Mid-Week VinopolPick – June 24 – 2015

Wednesday, June 24th, 2015

48 Hour Sales; Mid-Week New Arrivals; A. J. Adam Special Feature; Arriving This Week; Domaine Pepiere
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Mid-West, East & South

Summer Shipping Saver

Whisk your wine through warmer weather!
Beginning now, for the summer season we are offering UPS Three Day Select Service for the price of UPS Ground for shipments normally travelling 4 or more business days.
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48 Hour Sale
Ends Friday at 10 am

Albert Bichot Savigny-les-Beaune 2012 750ML ($29.95) Was $21.90, Now $18, 36+ bottles available
Case- 12 Albert Bichot Savigny-les-Beaune 2012 750ML ($319.95) Was $219, Now $199, 5 cases available (that’s only $16.58/bottle!)
Winery note “Tasting notes: This Savigny les Beaune has a deep ruby red robe. Fruity aromas of red and black woodland berries, enhanced by aromas of mild spices. With an initial pleasant ampleness , this harmonious wine leads on to a subtle and fruity finish.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The next best price is $25.99

Mischief and Mayhem Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2011 750ML ($29.95) Was $16, Now $11.90, 36+ bottles available
Importer notes “Hard work amongst the vines, fine vintage conditions and superb Pinot Noir vineyard sites with an average vine age of 45 years, all combine to produce this classic Bourgogne Pinot Noir. Beautiful pure, ripe fruit, so typical in 2011, light barrel treatment and élevage in stainless steel tank, all integrate to produce a wine of real purity, ripe fruit character, structure and finesse. Aroma: Complex nose of strawberry, raspberry, redcurrant and violets, with notes of vanilla and cinnamon spice. Taste: Lovely texture, good grip, yet supple and round with ripe tannins and soft acidity. Delicious red fruit notes, including juicy raspberry and red cherry with hints of blackberry, mocha, dark chocolate, spice and sandalwood. Soft, pure, and focused finish.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The next best price is $24.99

Philippe Foreau Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Moelleux 2009 750ML ($99.95) Was $69, Now $55, 12 bottles available
Wine Advocate 96+ points “The golden yellow 2009 Vouvray Moelleux offers an awesome rich bouquet of a full basket of super ripe white and yellow-fleshed fruits with pure and mineral highlighted aromas as well as colored blossoms, yellow paprika, ginger, coriander, white pepper, toasted peanuts and speck. Bottled with 80 grams of residual sugar, this is a full-bodied, complex, and very elegant almost perfect moelleux à la Foreau, a really rich, ripe, sweet and perfectly balanced wine of great finesse and a persistent freshness due to the lingering salinity and piquancy. This great Moelleux is surely made from healthy berries and for all Chenin lovers and their following generations this is a must buy.” WA

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The average price is $65

Alvaro Palacios ‘Les Terrasses’ Velles Vinyes, Priorat DOCa 2012 750ML ($44.95) Was $36, Now $29, 36+ bottles available
Stephen Tanzer 92 points “Brilliant ruby. Potent, mineral-laced raspberry and cherry aromas are complicated by exotic floral and spice qualities, picking up white pepper and mocha accents with air. Seamless and sweet, offering silky red berry preserve flavors with a touch of allspice. Closes lively and precise, with sneaky tannins and a jolt of bitter cherry.” ST

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
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Mid-Week New Arrivals

FRANCE-BURGUNDY
Domaine Jacques-Frederic Mugnier Clos de la Marechale, Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru 2012 750ML ($119.95) $88 special
John Gilman 93 points “Despite the brutally short yields here in 2012, the wine has turned out splendidly. The deep and complex nose wafts from the glass in a fine blend of cherries, pomegranate, nutskin, a beautiful base of soil tones, violets, cocoa and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, and very pure on the attack, with lovely soil signature, a sappy core and impressive complexity and grip on the suavely tannic and perfectly balanced finish. 2020-2050+. (Nov/Dec 2013)”
Fine Wine Review 91-95 points “The red Nuits-Clos de la Maréchale is salty, dense, and powerful with good acidity and richness. The fruit is dark here. This is real Nuits style — an answer to those who say that Mugnier has been making this wine in a Chambolle style. (Issue #141; 2014)”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The average price is $119
FRANCE-ALSACE
Domaine Andre Kientzler Riesling 2013 750ML ($21.95) $18 special
“A fine bouquet enhances the delicately fruity mineral shades. The palate is tight, straightforward and pure. This sophisticated Riesling is structured by a chiseled acidity, giving dimension to the wine.”–Winemaker Notes

This is the only listing in the USA today!
GERMANY
Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett 2013 750ML ($29.95) $24 special
Joel B. Payne–Vinous 92 points “Karl-Joseph Christoffel’s 2013 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett is the Mosel at its finest: pure, finely chiseled and unbelievable elegant! It is a tribute to how Riesling blossoms on slate soils. Delicately off-dry, it is my top value pick for Germany in 2013.” JP

Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spatlese 2013 750ML ($39.95) $29 special
Wine Spectator 90 points “Shows a raciness to the pure-tasting flavors of fresh-cut green apple and white currant, with grapefruit accents. Hints of mustard greens show on the richly spiced finish. Drink now through 2034. 35 cases imported.” WS
Terry Theise notes: “Curiously, though this is sweeter now, it also seems cooler and shadier than the two Kabinetts. (This sometimes happens at Diel too.) Another salty wine but not a beast; it’s ultra-refined and crystalline.”

Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Erdener Treppchen Riesling Auslese * * “Herzlay” 2013 750ML ($69.95) $59 special
Wine Spectator 90 points “Offers lots of pastry puff notes to the airy peach and melon flavors. Spicy and lush, with a pillowy finish that lingers with dried ginger accents. A delicate style. Drink now through 2038. 5 cases imported.” WS
Terry Theise notes: “‘Lay’ is old dialect for slate. This is from an old ungrafted parcel among the cliffs, and as it often it, it’s masterly. Divine apple and walnutty slate; stunning salty length, like having an old Comté with those crunchy crystals and putting that and an apple in your mouth together. Somehow with “only” 115º it tastes markedly riper than the (110º) Kabinett. This is the spectacular wine; next up is the compelling riddle.”
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A. J. Adam
Mosel, Germany

“[Adam’s] wines are highly expressive, whether they’re old-fashioned leesy spontis or more stainless-steel primary fruit driven. They’re muscular for Mosel wines, mouthfilling and complex and loaded. For me Adam is the ultimate example of applying long-held and grounded principles into the making of excitingly conservative Mosel wines. He isn’t reinventing an already perfect paradigm. He is reaching into the heart of its gravitas and expressing it in Rieslings that embody what great classics should be.” –Terry Theise

“I sustain my vineyards by intensive soil work to bring out the essential nutrients up from the primary rock, the natural compost of a vineyard. This completion of the bond between elemental soil and the work of the vintner is another piece in the puzzle of terroir… I think in Germany we see terroir as a unity of grape, climate, soil, and the mentality of the person who works the vineyard. But the essence of that mentality is a knowledge that the geology of his terrain indeed creates the flavors in the grapes which grow there.” — Andreas Adam

In a virtually unknown side valley of the Mosel, just south of Piesport, are the steep, south-facing vineyard slopes of Dhron. Few of the younger generation have taken over for the aging winemakers of this small region except for Andreas Adam. In 2000, after working for Heymann-Lowenstein, he began resurrecting his maternal grandfather’s estate in Dhron. His parents had taken careers in other industries rather than farm the extremely steep, slate vineyards. When Adam took the estate over, he began part time while still working in the cellar of other prestigious Mosel wineries. He took the leap to produce wines full-time around the time he was ‘discovered’ by Terry Theise and his wines were becoming internationally recognized.

Surrounded mostly by Muller-Thurgau vineyards, Adam farms 3.8 hectares of scattered parcels of Riesling including portions of the Hofberg vineyard, the only Erste Lage (Top Growth) vineyard in Dhron. The soil here is gray-blue slate and iron oxide. The terroir of the area produces wines more similar to Saar than Mosel: the steepness, high altitude and cooling mountain breezes help the wines retain vibrant acidity. Yet balanced with the acidity, Adam’s wines are noted for their concentration and finesse. This is partly due to the age of his parcels, some of which date back to the 1950s. Older vines are a rarity in Dhron since much of the land was reformed, re-terraced and replanted in the 1970s.

Adam also produces wine from the Goldtrofchen vineyard in Piesport, also an Erste Lage. His parcels include several planted along ancient terraces in the soil of decomposing slate stones. The wine is produced with Julian Haart, thus Haart’s name appears on the label alongside Adam’s. The labels for all of his bottlings were based on 19th century designs from his mother’s side and include the family coat of arms.

In the winery, Adam hand sorts the grapes before they undergo natural yeast fermentation in stainless steel, fuder and halbfuder casks. He adds nothing to the fermenting wines. The result is wines of poise, energy and concentration: terroir-driven and supremely balanced.

A. J. Adam Wines Available Here Now

Weingut A.J. Adam Riesling Trocken 2013 750ML ($27.95) $24 special
Terry Theise notes: “A little purchased fruit this year, the crop was so small. All Dhron. Half & half sponti and cutured yeast, all done in steel.The ’13 aroma is there but the wine is more limpid and pebbly than most, balanced-dry, with cool quince-y fruit; ’13expresses as burnt-candle now, and this smells as much like (good!) Chenin as like Riesling.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Weingut A.J. Adam Dhroner Hofberg Riesling Kabinett 2011 750ML ($39.95) $29 special
Case-12 Weingut A.J. Adam Dhroner Hofberg Riesling Kabinett 2011 750ML ($349.95) $299 special
Wine Advocate 92 points “Talcum and orange blossom fetchingly scent Adam’s 2011 Dhronhofberger Riesling Kabinett, then join white peach on a luscious, delicate, subtly creamy palate, with a sense of wafting inner-mouth perfume as well as nut cream and wet stone undertones lasting into a refreshing finish, where the effects of a small lot of wine with unusually high acidity are noticeable and engender a certain largely productive tension. As this opened to the air, a sense of interactive dynamic between its fruit and flowers on the one hand and emerging stony, alkaline, and saline notes on the other served to heighten an already high level of stimulation. This should be a delight to follow for the next 15 years or so and will probably gain in nuanced complexity.” WA

Weingut A.J. Adam Dhroner Hofberg Riesling Kabinett 2013 750ML ($39.95) $29 special
Wine Advocate 91+ points “From the cooler, late-ripening part of the Hofberg, the 8% alcohol 2013 Dhroner Hofberg Riesling Kabinett was fermented 80% in stainless steel and 20% in fuder. Bottled with approximately 50 grams of un-fermented sugar and 9.3 grams of acidity it opens lovely clear, pure and floral on the nose. Racy and lovely sweet on the palate this fascinating elegant and piquant Kabinett is a sort Scharzhofberger à la Scharzhof from the Mosel. Really stunning and persistently salty.”RP

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Weingut A.J. Adam Dhroner Hofberg Riesling Spatlese 2013 750ML ($49.95) $41.90 special
Wine Advocate 94+ points “Even the 2013 Dhroner Hofberg Riesling Spätlese remains a mineral and flinty wine, but offers more fruit intensity and ripeness than the Kabinett. Very elegant and full of finesse this Riesling combines sweetness and intensity with salinity and piquancy and finishes as a lovely precise and persistent Spätlese with honey and grapefruit notes in the aftertaste. One of the stellar Spätlesen of the 2013 vintage in the Mosel valley!”RP

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The next best price is $51

Weingut A.J. Adam Dhroner Hofberg Riesling Trocken (Grosses Gewachs) 2013 1.5L ($149.95) $127 special
Robert Parker 93+ points “Selected twice (in the vineyard and at the winery to process only healthy grapes), 100% fuder-fermented and bottled in May 2014, the 2013 Dhroner Hofberg Riesling trocken has a very clear and precise nose displaying ripe peach and nectarine aromas intertwined with slate flavors. This leads to an impressively intense, filigreed and pure wine which develops power and finesse and does not have a single gram of fat. Sourced from 60-year-old and partly ungrafted vines this 12.4% natural alcohol cru is a full-bodied, elegant, precise and crystalline Riesling with an impressive purity and terroir expression. It has just begun its flight and could be even finer in half a year. “RP
Terry Theise notes: “This is the quasi-GG and of all these obstreperous ’13s it was the best behaved. In fact a lovely dry Riesling, herbal, juicy, malic and salty; long and clinging finish; amazing equipoise of ethereal delicacy and heavy density and grip. 94º Oechsle, rather little botrytis, cask-fermented and aged on the fine lees, and finely smoky; only 8.5g/l RS but extract concentration confers a kind of facsimile of “’sweetness.'”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Weingut A.J. Adam Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Grosses Gewachs 2012 750ML ($99.95) $69 special
Terry Theise: “Sterner stuff than the village wine; pointed intense aromas of blueberries and white iris and candied lemon. The palate is off the hinges! Entirely harmonious, rampantly exotic and rich, it’s like a Pfalz GG with more grace and less earthiness. Pink peppercorn and powder-puff, ginger and mustard-seed; stern slate on the finish after this thrill-ride of improbable elements for Riesling. The empty glass even smells a little like Savignin.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The next best price is $95.99!

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Just a reminder about our current shipping specials during this season:

For the Mid-West, East, and South during the summer season we are offering UPS Three Day Select Service for the price of UPS Ground for shipments that would normally travel four or more business days to their destination.

We offer flat rate shipping on any size single order / single shipment
-to Oregon for $17,
-Washington & Idaho for $20,
-and California for $25

These rates do not apply to orders held in storage here for any reason. Multiple orders consolidated into one shipment do not qualify for flat rate shipping.

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Arriving Friday, June 26th

Varner Wine Amphitheater Block Spring Ridge Vineyard Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains 2013 750ML ($59.95) $49 pre-arrival special
Varner Wine Bee Block Spring Ridge Vineyard Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains 2013 750ML ($59.95) $49 pre-arrival special
Varner Home Block Spring Ridge Vineyard Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains 2013 750ML ($59.95) $49 pre-arrival special

Ulysse Collin ‘Les Maillons ‘Rose De Saignee Extra Brut NV (2010 Base), Champagne 750ML ($119.95) $89 pre-arrival special
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Domaine Pépière

The time has come upon to celebrate this beautiful summer weather that has generously approached most of us throughout the nation. Summer screams Rosés for most, but one of the most underrated wines that compliment sunshine and fresh, local cuisine this time of year is Muscadet. Today, we are featuring one of our favorite producers to be showing Muscadet and the Melon de Bourgogne grape in the most pristine way, truly expressing its mostly unknown capabilities, Domaine de La Pépière.

Marc Ollivier is the man behind the magic for Pépière, following his grandfather’s footsteps after realizing the world of engineering didn’t seem like a good fit. The progression in quality at Pépière has been quite abundant over the years, both in the vineyard and in the cellar. Marc ripped out and replanted all the vines in 1984, has transitioned to being completely organic, and is currently in the process of receiving a biodynamic certification. Marc believes that using biodynamic preparations reinforces their vines against disease and helps the micro-biological life of the soils, expressing the terroirs natural characteristics.

The vines are all 40 years and older, with an ideal exposition on a plateau overlooking the Sèvre River, planted on poor, shallow soil with hard granite very close to the surface. All the vineyards are from original stock, with Ollivier being the only grower in Muscadet to not have a single clonal selection in his vineyards. Melon de Bourgogne vines tend to produce very high yields even without chemical fertilizers, so to achieve optimal concentrations, the Pépière crew intentionally keeps things at a very low 35 to 40hl/h.

All grapes are hand harvested and only native yeasts are use in the cellar for fermentations. Clos de Briords is a Muscadet from a single-plot vineyard in schist, among the oldest vines in his estate planted in 1930. Because of the soil and greater concentration achieved with old vines, the Clos des Briords tends to be more powerful than most Muscadet’s, and is even more mineral driven.

Clisson, Gorges and Le Pallet now exist as Crus since the recent approval in 2011. The 2012 Clisson is the most recent release since the Cru recognition, an area in the southern part of Muscadet with deep-rooting sandy, stony granite soils that exhibit high draining qualities, giving all the essential minerals. The vines here are 50-110 years old and the wine spends 24 months on the lees, contributing to the incredible power, complexity and depth of this wine. Cuvée 4 is produced from grapes growing on two well-draining granite soils in the Clisson Cru, granodiorite 2-mica and granite, and it shares the terroir and aging capabilities of the Clisson wine.

Ollivier believes the positive changes in quality throughout the region will change the perception of Muscadet for French wine drinkers, who unfortunately have held on to the misconception that the region produces standardized, mass produced supermarket wine. These wines are an incredible value considering the high quality, complex flavor profiles, and aging capabilities. Now is the time to grab these bottles, before word spreads and prices skyrocket. Cheers!

Domaine Pépière Available Here Now

Domaine de la Pépière ‘La Pepie’ Rose Cabernet Franc, IGP Val de Loire 2013 750ML ($19.95) $9 special, 11 bottles available
Stephen Tanzer 87 points “Bright pink. Pungent aromas of redcurrant and cherry pit, with subtle floral and herbal nuances adding complexity. Dry and chewy on the palate, offering bitter cherry and orange pith flavors and a touch of white pepper. Finishes somewhat rigid and tight, with echoing florality and good length.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine Sur Lie Clos des Briords 2013 1.5L ($59.95) $49 special, 1 magnum available
John Gilman 92 points “The Clos des Briords Cuvée Vieilles Vignes from Domaine de la Pépière is always one of the great wines of Muscadet, and even in a tough vintage like 2013, my pulse starts to race a bit when I pull the cork to see how the wine is going to be. The wine is absolutely transcendental of the vintage, with the classic cut and grip that are so rare in 2013, to go along with lovely depth and complexity on both the nose and palate. The wine jumps from the glass in a mix of lemon, green apple, briny soil tones, white flowers and just a whisper of leesiness. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and very soil-driven, with lovely focus and grip, a very good core of fruit, bright acids and excellent length and grip on the quite open finish. In a great classic year, this wine would not be as forward as the 2013 is right out of the blocks, but that is the only atypical characteristic that this vintage of Clos des Briords shows today. A stellar success. 2014-2025.”
Wine Advocate 91 points “Bottled in May 2014, the 2013 Muscadet de Sevre et Maine Sur Lie Clos des Briords is from a Clos in the sub-region of Chateau Thébaud where the vines have grown for 50 years in granite soils. The wine offers a delicious and brillant bouquet of rather white than yellow-fleshed fruits and a refreshing lime aroma. The palate is pure and straight, the structure firm and mineral, its aging potential enormous. Marc offered me the 1995, which he had opened recently with friends. It still had a vibrant citrus color and showed a beautifully matured aroma of dried white fruits and tasted almost like a matured Rheingau Riesling. It was very mineral, yet balanced on the palate, and still extremely vibrant if not racy, with some caramel and chamomile aromas in the finish.”

Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine Clisson 2012 750ML ($24.95) $21.90 special, 30 bottles available (this is the lowest listed price in the USA today!)
Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine Clisson 2012 1.5L ($59.95) $49 special, 6 magnums available
Wine Enthusiast 93 points “Made for aging, this wine is structured and firm. It has a dense texture surrounded by ripe white and yellow fruits. With a touch of spice and a pepper character, it is rich, impressive and full-bodied. Drink from 2017.

Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine Cuvee 4 (Quatre) 2010 750ML ($27.95) $24 special, 22 bottles available
Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine Cuvee 4 (Quatre) 2010 1.5L ($69.95) $59 special, 3 magnums available
Wine Enthusiast 91 points “The light-gold color of this wine shows its maturity. It’s a rich wine that is rounded, full and with a touch of honey. With its toasty character and full-bodied character, this is an impressive wine for drinking now.