Saturday afternoon the 27th of May, 2017 from 12:00 NOON until 3:00 PM here at the shop

Wine Tasting

Friendly Italian Wines

Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Crede Brut Bisol

2015 Vermentino di Gallura Renadoro Vignetti Zanatta

2015 Colterenzio Chardonnay Altkirch

2015 Valpolicella Brigaldara

2014 Chianti Classico Castello di Volpaia

Gentlemen, please, no cologne or after shave; ladies, please no perfume!

Pre-Arrival Offering of 2016 Vintage Bordeaux

Our choice for classic shape and utility for professional decanting of fine red (or, for that matter, fine white) wines. Brilliant Tritan® crystal clear; well-grounded with a low center of gravity and a large surface area for maximum aeration; easy to pour and with drip protect lip. This is the item! Regularly $75.00 the piece, on sale now at ⅓ off:

After 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.

Potocki Wódka is created from the highest quality rye grain sourced in fields around the distillery in central Poland. Fresh from the harvest each August, the grain is milled and cooked under pressure. Yeast is then added to start fermentation yielding a low alcoholic strength mash. The mash goes through two slow distillations in a column still. It is regularly tasted until the optimal distillation level is reached. The «head» and the «tail», that is the initial and final ends of the distillate, are discarded to ensure the highest quality. The resulting distillate is then mixed with a pure distilled water to the desired strength of 40% alcohol by volume. No additives, such as citric acid or glycerine, are used. The common process of charcoal filtration is intentionally omitted as this would unnecessarily strip the vodka of its character (and flavor, mind you). We find the end result a most compelling spirit: discernably a distillate of a fine quality rye grain with an alluring warmth and breadth and purity of aroma; smooth and round in texture (please note the texture), a wholly satisfying, engaging and pure eaux-de-vie de seigle polonais. Our wine buyer's mentor, Mr. Henry, used to quip that it was the Poles who taught the Russians to make vodka (never mind he was himself Polish). Potocki Wódka lends creedence to his argument. And, no, he wasn't just whistling Górecki. The proof is in the product. We give this fine spirit our very highest recommendation.

Trimbach 2007 Vintage Caisse Prestige

At its finest, Alsace is all about juicy, pure white wines with intense fruit flavors, bright acidity and in the case of wines from Alsace's grand crus and next-best sites complex underlying soil tones. By those standards, vintage 2007 is a year for your personal time capsule. Following the difficult harvest of 2006, the growing season of 2007 brought what one grower on my September tour described as an early vintage with a late-ripening character and what most makers agreed is an excellent to outstanding year for this beautiful region. The best producers have made concentrated, firm wines with uncanny precision of flavor, fascinating transparency to site, and the structure for a long and graceful evolution in bottle. - Stephen Tanzer, vinous.com November, 2008

This is a special six-bottle wooden case containing one bottle each from the 2007 vintage of the Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Émile, Trimbach Riesling Clos S^te Hune, Trimbach Pinot Gris Réserve Personnelle, Trimbach Gewurztraminer Cuvée des Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre, Trimbach Gewurztraminer Vendanges Tardives, and Trimbach Gewurztraminer Sélection de Grains Nobles Hors Choix.

$637.50 the case of 6/750ml bottles

50% Grenache Gris, 20% Grenache Noir, 20% Carignan, 5% Cinsault and 5% Mourvèdre; let's call it light peach skin-pink in color with just fermented aromas hinting at yeasty crushed red berries and an underlying minerality; nervy and vivid on entry, delicately glycerol mid-palate feel then crisp, refreshing and invigorating with fresh powdery berry flavors on to the finish. Let the rosé season begin!

From the land of d'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers comes this keen-edged little number. Noted wine critic, Robert M. Parker, Jr., has called it 'among the greatest white wine values in the world.' Vivid and fresh of aroma, hinting at citrus, say ruby-red grapefruit and peach; light on its feet and low in alcohol, crisp, chalky dry, both tantalizing and refreshing, stirring the salivary glands something wonderful. Serve this one up well-chilled to foil this summer heat.

The 2015 Marjosse Blanc exhibits Green apple, pear, mint and expressive floral notes abound in the 2015 Marjosse. This light-weight, refreshing Sauvignon Blanc/Sémillon/Sauvignon Gris/Muscadelle from Pierre Lurton is an excellent aperitif-style dry white to drink young! Tasted April 2016. Rated 88. - Antonio Galloni, vinousmedia.com, April, 2016

"Unquestionably the number one small estate of Orvieto" according to Stephen Tanzer, Palazzone produces delicious white wines from indigenous grape varietals of Umbria, balancing irresistable fruit aromas and flavors with an oh-so stony backdrop and nerve; 50% Procanico, 30% Grechetto and 20% of Verdello, Drupeggio and Malvasia, vinified in stainless steel to keep things fresh; medium-bodied, supremely-balanced white wine with aromas that speak clearly of cool of the morning harvest fresh grapes and notions of floral honey, beeswax and something like hazelnut and elderflower and, yet again, stone; at once, just ample and round, crisp and dusty, citrusy dry and alive with fresh grapey flavor; our Italian wine-loving pal Jerry Reid sez "slap and tickle." C'mon downtown 'n get yourself some of this delicious wine!

Produced of 100% Chardonnay from Grand Cru vineyards near Le Mesnil sur Oger, in the heart of the Côte des Blancs, holy ground for lovers of the finest Champagne. This bottling represents some ⅔ of the production of the very well-run cooperative that is Champagne Le Mesnil. Brilliant white-gold in color, this Brut Blanc de Blancs has a lovely harmony of elements, fresh and most enticing and inviting aromas suggestive of melon, cool of the morning grape plucked from the vine, buttered biscuit and flower pollen; nice medium-full mousse, then expansive on the tongue and supremely flavorful, its crisp fresh chalky dry finish just begging another pull. Delicious!

Etna Rosso is, for us, a most wonderful if somewhat recent discovery of some, um, magnitude. And Tenuta delle Terre Nere have emerged a favorite producer of the wine among our discerning clientèle. Produced from a preponderance of Nerello Mascalese along with a dash of Nerello Cappuccio fruit from the young vines of the estate cropped at low yields of around 35 hectolitres per hectare and growing on the hillsides of the famous volcano on the eastern edge of the island of Sicily, the wine is a limpid ruby red in color; reticent on opening (by all means do give this one a good decanting), quite lovely aromas are coaxed with some aeration, let's say tarry dried cherries, dried Italian herbs, spices and deep dark volcanic earthy/smoky notes; while there has been a good deal of comparison of Etna Rosso to Burgundian Pinot Noir, the aromatic profile is quite different and the silken-textured opening quickly gives way, builds into somewhat more of a southern powerhouse on the tongue, with fine-grained tannins seemingly carrying bursting flavors right on up that hill, potent and long to the finish. Maybe a comparison to a mythical marriage of Chambolle-Musigny and Châteauneuf-du-Pape would be more apt but, then again, no. Etna Rosso is sui generis. One might say it enters on silken slippers, all carefree island hopping light on its feet, but goes out with a firm resolve, as one might reasonably expect of a wine whose vines' waltzing partner is the stuff of an active volcano. Magnitude, you bet. Even better, Magmatude!

Good full red. Medicinal red cherry, raspberry, sweet spices and mint on the fresh, precise nose. Bright and sweet, with a penetrating, austere quality to its flavors of red fruits, minerals and medicinal herbs. Harmonious acidity nicely frames the pure, long, youthfully tight finish. Lovely young Brunello that will repay cellaring. Drink: 2025-2038. Rated 93+. - Ian D'Agata, vinous.com March, 2017

Il Poggione is a Brunello superstar and a vintage like this reveals every reason why that affirmation is true. From the second the 2012 Brunello di Montalcino pours into the glass, you know you are in for something special. The wine is darkly saturated and rich in appearance. Absent are those slightly amber or browning hues you often get with Sangiovese in a hot vintage. Nor does the wine show flat or tired characteristics. Instead, the quality of fruit is vibrant and rich. This is a healthy, generous and exuberant Brunello with dark density and succulent fruit flavors that are followed by integrated spice and tobacco. The balance is impressive and one thing you get here is fresh acidity. This is not to be underestimated, because the acidity quota in the 2012 vintage across the appellation is not as high or evident as usual. This is one of the year's best Brunellos. Drink: 2017-2030. Rated 95+. - Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate Issue 229, February, 2017

A big, powerful wine, the 2012 Barbaresco hits the palate with surprising depth allied to nervous tannins that are going to need time to soften. Tobacco, smoke, licorice, menthol, game and a host of dark, ferrous notes give the wine much of its virile personality. The 2012 is not as finessed as some recent vintages, yet it offers considerable potential for the future. Most importantly, it is a terrific value at a time when well-priced Barbaresco is increasingly hard to find. In 2012, the Produttori did not bottle their Riservas. When that happens, the straight Barbaresco is often an overachiever. That is certainly the case here, as the 2012 offers outstanding quality for the money, with plenty of potential for the future. I can't think of too many wines that deliver this much pleasure and value. Drink: 2018-2032. Rated 92. - Antonio Galloni, vinous.com, December, 2015

$35.00 the bottle  $357.00 the case

Produce of 100% Dolcetto fruit from a parcel on the hillside between Bricco Boschis and Monprivato/Codana. Fermented with indigenous yeasts, macerated with submerged cap for 3-4 days, then aged in large Slavonian oak botti of 50 hl for 6 months and then in cement tanks for 6 months. More and better evidence of 2015 as the «annata solare»? Probably so, yeah. Heady aromas suggestive of fleshy ripe berries, fresh grape pomace, graphite and bitter almond; compellingly full, round and potent on the tongue with ripe but very present tannins carrying a rush of intensity of flavors that reprise and then riff on those very first whiffs with an added note of kirsh in the delicious mix. Warm, invigorating and potent to the finish.

Mercurey in the Cote Chalonnaise is the largest appellation in all of Burgundy with over 650 hectares under vine. Domaine Faiveley's village Mercurey is sourced from 5 parcels spread throughout the appellation for a little over 38 hectares. The oldest plantings of these vines dates back as far as 1962. The soils are primarily clay and limestone. The grapes are hand harvested, sorted and pressed on site in Mercurey. Following vinification the young wines are brought to the domaine cellars in Nuits-Saint-Georges for aging in a combination of stainless steel and oak for 12 to 14 months prior to release. This 2015 vintage remains a lovely translucent cherry skin red in color (if somewhat deeper in color than previous vintages) with alluringly ripe aromas suggestive of spice and cherry and dark ripe fleshy peppery Pinot noir berries along with a hint of the vineyard floor; supple, silken, yes, but almost velvety-textured then firm and if somewhat more densely-packed and uncharacteristically vigorous, just plain delicious with fresh tannins carrying piquant, bursting mouthwatering Burgundian Pinot noir flavor long and strong to the finish.

From Douro Valley vineyards of the Symington family in northern Portugal, including the Quinta do Bomfim and Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira, which have traditionally supplied the famed Porto House of Dow. Vale do Bomfim represents a new style of table wine from the Upper Douro valley, where the region's wealth of grape varieties, mature vineyards and modern winemaking have been successfully combined. Produce of 30% Tinta Barroca, 25% Touriga Nacional, 25% Touriga Franca, 20% Tinta Roriz, hand-selected and vinified at the Quinta do Sol winery, one of the most modern winemaking facilities in Portugal. While a comparison to Bordeaux may be compelling here, there is something a bit more delightfully old-world about this wine: deep purple red in color; at first, showing a certain Claret-like reserve and restraint, it then steps on out of those shoes to declare itself more surely of Iberian origin with aromas suggestive of fleshy wild berries, let’s say mulberry, ripe plum, blonde tobacco and a woodsy, cinnamon stick-like spice; just plump and rich in texture with balancing structure of nicely resolved chalky tannins that fan out broadly on the tongue, yielding delicious flavors of berries and spice that burst forth quite unreservedly, warm and long on the finish. Absolutely splendid value at its regular price of $11.25 the bottle, on sale now at:

While the art of creating Port wine was being perfected, Bordeaux — another region with a talent for satisfying the thirst of the English — was inventing vinification using a process of prolonged maceration, allowing for the gradual and gentle extraction of tannins. This gave rise to the balance and finesse of the great red wines of the Médoc. The attempt to apply Bordeaux wine-making methods to grapes which are traditionally destined for the production of vintage Port is the essence of this exciting Prats & Symington project. Prazo de Roriz is produce of a classic mingling of Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Amarela, Tinto Cão and Sousão fruit hand-harvested from the Quinta de Roriz and Quinta da Perdiz. Quinta de Roriz is situated in a natural amphitheatre facing north on the banks of the Douro. Its mineral-rich schistous soils give highly aromatic wine of red-fruited, mineral-driven character. Quinta da Perdiz lies on a steep gradient on the other side of the same mountain in the relatively closed-in Rio Torto Valley and produces ripe, soft, velvety wines from this warmer climate. Altogether, Prazo de Roriz is an exceptional Douro Valley red wine. And the also exceptional 2015 vintage lends its swellingly solar voice: deep almost bluish red in color with alluring aromas of mineral-soil influenced dark ripe berries, dried cherries, baking spices and fresh grape pomace; at once firm and rich, vivid and alive on the tongue, then expansive, still firm and full-fruited, with its mineral edge on keen display with fine chalky tannins carrying penetrating flavors that remain fresh, long and mouthwatering to the finish. Wow!

The Bilbro brothers are moving from strength to strength with their venerable Marietta Cellars Old Vine Red. Lot Number 65 is just on the scene. The wine is tweaked ever so slightly drier than previous lots, perhaps now ever the more appealing to both west coast and European wine tastes. Produced mainly 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. Alluring deep ruby purple in color, with Zinfandel-influenced aromas suggesting dark ripe juicy berries with hints of the parched dusty northern California vineyard floor; at once fresh and vibrant, smooth and slippery on the tongue with just an inkling of fine-grained tannins that keep it all on the up and over. And, by all means, do take note of its continuing brilliantly true blue in terms of value! Regularly $11.99 the bottle, on sale now at:

In the Graham’s cellars the depiction of bunches of grapes on the cask ends has been used to signify a wine of Vintage Porto quality. Amongst these, six bunches denote the darkest and most full‑bodied of such wines. One of Graham’s original Porto blends, Six Grapes is a true expression of the Graham’s house style with great richness and complexity — Graham's themselves refer to it as 'everyday Porto for the lover of full-on Vintage Porto.' Midnight ruby red in color with very primary aromas of ripe plum, prune, cherry, grape pomace, dried fig, tea leaf, bergamot, anise, cracked pepper, whoo, we could go on; rich, voluptuous even, on the tongue, then shows its warming grip with structure from velvety tannins; invigorating, fortifying, flavorful to the finish.

While vintage Porto is bottled some 18 months following the vintage, Tawny Porto is aged almost entirely in cask, during this process throwing off its dark purple color in favor of a more "tawny" hue, leaving its sediments in cask rather than in the bottle, it’s once grapey, plummy fruit transformed into something far more complex and, frankly, sublime — a veritable cornucopia of aromatic richness: bitter almond, caramel, walnut, citrus peel, raisin, prune, dried berry and cherry and perhaps a hint of brandy by campfire; oh so silken-textured, at once voluptuous and fiery, challenging and satisfying, with deliciously complex flavors that somehow so discreetly reprise those first highly suggestive aromas. Absolutely superb!