What I'm Excited About This Week: All of 'em! Everywhere! Edition
Well, dear readers, this was a slightly different staff tasting than we usually do. Normally our tastings focus on wines from a single buyer, and sometimes, like last week, a specific region from that buyer. This week it was a little bit more complicated since we had around three wines that each of the buyers submitted for us to try. The tasting here in RC was poured by Rachael Ryan, our buyer for Spain, Portugal & the Southern Hemisphere. While she enjoys all the regions in her category, she has a special passion for Australian wine, especially one featured here this week.
We kicked things off in Champagne, made a quick stop in Australia, then it was back to Burgundy. From there, we hit Spain, California, Italy, and the Northern Rhône. Next, we zipped over to Cassis in Provence, then back to Burgundy, to Alba in Italy, back to Santa Barbara, and finally to Gigondas for a surprisingly delightful wine. We wrapped up with a triple play in Spain, Italy, and Bordeaux before a final return to Italy. Even with the super fast pace, we found some amazing wines at great prices and new vintages of our direct import products, which were all fantastic.
2015 Perrier-Jouët "Fleur de Champagne Belle Epoque" Brut Champagne $129.99 Definitely a nose that comes at you brioche-first, like the center of a freshly cooked loaf with a little umami bump, then the fruit comes in with lemon curd, fresh green apples, and a little bit of quince. The palate is really crisp and clean, more brioche of course, but then really clean lemon over crisp red apple, and a long line of chalky minerality running through the whole sip. This is a delicious bottle of Champagne and perhaps my second favorite 2015 that I've had in the last couple years. This is really compelling in a friendly way, something I know that I could open for anyone who even kind of likes Champagne and they would find something they would love about it.
2023 Brokenwood Sémillon Hunter Valley New South Wales $19.99 There are soft notes of melon, lemon, a little bit of something tropical, something bright and herbal, and then wet river rocks on the nose. The palate is unctuous, super dense with a heavy mouthfeel, often described as "waxy," but whatever you choose to call it, it makes the whole sip feel plush and round in the most perfect of ways. Despite the weight, there's great acidity here, the fruit is lemon-lime with amazing acidity pushing those flavors forward, along with that rocky kind of minerality and a lingering, ethereal finish. This is fantastic and I look forward to pairing this with a number of different things before I decide which I like the best; tastes extremely versatile.
2020 Ducru-Beaucaillou "Croix de Beaucaillou," St-Julien $44.95 95JA 95JS While some wines taste young for their age, this one really turns it around the other way, tasting far older than it is, in a really good way. The nose at first open shines with a little oil cured olive, but after some time to open up there's still that olive, but also a loamy mushroom, and some welcome pyrazines. There's some really soft and ripe red and black fruit, along with just a pleasant little hint of the barn. This just smells like it's going to taste structured, there's an elegance to it that surprised me at first, along with tertiary notes not often found in wine just a few years old. The palate is a little dusty both from the barn and from the tannins. The fruit is brighter than I expected, with a tart cherry, cranberry, violets, and then a lingering earthy finish. This has a lot going for it, and tastes like it has about 5-10 more years of age on it than it does. I would highly recommend this for anyone who thinks I must be goofy and wants to prove me wrong, or anyone who believes me and wants to get a really nice, structured, and tertiary-showing Bordeaux for $45.
While these wines aren't available for tasting this weekend (but are definitely available for purchase on our website!), we are holding our Wine Club Tasting this Thursday from 4-6pm at all of our locations. The tasting is included in your membership for all of our Wine Club members, and just $5 for anyone else to taste. We feature one wine from each of our wine clubs, to give people an idea of the wines that they'll be picking up that month. If you're coming to Redwood City, I'll be pouring there!
Friday we'll be tasting a series of different presentations of Zinfandel in Zinfandel Reimagined – A Modern American Story. We'll have a sparkling Zinfandel Brut that was vinified white, a Zinfandel rosé and four different and delicious styles of Zinfandel from different California producers.
Saturday you'll be doing the same kind of experience as our staff tasting, each of our buyers has selected a wine they think you're going to love this summer and instead of the usual lineup of six wines, we'll have that bonus seventh wine so each of our wine buyers are represented. Check out the lineup below:
Gary Westby, Champagne Buyer's Pick: Baron-Fuenté "Grande Réserve" Brut Champagne - $29.99
Alex Pross, Burgundy Buyer's Pick: 2023 Agnes Gleizes Chablis 1er Cru "Les Fourneaux Vieilles Vignes" - $39.99
Rachael Ryan, Southern Hemisphere Buyer's Pick: 2022 Kilikanoon "Killerman's Run" Riesling Clare Valley South Australia - $14.99
Ryan Woodhouse, Domestic Buyer's Pick: 2023 La Marea "Cachudo - Pierce Ranch Vineyard" SA Valley Arinto - $19.95
Orazio Campoli, Italian Buyer's Pick: 2023 Ampeleia "UnLitro" Toscana IGT - $19.99
Keith Mabry, Rhône Buyer's Pick: 2022 Domaine de la Cote de l'Ange Châteauneuf-du-Pape - $29.99
Ryan Moses, Bordeaux Buyer's Pick: 2020 Haut-Brisson, St-Emilion - $34.99
As always, keep an eye on our Local Events Page for a complete listing of all the events near you that we have going on. There's a lot of fun stuff going on every week, and at minimum Friday and Saturday tastings are always worth checking out, since even if the wine might not be in your style, it's always good to expand our palate and try new things. That's really what makes life worth living, for me.