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To Our Discerning Clientèle,
Please join us this Saturday afternoon the 17th of August, 2013 from 12:00 NOON until 3:00 PM here at the shop when we'll offer a taste of delicious mid-season Côtes-du-Rhône rosé wines.
Then, come next Friday evening the 23rd of August, 2013 beginning at 6:30 PM at The W Austin The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas' hosts its 11th Annual Tour de Vin.
Details below and at the events page of our web site: http://www.theaustinwinemerchant.com/events.html.
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Saturday afternoon the 17th of August, 2013 from 12:00 NOON until 3:00 PM here at the shop Wine Tasting 
Côtes-du-Rhône Rosé 2012 Côtes-du-Rhône Rosé Belleruche M. CHAPOUTIER 2012 Côtes-du-Rhône Rosé Domaine de La Solitude 2012 Côtes-du-Rhône Rosé Domaine Charvin 2012 Vacqueyras Perle de Rosée Montirius Gentlemen, please, no cologne or after shave; ladies, please no perfume! |
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Friday evening the 23rd of August, 2013 beginning at 6:30 PM at The W Austin The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas' 11th Annual Tour de Vin
The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas' 11th Annual Tour de Vin will be held at The W Austin on Friday the 23rd of August, 2013 beginning at 6:30 PM. Tour de Vin is an exclusive wine and food tasting event featuring wine from around the world and the best domestic and internationally-inspired cuisine in Central Texas. Proceeds from the event are earmarked for Austin Food for Life, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping food and beverage industry professionals, including farmers and artisans, access affordable healthcare solutions. The Austin Wine Merchant will be on hand to support the foundation and help guests order wines they may wish to purchase after tasting. More info on and or tickets for Tour de Vin can be found at http://www.winefoodfoundation.org/events/tour-de-vin/. |
 Summertime, summertime, sum-sum summertime ... Our sizzling Summer Clearance Sale is now in progress. You'll find discounts of 25% and more off the regular per bottle price of selected wines throughout the store. Give us a little click here or on the link above to see what's what. Then, yeah, you know what to do — come on downtown! 'Things will be great ... no finer place ... everything's waiting for you.' Well, not exactly waiting for you. Things are disappearing quite quickly, actually. So, do scurry on down! |
      
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It's summertime! It's bleepin' hot out! So, what to do? Think pink! Think cool, refreshing pink wine! Think arctic circle frigid, thirst-quenching, oh goodness that's delicious pink wine. Then, come on downtown and chill in our lovingly air‑conditioned shop whilst cooly contemplating a bottle or two of pink! Yes, thank goodness itself, rosé season is in full swing. We are figuratively, if not literally, filled to the rafters with rosé wines goodness, right here in beautiful downtown Austin. You can check out the cool, refreshing and delicious selections at the pink page of our web-site. Then, scurry on downtown and see if you can't find a bottle or two or even three that you wanna take on home and just chill! |
Offering of 2011 Vintage White Burgundies of Château de La Maltroye Jean-Pierre Cournut says the "quality of 2011 is not far from that of the 2010 vintage. The growing season was up and down but so was that of the prior vintage and it's evident how good those wines are so while I'm not prepared to say that the growing season doesn't matter anymore, it's clear that we've gotten better at our viticulture. We began picking on the 1st of September for both the chardonnay and the pinot noir and while the fruit wasn't perfect there really wasn't all that much sorting necessary. Potential alcohols for the chardonnay was between 12.2 and 13.1% and I did my normal vinification and did absolutely no lees stirring at all as the wines seemed to have more than enough richness. The 2011s are better than people believe and there many even be a few that rival their 2010 counterparts." I have mentioned this before but it's worth repeating that the wines here have become ever purer and as Cournut has done in the last several vintages, he has definitely outperformed in 2011 relative to the general quality I saw in Chassagne. Cournut noted that the whites were bottled in September, 2012. ‑ burghound.com Issue 51, Third Quarter, 2013 |
Schott Zwiesel FortéAfter long years of intensive research and development, in collaboration with the University of Erlangen, Schott Zwiesel, a.k.a. Zwiesel Kristallglas, has succeeded in creating a new type of crystal glass — Tritan®. The use of unique ingredients, including Titanium instead of lead, combined with an advanced manufacturing process, has created an incredibly pure, hard and clear crystal glass — crystal glass that is highly resilient to accidental breakage and chipping in the dishwasher. Tritan® is a unique, patented crystal glass that sets a new high standard. And the Zwiesel Kristallglass Forté series is our choice for classic elegance and durability in everyday stemware at an even better than everyday price. $8.00 the stem, boxed sets at 15% off |
And then, from among recent arrivals, splendid values and otherwise special deals:
2011 Côtes‑du‑Rhône La Muse Papilles Montirius
From 3 hectares of relatively low yielding (30 hl/ha on average) 25 year-old, certified organically grown vines (80% Grenache/20% Syrah) planted in 'garrigue' and Helvetian sand and sandstone. The fruit is hand-harvested, destemmed, gently crushed, fermented on natural yeasts in cement vats then bottled in the spring following the vintage. Aromas redolent of freshly cracked peppercorns and taut berries with just a hint of the famous garrigue; pure and firm on the tongue with flavors of taut ripe red berries and pepper and spice that go tantalizingly long and fresh on the finish. Montirius say "ce vin éveille et fait frétiller nos papilles." We say "mais oui!"
$13.75 the bottle $140.28 the case
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2012 Côtes de Provence Rosé Saint‑Victoire Domaine Houchart
Domaine Houchart is owned by the Quiot family of Châteauneuf‑du‑Pape. It is a picture perfect Provençal property, with pine trees, almond and olive trees, thyme and rosemary and, of course, vines, and all in clear sight of the majestic Montagne Saint‑Victoire at Puyloubier, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence. Their Côtes de Provence Rosé Sainte‑Victoire is delicious produce of Cinsault, Grenache noir, Mourvèdre and Syrah fruit from vines planted to these gravel and limestone soils. Pale Provençal pink to buff in color with aromas of fresh red berries and ripe melon; supple and easy with gentle intensity of red berry flavors with just an inkling of minerality that toy ever so lovingly with the tongue.
$17.50 the bottle $178.56 the case
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2012 Cassis Rosé Clos Ste Magdeleine
From the ancient Mediterranean fishing village neighboring Bandol in the far southeast of France. Produce of 40% Grenache, 40% Cinsault and 20% Mourvèdre from 2.2 ha (that's about 5½ acres) of vines about 15 to 40 years in age and planted to clay and limestone soils. Alluring, brilliant copper to burnt orange sunrise pink with maybe not entirely imaginary glints of Mediterranean blue; urgent and fresh aromas suggest cool of the morning-picked berries over a base of solid rock; vivid and poised on the palate with a palpable seaside salty berry tang and mineral intensity that revivifies, restores and refreshes the parched summer tongue to a more sublime sense of equilibrium; oh, this is summer's foil, alright. But only a very few bottles remain... Scurry on downtown and grab some quick!
$33.75 the bottle $344.28 the case
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2012 Bandol Rosé La Bastide Blanche
A glass of Bandol Rosé can make the heart sing. A bottle between two so inclined can lead to singing and dancing on tables, to reveling in what might well be taken for paradise in the purity of the Provençal light. While we've much enjoyed the superb red and white wines of La Bastide Blanche for a couple of vintages now, the rosé is fresh on the scene and is just the sort of delicious value we've been looking for. Produce of a preponderance of Mourvèdre, together with Grenache and Cinsault from vines some 29 or so years old on average, La Bastide Blanche Bandol Rosé is vivid peachy Provençal sunset pink in color with glints of azure blue and copper; alluringly fresh transportive aromas of berry and stone (at least a couple of our tasters imagined mountain pine); ample and most present on the palate, at once fine and savory with nerve of ripe ruby red pith and limestony minerality and (whither my thirst?) ... ahh, Provence.
$22.50 the bottle $229.56 the case
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Marietta Cellars Old Vine Red Lot Number 59
Produced from Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Carignane primarily from vineyards in Sonoma and Mendocino counties, Marietta Cellars Old Vine Red replicates the old Cal‑Ital field blends there. Characteristically deep ruby in color with forward Zin aromas suggesting blackberry and spiced plum; at once balanced and generous, lush and supple on the tongue with a nicely rounded and mouth‑filling finish — the same up‑front and delicious wine we've come to know and love over these last fifty‑something lots. And, true as its ever‑blue label, Marietta Cellars Old Vine Red remains steadfast in its value.
$11.99 the bottle $122.28 the case
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2010 Hegarty Chamans Minervois № 2
Domaine de Chamans sits surrounded by garrigue and woodlandin the south-facing foothills of the Montaigne Noire in the Minervois appellation of southwestern France. Its isolation from any surrounding vineyards allows for the domaine’s non-interventionist, organic and biodynamic-based farming practices to have a maximum positive impact on their vines. The soils here are composed of limestone, clay and schist, and are worked and treated with organic matter to ensure the land has balance and energy. The advantage of clay is that it retains moisture – somewhat essential for enduring the baking summer sun of the Languedoc. The predominating Le Cers wind also assists in keeping the vines free of any excess of moisture, reducing the need for treatments. A small flock of sheep help keep the weeds down between the vines and provide natural fertilizer when mixed with other organic matter. And yes, there is a black sheep. Yields here are kept to around 25 hl/ha, well below what the appellation allows. The fruit is all hand-harvested. Fermentation begins with yeasts that are native and natural to the vineyard and takes place in a combination of small French oak barrels, large wooden foudres and concrete tank. The wine is bottled unfiltered according to the cycles of the moon. And the proof, as they say, is in the pudding. Hegarty Chamans Minervois № 2 is a most compelling blend of 70% Grenache, 20% Mourvèdre and 10% Cinsault. Aromas redolent of ripe fruit, say crushed ripe blue berries and bramble, currants and baking spices; rich and ripe and mouthfilling; way-concentrated in flavor; warm and robust and long and oh geez this stuff is just delicious ...
$17.50 the bottle $178.56 the case
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2011 Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine sur Lie Domaine de La Quilla
Produced from some 25 hectares of vines owned by Gérard and Daniel Vinet, located in the village of La Haye-Fouassière near Nantes, within the département of the Loire-Atlantique and within the region known as Sèvre et Maine, an area that lies between these two tributaries that flow northward to the river Loire. The wine is produced entirely from the Mélon de Bourgogne grape, also known as Muscadet. The fruit is hand-harvested, generally beginning in early September. The wine is kept on its lees and bottled in the spring following harvest. Ultra fresh, cool aromas suggest fresh green grapes grown on the mineral soils of schists, mica schists, gneiss and metamorphic amphibolites and under the influence of the nearby Atlantic Ocean; lively, almost pétillant on the tongue, with a most refreshing crisp almost crunchy saline mineral intensity of flavor. An ideal companion to shellfish and most all lighter fare that calls for dry white wine and a brilliant foil for our late spring to early summer heat. And all at a price that, in our estimation, places this among the very best values of them all in dry white wine.
$9.99 the bottle $101.88 the case
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2011 Sancerre Les Godons Philippe RAIMBAULT
The vineyard of Les Godons forms a natural ampitheatre with steep sides, protected from the wind and well-exposed to the sunlight. Formerly the property of Château de la Bucède, it was purchased by Lucien Raimbault, grandfather of Philippe, in 1946. The underground cellars of Domaine Philippe Raimbault are located at the foot of this slope in the village of Sury-en-Vaux. Philippe Raimbault points out that the soils of Sancerre are part of a geological stratum formed during the secondary era of the Jurassic period and that fossils of sea creatures more than 130 million years old are still discovered in the vineyards here. The wine is a delight, with fresh springtime aromas conjur myriad suggestion of pamplemousse (the ripe, ruby red kind), melon, apricot, honeysuckle, cerfeuil and wine-soaked limestone; just plump, ripe and round, almost spherical on the tongue with at once a delicate and generous juicy fresh fruit flavor balanced with a hint of stone and sea-salty salinity on the finish.
$22.50 the bottle $229.56 the case
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Questions? Comments? Orders?
Give us a call at (512) 499-0512, send us a fax at (512) 499-0531 or send us an e-Mail message.
