’s supposed to be pink! Because your run of the mill Pinot Grigio is often pale gold in color, we often forget that it's actually made from a red-skinned grape. (Grigio/Gris means gray, as in the outer color of the skin.) Extended contact with the skins while this wine ages on the lees lends a rosey hue to this unique Slovenian Pinot Grigio, and on the mouth offers a creamy quality, with notes of pear, melon and fresh flowers.
More Information: 2009 Pullus Pinot Grigio

2009 Domaine Fabrice Gasnier Les Graves Chinon
Grape variety: Cabernet Franc
Region: Chinon, Loire Valley, France
Food pairing: Organic country or pheasant paté

When the young and ambitious Fabrice Gasnier took over the family domaine in Chinon from his father several years ago in his early twenties, he was eager to try some new farming methods. So he quickly employed organic viticulture, gaining plants and vines that were healthier than ever before...but it still wasn’t enough for Fabrice. So he went to visit an old winegrowing master in his region, this time an expert in the homeopathic method of biodynamie. The master convinced his young Jedi to give biodynamics a go, using composts and moon-based planting and pruning, and several years later, Gasnier can show us the difference in pictures of his vines underground. Roots that years ago descended only a few feet now plunge ten feet into subterranean preserves, showing incredible thriving plants. And the wine itself? Red fruited at first followed by savory garden herbs, just as the savory cousin to Cabernet should be.

Reserve Selections

2009 Francois Chidaine Vouvray les Argiles
Grape variety: Chenin Blanc
Region: Vouvray, Loire Valley, France
Food pairing: Pan-roasted scallops in cream sauce

Francois Chidaine has worked alongside his father Yves crafting Chenin Blanc in Vouvray for many years, but the two hold separate estates and somewhat separate viewpoints. Francois farms his vines, some of them between 40 and 80 years old, biodynamically. Yet he eschews the idea of mentioning biodynamic viticulture on the bottles themselves, even though the estate has been Demeter certified since 2003. The 2009 vintage was an
especially ripe-fruited one, but Chidaine’s wines managed to retain a
distinct quality of acidity atypical of the vintage, credited largely to his cool, water-retentive soils. Wine critic David Schildknecht noted an iris perfume and very vivid notes of lemon and pineapple on the palate, with hints of herbal and mineral essences. “Salt, iodine, and shrimp shell reduction will also feature saliva-inducingly...for this long-finishing blend that should be worth following for 8-10 years.” I’m sure I’m with him on all but the shrimp shell reduction.
More information: 2009 Francois Chidaine Vourvray les Argiles

2008 Quivira Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel
Grape variety: Zinfandel
Region: Dry Creek Valley, California
Food pairing: BBQ beef brisket

The first sentence you’ll read on Quivira Vineyards’ web page is this: “Biodynamics maintains that nature is very powerful...if you let it reign.” And let it reign they do. As they’ll be first to admit, biodynamic farming is time-consuming, expensive, and at times rather unusual. But the winemaking team of Hugh Chapelle, winemaker and Ned Horton, assistant winegrower, feel that healthy soil leads to the best expression of terroir. So their winery is not just a winery but an entire self-sustaining system that includes vineyards, compost piles, chicken coops, vegetable gardens, trout streams and beehives. This home-grown approach works out well for their Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel, a deep dark wine full of black fruit and plum flavors, rich spice tones, and a lasting finesse. As the weather warms up, try this with your first barbecue endeavor of the season.

Cellar Selections

2006 Quinta Sardonia Sardon del Duero
Grape variety: Tinto Fino
Region: Sardon del Duero, Castilla-Leon, Spain
Food pairing: Free range lamb chops

A brand new and enthusiastically forward-thinking project on the outskirts of the Ribera del Duero, Quinta Sardonia has been a biodynamic winery from the start, cultivating entirely without the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. With young vines of Tinto Fino (the local varietal most closely related to Tempranillo), Cabernet Sauvignon, and very small amounts of Merlot, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec, Peter Sissek (also of Pingus fame) produces a Bordeaux-style wine fermented in stainless steel and aged in French oak. The vineyards are plowed under and house-made compost is applied; harvest is done entirely by hand, and yields are kept very low (about 6000 bottles made in total.) The wine is already being proclaimed by some as “Spain’s next cult wine,” and Jay Miller of the Wine Advocate gave it 93 points, noting “an aromatic array of cedar, Asian spices, incense and blackberry” with a savory and supple palate.
More information: 2006 Quinta Sardonia Sardon del Duero

2007 St. Innocent Momtazi Vineyard Pinot Noir
Grape variety: Pinot Noir
Region: Willamette Valley, Oregon
Food pairing: Wild pan-roasted salmon with fennel

St. Innocent winemaker and president Mark Vlossak is a big believer in the best wines
being hand-made, and with over twenty years experience making wine in the sustainably-conscious Willamette Valley of Oregon, he took note from Burgundy and Alsace on how to make his own domaine even better. “From my first trip to France in 1998,” he says, “I
observed that the greatest domains in both
Burgundy and Alsace had one thing in common; they farmed
biodynamically.” Knowing that the Momtazi Vineyard in McMinneville was being farmed biodynamically and had a track record for great fruit, he
approached Moe Momtazi to make a St. Innocent bottling of Momtazi Pinot Noir. Vlossak loves the vineyard for its sunny hillside exposure that creates Pinot that’s darker and more intense in fruit profile and tannins than other Willamette appellations. And in a notoriously light and acidic vintage, that was particularly important in making a naturally balanced and delicious wine.
More information: 2007 St. Innocent Momtazi Vineyard Pinot Noir

Premiere Selections

2006 Elio Grasso Barolo Gavarini Vigna Chiniera
Grape variety: Nebbiolo
Region: Barolo, Piedmont, Italy
Food pairing: Sottocenere or other truffled cheese

Those of you who have been in the club for some time now may recall that in April of 2009, we sent you a bottle of 2004 Elio Grasso Gavarini Vigna Chiniera, noting that 2004 was one of the finest vintages for Barolo in recent years. It’s not often that I choose to repeat a wine only two vintages later, but the 2006 vintage was such a good one that I couldn’t resist. If by any chance you've hung on to that bottle of 2004, you now own two of Barolo’s best-made wines from two of its greatest vintages in recent history.
Now the 2006 vintage was one of such ideal conditions and purity of fruit that, just like in 2004, any winemaker worth their salt should’ve made pretty great wine. But Elio Grasso of Monfote d’Alba, a sub-appellation of Barolo, made his 2006 Gavarini Vigna Chiniera (all from organically grown grapes) with a hefty dose of traditionalism to boot. His wines tend toward the old-school style of Barolo, carrying more tobacco-laden tannins than the hedonistic fruit that’s popular today. “We have a philosophy of our relatives who worked in the vineyards before us,” he stated to one reviewer, “and we need to respect that. We need to be honest with ourselves. If I was going to change, I would have changed 30 or 40 years ago. I’m 60 years old...why would I change now?” Fair enough. Though the wine does carry those traditional Barolo tannins, the 2006 is such a beautifully balanced vintage with uplifting acidity and floral undertones, that the tannins, even while young, don’t feel heavy or overbearing. Antonio Galloni, reviewer for the Wine Advocate, noted “This is supremely beautiful Barolo where expressive aromatics, generous fruit and silky tannins come together with unusual grace and elegance. The 2006 is the best Gavarini since the 1989, and who knows if it might one day match that legendary Barolo.” While it’s obviously a beautiful wine now, this will likely be at its best five to even twenty years from now. 95 Points Wine Advocate.
More information: 2006 Elio Grasso Barolo Gavarini Vigna Chiniera

2007 Vineyard 7 & 8 “7” Cabernet Sauvignon
Grape variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Napa Valley, California
Food pairing: Short ribs in red wine reduction

When you first meet Vineyard 7 & 8 proprietor and director of operations Wesley Steffens, it’s not likely that he’ll tell you he once worked in Thomas Keller’s kitchen at the French Laundry before working his way up from cellar rat to cellar master at Harlan Estate and finally landing at his family’s own winery to run the show. But all that time he undoubtedly spent painstakingly picking and cleaning and carefully slicing vegetables from the famed French Laundry garden must have instilled him with some sense of gravitas when it comes to proper farming, because shortly after his family winery established themselves, they allied themselves with Pete Richmond of Silverado Farming Company, a vineyard consulting company known for an unparalleled approach to using the latest in sustainable farming practices. With rigorous concentration on vineyard sustainability from winter pruning to hand-harvesting in the Fall, Pete, Wesley, and winemaker Luc Morlet make quite a team of perfectionists, and the ratings have begun to reflect that notion.
“The 2007 “7” Cabernet was one of my first two Cabernets produced at Vineyard 7 & 8, “ Morlet says, “As with the Estate Cabernet, the focus of this wine is to show a wine with a true sense of place for the Spring Mountain District. Intense and rich, the “7” Cabernet displays a complex bouquet of black and red berries, intermixed with roasted and mineral notes. The youthful tannins are true to their mountain origin and will age beautifully over the next decade or more.” Robert Parker agreed, noting that the deep, fleshy, “exuberant and opulent style would please both Joe the plumber and the connoisseur” alike. It’s become a favorite of ours, and hope it will be one of yours as well.
More information: 2007 Vineyard 7 & 8 “7” Cabernet Sauvignon

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February Wine Club Selections: Spain, Old and New

2011-02-08T09:20:00.000-08:00

If you're at all familiar with Spain itself (and not just their wines), you know that it's a country where tradition and modern innovation collide in a wonderfully eclectic way. Gastronomically, they're known to be on the cutting edge right now, with chefs like Ferran Adria and Juan Roca concocting crazy molecular creations that dance on the fine line between science experiments and cuisine. And yet, at the core of their food experience, traditional tapas bars and basic regional ingredients still dominate the daily scene. Likewise, winemaking in Spain is a fun tug-of-war between tradition and experimentation. We have the traditional, established winemakers of Rioja sticking to the strict and time-tested D.O. standards of indigenous grapes and long aging, while just a vineyard or two away we may have a young (or youg-at-heart) winemaker playing with amped up Cabernet or putting a new spin on traditional Tempranillo. After a recent trip to Spain last fall, I approached this month's selections with a similar spirit of experimentation, while still giving a nod to the traditions that bring us age-worthy Spanish wines. I think you'll have fun trying something old and something new, so to speak, and seeing just which "spirit of Spain" is more your style.

Vintner Selection

2009 Finca Os Cobatos Godello
Grape variety: Godello
Region: Monterrei, Galicia, Spain
Food pairing: Grilled fresh sardines on crusty bread

The Mendez family of Paso do Mar owns vineyards in three Galician DO's. Their vineyard in the Monterrei region benefits from being the warmest and driest appellation within Galicia, with a high average of sunny days per year. On a sandy slope, dotted with quartz crystals that magnify the sun's rays against the vines, they grow a ripe fruited and beautifully refreshing Godello. If you're a fan of fresh marinated sardines, this wine would pair extremely well with the sardines on crusty bread that are served in tapas/pinxo bars all along the coasts of Spain. The lightly floral flavors (think chamomile tea) compliment the briny fish nicely, and the refreshing acidity cleanses the palate as you snack.

More info: http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/spain/16343.html

2007 Nuvol Yecla
Grape variety: Monastrell
Region: Yecla, Spain
Food pairing: Brined Spanish olive-stuffed pork

Monastrell has faced a few obstacles in becoming a household name. For starters, it goes by three different names, depending on the wine region in which it's grown:(Monastrell/Mourvedre/Mataro. To further complicate things, it's a slightly finicky grape to grow. But the reward for those who tough it out is a phenomenally unique wine: thick purple juice that's, dark, tannic and savory. The most often used descriptor is the French term "animale", which conveys a meaty gaminess punctuated by an herbal sage-like note. Other flavors and aromas to be found are blackberries, leather, and spices like clove, nutmeg and anise. Loaded with ripe cherry fruit with hints of vanilla and spice from aging in French and American oak, this 100% Monastrell comes from the tiny Yecla region in Southeastern Spain, which is known for quality and value. Perfect with roasted meats and stronger cheeses.

More info: http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/spain/14670.html

Reserve Selection

2009 Tomas Cusine Auzells
Grape variety: Macabeu, Parellada, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Muller Thurgau, Riesling,Albarino, Moscatell
Region: Costers del Segre, Spain
Food pairing: Spicy Garlic Shrimp

Despite the fact that there's hardly a white grape that didn't make this blend, the balance struck by Tomas Cusine's wine beautifully marries vibrancy with elegance and volume with acidity. The most prominent grape is Macabeu, (37%) a wildflower and almond-noted grape also known as Viura and grown widely in Rioja and northern Spain. Rounding out the blend is Parellada (Macabeo's frequent accomplice in Cava), Sauvignon Blanc (bringing citrusy acidity,) Chardonnay (here spelled with X for the sake of keeping things overtly Catalan), Muller Thurgau, Riesling, Albarino and Moscatell (all adding a little richness, ripeness and body.) The resulting wine touches on everything from apple, pear and apricot to white flowers and garden herbs, bright and lively while still creamy in mouthfeel with minerality on the finish. Hey, if it turns out like this, why not taste all of Spain's whites at once?

More info: http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/spain/16338.html

2008 Black Slate Gratallops Priorat

Grape variety: Garnacha, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carinena, Merlot and Syrah
Region: Priorat, Spain
Food pairing: Lamb chops grilled with Spanish olive oil

We're always looking for wines that drink well above their price, whether a traditional bottling or something a little experimental. In the 2007 vintage, we found Black Slate Gratallops, a blend of Garnacha (Grenache), Cabernet, and a bit of Carignan, Syrah and Merlot to balance things out, and were wowed. It's not the most traditional blend for Priorat, but then Priorat is fast becoming a haven for experimentation. And when experimentation results in something as expressively aromatic, full of spice and rich dark fruits with a mocha finish, we can't argue with that. Jay Miller of the Wine Advocate said of the 2007 vintage, "It may be the finest value in quality Priorat in the market," and we feel the just-released 2008 holds true to that statement.

More info: http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/spain/14787.html

Cellar Selection

2005 Orben Rioja
Grape variety: Tempranillo, Graciano
Region: Rioja, Spain
Food pairing: Aged Manchego cheese and Iberico ham

A relatively new winery outside the town of Laguardia in Rioja, Orben is primarily owned by the Izadi family with the rest of the shareholders being some of Spain's best restaurants (no doubt to secure the best allocations for their wine lists.) Their 2005 blend, another great year for Rioja, is sourced from 75 micro-parcels of old vine Tempranillo and a bit of Graciano, as is the tradition, planted between 1945 and 1954. Glass-coating and concentrated, the wine carries deep black fruits like cassis, blackberry and blueberry, with secondary notes ranging from slate and cedar to mineral, toast, anise and spice. Steven Tanzer rated it 92 points, calling it "silky and impressively elegant." Excellent now, but likely at its best from 2015 through 2020 or later.

More info: http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/spain/13576.html

2008 Terra de Verema Triumvirat
Grape variety: Carignan, Garnacha, Syrah
Region: Priorat, Spain
Food pairing: Smoky morcilla with egg and potatoes

Priorat has already gained great recognition as a world-class wine region of late, but mostly for the production of Garnacha-based wines. But at Terra de Verema, Ester Nin, also the winegrower at the lauded Clos Erasmus, makes an incredibly interesting and noteworthy wine called Triumvirat primarily from Carninena (elsewhere known as Carignan or Mazuelo) grapes. A small amount of Garnacha and Syrah round out the blend. After aging for a year in French oak, the wine is dark and complexly aromatic with black pepper, Asian spices, and rich black cherry notes. Expressive and carrying quite a long finish, Jay Miller of the Wine Advocate noted that this "suave, bordering on opulent, succulent" wine is already approachable now but will likely be even more expressive when opened in 2-3 years time. (94 Points Wine Advocate.)

More info: http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/spain/15082.html

Premiere Selection

2007 Teso La Monja Victorino
Grape variety: Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo)
Region: Toro, Spain
Food pairing: Nicely marbled Porterhouse (dry aged)

To call the Eguren family successful in their wine ventures would be an understatement; after the recent sale of the wildly successful Numanthia brand, they're building bigger, (and some would argue better) ventures in both Rioja and Toro. The new Toro undertaking is Teso la Monja, just across the street from Numanthia (where, incidentally, the family still consults on the winemaking), and one of the jewels in that crown is Victorino, a bottling of old-vine Tinta de Toro (the local Tempranillo.) Aged in oak for 18 months, the resulting wine is bold and glass-coating, with big flavors, big tannins, big structure. When visiting Spain last year, I had the pleasure of tasting this wine alongside a lunch of grilled Galician beef, the fattiest and tastiest beef I've ever tasted. I recommend finding a nicely-marbled Porterhouse and going for the same concept.

More info: http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/spain/15006.html

2004 Remirez de Ganuza Rioja Reserva
Grape variety: Tempranillo, Graciano, Garnacha
Region: Rioja, Spain
Food pairing: Roasted or braised game birds

I've met a lot of winemakers in my short time in this business, but few with the kind of 24/7 passion and dedication that Fernando Remirez de Ganuza embodies. As I toured his winery in the shadow of the old Samaniego church, he quietly showed me contraption after winemaking contraption that I had never seen before, his translator quietly adding as a side-note after each one, he invented that. With that kind of ingenuity, it was no surprise to me that his winery was small and immaculate; and his wines (the critics seem to agree) close to perfect.
The 2004 vintage was an excellent year for Rioja, and among all of the 04's there's none I enjoy more than Remirez de Ganuza. Made from 4 parcels of vines that range from 34 to 97 years in age, this blend of 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 3% Garnacha was aged for 2 years in oak before bottling and resting an additional four years. A gorgeously expressive nose gives way, right now, to a tightly-wound palate of deep black fruits, earth and toast that unfold beautifully in the glass and will only benefit from some age. Jay Miller of the Wine Advocate rated it 96 points, noting it was "youthful and tightly wound on the palate...the wine has all the components for potential greatness. Dense, lengthy and complex, with 6-8 years of cellaring this wine will be smoking!" Drink now through 2020.

More info: http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/spain/74016.html

January Wine Club: South American Selections

2011-01-21T08:58:00.000-08:00

This is one of the months I look forward to putting together most for the Wine Club. While every month is full of fun new discoveries, January's South American selections are particularly exciting for me as this is one of the regions I buy for our stores. So you can imagine how I spend all year squirreling away this special Malbec or that great white blend for the New Year.

I don't know what's most important to you in January (New Years resolutions, perhaps), but high on my priority list is keeping warm. I spend most of this month turning up the thermostat, investing in new ski socks, eating hearty, spicy foods and sipping the kind of wines that warm you from the inside out. The wine-drinkers of Argentina and Chile have become well-practiced at this notion, dwelling on the foothills of one of the world's most impressive mountain chains, the Andes. So they know a thing or two about crafting the kind of wine that will warm us on these bitter cold winter days. The white wines for this month's selections, a Torrontes and an unconventional white blend, have the rich, ripe fruit and creaminess that we crave this time of year, while the reds are made of the heartier, bolder grape varieties like Syrah, Cabernet, Tannat and Malbec that carry the kind of spicy-smooth oomph we want now. Here's hoping the New Year finds you healthy, happy and warm.

Vintner Selection

2010 Fabre Montmayou Torrontes
Grape variety: Torrontes
Region: Mendoza, Argentina
Food pairing: Egg and green chile empanadas

If you haven't yet tried the intensely aromatic Torrontes grape, you're in for a treat. Crisp yet slightly creamy, the wine combines the zestiness of Sauvignon Blanc with the floral headiness of Viognier. And it's a grape that you only find in Argentina.Herve Fabre came from a family of wine negociants in Bordeaux, but set his sights on making great Malbec, Cabernet and Torrontes in Argentina in the early 1990's. The indigenous Torrontes grape intrigued him as it intrigues us, offering aromatics of white peach and jasmine unlike other grapes. He makes this wine to be lush and food friendly, pairing well with spicy dishes, grilled seafood and, of course, traditional Argentine egg and green chile empanadas.

More info: http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/argentina/11770.html

2009 Curioso Malbec
Grape variety: Malbec
Region: Mendoza, Argentina
Food pairing: Argentine beef empanadas

Malbec may have originally been associated with Cahors and Bordeaux in France, but today it's in the Mendoza region of Argentina where Malbec's greatest fame lies. Here on the eastern slope of the Andes mountains, Malbec produces wines of rich flavors, lush mouthfeel, and silky tannin. And this fresh-off-the boat 2009 Curioso Malbec has all the best characteristics of Mendoza Malbec and at a super price.Soft, juicy and flavorful with the tell-tale "Malbec Magenta" color, this approachable Malbec carries extremely fresh, pure purple fruit, and a long sweet-savory, mouth-coating finish. It's a great match to a wide range of foods, from Argentine style parilla grilled meat to American barbecue, burgers, and even a good slice of pizza.

More info: http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/argentina/14647.html

Reserve Selection

2008 Vina Alicia Tiara
Grape variety: Albarino, Riesling, Savagnin
Region: Argentina
Food pairing: Spit-roasted chicken stuffed with green olives

Admittedly, I'm a little baffled by this wine, because the blend just didn't strike me as something that would work. But the visionaries at Vina Alicia must have some mojo up their sleeves, because somehow their blend of 50% Riesling, 40% Albarino and 10% Savagnin (grapes native to Germany, Spain and the Jurancon region of France, respectively, and furthermore grapes that almost no one else grows in Argentina) works out to be one of the most intriguingly balanced, food-friendly wines we've tasted this year. Jay Miller of the Wine Advocate called it "shimmeringly vibrant on the palate, (with) superb acidity, dry, ripe flavors and exceptional length." There were less than 100 cs of this unique wine for the US market, and you, our Wine Club members, are getting most of it. Enjoy.

More info:http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/argentina/14799.html

2008 Mapema Malbec
Grape variety: Malbec
Region: Mendoza, Argentina
Food pairing: Bison sliders with chimichurri

Two winemakers and a singular idea make one great wine. Longtime friends Pepe Galante and Mariano Di Paola are widely recognized as two of Argentina's best winemakers, and recently they decided to band together with the idea that they'd make only one wine (ok, one Malbec, one Sauvignon Blanc) sourced from only the "premiera zona" or top viticultural area each vintage. No multiple bottlings of single-vineyards or three tiers of classico, reserva and gran reserva for them. Just one wine they can be proud of. That one Malbec, for them, is Mapema. Sourced from 24 year old ungrafted vines 3200 feet in elevation and hand-harvested, the wine carries heady aromas of red and black cherry, a little spicy character from barrique ageing, and a mint cocoa finish. Excellent with grilled meats, burgers, and (we're told) goat.

More info:http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/argentina/07129.html

Cellar Selection

2006 Ben Marco Expresivo
Grape variety: Malbec, Cabernet, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Tannat
Region: Mendoza, Argentina
Food pairing: Charcoal grilled lamb chops

Talk about a power couple. The team behind Ben Marco are husband and wife Pedro Marchevsky (one of the most educated and experienced viticulturalists in Argentina) and Susana Balbo (world-renowned Malbec winemaker with her own label to boot.) The Ben Marco label was made as a tribute to Marchevsky's father, Marcos (BenMarco means "son of Marcos" in Hebrew,) who taught him to tend vineyards. Their Expresivo, a blend of 60% Malbec,and equal remaining parts Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petit Verdot and Tannat, is meant to be the boldest, purest expression of Argentine grapes' character. The critics agree the blend is stellar: Steven Tanzer noted "lovely concentration and creaminess, plenty of personality" while James Molesworth enjoyed "fig sauce and vivid raspberry fruit" and Jay Miller called the notes of wood smoke, baking spices, and savory black fruit an "outstanding effort."

More info: http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/argentina/15112.html

2007 Vina Cobos Bramare Cabernet Sauvignon Lujan de Cuyo
Grape variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Lujan de Cuyo, Mendoza, Argentina
Food pairing: Smoky Morcilla or Chorizo Sausage

The first of two January selections touched by the winemaking talent of Paul Hobbs (see also Premiere Selection from Pascual Toso), Vina Cobos is all about selecting the best of the best, from winemaker to vines. The small district of Lujan de Cuyo is known as the prime winegrowing zone in Mendoza, with elevations around 2,500 feet, a semi-desert climate and gravelly soils in the foothills of the Andes. Vines here are quite old, the ones used for the "younger" (and here we use that term loosely) Bramare bottling ranging from as much as 40-60 years. Critic Steven Tanzer of the International Wine Cellar called it "very sexy Cabernet," noting "enticingly sweet aromas of black raspberry, dark chocolate, mocha, spices and flowers. Finishes impressively broad and long with sweet tannins." Well done once again, Mr. Hobbs.

More info: http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/argentina/16095.html

Premier Selection

2006 Concha y Toro Don Melchor

Grape variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Maipo Valley, Chile
Food pairing: Chilean beef and chicken pastel (pot pie)

This month, we wanted to bring you the best of wines from the two countries at the forefront of South American winemaking: Argentina and Chile. Our search took us, in both cases, to the foot of the Andes. On one side, we have a stellar Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina, and on the other, a Cabernet Sauvignon from the Maipo Valley of Chile. Our Chilean selection, Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon from Concha Y Toro has been repeatedly hailed as the best Cabernet from Chile by both the Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate. Named after the winery's founder, Don Melchor de Concha y Toro, this wine serves as the flagship at the pinnacle of a large list of wines. The Cabernet for this wine comes from a single vineyard in the Maipo Valley, the Puente Alto Vineyard, planted in 1979. The grapes are harvested carefully by hand, and after fermentation are aged in French oak (60% new, 40% used once) for 14 months. The resulting wine is full and fleshy, with layers of tobacco, cedar, mocha and currant flavors and an excellent balance that should keep it drinking well for as much as two decades to come. 95 points, Wine Advocate.

More info: http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/chile/62152.html

2005 Pascual Toso Finca Pedregal
Grape variety: Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Barrancas, Maipu, Mendoza, Argentina
Food pairing: Char-grilled beef asado with chimichurri

In the mid 1880's Pascual Toso set out to Argentina, like many, from his native homeland of Piedmonte, Italy. As many of us know, Piedmonte has a bit of a winemaking tradition, and so it was only natural that Toso established a winery in the well-suited "Las Barrancas" (small canyon) estate. More than a century later, his legacy lives on in a winery known for quality in Argentina and abroad, and in 2001, the acclaimed California vintner Paul Hobbs joined the team as consulting winemaker. Since then, the quality has only gotten better and better.
The 2005 Finca Pedregal is a single-vineyard blend of 70% Malbec and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Pedregal de Barancas vineyard in the Maipu district of Mendoza. Aged for 18 months in French and American oak, then aged a further 10 months in the bottle before release, the Wine Advocate noted "an already complex array of pain grille, pencil lead, tar, licorice, earth notes and assorted black fruits. This leads to a burly, structured wine with enough fine-grained tannin to support another 4-5 years of cellaring. It has superior depth, concentration, and layers of fruit leading to a lengthy, fruit filled finish." Drink now through 2020.

More info: http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/argentina/16096.html

September Wine of the Month: Bring on the Bordeaux

2010-09-03T10:14:00.001-07:00

Of all the aisles in our store, the Bordeaux aisle may very well be the most intimidating for some of our guests. I can certainly see why, as the prices range all the way from the lowest end to the highest end of the spectrum and everywhere in between, and yet the bottles tell us so little about why we'd want to buy this Chateau over that Chateau with just a slightly different name. Which ones are Merlot-based, and which ones contain more Cabernet Sauvignon? Where does the Right Bank begin and the Left Bank end? And is there really so much difference from one vintage to the next? Relax. For September's selections, we've done the homework for you. Many of the wines chosen this month are from the much-touted 2005 vintage: a year that benefitted from a growing season so forgiving that bad Bordeaux was almost difficult to make. And given the fortune of a good vintage, we were able to select from both the well-known and the lesser-known appellations of the Left and Right Banks to find you the very best Bordeaux has to offer right now. See? No need to over-think...just enjoy!

Cheers ~ Maggie

A Recipe for You!
Chicken, Cherry, and Pepper Yakitori
Serves: 4
Wine Pairing: Chateau Lucas Cotes de Castillon 2005

Call it yakitori, satay, or shish-kebab; any way you slice it, meat-on-a-stick isn’t the most conventional pairing for Bordeaux that comes to mind. But take a Merlot-dominated Right-Bank Bordeaux from a ready-to-drink year like 2005, pair it with these skewers of marinated chicken and sweet-tart cherries, and you’ve got quite a match.
6 Chicken legs (thighs and drumsticks), boned
6 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp sake
1 Tbsp sugar or honey
2 cups fresh red cherries, pitted
2 yellow bell peppers
Bamboo skewers

-Over low heat, combine soy sauce, sake and sugar (or honey) and simmer, stirring until sugar dissolves completely. Remove from heat and cool.
-Cut chicken legs into 1-inch by 2-inch pieces.
-In a sealable plastic bag or airtight container, marinate chicken in soy sauce mixture for two to eight hours in the refrigerator.
- Cut bell pepper into 1-inch square pieces.
-Alternate chicken, cherry and bell pepper, putting two pieces of each on each bamboo skewer.
-Preheat a gas or charcoal grill, and grill each skewer about 5 minutes on each side until meat is cooked.
Serve hot.

Vintner Selection

2008 Chateau Cabannieux Graves Blanc

Grape variety: Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon
Region: Graves, Bordeaux, France
Food pairing: Goat cheese, toast points, and apricot jam

While Bordeaux is probably best known for its red wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, many also turn to Bordeaux for some of the most crisp and elegant white wines in the world, made primarily of the Sauvignon Blanc grape, and often with just a touch of Semillon to give it an aromatic quality to balance the clean acidity, citrus and mineral notes. These white wines can come from virtually all over Bordeaux, but the Graves appellation is perhaps most notable in this category for its temperate weather conditions due to the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean, as well as soil containing stones and sand carried by the river from as far away as the Pyrenees Mountains. This one in particular is just the ticket for the tail-end of summer, refreshing with citrus and white stone fruit flavors that pair perfectly with goat cheese, toast points, and apricot jam.

2005 Chateau Lucas Cotes de Castillon

Grape variety: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc
Region: Cotes de Castillon, Bordeaux, France
Food pairing: Chicken, cherry and pepper yakitori

While the region of Bordeaux itself is hardly a wine-lover's secret, the satellite appellations like Cotes de Castillon are just beginning to gain recognition. Certain chateaus in this budding area have already become household names for Bordeaux drinkers (d'Aiguilhe, Clos les Lunelles, Gigault Cuvee Viva and Clos l'Eglise), and with that elevated recognition has come an elevated price tag of $25 or more. But thankfully, some small chateaux like Chateau Lucas are still flying under the radar, which (at least for the time being) allows us to bring it to you for a few less pennies from the pocket. The 2005 vintage in Bordeaux yielded an unprecedented number of great value wines; because the vintage was so good, quality was above average from the petite chateaux all the way up to the elite bottlings. Our French wine buyer, Jon Visser, found this gem full of dark fruit, earth, and minerals on the nose, with a lush palate full of plum and blackberry flavors and a long finish.

Reserve Selection

2009 Le G de Chateau Guiraud Bordeaux Blanc Sec

Grape variety: Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon
Region: Sauternes-Barsac, Bordeaux, France
Food pairing: Raw oysters on the half-shell

Guiraud is primarily a Premier Cru Sauternes house, passed through several families and owners over the years, but it was a decision by one mid-nineteenth-century proprietor, Paul Cesar Rival, that led to the creation of Le G de Chateau Guiraud. Rival was nothing if not eccentric and determined to do what he liked, even if it didn’t make sense to anyone else. When he decided to plant what some would say is a disproportionate amount of Sauvignon Blanc, some called it a mistake, as Semillon is where the money and the prestige lie. But the existence of this Sauvignon Blanc is why we have "Le G", and because a clean, crisp glass of Sauvignon Blanc goes oh-so-much better with a plate of oysters than a sweet Sauternes and for a smaller price tag, we have to commend that decision. Incidentally, Rival also went down in history as the only man in Bordeaux to add an airstrip to his estate...and the only one to crash his plane in Yquem's vineyard. Now that's a costly mistake!

2007 Fleur de Haut-Bages-Liberal

Grape variety: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc
Region: Pauillac, Bordeaux, France
Food pairing: Seared beef filet with herbed butter

Chateau Haut-Bages Liberal was thus named for both the estate's location (Haut-Bages being their position at the top of the Bages plateau between Pauillac and St. Julien), and for the family named "Liberal" who owned the estate during the 18th century when it was classified as a fifth growth. Despite the fact that it's a fifth growth, Haut-Bages Liberal enjoys quite the pedigree of soils, neighboring the vineyards of Chateau Lynch-Bages, Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande and Chateau Latour. Deep gravel soils help bring about excellent Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc for both the flagship bottling and this, their second bottling or their "Fleur", made from younger vines. Cabernet dominates the blend, lending rich, round tannins and a lengthy finish.

Cellar Selection

2005 Chateau Moulinet Pomerol

Grape variety: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Pomerol, Bordeaux, France
Food pairing: Coq au vin

Chateau Moulinet sits in the northwestern part of Pomerol, an area known for its clay and sandy soils. These soils differ from that in the eastern part of the commune, where gravel is more prevalent among the clay; thus the wines from the northwestern portion are lighter and (some say) more elegant in style. At our Grand Tasting last year, we showed the Chateau Moulinet among other pricier Pomerols from the 2005 vintage, and time and time again it drew rave reviews from our customers for its smoothness, delicacy, and long gentle finish. The Wine Spectator awarded this bottling 91 points, noting that it "displays subtle yet complex aromas of blackberry, mineral and chocolate-coated cherry. Full bodied with ultrafine tannins and a long, caressing finish. Very pretty and refined. Best after 2011."

2005 Chateau Haut Bergey

Grape variety: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot
Region: Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux, France
Food pairing: Blackberry-glazed roast pork loin

If you can find an under-the-radar Bordeaux estate in a great vintage like 2005, you're in luck, because so many of the 2005 wines went for astronomical prices once the vintage was touted. But Robert Parker called Chateau Haut-Bergey "one of the finest under-the-radar estates in Pessac-Leognan", awarding it 92 points and noting "aromas of scorched earth, wet stones, burning embers...and copious black currant and cherry fruit. The sumptuous bouquet," Parker goes on, "is accompanied by a full-bodied wine displaying dazzling purity, sweet tannin, and a long opulent finish. This beauty will be drinkable at a relatively early age for a 2005." Not bad for "under-the-radar!" A super-ripe wine even for the vintage (one known for great balance), this wine offers what few left-bank Bordeaux do; drinkability in its youth. However, (this being the Cellar Club, after all), other critics (Wine Spectator, for one) noted that they feel the tannins will settle and show even better after 2011. Well let you decide.

Premiere Selection

2000 Chateau Sociando Mallet Haut Medoc

Grape variety: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc
Region: Haut-Medoc, Bordeaux, France
Food pairing: Duck confit over greens and lentils

It's no secret that Bordeaux, particularly Cabernet-dominated Bordeaux originating from the Left Bank, is often at its best drinking after it has spent a few years (or more) in bottle. So Bordeaux cellaring and drinking is often a game for the patient. Luckily, we managed to procure at least one wine for this month's selections with a little age already on it, so those of you lacking that patient gene will be at no handicap. Chateau Sociando-Mallet is an outlier in Bordeaux, perhaps even a renegade by some standards. Passed by for recognition in both the 1855 classification of Bordeaux AND the 2003 classification of the Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel, confident owner Jean Gautreau was unfazed. His unclassified wines have always had a track record of outshining the classified wines anyway. As a matter of fact, in the 2000 vintage, Robert Parker had this to say about the wine. "This is a beautiful wine and certainly one of the great sleepers of the vintage….Notes of acacia flowers intermixed with wet rocks, black currants, and blueberries, the wine is full-bodied, displays no real evidence of any oak, and offers up terrific concentration, texture and length." Parker estimated it at its best after 2011, but Wine Spectator had it slated for good drinking from 2007 on. Regardless of when you choose to open it, most agree this wine has at least ten more years of ageworthiness in it yet.

2005 Domaine de Chevalier Rouge

Grape variety: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot
Region: Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux, France
Food pairing: Dry-aged Porterhouse steak

The success of this wine could easily be attributed to the great vintage, as 2005 was indeed one for the books. Most, however, choose to attribute the success of this Grand Cru Classe to wine-consulting guru Stephane Derenoncourt, who came on board with Domaine de Chevalier in this vintage. Previous to his employ, the domaine had a reputation for rather austere wines that evolved slowly and showed little fruit or accessibility in their youth. Times are changing, even in Bordeaux, and now Domaine de Chevalier creates a blend of 65% Cabernet and a balance of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot that’s much more supple and opulent than in previous years. Robert Parker gave this wine 92 points, noting that it was "perhaps the finest wine made at this estate in many years...A classic Graves bouquet of charcoal, graphite, creosote, smoked herbs, sweet black cherries and spice box. The wine is elegant on the attack," he summed up, "but fills out beautifully with a multilayered, rich mouthfeel, silky tannins, and a plush, opulent finish. This brilliant claret may turn out to be even better than my score suggests." Though it’s beginning to open up beautifully already, this wine will likely be at its best after 2012, and perhaps for 15-20 years past that time.

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

August Wine of the Month Newsletter

2010-08-10T10:13:00.001-07:00

Selections from Our All-Stars

If I’m a little overzealous in proclaiming that nearly every month is my “favorite” month of Wine Club, it’s only because I get so excited about each round of selections. But this month, really and truly, just may take the cake. For August, I like to break from the norm a bit. Month after month, I choose a theme or a region, I choose the wines, and I share my humble opinions. But there are over 100 bright and enthusiastic wine and food lovers who work here at Gary’s, and it only seems right that we give them a voice every now and then too. So this month, I approached my esteemed colleagues from all three stores, and asked them to share some of their favorite wine picks for summer with our Wine Club members. They didn’t disappoint. Just as our staff is wonderfully diverse and eclectic, so too are their selections. We ended up with an Albarino from a team member who’s just discovering the complexity of the grape and a red Burgundy from a team member who always has French wine on the brain; a Barolo from a proud Italian expat and a California Cab from a young lady who once made the move from Garden State to Golden State and back again. It’s all here, and it’s all straight from the heart of Gary’s. Enjoy.
-Maggie

All-Time Favorite Food and Wine Pairings
If there’s one thing our staff spends a lot of time doing, it’s trying out different foods with different wines. We asked each of our staff members who picked wine for this month’s selections to tell us their all-time favorite food and wine pairing. Each one is a sure-fire recipe for a good night!

Bunny Neuhart: Stilton cheese and honeycomb with Port

Kathy Brindle: Grilled salmon with Oregon Pinot Noir

Mike Maresca: Lavender-honey ice cream and Sauternes

Ryan Sacks: Italian sausage and peppers with Primitivo

Rich Isel: Jamon Serrano with Rioja

Cesare Martini: Rigatoni with game ragu and Barolo

Geoffrey Brooke: Wood grilled leg of lamb raised on the salt marshes of Bordeaux with a bottle of Pauillac, preferably with a side dish of frites fried in duck fat

Laura Moorin: Dim sum and Champagne

2007 Bertrand Ambroise Bourgogne
2010 August Wine Club Vintner Selection

Bunny is a new addition to our management team at Gary’s, but good food and wine are far from new to her! After a year studying culinary arts at Apicius in Florence, Italy, she came hom e to work with good food and wine every day in our Bernardsville store. Her time in Italy, however, never biased her against good French wine. “White Burgundy is my favorite expression of the Chardonnay grape.” she says. “This bottle shows surprisingly complex olfactics (good smells to the rest of us), starting off citrusy and rounding out with a little butter and spice. This lemon butter nose makes me think of seafood, and I would love to take this bottle to the beach with a lobster roll! The s crew top makes it even more picnic-friendly, so if no lobster rolls are to be had, I’ll take along a loaf of crusty bread and a triple-cream cheese like Pete Gres Charmenois.”

Food pairing: Crusty bread and triple-cream cheese

2007 Acanto Yecla
2010 August Wine Club Vintner Selection

If there’s a country on the cutting edge of high-value wines for still-reasonable prices, it’s Spain, particularly in budding wine regions like Yecla. Here, they produce a blend of Monastrell (65%), Cabernet Sauvignon (20%) and Garnacha (15%) in high altitude vineyards with limestone soils, aged in French and American oak barrels for just under a year. The resulting wine is juicy and new-world in style, and just Kathy’s cup of tea. “Wow, what a mouthful!” She says. “No wimpy salad with this baby; bring on the beef! The nose is loaded with blackberry and black tea aromas, while layers of brambly berries, graphite and cassis fill the palate. Sweet wood smoke and firm tannins round out the finish. I’ll have mine with a beef or lamb burger, grilled medium-rare, topped with manchego cheese, olive tapenade, and maybe a little tzatziki.”

Food pairing: Beef or lamb burgers with Manchego cheese and olive tapenade

2009 Pazo Senorans Albarino
2010 August Wine Club Reserve Selection

Wine Associate Mike Maresca has only been a wine-lover for a few years now, but he’s jumped in with both feet, tasting and learning as much as he can day to day on the floor at Gary’s. When this
Albarino came his way, he rediscovered a grape that he had admittedly been passing by for a while. “When I tried the 2009 vintage of the Pazo Senorans Albarino,” he says, “it reminded me why I like the Albarino grape so much. I like a wine that is distinctive and unique, even difficult to compare to other wines I’ve had. This Albarino in particular, grown in the Rias Baixas region of Spain, is unlike any other I’ve tasted, displaying lemon and tropical aromas and delivering a creamy yet delicate finish. To me, it provides the perfect formula for a nice August wine.” Couldn’t agree with Mike more. Since this wine has arrived on our shelves, several of our staff have declared it’s the best Albarino they’ve tasted in a long time.

Food pairing: Wood-smoked chicken or quail

2008 Jimenez-Landi Sotorrondero
2010 August Wine Club Reserve Selection

Just south of Madrid lies a wine region called Mentrida. Ten years ago, the wines of Mentrida were hardly worth a mention, and rarely earned one. But Jimenez Landi has come bursting on the scene with some glowing reviews and a 93 point Wine Advocate Score for this Syrah-Grenache blend that critic Josh Raynolds called a “hedonist’s delight” and “reminiscent of a top level Cote Rotie.” Bernardsville Wine Associate Ryan Sacks loves this wine for its ability to pair perfectly with one of his favorite dishes, a juicy filet of beef. “With dark fruit flavors and a nice smoky finish, it paired perfectly.” he says. “It’s big enough to stand up to grilled meat but silky enough to sip on its own as well. A very impressive wine and an absolute steal for twenty bucks!”

Food pairing: Filet mignon

2004 Attilio Ghisolfi Barolo
2010 August Wine Club Cellar Selection

When the Wall Street Journal’s “Dow Jones 2004 Barolo Index” came out, five wines were named as their favorites of the vintage. Four were above $50, and the last was the more affordable Attilo Ghisolfi Barolo. Italian-born Wine Associate Cesare Martini of our Madison store is great at chatting about our entire Italian wine section, but has taken a particular liking to this bottling. “(Ghisolfi’s) 2004 Barolo is a bit more traditional than many of the new Barolo producers, with some beautiful licorice notes on both the nose and the palate. Wild cherry fruit, roses and herbs are all present,” he says, “with a palate that’s dense and structured, very firm in its tannins, but without any roughness. Really elegant wine with the right complexity and a pleasurable spiciness.” Cesare recommends opening 2 hours before pouring and pairing this wine with pasta with a game ragu. Salute!

Food pairing: Rigatoni with game ragu

2005 Dominio de Atauta Ribera del Duero
2010 August Wine Club Cellar Selection

From one of Spain’s greatest wine regions, Ribera del Duero, the 2005 Dominio de Atauta is a robust, modern-styled expression of this region’s wine. Sourced from 60 year old Tinta del Pais vines (the local clone of Tempranillo), the wine is farmed biodynamically and bottled unfiltered. Rich Isel, a longtime Wine Associate in our Madison store and a fan of good Spanish reds, enjoys the complexity of this wine. “On the nose, there are notes of earth, mocha, and vanilla, while the palate shows dark fruits, earth, mocha, toasty oak, and minerals.” He says. Rich recommends pairing this robust yet gracious wine with an herb-crusted roast pork loin and fingerling potatoes.

Food pairing: Herb-crusted roast pork loin and fingerling potatoes

2006 Staglin Salus Cabernet Sauvignon
2010 August Wine Club Premiere Selection

Winery owners Garen and Shari Staglin brought their first vintage of Cabernet to the market in 1986, just around the time that Gary’s Wine & Marketplace was also established, and almost immediately earned a reputation as a top-notch Napa producer. Thankfully, their Salus label has managed to fly (comparatively) under the radar for all these years, despite the winemaking talent of Frederik Johannson and fruit raised by leading viticulturalist David Abreau. Black fruit aromas dominate the nose, with secondary notes of graphite, earth and bay leaf. Cherry flavors give way to rich plum, black cherry and blackberry dusted with mouth-coating dark cocoa tannins. To Cab-lover and one-time California transplant Laura Moorin of our Wayne store, it’s everything a Napa Cabernet is supposed to be. “Power. Complexity. Firmness. Aromatics. And a finish that is still singing minutes after the show is over. This is surprisingly approachable for its youth,” she notes, “but it definitely has the structure to evolve for years to come in the cellar.”

Food pairing: Cabernet-braised short ribs

2004 Domaine Humbert Gevrey-Chambertin Poissenots
2010 August Wine Club Premiere Selection

If you’ve visited the Wayne store and haven’t had the fortune of bumping into Geoff Brooke in the Burgundy aisle, it’s likely because so much of his time and energy is spent behind the scenes, hooking up the web content and helping our French buyer make decisions on when to lock in pricing on the 2009 Bordeaux campaign. But this former primatologist and longtime oenophile really knows his stuff when it comes to the great Burgundies as well. “Brothers Frederic and Emmanuel Humbert are considered rising stars of Burgundy,” he explains. “And this Gevrey Chambertin from the Premier Cru Les Poissenots vineyard really shows why. It displays great black cherry and mocha Pinot fruit with a freshness and brightness that is balanced by middleweight tannin. A wine of restraint and finesse, not power, it makes a great partner to a wide range of dishes from a classic Coq au Vin to a rich pork tenderloin with fruit sauce, or Julia Child’s classic Boeuf Bourgignon.” You can never go wrong with a Julia recipe. And you can never go wrong with a wine selection from Geoff, for that matter! After a few years in the bottle, this wine is beginning to drink beautifully now. Enjoy.

Food pairing: Coq au Vin or Boeuf Bourgignon

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne

1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS

2007 Favia Quarzo Syrah NJ Wine Club

2010-07-05T09:25:00.001-07:00

Grape variety: Syrah (3% Viognier)
Region: Amador, California
Food pairing: Spice-rubbed grilled leg of lamb
Price: $69.99

2010 July Wine Club Premiere Selection

Favia wines are a labor of love from the husband and wife team of Annie Favia and Andy Erickson. You may have heard of Andy, as he’s the winemaker for such famously high-scoring wines as Screaming Eagle, Arietta, Dalla Valle, Ovid and Jonata. (Yes, apparently everything Andy touches turns to liquid gold.) But if you haven’t yet heard of Annie, you’re missing out on a budding superstar of viticulture. Annie lets Andy do the winemaking; her passion is for grape growing. A student of enology since 1993, she has learned from some of the best in the business. She studied under John Kongsgaard, Cathy Corison, and David Abreu: three very, very well-respected viticulturalists. And now she oversees the grapes for her own Favia label.
Andy and Annie’s 2007 Quarzo Syrah, the third vintage they’ve made, is notably one of their best yet. Sourced from Ann Kraemer’s Shake Ridge Ranch in the Sierra Foothills of Amador County California, it’s named “Quarzo” for the quartz crystals that are seen glittering amongst the rugged volcanic rock on the property. Annie and Andy feel it’s an ideal place to grow Rhone varietals, and given the attention the grapes receive from steward Ann Kramer and from Annie Favia herself, its producing some of California’s best Syrah. Only 220 cases of this wine were produced, and the Wine Spectator Insider has already given it 95 points, noting “immense and expressive, offering broad, expansive layers of wild berry...fresh loamy earth, pepper, spice and nutmeg, with a rich mouthfeel that lets the berry fruit fan out and gain nuance and complexity.” Drinking beautifully now and should continue to do so through 2015 or later.

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2007 Double Diamond Bomber X Cabernet Sauvignon NJ Wine Club

2010-07-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/12400.html

Grape variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Napa Valley, California
Food pairing: Grilled artisanal sausage
Price: $59.99

2010 July Wine Club Premiere Selection

In a world of unattainable cult Napa Cabernets, sometimes there comes a beacon of light. One such beacon for us: Double Diamond Bomber X Cabernet. This cult-adjacent Cabernet comes from Schrader Cellars, whose 2007 sextet of Cabernets received scores of 96+, 97+, 97+, 99 and two 100 pointers from Robert Parker. If you can find them, those seven Cabernets fetch anywhere from $300-1000 a bottle. But luckily in the same vintage, the very same winemaker Thomas Brown made a sister wine: the Bomber X. The biggest difference, other than the price, is accessibility: Double Diamond is a flashy wine that can be opened now, no brooding tannins that need to mellow or structure that needs to evolve. Just bold, well-sourced fruit that’s drinking absolutely fantastically at this very moment. Thank you Fred Schrader and Thomas Brown for making an attainable Schrader wine!

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/12400.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2007 Soda Canyon Cellars Barrel Chaser Red Blend NJ Wine Club

2010-07-05T08:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/12399.html

Grape variety: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc
Region: Napa Valley, California
Food pairing: Grilled duck breast with cherry salad
Price: $39.99

2010 July Wine Club Cellar Selection

For the past few years, a question has echoed in the ears of our wine staff: “do you have any Prisoner?” The wine in question is a bold red blend made by Dave Phinney of Orin Swift Cellars. It gained a cult-like following a few years back and unfortunately has been out of the NJ market for some time (hopefully to return soon.). So you can imagine how happy we were when the Barrel Chaser rolled onto our tasting counter one day...at long last, a Phinney wine we can put in your hands once again! The Barrel Chaser is blend of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet, 6 % Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc. Lighter in style than the Prisoner, this wine is incredibly smooth and marked by ripe cherry, cassis, vanilla bean and chocolate flavors. Delicious now, but has the potential to cellar for a few years to come.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/12399.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2006 Lail Blueprint Cabernet Sauvignon NJ Wine Club

2010-07-05T08:45:00.000-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/13823.html

Grape variety: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot
Region: Napa Valley, California
Food pairing: Soy-glazed chicken or steak yakitori
Price: $39.99
Reg: ~~$49.99~~
ON SALE!

2010 July Wine Club Cellar Selection

When we talk about forefathers of our country, we have endless numbers of people to thank for pioneering different industries. But for Napa winemaking, one of the true forefathers was Gustav Neibaum, the great-great grand-uncle of Robin Lail, steward of Lail Vineyards. Neibaum founded Inglenook vineyards in 1879, making history in this still-young winemaking region. Today Robin carries the torch with Lail Vineyards where they make this Blueprint Cabernet-Merlot blend (an homage to her husband’s profession of architecture) from both estate fruit and fruit from some well-respected growers throughout the Napa Valley appellation. With the help of well-known winemaker Philippe Melka (Vineyard 29, Bryant, Melka Metisse), Lail produces a beautiful Bordeaux-style blend with flavors and aromas of blueberry and fresh garden herbs.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/13823.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2007 Joseph Phelps Innisfree Cabernet Sauvignon NJ Wine Club

2010-07-05T08:38:00.001-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/13536.html

Grape variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Napa Valley, California
Food pairing: Hamburgers with red onion compote
Price: $24.99
Reg: ~~$31.99~~
ON SALE!

2010 July Wine Club Reserve Selection

For some reason, everyone seems to think that you have to pay big money to get a good Napa Cab from a well-known producer: not necessarily true, particularly when you have a great vintage like 2007 on your hands. Case in point: Joseph Phelps Innissfree 2007. Produced primarily from Phelps estate fruit (the same estate that makes the $150 Insignia Cabernet), Innisfree is baby-Phelps only in the regard that the wine is meant to be consumed young and fresh, while the flavors of ripe blueberry, blackberry and currant are at their best. No harsh, drying tannins here: this wine is big, juicy and ripe, oozing with sweet tannins and carrying a noticeably lengthy finish for an under $30 wine. Is Innisfree good every year? Yes. Is it better than ever in the 2007 vintage? You got that right. Well done, Phelps team.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/13536.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2008 Bergstrom Old Stones Chardonnay NJ Wine Club

2010-07-05T08:29:00.001-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/oregon/12746.html

Grape variety: Chardonnay
Region: Willamette Valley, Oregon
Food pairing: Lemon-roasted chicken
Price: $22.99

2010 July Wine Club Reserve Selection

Only the second vintage of this wine that Josh Bergstrom has ever made, the Bergstrom Old Stones Chardonnay is one of the best expressions of crisp, balanced Oregon Chardonnay that we’ve found at this price level. No wonder, as the young winemaker spent some time in Burgundy learning how to make Chardonnay from the masters. His inaugural vintage of Old Stones Chardonnay 2007 (a tough year for Oregon wine) earned the distinction of 2nd best value wine in Oregon from Portland Monthly magazine. More importantly, we think it’ll earn a reoccurring place on your table, offering vanilla-laced pear notes balanced by judicious oak and good acidity. An excellent pairing for lemon-roasted or grilled chicken.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/oregon/12746.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2008 Plungerhead Old Vines Zinfandel NJ Wine Club

2010-07-05T08:18:00.001-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/11564.html

Grape variety: Zinfandel
Region: Lodi, California
Food pairing: Korean beef ribs
Price: $11.98
Reg: ~~$15.99~~
ON SALE!

2010 July Wine Club Vintner Selection

The Sebastiani Family must have a wicked sense of humor, because when they decided to seal bottles of this great Lodi Zinfandel with the inventive new Zork enclosure (a cork that needs no corkscrew: just pull at the z, unwind, and pop the top), they noticed that the Zork looked rather like, well, a plunger. So they simply couldn’t resist naming it after their loyal winery employee Eddie Plongerheid and coming up with the silly little graphic on the front label. Hey, it’s humor and invention that keeps us young, and they’ve certainly been playing with both! The warm, often hot, climate of Lodi is particularly suited for producing good Zinfandel, a hearty grape that loves the sun and needs plenty of it to ripen to full-bodied, spiced plum perfection.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/11564.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2008 Eighteen Eighty Three Chardonnay NJ Wine Club

2010-07-05T08:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/13820.html

Grape variety: Chardonnay
Region: Monterey, California
Food pairing: New England lobster roll
Price: $14.99
Reg: ~~$18.99~~
ON SALE!

2010 July Wine Club Vintner Selection

Eighteen eighty three was a good year for the Wente family. It was the year in which C.H. Wente founded his northern California winery, beginning what would become more than a century-long family foray into winemaking. Wente is still a family-run winery, and to pay homage, they produced this special bottling called “1883” to honor their founder.
Produced in the cool coastal vineyards of Monterey, this Chardonnay carries ripe white fruit flavors of apple and tropical mango, balanced by a hint of vanilla-spiced oak. I love Chardonnay as a pairing with a summer favorite of mine, New England lobster rolls. The buttery oak matches the buttery lobster and roll, while the clean acidity refreshes the palate nicely.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/13820.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2005 Craggy Range Sophia Bordeaux Blend

2010-06-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/new_zealand/13236.html

Category: New Zealand
Size: 750 ml
Brand: Craggy Range
Region: Hawkes Bay
Varietal: Merlot / Cabernet Franc
Style: Red Wine
Food Pairing: Grilled dry-aged rib-eye steak
Price: $54.99

2010 June Wine Club Premiere Selection

As it stands today, the Hawkes Bay wine region of New Zealand is known primarily for its Sauvignon Blanc, and to a lesser extent for its Viognier. And Craggy Range makes the former. But they, along with a few other ambitious neighboring producers, are confidently waging an uphill battle to make the Gimblett Gravels sub-appellation world-famous for Bordeaux blends. Now I say it's an uphill battle not because the wine they're making isn't stellar, but because it's rather difficult to shift public perception. However, they've determined that the terroir in this particular 800 hectare strip of land is unique for its gravelly soils, which were exposed after a massive flood in 1860 altered the course of the old Ngaruroro River. Gravelly soils have long been recognized as a key factor in producing great Bordeaux, particularly in the Merlot-dominated Right Bank, so it wasn't such a stretch for winemaker and Master of Wine Steve Smith to concentrate his efforts here. A blend of 62% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Franc, and just a 4% touch of Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine is hand-picked, de-stemmed, and aged for 19 months in French oak before achieving what Neal Martin of the Wine Advocate called "scents of red cherries, wild strawberry and (of course) gravel, and a full bodied palate ripe with layers of thick black fruits." The finish is still rather tight and backward in its youth; we'd suggest giving it a little time in the cellar if you can manage. 93 Points Wine Advocate.

Reviews

Neal Martin Wine Advocate 93 Points

The 2005 Sophia is a blend of 62% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Franc and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, hand-picked, de-stemmed and aged for 19 months in French oak of which 80% is new. It displays a less ostentatious nose but has even better delineation with scents of red cherries, wild strawberry and gravel, the palate full-bodied and ripe with layers of thick black fruits on the backward finish. It needs serious cellaring.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/new_zealand/13236.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2005 Greenock Creek Shiraz Apricot Block

2010-06-14T09:10:00.000-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/australia/13648.html

Category: Australia
Size: 750 ml
Brand: Greenock Creek
Region: Barossa Valley
Varietal: Shiraz
Style: Red Wine
Food Pairing: Wood-smoked pork butt
Price: $79.99

2010 June Wine Club Premiere Selection

Owned by Michael and Annabelle Waugh, this winery, as Jay Miller of the Wine Advocate puts it, "remains one of South Australia's most iconic wineries. Start with great terroir, add in old vine material and meticulous winemaking, and end with extraordinary results." Certainly sounds like a recipe for success. The 2005 Shiraz that they lovingly named "Apricot Block" spent 28 months in seasoned American oak hogsheads rather than the more typically favored French Oak barriques, lending a spicier, scorched earth and pepper character to the already meaty old-vine grapes. Layers of blueberry, bacon, cedar and violets make this wine layered and intensely flavored, and not surprisingly, earned it 95 points from the Wine Advocate. A mere 15% alcohol makes it darn-near restrained for an Aussie Shiraz, and the well-balanced nature of the wine makes it one for the long haul, probably at its best now through 2020. A heady wine with gobs of fruit and hints of wood spice like this one goes impeccably well with dry-rubbed and slowly wood-smoked pork butt. Yes, it takes a few hours of dedication, but what else would you rather do on a lazy summer Sunday...mow the lawn?

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/australia/13648.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2007 Boarding Pass First Class Shiraz

2010-06-14T08:55:00.000-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/australia/10334.html

Category: Australia
Size: 750 ml
Brand: R Wines
Region: McLaren Vale
Varietal: Shiraz
Style: Red Wine
Food Pairing: Grilled kebabs of smoked bacon-wrapped scallops and figs
Price: $34.99

2010 June Wine Club Cellar Selection

Sigh. How I love First Class. Not the airline variety, of course; my wallet and I are blissfully unaware of what we're missing beyond that curtain...but luckily a Boarding Pass First Class Shiraz from winemaker/importer extraordinaire Chris Ringland (the Grateful Palate) is considerably more attainable.Obviously, this is a step up from the regular Boarding Pass Shiraz, sourced from 10-15 year-old vines and aged in 100% American oak, showing notes of spiced peaches, chocolate, vanilla, blackberry and fruitcake. Don't let the playful packaging fool you; what's inside the bottle is so vibrant, rich in texture, and lengthy on the finish, you would swear you were about to fully recline while being served a hot hand towel and a complementary sundae. (I bet they do get sundaes up there, don't they?)

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/australia/10334.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2007 Seresin Pinot Noir Leah Vineyard

2010-06-14T08:50:00.000-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/new_zealand/13239.html

Category: New Zealand
Size: 750 ml
Brand: Seresin Estate
Region: Marlborough
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Style: Red Wine
Food Pairing: Grilled duck breasts with blueberry-sage sauce
Price: $36.99
Reg: ~~$45.99~~
ON SALE!

2010 June Wine Club Cellar Selection

When native Kiwi Michael Seresin isn't directing the camera work on Harry Potter films, he's at home in New Zealand tending to his other passion: overseeing his 45 hectare wine estate in Marlborough. Several biodynamically and organically farmed "micro" vineyards make up the terroir of the estate, but it's the Leah bottling that combines grapes from his clay-rich hillside Raupo Creek vineyard with his alluvial Tatou vineyard and Home vineyard to create a very serious and tightly-focused Pinot Noir. Critic for the Wine Advocate Neal Martin noted that this particular Pinot Noir is atypical for Marlborough as it seems to embrace a certain "broodiness" (think dark plum and cherry fruit and a little smokiness). Whether or not that dark smoky quality invokes crankiness to you or not, this is certainly a wine to uplift your mood, particularly when served alongside some equally smoky and fruit-smothered grilled duck or other poultry.

Winemaker's Notes:

The nose exhibits aromas of cherry, mocha, new leather and subtle toast with hints of spice. The palate is tightly focused and concentrated with succulent dark fruits layered over smoky oak, with fine mouth-coating tannins and a persistent finish.

Reviews

Neal Martin Wine Advocate 89 Points

The 2007 Leah Pinot Noir is atypical for Marlborough as it seems to embrace the broodiness of Martinborough. Dark plum and mulberry fruit, very good definition and purity. The palate is medium-bodied, very pure, lacking a little backbone and structure, although this is their entry-level Pinot Noir. In that sense, this does a very competent job, although there is a slight reduction on the finish.

Wine Spectator 88 Points

Crisp in texture, with real refinement to the currant and mineral flavors, lingering gently against a light burr of tannins. Drink now through 2013. 2,750 cases made. –HS

International Wine Cellar 91 Points

Good dark, bright red. Musky raspberry, minerals and chocolate on the nose. The juicy palate offers a pliant texture and lovely subtle sweetness to the complex flavors of fresh raspberry and underbrush. A firm edge of acidity contributes to this wine's definition and energy. Finishes structured and fresh. Both of these pinots were fermented with wild yeasts.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/new_zealand/13239.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2006 Dead Letter Office Shiraz

2010-06-14T08:46:00.000-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/australia/07346.html

Category: Australia
Size: 750 ml
Brand: Henry's Drive
Region: South Australia
Varietal: Shiraz
Style: Red Wine
Food Pairing: Kansas City ribs
Price: $23.99
Reg: ~~$29.99~~
ON SALE!

2010 June Wine Club Reserve Selection

You know the song, "Return to sender...address unknown..." But did you know that there actually is such a thing as the Dead Letter Office: a branch of the postal service wherein postal clerks are authorized to open undeliverable mail and read ONLY the info necessary to find the proper recipient of the communication? It's this unique branch of service that Henry's Drive proprietor Kim Longbottom sought to honor with her latest label of Shiraz. Just in its third vintage, the grapes for this bottling are sourced from the Henry's Drive vineyards in both Pathadaway and McLaren Vale. After ageing in mostly American (and some French) oak, the 2006 gained notes of berries, plum, chocolate and roasted coffee, with layers of fleshy and pepper-spiced tannins that lend a lengthy finish.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/australia/07346.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2008 Hesketh Scissor Hands Riesling

2010-06-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/australia/10952.html

Category: Australia
Size: 750 ml
Brand: Hesketh Wine Company
Region: Clare Valley
Varietal: Riesling
Style: White Wine
Food Pairing: Pesto-marinated shrimp on the barbie
Price: $19.99

2010 June Wine Club Reserve Selection

I'm not sure where the name came from and whether or not it has anything to do with the 1990 Tim Burton movie (thought the topiaries on the label seem to confirm a connection). But Hesketh's Scissor Hands Riesling hails from a family who definitively prefers to do things differently, even referencing a line from poet Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" on their website. Indeed, an Australian Riesling is off the beaten path for most: what many of us working in the wine retail business would call a "hand-sell", or something one might not automatically come in looking for and would only discover by word of mouth. But Hesketh is one of our favorite little finds in Australia, and their Riesling carries clean, dry acidity and hints of lime, green apple and orange blossom that make it a perfect summer quaff.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/australia/10952.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2008 Sherwood Estate Pinot Noir

2010-06-14T08:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/new_zealand/13686.html

Category: New Zealand
Size: 750 ml
Brand: Sherwood Estate
Region: Marlborough
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Style: Red Wine
Food Pairing: Grilled wild mushroom pizzas
Price: $12.49
Reg: ~~$16.99~~
ON SALE!

2010 June Wine Club Vintner Selection

While Dayne and Jill Sherwood have rooted their family winery in the picturesque Waipara region of South Australia, they knew that if they were going to make a great everyday Pinot Noir they'd have to source from some vineyards in Marlborough. And that's just what they did, accessing grapes from their own Sandy Creek, Stoney Range, and Rowley Crescent vineyards. Displaying ripe, sweet plum notes and a little tangy cranberry, we think this is one of the best values in under $15 New Zealand Pinot Noirs. The Wine Advocate seems to agree with us, noting "The palate is very well crafted with fine tannins, well judged acidity allowing the joyous fruit to really express themselves: raspberry, a touch of blueberry and dark cherry. Given the price, this is exceptional value and comes highly recommended. Bravo!"

Reviews

Neal Martin Wine Advocate 91 Points

The wonderful 2008 Pinot Noir has a lovely cranberry and raspberry leaf nose with superb definition. The palate is very well crafted with fine tannins, well judged acidity allowing the joyous fruit to really express themselves: raspberry, a touch of blueberry and dark cherry. Given the price, this is exceptional value and comes highly recommended. Bravo!

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/new_zealand/13686.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2009 Ketu Bay Sauvignon Blanc

2010-06-14T08:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/new_zealand/10049.html

Category: New Zealand
Size: 750 ml
Brand: Ketu Bay Wines
Region: Marlborough
Varietal: Sauvignon Blanc
Style: White Wine
Food Pairing: Sea scallops with citrus oil and sea beans
Price: $12.99

2010 June Wine Club Vintner Selection

The long coastline of New Zealand's South Island is home to a smorgasbord of shellfish and seafood, from oysters and mussels to the more exotic sounding tuatua, pipi, and toheroa. But it's within the protected sounds of Marlborough and more specifically the tiny inlet called Ketu Bay that the scallop thrives most successfully. And so it seems almost providential that this region should also produce world-renowned Sauvignon Blanc, the perfect match to sea scallops. Whether sauteing gently in butter or grilling on kebabs, nothing invokes summer like a perfectly cooked sea scallop, drizzled with a little citrus-infused olive oil, and laid atop a bed of lightly sauteed and briny sea beans. Paired with a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc that carries notes of grapefruit and fresh cut grass like this one, summer is officially on.

Winemaker's Notes

Our vineyards, sheltered within the Waihopai and Wairau Valleys and with soils old and semi infertile, produce Sauvignon Blanc wines with distinctively pungent passionfruit/grapefruit to gooseberry/cutgrass characters. But always with richness on the palate and a firm fresh acidity.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/new_zealand/10049.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2000 Corison Cabernet Sauvignon

2010-05-18T10:15:00.000-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/13131.html

Category: California
Size: 750 ml
Brand: Corison Winery
Region: Napa Valley
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Style: Red Wine

Price: $62.99

2010 May Wine Club Premiere Selection

It's no secret that to get a Napa Cabernet noticed by the critics and the public alike, many winemakers feel the need to make wines that boom and shout on the palate. But as wine writer Jancis Robinson once said, "Cathy Corison has barely to whisper."

Cathy has a philosophy on Cabernet that many may claim to ascribe to but few actually practice in California today. She makes wines the old-fashioned way, some would argue the French way: to be less ripe, less alcoholic, and most importantly, ageworthy. The wines are subtle, complex, never "big" or "flashy" or over-concentrated. And thus, they often won't catch a reviewer's eye in a blind tasting, where the ripest and boldest wine often wins. But those are often not wines that you want to drink ten years later….this is.

Cathy spent almost thirty years making wine for others, including Chappellet (where she mentored Mia Klein), Staglin, and Long Meadow Ranch, before she made the first vintage of her own Corison Cabernet in 1987. "There was a wine inside me that needed to be made," she says. And the rest is history.

Recognized and well-respected across the industry as a maker of age-worthy Cabernets, Cathy will never be seen donning the front cover of a glossy mag as a "rockstar winemaker." Instead she prefers to do things rather quietly, with wines that "define style and grace." (Wine Enthusiast). And that's just how we like her.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/13131.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2004 Selene Chesler Blend

2010-05-18T10:11:00.001-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/13124.html

Category: California
Size: 750 ml
Brand: Selene Wines
Region: Napa Valley
Varietal: Cabernet Franc / Merlot / Cabernet Sauvignon
Style: Red Wine

Price: $62.99

2010 May Wine Club Premiere Selection

Winemaker Mia Klein really earned her stripes as a consulting winemaker before finally beginning her own wine label. Her resume reads like a who's who of Napa wineries: she worked her way up to assistant winemaker under the venerable Cathy Corison (see second Premiere selection) at Chappellet before going on to make wine for Spottswoode, Araujo, Viader, Dalla Valle, Bressler and Palmaz. In 2003 Food and Wine magazine named her "Winemaker of the Year."

But it's her own Selene label that's Mia's personal expression of winemaking. The Cabernet Franc (60%) and Merlot (22%) both came from the Frediani Family vineyard and were picked and co-fermented together, creating a rare seamlessness to the blend. Cabernet Sauvignon (18%) from the hailed Stagecoach Vineyard in Oakville joined the party later, imparting a deep blackberry flavor to the profile of the wine. Parker found flavors of sweet cherry, licorice and spicebox, noting, "It is a broad, savory, rich, full-bodied red that retains the hallmark elegance and purity for which Mia Klein’s winemaking is known."

"Selene" was named after a Greek moon goddess, a tribute to the important role the moon and its influence on nature plays in a winemaker's life. But the Chesler bottling may be the most personal to Mia, as it carries a picture of her own mom waterskiing on the front label.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/13124.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2007 Elizabeth Spencer Cabernet Sauvignon

2010-05-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/09159.html

Category: California
Size: 750 ml
Brand: Elizabeth Spencer Wines
Region: Napa Valley
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Style: Red Wine

Price: $39.99

2010 May Wine Club Cellar Selection

Today, many proprietors of Napa Valley vineyards come to the Valley looking for a second home after making their fortune in another industry. But for Elizabeth Pressler, wine was always the focus, though it took a number of years before her dream of owning her own winery was obtained.

She came to Napa in 1978 to work as a tour guide for Joseph Phelps Vineyards. Over the next few decades, she worked her way through numerous hospitality and wine marketing positions with Araujo, Dalla Valle, Spottswoode and Viader, (to name only a few) before she and her husband, Spencer Graham, finally founded their own winery, Elizabeth Spencer.

Today they source their Cabernet from Napa's finest sub-appellations in St. Helena, Howell Mountain, Yountville, Oakville, Rutherford and Mt. Veeder to come up with just the right blend of cassis, cigar box, incense, cherry and plum cobbler flavors.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/09159.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2007 Selby Chardonnay Russian River Valley

2010-05-18T10:03:00.001-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/13407.html

Category: California
Size: 750 ml
Brand: Selby Winery
Region: Russian River Valley
Varietal: Chardonnay
Style: White Wine

Price: $19.99
Reg: ~~$27.99~~
ON SALE!

2010 May Wine Club Reserve Selection

Susie Selby is her father's child. Raised by a man who loved wines of all sorts, not just the big powerful wines with high scores or the most elegant or the most well known, but all of them, she was encouraged to taste and love wine, enthralled with the lure and history of it as she was growing up.

It was her dad's dream to have a Selby family label, so Susie pitched in with the marketing development when he first launched it. It was only then that Susie began to really fall in love with winemaking itself, and in the early 1990’s, Susie ditched the corporate career to learn everything she could about making wine, from driving a forklift to running a tasting room. Sadly, her father passed away in 1997, but Susie carried on the legacy on her own, now in her fifteenth vintage.

Chardonnay was the first wine they made, and one of the wines she continues to love. While this one is for all of you who have patiently waited through the zestier whites to get to some buttery ripe California Chard, Susie still balances that buttery fruit with a good dose of acidity.

Winemaker's Notes:

This wine is from California's most prestigious region for Chardonnay, the Russian River Valley. The grapes from Orsi Vineyard offer notes of stone fruits. The Syar Vineyard delivers floral aromas and flavors. The Cornerstone Vineyard's Dijon Clone imparts tropical and citrus characteristics. The result is an intense, full-bodied wine with excellent structure.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/13407.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2008 Bastianich Tocai Friulano

2010-05-18T09:57:00.000-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/italy/70077.html

Category: Italy
Size: 750 ml
Brand: Bastianich
Region: Friuli
Varietal: Tocai
Style: White Wine

Price: $13.99
Reg: ~~$17.99~~
ON SALE!

2010 May Wine Club Vintner Selection

If you’re an avid viewer of cooking shows and/or Italian food, the name Lidia Bastianich is likely familiar to you. For years, Lidia has been the Italian mother coming into American homes via television, showing us how to make the comforting Italian dishes our own mothers may not have had the slightest clue how to make. But what many don’t know is that Lidia, in partnership with her son, sommelier Joe Bastianich and friend and superstar chef, Mario Batali, owns her own vineyards in Italy.

Within the Colli Orientali region of Friuli, the Tocai Friuliano grape is king of the white wines (though in 2007, the EU mandated they begin calling it Friuliano since another region laid claims on the Tocai name.) Lidia’s Friuliano is a classic expression of the local grape and terroir, with medium body and lush flavors of pear, mineral and almond.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/italy/70077.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2008 Patricia Green Pinot Noir Croft Vineyard

2010-05-18T09:48:00.000-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/oregon/62556.html

Category: Oregon
Size: 750 ml
Brand: Patricia Green Cellars
Region: Willamette Valley
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Style: Red Wine

Price: $32.99

2010 May Wine Club Cellar Selection

Patricia Green is a pretty humble person with humble beginnings in the wine industry. In the 1980's, she left the re-forestation business literally to pick grapes for Hillcrest Vineyard in Oregon. Within a small amount of time, she had somehow worked her way up the winery ladder to assistant winemaker, and only a few more years later she was known throughout Oregon, by wine critics, and Pinot drinkers as the Famous Patty Green, Pinot Expert.

She made wine and garnered high scores for Torii Mor for six vintages before she got her own name on her own label, a phenomenon she's still a little shy about. "I’m not a name-in-lights kind of gal," she says, but today she is the creative force behind what she humbly calls "a pretty decent little two-person operation."

Patricia and her winemaking partner Jim Anderson believe in the expression of terroir in each individual vineyard, and Croft remains one of her best sources for silky, cherry and earth-laden Pinot Noir.

Patricia Green Cellars is located in the Ribbon Ridge district of Yamhill County on the 52 acre estate purchased in 2000 by Patty Green and Jim Anderson. The winery is noted for producing a tremendously broad selection of Pinot Noirs from far flung vineyards representing some of the better sites in the Ribbon Ridge, Dundee Hills, Chehalem Mountains, and the Eola Hills growing regions. Patricia Green produces Pinot Noirs that show the distinctions of the differing soils and climates of these sites.

Winemaker's Notes:

This wine has some serious guts to it and it may take some time for it to completely unwind and release all the pent up goodness that it holds inside. Still it is a burly, black fruited, masculine, rich, intense wine with a boat load of personality to it. As ageable as any wine we produced in 2008. A seriously interesting wine for those with some patience and cellar space.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/oregon/62556.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2005 Cedar Knoll Hagen's Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

2010-05-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/74523.html

Category: California
Size: 750 ml
Brand: Cedar Knoll Vineyards
Region: Napa Valley
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Style: Red Wine

Price: $24.99
Reg: ~~$34.99~~
ON SALE!

2010 May Wine Club Reserve Selection

Some wineries are smart enough to hire a woman winemaker to join their team, contributing those highly-tuned feminine sensors to the selection and blending process. The Palmaz family, who makes Cedar Knoll Vineyard Co. Hagen's Reserve, had the insight to hire two.

Mia Klein is a well-respected Napa Valley winemaking consultant; her credentials are outlined in the Premiere selections this month. Tina Mitchell, the full-time winemaker at Palmaz, has some serious street cred of her own, having learned under the legendary Andre Tchelistcheff at Niebaum Coppola winery. Put the two together, and you've got a team that can really crank out a great Cabernet.

A perennial staff favorite that seems to over-deliver every vintage, Cedar Knoll carries ripe red fruit and mocha tannins that make it an interesting wine to taste as it evolves over a year or two.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/74523.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2007 Guenoc North Coast Victorian Claret

2010-05-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/13261.html

Category: California
Brand: Langtry Estate and Vineyards
Region: North Coast
Varietal: Meritage Blend
Style: Red Wine
Size: 750 ml

Price: $12.99
Reg: ~~$16.99~~
ON SALE!

2010 May Wine Club Vintner Selection

In 1888, flamboyant British stage actress and notorious tomboy Lillie Langtry purchased a vineyard property sight-unseen in the North Coast of California, arrived with entourage and a small fleet of stagecoaches, rolled up her sleeves and started making her own wine. "Greatest Claret in the county," she proclaimed, and who could argue with her? Over a century later, that estate has changed hands a number of times, gone fallow during prohibition, and was revived in 1963 by the current owners.

Inspired by Lillie’s spirit, they saw it fitting to make a "Victorian Claret" in her honor (Claret is just another name for a Bordeaux blend, containing Cabernet, Merlot, Cab Franc, and sometimes Petit Verdot or Malbec.) And since 1981, Guenoc has held the distinction of being the only single-proprietor AVA in the country! Lillie would be proud. Expect friendly red fruits and an ever so slightly spicy finish to this well-rounded blend.

Winemaker's Notes:

The 2007 Guenoc North Coast Victorian Claret is a complex blend of our award winning wines. Dark ruby in color, the wine has a wonderful fruity nose bringing on black cherry, plum, and blueberry aromas. Rich and soft on the palate, the hints of vanilla and nutmeg, from 12 months of barrel ageing, add to the complexity and the long smooth finish. The wine pairs well with any meat dish or just on its own.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/13261.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2006 Vina Alicia Nebbiolo

2010-01-13T08:57:00.000-08:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/argentina/11958.html

Brand: Vina Alicia
Style: Red Wine
Varietal: Nebbiolo
Region: Mendoza
Category: Argentina
Size: 750 ml

Price: $64.99

2010 January Wine Club Premiere Selection

Earlier this year, a colleague sent me a transcript from the Parker chat-board in which oenophiles were ranting and raving over the boutique Vina Alicia wines from Argentina. Raving because, well, they should: these are extremely small-batch specialized wines fashioned by a family that has spent much of their lives crafting wines for the Luigi Bosca label, but has recently started their own little project at their home in Lujan de Cuyo. Ranting because, well, they’re darn near impossible to get their hands on. Apparently the wines are available by subscription only in Argentina, and very few cases make it into the U.S.

I knew how they felt. I had first tasted Vina Alicia’s Nebbiolo a few months prior, just before they changed distributors. I was pleasantly surprised by how impressive a bottling it was for, well, such an unconventional project. (Nebbiolo outside of Piedmont? Are we allowed to do that??) A short time later I was ready to place an order and stash it away for my Wine Club friends...only to find the wine out of stock, transferred to another distributor, and now months away from making it to the states again. So I sighed, picked up the phone, and started making calls.

Persistence, friends, is a virtue. Remember that with every sip.

Now don’t open this bottle expecting Barolo. Think of this as Barolo’s flashier, more precocious cousin. A color of purple I believe only Argentina can achieve, the wine is ready to drink young with floral aromas, plumy undertones, ripe tannins and complexity that I believe will allow for interesting development for a few years to come. on erobertparker.com Jay Miller called Vina Alicia’s Nebbiolo “maybe the finest I’ve tasted outside of Italy’s Piedmont.” Opinion most definitely seconded.
http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/argentina/11958.html

2007 Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta

2010-01-13T08:55:00.000-08:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/chile/72653.html

Brand: Casa Lapostolle
Style: Red Wine
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon / Carmenere
Region: Colchagua Valley
Category: Chile
Size: 750 ml

Price: $79.99

2010 January Wine Club Premiere Selection

If the winery doesn't mind saying so themselves, since its launch in 1997 Casa Lapostolle’s Clos Apalta has been causing quite a stir. I can’t argue with that assertion, as last year’s placement as Wine Spectator’s #1 Wine of the Year made our holiday season extra-hectic.

Produced in very limited quantities from fruit grown in Lapostolle’s prized Apalta vineyard in what they’ve dubbed “the Pomerol of Chile,” Clos Apalta is likely one of the most recognized and sought-after labels from Chile. There’s everything you’d expect for a wine of this fanfare: a gravity-fed winery, 100% hand-harvested and de-stemmed fruit, all kinds of parcel-specific small French oak vat ageing...you get the picture. And after two years of meticulous ageing, the blend of Merlot, Carmenere, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot is released to the anticipating wine market.

It may seem like a lot of hubbub to make over one wine, but what’s in the bottle is consistently stellar stuff. The Pomerol of Chile? I hesitate a bit to concede: not because the quality isn’t there, but because that addition of Carmenere adds such a unique dimension that Chile should be proud to call it their own. But you make your own call on that matter. Drink now or hold for 4-8 years.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/chile/72653.html

2007 Tikal Amorio Malbec

2010-01-13T08:53:00.000-08:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/argentina/11957.html

Brand: Tikal
Style: Red Wine
Varietal: Malbec
Region: Mendoza
Category: Argentina
Size: 750 ml

Price: $32.99
Reg: ~~$42.99~~

2010 January Wine Club Cellar Selection

Tikal is owned by Ernesto Catena, a member of the most well-known winemaking family in Argentina. But the credit for crafting this serious Malbec goes to young winemaker Luis Reginato, who has also been trusted to create wines for the Luca and La Posta labels. Malbec is really his specialty, and for Tikal’s Amorio bottling, he sources high-altitude fruit from Mendoza vines, many of which are 40 years old or older, and rests the wine in 60% new oak for 12 months, followed by no fining or filtration.

The resulting Malbec is pretty intense stuff: full of grilled toast, blueberry, tobacco and black cherry. Few people have been able to describe this wine without using the word “sexy,” perhaps because the name “Amorio” means “love affair.” Ernesto Catena chose that name to allude to the undying passion he and the Argentine people have for the Malbec grape.

The original artwork of this passionate dancing couple was created by Ernesto’s close friend and artist, Ariel Mlynarzewicz. And no, we can’t pronounce Ariel’s last name either.

Reviews

Jay Miller Wine Advocate 92 Points

The 2007 Amorio is 100% Malbec sourced from vines with an average age of 41 years. It was aged for 12 months in 60% new French oak and bottled without fining or filtration. Purple-colored, it reveals an attractive perfume of pain grille, mineral, black cherry, and violets. Medium to full-bodied, it is silky-textured with a surprisingly elegant personality for its size. Layered, sweetly-fruited, and intense, the wine has solid aging potential and should provide prime drinking from 2010 to 2018.

International Wine Cellar 90 Points

Saturated ruby. Brooding, pure aromas of blackberry, cassis and bitter chocolate. Lush and creamy-sweet, but a bit inexpressive and in need of patience today. In a slightly sullen stage, with substantial ripe tannins currently enjoying the upper hand over the wine's dark berry fruit flavors. But this boasts excellent intensity and gained in complexity with air.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/argentina/11957.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne

1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900

E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS

http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2006 Bodegas Trapiche Malbec Vina Cristina y Bibiana Coletto

2010-01-13T08:51:00.000-08:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/argentina/12139.html

Brand: Bodegas Trapiche
Style: Red Wine
Varietal: Malbec
Region: Mendoza
Category: Argentina
Size: 750 ml

Price: $43.99
Reg: $54.99

2010 January Wine Club Cellar Selection

Though the Trapiche winery is probably best known for value-priced Argentine wines, their single-vineyard Malbecs have really become the stars of their portfolio. The project was designed as a tribute to their independent grape growers and an exhibition of how the character of the Malbec grape can vary at different altitudes and terroirs within Mendoza. Each year, the Trapiche winemaking team chooses the best three Malbec lots of the harvest and honors them with their own single-vineyard bottlings.

In the great 2006 vintage, growers Cristina and Bibiana Coletto impressed the winemakers and critics alike with the fresh, licorice and fig-laden flavors of their Malbec grown in the El Peral, Tupungato sub-appellation of Mendoza. Juicy, ample and balanced with both acidity and spice, this should drink well now through 2012 or longer.

Reviews

Jay Miller Wine Advocate 95 Points

The saturated purple 2006 Malbec Vina Coletto is sourced from a vineyard planted in 1948. It is loaded with fruit, density, extract and structure. Beautifully balanced, it will continue to develop for another 6-8 years and be in its prime from 2015 to 2030.

Wine Spectator 92 Points

Densely packed for now, with fig, cocoa and blackberry notes up front, while a reserve of boysenberry, blueberry and licorice waits in reserve. Shows flittering hints of violet and graphite as well, with a long, broad finish. Best from 2010 through 2013. 1,355 cases made. –JM

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/argentina/12139.html

2007 Polkura Syrah

2010-01-13T08:48:00.000-08:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/chile/11931.html

Brand: Polkura
Style: Red Wine
Varietal: Syrah
Region: Colchagua Valley
Category: Chile
Size: 750 ml

Price: $19.99
Reg: ~~$25.99~~

2010 January Wine Club Reserve Selection

About ten years ago, winemaker Sven Bruchfeld and his friend Gonzalo Munoz traveled the world together trying to decide how they’d make the best wine they could in Chile. They considered a number of options, but it was one day when they were drinking a local Syrah in the South of France that they decided that was their grape. They set to work, and today Polkura has finally made it to the states for us to enjoy.

Now for the sake of full disclosure, Sven adds a bit of Malbec, Viognier, Tempranillo, Mourvedre and Grenache for added dimensions to his Colchagua Valley Syrah. Not much is brought to the States, and we scoop up what we can. Scoring 91 points from the Wine Advocate, this wine offers up some incredible aromatics and complexity, with bacon, dark fruit, and graphite notes ending with a very lengthy and laser-like finish.

Reviews

Jay Miller Wine Advocate 91 Points

The 2007 Syrah contains a dollop of Malbec, Viognier, Tempranillo, Mourvedre, and Grenache. It shows off a superb aromatic display of bacon, game, mineral, pencil lead, and blueberry. Layered, bordering on opulent, it has great depth of flavor, savory fruit, and a lengthy, pure finish. Give it 2-3 years to blossom further and drink it from 2011 to 2019.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/chile/11931.html

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne

1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900

E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS

http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2007 Veranda Oda Chardonnay Miraflores

2010-01-13T08:44:00.000-08:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/chile/12025.html

Style: White Wine
Varietal: Chardonnay
Region: Bio Bio
Category: Chile
Size: 750 ml

Price: $23.99
Reg: ~~$29.99~~

2010 January Wine Club Reserve Selection

Chile, as it stands today, is more known for their red varietals than their white, but that reputation could change with the help of a jet setting winemaker rooted in the Burgundian tradition.

Forty-six year-old Pascal Marchand was born in Montreal, but earned his winemaking stripes in one of the most competitive wine markets in the world: Burgundy. His resume boasts wineries like Domaine des Comte Armand, Domaine de la Vougeraie and Joseph Phelps Freestone, as well as consulting gigs in Australia, Argentina, Greece, the US and finally Chile at Bodegas Veranda.

From the Miraflores Single Vineyard in the cool-climate Bio Bio Valley of Southern Chile, this Chardonnay shows the minerality and restraint that Burgundian winemakers often strive for, while also displaying the kind of softly ripe white fruit that New World Chardonnays often carry. A success for March and, indeed for this relatively new Chilean winery.

Reviews

Jay Miller Wine Advocate 89 Points

The light gold-colored 2007 Chardonnay Oda Miraflores Single Vineyard offers up a white Burgundy-like bouquet of minerals, hazelnuts, white peach, and baked apple. It has lively acidity and good flavors but could use a bit more concentration. Veranda produces distinctive, elegant, cool climate-styled wines.

International Wine Cellar 90 Points

Pale yellow. Musky peach skin and pear aromas are complicated by smoked meat and wet stone. Fresh orchard and pit fruit flavors are firmed by juicy acidity and brightened by a note of orange zest. The citrus note repeats on the tight, minerally finish. I really like this wine's balance and precision.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/chile/12025.html

2009 Los Cowboys Torrontes

2010-01-13T08:23:00.000-08:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/argentina/10047.html

Brand: Mendoza Vineyards
Style: White Wine
Varietal: Torrontes
Region: Medoza
Category: Argentina
Size: 750 ml

Price: $9.99
Reg: ~~$12.99~~

2010 January Wine Club Vintner Selection

For the past few years, we’ve been looking for a Fair Trade project that we could really get behind: one that not only provided good wine for the nt proceeds back to the community where the wine was made. This project fit the bill on both counts.

If you haven’t yet tried the intensely aromatic Torrontes grape, you’re in for a treat. Crisp yet slightly creamy, the wine combines the zestiness of Sauvignon Blanc with the floral headiness of Viognier. And because the company distributing this wine gives back twice the profits required by Fair Trade standards to build playgrounds and educational and medical facilities for the Mendoza vineyard-workers’ families, you can feel twice as good about enjoying a glass of this special Argentine wine. (If you’re interested in learning more, visit www.doubleupfairtrade.com)

Los Cowboys Torrontes is Fair Trade Certified™ from grapes sourced from high density vineyard with low yields helping to increase the intensity of the fruit. Vines are planted in loam and are hand harvested for optimum ripeness. Cold fermented in stainless steel to maintain the bright lively flavors of the Torrontes. Bentonite fining and finishing is utilized making for a vegan friendly wine. This Torrontes is refreshing with an aromatic nose of tropical fruits, honey, melon and a delightful finish.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/argentina/10047.html

THE BEST LAST MINUTE GIFT - A WINE CLUB MEMBERSHIP

2009-12-23T09:09:00.000-08:00

http://www.garyswineclub.com/gift_center.shtml

A Gary's Wine Club Membership is Perfect for Gift Giving!

With wine experiencing unprecedented growth in its popularity, customers have come to rely on a gift of membership in Gary's Wine Club for consistently high standards of excellence in gift giving - for weddings, birthdays, holidays, corporate gift-giving... or even as a gift to yourself!

Need a card? We've got you covered!

Gary's will send an elegant card the recipient of your gift, welcoming them to the club in your name and informing them on the duration of their membership.

All you have to do is type a message in the comments section of your order form, and we'll do the rest!

Click here to choose a club,

If you would like to give a Gary's Wine Club Membership as a gift, you can click on the membership you're interested in below to print out a membership certificate for instant giving:

Vintner Selections Certificate
Reserve Selections Certificate
Cellar Selections Certificate
Premiere Collections Certificate
Strictly Red Certificate
Strictly White Certificate

http://www.garyswineclub.com/gift_center.shtml

Gary's Wine & Marketplace - Madison | Bernardsville | Wayne
1308 Route 23 North • Wayne, NJ 07470 • 973-633-3900
E-mail: info@garyswine.com • Toll Free: 1-888-99-GARYS
http://www.GarysWine.com • Buy Wine Online • NJ Wine Store

2006 GF Grand Finale Jericho Canyon Cabernet Sauvignon

2009-12-02T13:47:00.000-08:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/11006.html

Brand: GF Grand Finale
Style: Red Wine
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Napa Valley
Category: California
Size: 750 ml

Price: $74.99
Reg: ~~$94.99~~

It's always been Gary's belief that the wine business is not just about moving volume. It's about enjoying life, enjoying wine, and enjoying the company of friends. Otherwise, we might as well be selling carburetors. After 30 years in the wine business, Gary decided he'd like to begin to share the same camaraderie he's developed with the winemakers he's met along the way with his other friends, our most loyal customers. Thus, the GF Private Label project was born with the philosophy that there's always an extra barrel or two available for a friend.

For the flagship Grand Finale series, we've begun sourcing single barrels of ultra-premium wine as a "thank you" to our very best customers. We've worked directly with the winemakers to craft these wines, traveled extensively to check up on them as they develop into truly one-of-a-kind bottlings. You will not, cannot, find these wines anywhere else. They're just for us. And as such, we think they're a fitting Grand Finale to any special occasion. Our first project choosing a single barrel from Jericho Canyon Vineyards just happened, ever so providentially, to fall in the amazing-for-Napa-Cabernet 2007 vintage. Crafted by winemaker Robbie Meyer, this hillside Cabernet is a force to be reckoned with. Powerful and intense, this wine is inky purple in the glass, and full of wild berry flavors, black truffle and licorice, ending with a mouthful of fleshy tannins. Give this monster some time to nap if you can; those powerful, brooding tannins will soften with time to reveal an increasingly complex and showy wine.

Food pairing: Standing rib roast

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/11006.html

2005 Oakville East Exposure Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

2009-12-02T13:40:00.000-08:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/04464.html

Brand: Oakville East
Style: Red Wine
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Oakville
Category: California
Size: 750 ml

Price: $69.99
Reg: ~~$125.00~~

The Oakville AVA of Napa Valley is home to many of California's finest Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines: including Joseph Phelps Bacchus, Dalle Valle, Showket, Rudd and Screaming Eagle. In fact, in a profile of the region that appeared in the October 14, 2004 edition of the Wine Spectator, wine critic Matt Kramer wrote, "... what emerges from this rocky, sun-drenched zone is like no other Cabernet in the world." It's a special piece of terrior, and one that has treated relative newcomer to the scene, proprietor Elliot Stern, and his Oakville East Exposure Cabernet quite well. He chose a stretch of iron-rich land along the collapsed Vaca Mountain range and a winemaker who knows Oakville fruit like the back of her hand. (Sara Gott formerly made wine at Joseph Phelps.) The grapes are farmed organically and production is kept low: about 500 cases per vintage. The resulting wine is full of dark berry, plum and cedar notes with chocolaty, fine-grained tannins on the finish. Gary was particularly excited to discover this wine a few years back, and was even more excited that he could offer it to our customers this time around at less than the usual $100+ per bottle!

Food pairing: Braised short ribs over polenta

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/04464.html

2006 Ramey Shanel Vineyard Syrah

2009-12-02T13:35:00.000-08:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/11277.html

Brand: Ramey Wine Cellars
Style: Red Wine
Varietal: Syrah
Region: Sonoma Coast
Category: California
Size: 750 ml
Ratings: RP 93 WS 93 IWC 93

Price: $34.99
Reg: ~~$43.99~~

In a recent Wine Spectator article, writer Tim Fish contended, "Some winemakers are farmers, others are scientists or technicians or even desk jockeys. A few, like David Ramey, are philosophers." David Ramey has no vineyards. He prefers instead to source his fruit from what he sees as the best vineyards around him, then take the wine from there. What he does have is about 30 years of winemaking under his belt. When we sat down with "the philosopher-winemaker" recently to taste his wines, that breadth of knowledge really came out. With 20 or so glasses in front of us, Ramey explained how this oak vs. that oak, this lot in the vineyard vs. that lot, even this strain of yeast vs. that one, really changes the same wine. "Here; taste this," he'd say, and the incredible thing was that we absolutely could. His expertise really shines in this Syrah from the Shanel Vineyard on the Sonoma Coast. A rarity, the Wine Advocate, Wine Spectator, and International Wine Cellar all agreed that the wine warranted 93 points and the highest praise from their critics.

Food pairing: Crispy glazed duck or goose

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/11277.html

2007 GF Go Figure Napa Valley Red Lot 5

2009-12-02T13:30:00.000-08:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/11008.html

Brand: GF Go Figure
Style: Red Wine
Varietal: Meritage Blend
Region: Napa Valley
Category: California
Size: 750 ml
PROMO:

Price: $49.99
Reg: ~~$69.99~~

For Gary's own personal project, the Go Figure series, we've begun sourcing wines crafted by the industry-leading winemakers who had a little extra left over from their own bottling. The result is stellar wine hand-selected by Gary. This was our first bottling from the 2007 vintage, and we wouldn't say it if it weren't true; this is quite possibly the most amazing deal we've found in years! For our Lot 5 bottling, we convinced one of the hottest wineries in Napa, whose regular bottlings sell well over $100, to sell us some extra (delicious) red wine. You know what we can't tell you is the name of the winery, but what we can tell you is it's a blend of Merlot, Cabernet, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot with fruit so rich and complex and mocha tannins so velvety-smooth, it's like buying standing-room only seats and ending up front-row-center-orchestra!

Food pairing: Seared filet mignon and Gorgonzola

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/11008.html

2005 Holly's Hill Mourvedre

2009-12-02T13:22:00.000-08:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/11583.html

Brand: Holly's Hill
Style: Red Wine
Varietal: Mourvedre
Region: Sierra Foothills - El Dorado
Category: California
Size: 750 ml

Price: $20.99
Reg: ~~$25.99~~

I always wonder why I don't hear wine lovers, particularly those who are die-hard Cab fanatics, talk about Mourvedre more. True, it doesn't have the same widespread recognition and cachè as Cali Cab. But when it's time to curl up next to a fire with a dark, earthy, spicy yet smooth red wine, I just can't think of anything better than a Mourvedre. Often Mourvedre is paired with Grenache and Syrah to produce a weightier wine. But when grown in the right climate, it can have great structure, complexity and finishing spice all on its own. Taking a lesson from one of the most seasoned producers of Mourvedre, Chateau de Beaucastel in the Rhone Valley of France, a few fans of the grape decided to bring some cuttings over from Beaucastel to California. They had to be quarantined for three years for testing before they were released to and propagated by enologists at UC Davis, but at long last, some of the cuttings were used at the small winery Holly's Hill in the Sierra foothills. The result: classic Mourvedre, earthy and spicy as ever.

Food pairing: Cassoulet

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/11583.html

Lucien Albrecht Brut Rose NV

2009-12-02T13:06:00.000-08:00

http://www.garyswine.com/shop_champagne/60319.html

Brand: Lucien Albrecht
Style: Sparkling
Region: Alsace
Category: Sparkling
Size: 750 ml

Price: $15.99
Reg: ~~$21.99~~

Generally it's only once a year that we send out sparkling wines in place of white wines for the Wine Club, because we can rest assured that this time of year everyone has at least one celebration to warrant some effervescent quaffing. This year, our wine team had a lot of fun choosing the sparkler for the Reserve level. As we tasted this lively cremant from Alsace, we stood around the tasting counter trying to guess all the grapes within (Pinot Auxerrois, Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Gris, by the way,) enjoying the creamy mousse (that's the bubbly foam on top), and before we knew it, we had our own celebration going! It even made one staff member so happy she likened it to the "fizzy lifting drink" from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. (Yes, that was Laura.) Now, it's by far our favorite biodynamic Alsatian cremant of the season!

Food pairing: Potato latkes with smoked salmon, crème fraîche, and American cavia

http://www.garyswine.com/shop_champagne/60319.html

2007 Angels Landing Jaeger Oak Knoll Merlot

2009-12-02T12:37:00.000-08:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/10597.html

Brand: Angels Landing
Style: Red Wine
Varietal: Merlot
Region: Napa Valley
Category: California
Size: 750 ml
PROMO:

Price: $16.99
Reg: ~~$24.99~~

A few months back, we got rave reviews from our customers for bringing in a new brand of Napa Cabernet called Angel's Landing. We've long since sold out of that bottling, but we practically rejoiced when we got their Oak Knoll Merlot just in time for the holidays. Now as Merlots go, this isn't the demure "little sister to Cabernet" that many Merlots may be. This bottle, as Merlots go, is a monster. Sourced from the Jaeger Vineyard in the Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley, this is actually a Pomerol-style blend of 78% Merlot and 22% Cabernet Sauvignon. With its ripe berry and cherry flavors and a touch of cassis, this wine is downright rich with great depth and complexity usually found in wines two times this price. Serve it up with venison, grilled pork chops, veal dishes and turkey.

Food pairing: Roast turkey

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/10597.html

2008 Natale Verga Prosecco

2009-12-02T12:22:00.000-08:00

http://www.garyswine.com/shop_champagne/10598.html

Brand: Natale Verga
Style: Sparkling
Varietal: Prosecco
Region: Veneto
Category: Sparkling
Size: 750 ml

Price: $9.99
Reg: ~~$12.99~~

When it comes to celebrations, there's nothing like hearing the light "pop" of a bottle of bubbly. But let's face it; sometimes we want to celebrate without the French Champagne price tag. What we love about Prosecco is its versatility; it can serve as a graceful "welcome to our party" aperitif, an ingredient in festive brunch cocktails like mimosas or bellinis, or as a perfect bottle for two to pop when the rest of the family has finally left! You just can't open a bottle of Prosecco without feeling festive. This is one of our favorite new Italian sparklers, just arrived in time for the holidays. The bubbles dance on the line between delicate and vivacious, with a creamy mouthfeel and notes of lemon, honey and almond. Not so sweet as a sparkling Moscato, but not quite so dry as Brut Cava or Champagne, Prosecco is a celebratory bubbly for anyone and everyone

Food pairing: Italian cheese board: Pecorino, Romano, Ricotta Salata, and Burrata

http://www.garyswine.com/shop_champagne/10598.html

2007 Rochioli Pinot Noir

2009-11-11T13:56:00.000-08:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/10080.html

Brand: Rochioli Vineyards & Winery
Style: Red Wine
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Region: Russian River Valley
Category: California
Size: 750 ml

Price: $64.99

2009 November Wine Club Premiere Selection

Few California wineries can boast three generations of stewardship, but that’s just what Rochioli brings to the table. Established by Joe Rochioli Sr. in 1938, the 161 acres of vineyards in the Russian River Valley have since been passed to his son and Joe Jr. and grandson Tom. There’s a relatively limited amount of their Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc to go around (about 10,000 in total per year), but a small amount ends up on our shelves to share with our customers.
The 2007 vintage was an amazing year for the Russian River Valley, wherein the overall estate wines showed complexity that would rival most vintages single-vineyard bottlings. This one in particular is on the fuller-bodied side for Pinot Noir. It scored 91 points from the Wine Spectator, which noted “Vibrant, spicy aromas of redcurrant, strawberry and fresh rose. Lithe red berry flavors are impressively precise and tangy, offering very good focus and slow mounting sweetness. Finishes on a deeper cherry note, with excellent clarity and length.” While those bright tangy berry flavors are still fresh, you’ll want to drink this one now, while you wait for the Champy Clos de Vougeot to mature to perfection.

Food Pairing: Pan-roasted salmon with blood orange zest and reduction

Reviews

Robert Parker 88-90 Points

The 2007 Pinot Noir Estate displays delicious plum, raspberry and black cherry notes, with hints of earth and roasted herbs. The wine is medium to full-bodied, already delicious, and should drink nicely for 7-8 years.

International Wine Cellar 91 Points

Full red. Vibrant, spicy aromas of redcurrant, strawberry and fresh rose. Lithe red berry flavors are impressively precise and tangy, offering very good focus and slow-mounting sweetness. Finishes on a deeper cherry note, with excellent clarity and length.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/10080.html

2005 Champy Clos Vougeot

2009-11-11T13:53:00.000-08:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/france/11187.html

Brand: Maison Champy
Style: Red Wine
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Region: Cote de Nuits
Category: France
Size: 750 ml

Price: $69.99
Reg: ~~$119.99~~

2009 November Wine Club Premiere Selection

I’m always hesitant to speak in absolutes, but according to my records, Champy is THE oldest maison in Burgundy. And it’s not easy to be the oldest in Burgundy. Founded in 1720 and sold a number of times in its now nearly three-century history, the winemaking is now overseen by enologist Dmitri Bazas. Bazas is so particular in his winemaking that he insists on choosing the ageing barrels even for the wine that the maison chooses to buy from other growers.
As old as the winery is, you may be surprised to learn that their house style is rather modern in comparison to other Burgundy houses. Lots of new oak expresses itself upon initial release, which ages nicely into exotic spice accents after a few years of cellaring. (As one critic wrote, think “sandalwood and cardamom:” two of my absolute favorite scents to smell in...well..anything!
Our French buyer managed to procure just a few cases of this Grand Cru.

Food Pairing: Grilled or roasted quail

Reviews

Wine Spectator 94 Points

Deep yet polished, this is full of red berry, and black-berry and cherry fruit and accented by spicy oak. Its appeal is the concentration of sweet fruit and supple texture. The vibrant structure gives this life as it glides to a long conclusion. Best from 2015 through 2035. 75 cases made.–BS

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/france/11187.html

2007 Brewer Clifton Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills

2009-11-11T13:46:00.000-08:00

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/09905.html

Brand: Brewer Clifton Wines
Style: Red Wine
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Region: Sta Rita Hills
Category: California
Size: 750 ml

Price: $35.99
Reg: ~~$44.99~~

2009 September Wine Club Cellar Selection

I actually surprised myself by choosing two Santa Barbara County Pinot Noirs for November's Cellar Selections. Don't get me wrong; I'm a big fan of wines from this region, but with the proliferation of Pinot producers in Sonoma and Oregon, the odds were in favor of the latter two. But these two Santa Barbara/Santa Rita Pinots impressed me too much, in the end they just had to go out to our Club. Brewer-Clifton has been focusing on the best site-selection for Pinot Noirs since their first production in 1996. Though only jest over a decade old, the winery already has a reputation for being special and rather hard to find (with total production topping out between 7,000 and 8,000 cases a year.) This year we managed to get our hands on a few extra cases four our best customers, and are pleased to offer a wine from the stellar 2007 vintage that's full of beautiful notes of dark raspberry and cherry, rose petal and blood orange. Enjoy.

Food Pairings: Pork loin with cherry reduction

Reviews

Robert Parker 93 Points

A fabulous introduction, the generic cuvee, the 2007 Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills (just over 1,000 cases produced), possesses a deep plum/ruby hue as well as gorgeously sweet, sexy, plum, cherry, forest floor, and spring flower notes. Sensual and medium to full-bodied with great fruit, good acidity, and an incredible Burgundian-like character that suggests something from Morey-St.-Denis or further north, it should drink well for 7-8 years.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/09905.html