Vinopolis Monday Newsletter 1/30/23

We have the best rosé selection around! Why wait for spring? 

We’re having a huge sale on Rosé throughout the entire month of February.

Sale Began at 4pm on Friday, January 20th 
Sale Ends at 6pm on Tuesday, February 28th 
     
5% off 6-11 bottles and/or large format rosés. 

10% off 12 or more bottles and/or large formats of rosés. 

Discount will not display online, we will adjust your invoice before charging your card.
Discount does not apply to pre-arrival wines or to case discounts. 
This is first come / first served and limited to stock on hand.

Buying a case-6 unlocks an additional 5% discount on 1-5 additional bottles of rosé purchased. Buying a case-12 unlocks an additional 10% discount on all additional bottles of rosé purchased. 

This sale applies to ALL rosé wines. That’s over 85 wines and thousands of bottles discounted! Here are a few recommendations to get you started.

Domaine des Cassagnoles Rose, IGP Cotes de Gascogne 2021 750ml $11.90 special, 31 bottles in stock 
Importer note “Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grown on clay and limestone soils. Average vine age is 19 years old.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Hope Well ‘Monday’s Child’ Pinot Noir Rose, Eola Amity Hills 2021 750ml $44 special, 6 bottles in stock 
Mimi Casteel’s note “Monday’s Child, in traditional rosé style, spent less than 24 hours on the skins and went to press cold. A cold and brief infusion to preserve the layers of crisp flavor and the effusive bouquet of spring flowers and berries. Alcohol 13.0%”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Domaine Les Aphillanthes Cotes du Rhone Nymphea Rose 2021 750ml $14 special, 23 bottles in stock 
Vinous 88 points “Bright orange. Ripe cherry, orange pith and floral qualities on the nose. Offers juicy red fruit and blood orange flavors. The warm, smooth finish echoes the cherry note and hangs on with good tenacity.”

This is the lowest listed price on the West Coast!

J. Mourat Collection Rose, Fiefs Vendeens Mareuil 2021 750ml $16 special, 35 bottles in stock 
Winery note “Organic. 40% Pinot Noir, 20% Gamay 40% Cabernet Franc grown on a mix of schist and rhyolite. Average age of the vines is 20 years. Hand-harvested, destemmed, pressed and settled with spontaneous fermentation at cool temperatures in stainless steel. Aged 5 months in tank before bottling.”
Importer note “Bright and thirst quenching Loire rose. Bursting with aromas of crushed cherry, watermelon & herb, it is fleshy on the palate with intense flavors of cherry and raspberry.”

Chateau des Sarrins Cotes de Provence Rose 2021 750ml $16 special, 25 bottles in stock 
Winery note “Les Sarrins Rosé set out to leverage Bruno Paillard’s expertise in the region, to produce a wine that is pure Provence. A wine that shows off the best attributes of this appellation, making it synonymous with the greatest rosé in the world. Only grapes from the top parts of the AOP are selected for our production. The grapes are gently pressed producing a beautiful light pink color and vinification takes place in stainless steel tanks at moderate temperatures to reduce malolactic fermentation. The result is a fresh, bright, floral rosé of beautiful balance.  Tasting notes: color pale pink in color, pale rose petals, bright and clear aroma fine and delicate, with white fruit aromas combined with citrus notes and floral nuances. Taste: the attack is ample and fresh with notes of peach, strawberry, and a long finish with violet notes. Mourvèdre, Rolle, Cinsault, Grenache. Alcohol 13%.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Falletto di Bruno Giacosa ‘Falletto Riserva – Falleto Vigna Le Rocche’ Barolo DOCG 2016 750ml $799 special, 2 bottles in stock 
James Suckling 100 points “This is the second 100-point Vigna Le Rocche, following the 2015. What the former had in intensity of fruit and transparency, this has in structure and power. The purity of fruit is sensational in this young Barolo, offering blackberries, black truffle and iron. Rust too. This is so tannic and powerful with incredible structure. This may be the most structured Barolo from Bruno Giacosa I have ever tasted as a young wine. Speechless. Full-bodied and so intense, yet it remains fresh and agile. Traditional in every sense of the word, but this is clear and clean. A classic in the making. It will be in the market January 2022. Leave this for at least six to eight years.”
Wine Advocate 98 points “The Bruno Giacosa 2016 Barolo Falletto Vigna Le Rocche sees its fruit sourced from the oldest vines in the Falletto cru. This wine boasts all the signature touches of Serralunga d’Alba with the massive structure, density and the long aging potential that comes with Nebbiolo grown in this village. The wine spreads evenly over the palate, imparting its considerable fruit weight and generally leaving a big impact. This Barolo is really quite lovely and beautiful. The bouquet is fluid and ever-shifting, showing new sides with firm fruit, blackberry, smoke, rusty nail and mineral with every swirl of the glass. I visited this vineyard site shortly before tasting this wine and marveled at the beautiful peacocks that roam free between the rows of vines.”

Pian dell’Orino Bassolino di Sopra, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2010 750ml $599 special, 1 bottle in stock 
Wine Advocate 100 points “The 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Bassolino di Sopra is the equivalent of the estate’s Riserva. Only 3,000 bottles were made and the wine was not produced in 2009 or 2008. Nor will it be made in 2011 or 2013. Future editions are 2012 and 2015. Bassolino di Sopra is silky and smooth, but it also has a fine textural fabric that gives the wine an enormous sense of tactile intensity in terms of mouthfeel. This is a magnificent achievement with an extreme sense of purity and freshness that is elegant and streamlined. The bouquet reveals slight and miniature shifts in its evolution that keep your curiosity as you contemplate the wine in the glass. Wild berry is followed by a steady stream of balsam herb, cola, crushed oyster shell and delicate floral tones. The vineyards are located between 330 and 370 meters above sea level with limestone deposits and red soils. Farming is biodynamic.”
Antonio Galloni 97 points “Pian dell’Orino 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Bassolino di Sopra is shaping up to be another of the wines of the vintage. Lavender, spices, menthol, tobacco and dark stone fruits meld together in a vivid Brunello of extraordinary beauty. Tasted alongside the Versante Amiata, the Bassolino di Sopra presents darker tonalities of fruit, a more vertical sense of structure support by spine of firm tannin, and a powerful personality. The 2010 is a fascinating wine to follow, as it becomes weightless and refined with the passage of time. Sadly, I could not spend all afternoon with the Bassolino di Sopra, but this is a deep, contemplative Brunello that will thrill readers for many, many years.” 

Pre-arrival eta mid-February 

Royal Tokaji Essencia, Tokaj 2009 375ml $999 special, 6 bottles in stock 
Vinous 99 points “The 2009 Tokaji Essencia comes in 1,386 individual red lacquer hand-crafted boxes containing a 375ml bottle and an obligatory hand-blown glass spoon, which is not there for decorative purposes. It does enhance imbibement, allowing that enormous hit of sucrosity to land straight on the tongue instead of clinging to the sides of your mouth or gums. It has a surprisingly bashful nose for the first 12 hours. Whereas some burst from the glass, this chooses to unfurl and only as if toying with you, gradually reveals scents of fresh fig, Medjool dates, Seville orange marmalade and Clementines. I notice that the aromatics blossom on the second day as it deftly slips into fifth gear. The palate also meliorates, obviously unctuous and yet paradoxically weightless thanks to that acidity. Again, fig features prominently allied with marmalade, demerara and quince, more desiccated orange peel and syrup towards the harmonious finish. Wonderful precision throughout, this magnificent Essencia that will outlast you and I.”
James Suckling 99 points ” Wine does not get more concentrated, dense and viscous than this Tokaji Essencia, but alongside the unctuous sweetness, it also has extraordinary freshness. The fruit aromas range from blood to quince jelly, but there’s also a slew of spices and notes of flowers and forest honey. Although it barely has 2% alcohol, it is much more vinous than that figure suggests. Titanic brulee character at the huge finish. Just 1,386 half-bottles were made. Should live longer than any of us! Drink or hold.”
Decanter 96 points “2009 is Royal Tokaji’s seventh release of Essencia and one of its smallest vintages due to the extremely dry growing season. Made exclusively with Furmint, the 2009 Essencia went through a long spontaneous fermentation process in glass demijohns, resulting in merely 1.8 g/l of alcohol. The blending was finally finished in 2017 and the wine was aged for a further five years in bottle. Only 1,386 bottles were made for the 2009 vintage, each will be sold with a hand-blown Hungarian crystal spoon for serving. The producer anticipates a retail price at £900/$1000 per bottle. Amber in colour, it has an intoxicating bouquet of orange rind, dried apricot and mango, citrus blossom, figs, acacia honey and marmalade with a touch of herbal freshness. With sugar levels reaching as high as 581.3 g/l, the Essencia 2009 is by no means heavy and cloying on the palate. With bright citrus acidity at 11.8 g/l leading the way, lemon zest, maple syrup, more dried yellow and red fruits unravel and linger on. A rare treat that still has decades ahead.”