Category Archives: Newsletter Archive

Midweek VinopolPick 4-2-20

In Today’s Newsletter:

Classical St. Emilion from Chateau Grandchamp

One Day Left: K Vintners / Substance Subscriber Special

New Brunello Reviews from Ian D’Agata

Goodfellow Subscriber Specials

New Terry Theise Wines Arriving Friday

The 2015 Huet Subscriber Special Ends Tomorrow

First Offer! 2016 Paitin

Classical St. Emilion

From Chateau Grandchamp

We’re suckers for classically made Bordeaux at reasonable prices—a combination that seems to be harder and harder to find. Gonzague Maurice makes a set of wines under the Chateau Grandchamp and Clos du Pavillon labels that more than fit the bill. These wines are the essence of right-bank Bordeaux—Merlot and Cabernet Franc with limited makeup.

Vinification is in stainless steel and most of the elevage is in concrete (25-33% of the wine sees aging in older barrels), so these wines have a purity and vitality that’s uncommon in Bordeaux these days. Chateau Grandchamp is made from an estate vineyard, farmed organically and worked/harvested by hand—a true rarity in the “satellite” regions of Bordeaux. The Clos du Pavillon wines we’re offering are negociant, but Maurice only works with growers who own unique terroirs and farm in accordance with his philosophies. These are delightful wines with plenty of old-school personality.

We flew through our last stock, so we convinced our importer to secure us another round, arriving next week. If you didn’t get a chance to try it last time, now’s your opportunity!

Arriving Friday, April 10^th:

Drinkable, delicious Bordeaux for under $20.
Chateau de Grandchamp, Montagne-Saint-Emilion 2015 750ML ($24.95) $19.90 pre-arrival special
Le Guide Hachette Des Vins 2/3 stars (Vin Remarquable) “A mountain that exalts the qualities of the 2015 vintage and participated in the final of the favorites. From a blend of hand-harvested Merlot (90%) and Cabernet Franc, Château Grandchamp’s team has extracted a wine that combines power and elegance. The color of the dress is purple with violet, the nose is centered on dark fruits with spicy aromas, the palate is frisky, smooth, fruity, with fine, firm tannins and a long finish. [translated]”
Importer notes “Château de Grandchamp is the only domaine on the hillside overlooking the ancient commune of Parsac, located in the Montagne-Saint-Emilion appellation on the right bank of the Dordogne. Vigneron Gonzague Maurice manually farms Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon in densely planted vineyards rooted in clay-limestone soils with small traces of iron. The vineyard has been in organic conversion since 2010, however grass is sown regularly between vine rows and ploughing is done in alternating rows. Gonzague’s sole objective in the vineyard is to obtain perfectly ripe and clean fruit. Triage is done in both the vineyard and the cellar to ensure the highest quality grapes. In the cellar, grapes are vinified in small, temperature controlled tanks and then aged in a combination of tank and one to two year old barrels. Above all, he seeks to preserve the fruit throughout the fermentation and ageing processes. The resulting wine is aromatically vibrant and beautiful balanced with soft tannins.”

This is the only listing on the West Coast!

Can’t Wait? These two from Clos du Pavillon are in stock now:

Le Pavillon Dragon St George, St George – Saint-Emilion 2015 750ML ($29.95) $24 special, 36+ bottles in stock now

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Le Pavillion “La Grange des Bardes” Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2015 750ML ($37.95) $29 special, 36+ bottles in stock now

This is the only listing in the USA today!

One Day Left!

K Vintners / Substance Subscriber Special

5% Off 6-11 bottles of K Vintners
10% Off 12+ bottles of K Vintners

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About Our Oregon Shipping Special

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Free Oregon Ground Shipping on Orders Over $120

Looking for our great deals and shipping specials to continue? Tell a friend who’s not on our email list to take advantage of this great offer and keep us busy in these unusual times!

New Brunello Reviews

From Ian D’Agata

Casanova di Neri Tenuta Nuova, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2015 750ML ($149.95) $119 pre-arrival special, ETA April
Ian D’Agata-Vinous 96 points “Bright full red. Redcurrant, red cherry, violet, sweet spices, and orange zest on the scented nose. Not in the quite sweet and fleshy style this bottling is famous for, but suave and very well delineated, with the orange peel note providing inner-palate lift. Closes very clean with excellent length.”

Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Tuscany 2015 750ML ($69.95) $66 pre-arrival special, ETA April
Ian D’Agata-Vinous 94 points “Good deep red. Saline aromas and flavors of red cherry, blueberries, herbs, blood orange and sweet spices. Smooth and long on the bright, very sweet finish. Really quite good.”

Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Pianrosso, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2015 750ML ($149.95) $119 pre-arrival special, ETA May
Ian D’Agata-Vinous 93 points “Deep red. Perfumed aromas and flavors of red and black cherry, cinnamon, mocha, ginger and blood orange. Smooth and multifaceted, with strong licorice notes emerging on the long suave close.”

A Quartet of Goodfellow Subscriber Specials

Don’t miss these local deals!

Subscriber Special #1

A Special 2016 Willamette Valley Pinot at Special Pricing

Our first of the Goodfellow Subscriber Specials is a wine that we’ve never sold at retail before, technically—a special “restaurant edition” of the 2016 Goodfellow Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. The regular ’16 Willamette Valley was one of our bestselling bottles when we had it in and this new wine offers even more value. First of all, we’re able to offer it to you for even less than the original WV went for—under $20 a bottle, which is a stellar price for a wine of this quantity. If you’re willing to commit to a half or a full case (and why wouldn’t you?) the price gets truly nuts: $16.50/btl or just $15.75 respectively.

The wine itself is a slightly different blend than the “regular” bottling, emphasizing a bit more fruit and softer, more elegant tannins. Its base is made from the Bednarik vineyard (the star vineyard for Panther Creek in the late 90’s and a hidden gem in the Willamette Valley), which provides a rich, textured core that has plenty of Goodfellow zest and savoriness. The other main vineyards are layered in as well, with Durant providing florals and fruit, Whistling Ridge spice and structure and Fir Crest bringing some earth and color to the mix.

The resulting wine is one of the most delicious, complete bottles of WV Pinot we’ve tasted for the price. As you’d expect of a wine blended for glass pouring, this is fantastic out of the gate, no need to age this one. We’re sure it’ll improve over the next 5ish years, but if you’re looking for a Willamette wine to keep you company during a self-quarantine, you should pop (many) of them now.

Previously Sold Out, Re-Arriving Friday April 3rd:

A special restaurant reserve bottling of the Willamette Valley Pinot Noir!
Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2016 750ML ($21.95) $18 pre-arrival special
Case-6 Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2016 750ML ($129.95) $99 pre-arrival special (that’s only $16.50/bottle!)
Case-12 Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2016 750ML ($219.95) $189 pre-arrival special (that’s only $15.75/bottle!)

This is (technically) the only listing the USA today!
The average price on the 2016 WVPN is $27

Subscriber Special #2

Your New House White?

Goodfellow “Dundee Hills” at Exceptional Pricing

Unlike the last wine, the “Dundee Hills” bottling of Chardonnay has been a mainstay over the last year. Made primarily from the Lark Block of Durant Vineyard, this is a classic Goodfellow Chard. It’s now $5 per bottle cheaper than it was yesterday, so stock up. At $24, this was one of the better deals in Willamette Chard. At $19, welcome to your new house white.

Previously Sold Out, Re-Arriving Friday April 3rd:

Goodfellow Family Cellars Chardonnay, Dundee Hills 2017 750ML ($29.95) Was $24, Now $19 Subscriber Special
John Gilman 90+ points “The fruit for the Dundee Hills bottling of chardonnay from Marcus Goodfellow all hails from the Durant Vineyard. The wine is excellent aromatically, wafting from the glass in a complex and slightly reductive blend of pear, apple, almond, iodine, a good base of soil and a well done framing of new oak. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and youthfully closed, with a good core of fruit, lovely soil signature, zesty acids and fine balance on the long and vibrant finish. This is perfectly drinkable today, if one decants it a bit and unlocks the reduction, but it is built to age and will be an even better dink with some bottle age. 2020-2035. 90+.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Subscriber Special #3

Staff Pick: Syrah From…The Willamette Valley?

At Even Better Pricing

We originally ran this staff pick a few months ago. Now that we’ve gone ahead and dropped the price on Marcus’ 2015 Syrah Reserve, well… an already exceptional wine is now even more of a must-buy.

Saul:
At first glance, the Willamette Valley might seem like an odd place to grow Syrah—after all, we think of Syrah as a warmth loving grape. That said, when you look at the historical temperatures in the Northern Rhone combined with the volcanic soils that define both the Valley and areas like Cote Rotie, you start to wonder about the possibilities of the grape here. Cristom has occasionally released them, but we recently tasted one of the finest bottles of Syrah I’ve had from Oregon.

You might know that Marcus Goodfellow makes Syrah from Deux Vert Vineyard in Yamhill-Carlton, but in 2015 he produced a Syrah Reserve bottling—and boy is it fantastic. The Reserve bottling spent longer in barrel (over 30 months) and was selected for structure, savoriness and power. Like most of Marcus’ wines, there’s a lot of whole-cluster fermentation in this bottling and it definitely reads as more “serious” as a result. While the wine is rich and intense, don’t expect over the top fruit here. It reminded me of really high quality St. Joseph, with dark, fresh fruits and a distinct meaty, savory overtone. I’m grabbing some for now and some for the cellar—it’s delicious now but I suspect it’s going to be a stunner in a decade.

In Stock Now:

Goodfellow Family Cellars Deux Vert Reserve Syrah, Willamette Valley 2015 750ML ($47.95) Was $36, Now $31.90 Subscriber Special, 35 bottles in stock now
John Gilman 91+ points “Marcus Goodfellow’s 2015 Deux Vert Vineyard (Reserve) bottling of Syrah includes five percent viognier, which grows alongside these syrah vines, which were the first to be planted in the Willamette Valley in 1994. The 2015 version comes in at 13.8 percent octane and delivers a refined and red fruity bouquet of raspberries, pepper, woodsmoke, roasted meats, lovely soil tones, plenty of spice elements and a nice framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, tangy and rock solid at the core, with excellent transparency and grip, ripe tannins and a long, focused and nascently complex finish. This will be a lovely bottle in due course, but it needs some time in the cellar to allow its backend tannins to resolve a bit. Fine juice. 2030- 2055+. 91+.”
VinopolNote: The Reserve bottling spent longer in barrel (over 30 months) and was selected for structure, savoriness and power. Like most of Marcus’ wines, there’s a lot of whole-cluster fermentation in this bottling and it definitely reads as more “serious” as a result. While the wine is rich and intense, don’t expect over-the-top fruit here. This reminds us of high quality Northern Rhone wines, with dark, fresh fruits and a distinct meaty, savory overtone. One for the table with some air or for the cellar.

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Looking for a Syrah with a playful, floral side? Check out the “standard” bottling from ’13
Matello Fool’s Journey Deux Vert Vineyard, Willamette Valley 2013 750ML ($24.95) $18 special, 36 bottles in stock now
Josh Raynolds – Vinous 90 points “Bright violet. Smoke-tinged dark berries and pungent flowers on the nose. Juicy and focused on the palate, offering bitter cherry and cassis flavors that take a sweeter turn on the back half. Dusty tannins make a late appearance and add gentle grip to the smooth, energetic finish.”
Winery note “From the Willamette Valley’s first planting of Syrah, this cool climate, low alcohol wine will redefine your idea of the possibilities of new-world Syrah. If you like your Syrah French, here is a kindred but one of a kind wine from Oregon.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Subscriber Special #4

’15 Whistling Ridge Pinot from the Winery’s Cellar

Whistling Ridge is Marcus Goodfellow’s Cros Parantoux—a site he seems to have particular affinity with, producing exceptional wines. It’s located on top of a hill in Ribbon Ridge, adjoining Patricia Green and the Beaux Freres Upper Terrace. This is often his most “Burgundian” bottling and takes a few years to open up.

Case in point: the now-stunning 2015 edition, which showed immeasurable promise when young (but not very much immediate pleasure). Recently, though, the wine seems to have turned a corner and offers an exceptional experience. Red cherry, spice and orange notes linger over a powerful palate that features a beautiful measure of red and black fruit over a beam of mineral energy. It’s gonna age for a while more, but is delicious right now. Marcus has been generous enough to pull a few cases out of the winery’s library and we’re excited to re-release it to you today.

Goodfellow Family Cellars Whistling Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir, Ribbon Ridge 2015 750ML ($49.95) $36 special, 9 bottles in stock now
Wine Advocate 93 points “From a vineyard planted in 1990, the pale to medium ruby colored 2015 Pinot Noir Whistling Ridge Vineyard has a spicy nose of coriander, warm cinnamon, potpourri and dried leaves over a core of baked cranberry and red cherry fruit with meaty/savory touches. Light to medium-bodied, it has spice-laced red fruits in the mouth, with a great frame of fine-grained tannins and wonderful freshness, finishing very long and very spicy. 270 cases produced.”
VinopolNote “Whistling Ridge has become Marcus Goodfellow’s Cros Parantoux—a vineyard that somehow went overlooked but now produces exceptional wines in the right hands. Nestled on the ridgetop abutting the Beaux Freres Upper Terrace, wines from Whistling Ridge tend to be compact and powerful-built for aging. Lots of spice and floral notes blend with a mix of black and red fruits for a stellar wine that’s one of the best versions yet.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

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New Terry Theise Wines

Arriving Friday

Chartogne-Taillet’s Les Barres Pinot Noir

“Lovers of grower champagne are familiar with Chartogne-Taillet’s Les Barres, the single parcel, un-grafted Meunier wine, released first in the 2006 vintage. This was the first wine that Alexandre produced after returning home to his family domaine, from working with Anselme Selosse, his mentor. Over a short period of time, Les Barres has become a cult wine and we have very small amounts to offer each year. The vineyard Les Barres and the wine Alexandre produces from it has been linked to a single grape variety – Meunier. Alexandre feels that the variety is simply the conduit, a transmission of place and identity. He feels that while it’s not irrelevant ‘Each place itself confers a different texture, a feeling in the mouth, which doesn’t change, even as the aromas and structure shifts with ageing.’… Alexandre showed us a new wine from Les Barres: ‘In the parcel Les Barres there are not just Meunier vines, but also a small amount of Pinot Noir. The Pinot would not be enough to make a single harvest wine, so, I produced this wine from the vintages 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. It is Les Barres Pinot Noir, and the first time I have made it.’ The wine is exquisite, with remarkable length and depth, even in its youth. For fans of Les Barres, this is an incredible opportunity to taste other expressions of this outstanding site. It’s a wine, which, like Les Barres Meunier, has a long life ahead of it.” – Importer Note

Chartogne-Taillet Les Barres Pinot Noir Extra Brut, Champagne (2015) 750ML ($149.95) $119 pre-arrival special
William Kelley-Wine Advocate 94 points “From a climat Chartonge made famous for its Pinot Meunier growing in chalky soils, the NV Extra Brut Blanc de Noirs Les Barres (Pinot Noir) derives from a westerly exposed parcel of Pinot Noir growing in sand—and hails entirely from the 2015 vintage. It’s showing very well, exhibiting attractive aromas of mirabelle plums, raspberries, anise, pastry cream and yellow chartreuse. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, ample and muscular, with tangy acids, excellent concentration and a long, chalky finish.”

Kruger-Rumpf

“It always feels somewhat miasmic to taste here, as though someone has strewn a thousand musical notes on the floor and now we have to pick them up and make them into music.” –Terry Theise

Kruger-Rumpf is a storied estate in the Nahe, the region in Germany that Donnhoff hails from, which lies between the Mosel and the Rhine rivers—sort of a halfway point between both geographic and stylistic. Kruger-Rumpf sits close to the Rhine, geographically, than some of the other big names in the area and their wines have more intrinsic power to them as a result. These are some seriously good Rieslings, at prices considerably lower than what you’d pay from other name producers.

The top wine from the estate comes from the awkwardly named “Dautenpflanzer” from near the town of Munster, which means that the label reads “Munsterer Dautenpflanzer”—a stereotype of a German name if we ever saw one. In house, we often call it the “MD” if you aren’t feeling up to testing your pronunciation skills. The Dautenpflanzer is a premier Grand Cru site of the lower Nahe, a place that yields wine s of power and resonance, and Kruger-Rumpf is the primary (and best) landholder.

These are fantastic wines that are only getting better with each subsequent vintage. Hope on board the 2018 train and you’ll be glad you did. These will drink beautifully on release (the barrel samples were astounding), and will only increase in deliciousness as they age in your cellar.

Arriving Friday, April 3rd:

Kruger-Rumpf (Binger Brucke Im Ruppertsberg) Abtei “1937” Riesling Trocken, Nahe 2018 750ML ($41.95) $36 pre-arrival special
Grapelive 94-96 points “The 2018 barrel sample of Kruger-Rumpf’s Abtei 1937 was stunningly gorgeous with brilliant details, ripe extract density, vivid mineral tones and vibrant acidity showing a purity and vitality of youth, but with the complexity and length of its old vine material. Georg Rumpf has crafted a Trocken beauty here with layers of delicacy and substance. This juice is on par with almost any GG, making it an incredible value already. Be sure to book your allocation of this ultra-limited bottling from Terry These and importer Skurnik Wines. You will not be disappointed, I know I will be hustling to get some myself. The regular Abtei offering is one of my new favorite Nahe Rieslings and while I love all the latest Kruger-Rumpf wines, especially from the Grosse Lage: Münsterer Dautenpflänzer, Münsterer im Pitterberg and Dorsheimer Burgberg, as well as exotic Rumpf’s Scheurebe plus their off dry Kabinett, Feinherb and wonderfully balanced Spatlese(s) I have become obsessed with the Bingerbrücker Abtei im Ruppertsberg vineyard and wines. This ’18 starts with subtle aromatic charm with orange blossom, rosewater, flinty stones, salt lick and quinces before thrilling the palate with energy and white peach, tangerine, lime intensity, verbena, mint tea and tart green apple. This light/medium dry Riesling is brisk and racy, at first but gains depth and builds with air in the glass adding some leesy texture, it is totally thrilling and will only get better with bottle age…The impossibly steep Kruger-Rumpf Abtei Cru, the northern most vineyard in the Nahe, which is on the outskirts of Bingen, was once an Abbey owned plot, across the Rhein from Rudesheimer Berg and is almost a mirror image soil wise to Schlossberg with a beautiful southern exposure. While still just a Premier Cru, this might be the best kept secret of the Nahe, making for a wine with Grosses Gewachs intensity and quality. Rumpf put a lot of blood sweat and tears into working this amazing site set on phyllite, which is essentially mica slate, all with organic methods and only hand-working of the vines due to the severity of the slope. For the first time, Kruger-Rumpf is doing a single block wine from this vineyard from vines that date back to 1937, the vineyards oldest and steepest section, and it is an amazing wine from a vintage to looks to be one of best in years. The dry Abtei 1937 Riesling, coming from these 81 year old vines was all done with native yeasts or Sponti, spontanous fermentation in over 30 years old Stückfässern (German 1200L oak casks) with full yeast contact, lees aged, until the following June, nine months after harvest. After walking this site at harvest in 2016 and tasting the grapes here I was convinced Georg Rumpf had a magical piece of land for exceptional single vineyard dry Riesling, and this 2018 is the best yet. This is special stuff from a special terroir and years from now I believe people with talk about the wines from Abtei the same way as (we do of) other much more famous places, like Carl Loewen’s Maximin Herrenberg 1896, Johannes Leitz’s Kaisersteinfels Terraces, Wittmann’s Morstein and the Carl Von Schubert Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg to name a few. There are some glorious wines coming from Germany’s 2018 vintage, with Spreitzer, Schlossgut Diel, Carl Loewen, Von Winning, Kunstler, Selbach-Oster and Georg Breuer all showing samples of greatness in a recent trade tasting in San Francisco, and along with them Kruger-Rumpf shined. Be sure to keep an eye out for them all, in particular this 2018 Abtei 1937 Trocken.”
Terry Theise note “A special lot aged in a Hösch 1200-liter cask, it comes from the best part of the site, planted in 1937 and shows a lovely old-school touch, from the bright silvery mineral and the warm breathy caskyness.”

Kruger-Rumpf Munsterer Im Pittersberg Riesling Kabinett, Nahe 2018 750ML ($27.95) $21.90 pre-arrival special
Wine Advocate 91 points “Picked early around September 10th and vinified in large oak until April this year, the 2018 Im Pitterberg Riesling Kabinett offers a clear, ripe and spicy, beautifully elegant bouquet of bright fruits and crushed nuts. Very clear and fresh on the palate, this is a filigreed, elegant and persistently light, salty-piquant and crystalline Riesling with mineral tension and stimulating grip. This is a picture-book Kabinett that is a great pleasure to drink even today and certainly with food. 9% alcohol. Tasted from AP 21 19 in August 2019.”
Terry Theise note “Another forward-into-the-past bottling—in this case Georg wanted to make the kind of Kabinett his father made in the 80s, decidedly on the dry side, not very ripe (this has just 82º Oechsle), gentle and tertiary, and even on the dry side it shows Cox’s orange pippins and balsam and its genial Buddhist repose. Cask fermentations help to highlight the tertiary flavors.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Kruger-Rumpf Dorsheimer Burgberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs, Nahe 2018 750ML ($59.95) $49 pre-arrival special
Grapelive 94+ points “Coming from a tiny incredibly steep Grand Cru site, the Burgberg Vineyard, that is set on volcanic and quartz soils near Munster in the village of Dorsheim. The Kruger Rumpf Burgberg GG is one of the most exciting wines of vintage at this small winery… It is fantastically mineral-driven dry Riesling. This latest set of wines, especially the Rieslings, from Georg Rumpf and his family are some of the best yet from this estate. The GG’s and the Premier Cru Trockens are gorgeous wines. No one is going to want to miss these 2018 Nahe offerings, especially the Pitterberg GG, the Abtei Erste Lage 1937 old vine, one of my secret favorites, and this beautifully detailed Burgberg GG. Rumpf has turned to mostly all organic practices, and the Burgberg parcel is farmed organic. [He] prefers to do natural fermentations, or Sponti, with his Cru wines with the GG’s getting less aging in large cask, Stuckfass, to allow less reduction and enhance generosity, while retraining freshness and vitality in the wines. [It] shows here in this barrel sample of Burgberg… These Kruger-Rumpf GG’s are some of the best values out there, they really deserve much more attention, as do the lesser bottlings and their wildly tasty Scheurebe, which is one of the best examples in Germany. The Kruger-Rumpf winery, which dates back to the 1790’s, is focused on purity and the expression of the distinctive terroirs in the family’s holdings, but only began making estate labeled wines in 1984 when Georg’s dad Stefan began crafting small production bottlings. Now, mostly retired Stefan has turned things over to his sons Georg and Philipp, who are continuing the traditions here with a renewed energy and technical skill. [Their work] impresses Terry Theise, their importer, who considers Kruger-Rumpf one of best under the radar estates in the region. [Theise] notes that Kruger-Rumpf is innovative and is always striving to reach new levels of quality. I visited Kruger-Rumpf in the fall of 2016 at harvest time and was thrilled with the stylish wines I found and was blown away with the individual vineyards they farm and the hard work they have been putting in the restore the Abtei site. The iron rich volcanic and quartz influenced 2018 Burgberg GG starts with white flowers, stone fruits and vibrant citrus before expansion on the medium full palate with layers of lime/tangerine, apricot, green apple, papaya, bitter pit white peach and white cherry fruits along with steely form, spearmint, verbena, mouthwatering saline, exotic spices and subtle leesy elements. This is going to be a legendary wine and is already showing Georg’s signature finesse and vinous personality. It has masses of potential and its delicacy is utterly delicious! There’s a lot to admire at Kruger-Rumpf these days and this crisp 2018 Burgberg is a stunning effort that gains with air in the glass and will more so with a few years in bottle.”

Kruger-Rumpf Munsterer Im Pittersberg Riesling Spatlese Goldkapsel, Nahe 2018 750ML ($49.95) $39 pre-arrival special
Wine Advocate 92+ points “From vines planted in the 1970s in the “Hochmauer” section of the cru and fermented in an oval Halbstück (600 liter), the 2018 Im Pitterberg Riesling Spätlese (Gold Capsule) offers a clear, deep, ripe and intense yet fine and spicy, crystalline and complex bouquet with lovely ripe and intense fruit aromas and more flinty-mineral notes than the regular Spätlese. Round and crystalline on the palate, this is a lush and fresh, really sharp Spätlese with generous sweetness. This is an excellent and promising wine, but it needs more time than the regular Pitterberg Spätlese. Tasted from AP 24 19 in August 2019.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Kruger-Rumpf Scheurebe Spatlese, Nahe 2018 750ML ($27.95) $21.90 pre-arrival special
Wine Advocate 89 points “From the Dautenpflänzer, the 2018 Scheurebe Spätlese is discreet on the grapefruit and lemon-tinted, nicely precise and flinty nose. Sweet, round and piquant, with racy acidity and fleshy fruit, this is a mouth-filling and attractively juicy Scheu that is not really sweet but also not dry. It’s a piquant wine with grip and tension but by far not the finesse and precision of Riesling. Tasted from AP 20 19 in August 2019.”
Terry Theise note “Top-3 manglings of the word “Scheurebe:” Shuh-roob. Shooby-rooby. Sha-boomy. I made none of these up. In German the eu sound is always like this: OY. Like boy-toy. Here’s a nemonic: when you think of the EU, you want to say “Oy!” OK? For shit’s sake, if you can pronounce “Mourvédre” you can pronounce Scheurebe. This is all from the “GG” Dautenpflänzer (whose name can only be used for Riesling, thanks to the wisdom of the VDP trilateral commission poobahs), it has zero botrytis and was picked “extremely” late. It was the last wine we tasted, and my entire note, repeated here verbatim and pure, was “Oh for fuck’s sake!””

Carl Loewen

Carl Lowen produces Rieslings that set the Somm world on fire. These are phenomenal wines coming from some of the oldest Riesling vines in the world.

Carl Loewen took over the historic Schmitt-Wagner estate, with its extremely old vineyard holdings, and has elevated it to new heights, returning a slew of historic vineyards back to the esteem they were held to in the 1800’s. His wines are textural, rich and complex and often from old, ungrafted parcels within vineyards. 2018 continues the estate’s rise and plays into their strengths, as the power and richness inherent in the wines this year complement Loewen’s natural savoriness and acidity.

“Karl-Josef and Christopher Loewen produced an impressive collection in 2018. The wines are more backward and slightly bigger than usual, but they retain the incredible ‘cut’ and precision that has made the success of this Estate. In particular, the Maximiner Herrenberg Trocken Alte Reben and the 1896 remain some of the finest dry and off-dry wines of the region. Also as usual, this is an Estate where the
“entry level” wines offer stunning value for money. The Riesling Alte Reben will give many high-end wines a good run for their money…” –Mosel Fine Wines

“This is one of the FIVE MOST INTERESTING ESTATES IN MY OFFERING, and among them it’s the one you know the least about… [Their sites] are every bit as important as Graacher Domprobst, Wehlener Sonnenuhr and Zeltinger Schlossberg, only you don’t know them, and therefore they COST LESS..” – Terry Theise

Arriving Friday, April 3rd:

Weingut Carl Loewen Estate Riesling, Mosel 2018 750ML ($24.95) $19 pre-arrival special
Wine & Spirits 91 points “An exclusive blend for Terry Theise Selections, this is bright and stylish, with crisp, lemony fruit over earthy minerality. The umami tones give it breadth and richness, while the wine remains invigorating.”
Terry Theise note “[+] The best vintage yet of this “bespoke” bottling for lil’ ol’ me. It’s fine, mineral and grassy, solid and salty, lyric and bright, with a little twang from the red slate. Everything works here, texture and character and interplay, and yet the harmony isn’t slack but instead finely taut.”

This is the lowest listed price on the West Coast today!

Weingut Carl Loewen Alte Reben Riesling Trocken, Mosel 2018 750ML ($27.95) $21.90 pre-arrival special
Grapelive 93 points “These 2018s by Christopher Loewen are something very special and maybe even a step up on the last few outstanding vintages produced here at Weingut Carl Loewen. [These are] exceptional wines throughout the lineup, especially the top Feinherb and GG bottlings, but his entry level wines are stunning too and, at the price, are Rieslings to stock up on, in particular look for this gorgeous and seriously bone dry Old Vine “Alte Reben” Trocken… Loewen farms mostly in three VDP Grosse Lage sites, Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg, Thörnicher Ritsch and Leiwener Laurentiuslay. [The estate] is now considered one of the region’s superstars. The rise from solid to stellar has come recently with the generational shift from father to son, as has happened all over the world, and the praise here is incredibly well deserved. Like all the wines Christopher makes, the grapes are all pressed whole cluster and pomace is never moved as to not break the stems, which, as Loewen notes, leads to phenolic flavors and bitterness that he wants to avoid. The juice, he adds, is “browned” or oxidized pre- fermentation, a practice common in Burgundy, and his ferments are completely natural without addition of yeast (known here as Sponti) plus absolutely no enzymes or nutrition is used. This wine, one step up from the entry level estate, is an all stainless wine and while severely dry it manages to be complex and textural. It is a serious Riesling for those that want pure minerallity and racy acidity above all else. This 2018 shows a bit more fullness of form without losing any energy with exciting layers of zesty citrus and orchard stone fruits along with a hint of tropical essences and flinty/stony spiciness with lime, green melon, white peach, tart apricot and tangerine as well as crystalized ginger, wet shale, salty sea shore, white lavender/rose, chamomile and crisp apple skin. Tart and mouthwatering, this Alte Reben is still concentrated and has loads of structural extract, making for a complete Riesling that is zippy and refreshing, but one that can deliver a world class performance with food. It is a sleeper in the latest set from the talented Loewen, but one well worth seeking out! If wine is a story of people and place, it’s wines like this that are a celebration of that image. It is a joy to drink.”

Carl Loewen Longuicher Herrenberg Riesling Kabinett, Mosel 2018 750ML ($27.95) $21.90 pre-arrival special
Mosel Fine Wines 91 points “The 2018er Longuicher Herrenberg Riesling Kabinett is made from grapes harvested at 83° Oechsle from up to 100 year-old un-grafted vines situated high up the hill and was fermented down to barely fruity-styled levels of residual sugar (40 g/l). The wine offers a beautiful nose made of grapefruit, pear, melon and aniseed herbs, wrapped into some white flowers. It develops nice flavors of pear and freshly cut apple on the creamy and smooth palate and leaves a nice fruit-zest tension in the long and delicately creamy finish. The sweetness covers a little bit the zesty side (which only comes through in the after-taste). We would therefore opt to enjoy this Spätlese-styled wine in a decade or more, when the sweetness will have receded. 2028-2048.”
Terry Theise note “[+] Ungrafted vines planted in 1903. Do please note the price. Consider what the equivalent wine might cost you from France or Italy or Spain. Then consider why I sometimes get frustrated. This was just a week in bottle yet it was still spicy and expressive and angular and both vivid and deep, with a moderate minty sweetness.”

Weingut Carl Loewen Longuicher Maximin Herrenberg “1896” Riesling Feinherb, Mosel 2018 750ML ($99.95) $79 pre-arrival special
Grapelive 97+ points “One of the wine world’s great unicorn wines, the Carl Loewen 1896 Feinherb is from the oldest Riesling vines in Germany and from a Grand Cru steep Mosel vineyard that transmit absolute purity of terroir. There may not be a more authentic and pleasing Riesling than this, especially in a vintage such as 2018… Since the first time I tried this wine, I knew it was something extraordinary and special. It is brave example of letting a wine make itself, with vigneron Christopher Loewen picking the grapes at perfect ripeness and allowing the fermentation to go as nature demands, which in this case comes in just above (outside) the legal limit to be called a Trocken… The glorious detail and layers in this 2018 Maximin Herrenberg 1896 are mesmerizing with flinty/smoking mineral leading the way on the nose before lime blossom, rose petal and white orchard (stone) fruits lift from the glass. The revelation is on the medium bodied palate with its incredible play between hedonistic pleasures and chiseled and steely precision with layers of vivid citrus, apricot, delicate tropical notes and white cherry fruits as well as spiced/crystalized ginger, wet shale, citron and saline, where all these flavors combine and flow with a graceful crispness and a (light residual sugar) lingering creaminess. This 1896 Feinerb, dressed up in its special label and dark red wax capsule, is a profound example of Riesling and one of the absolute best, one of the top wines I’ve tasted this year…”
Mosel Fine Wines 93+ points “(Carl Loewen Riesling 1896) AP: 17 19. The 2018er Riesling 1896 comes from century-old un-grafted vines (planted in 1896) in the Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg using traditional winemaking methods dating back to the 1900s and was fermented down to 12 g/l of residual sugar. This hay-colored wine offers a beautiful even if still rather reduced nose made of candied grapefruit, ginger, cinnamon, whipped cream, and fine herbs. It is nicely playful yet creamy on the intense palate and leaves a delicately smooth yet multi-layered feel of herbs, ripe fruits and minerals in the long and suave finish. A touch of zest and tartness rounds off the experience. This remarkable wine feels slightly more off dry than in other recent vintages. We would therefore opt to enjoy this after a couple of years of aging. 2026-2038.”

Don’t Miss Out On

Our 2015 Huet Subscriber Sale

Ends Friday, April 3rd

“Domaine Huet’ means ‘I make the best damn Chenin Blanc on the planet’ …” Mike Steinberger, Wine Diarist

Vouvray wines offer near-unmatched flexibility at the table, and Domaine Huet’s reputation guarantees long ageing potential. Made according to tradition and terroir, with utmost respect for nature, Huet wines can keep for over a century. This is one of France’s pioneers in biodynamic viticulture. Horses still plough between the rows. In the winery, the recipe remains relatively simple. Fermentation takes place half in stainless steel, half in old oak, without malo. After only six months, the wines are bottled and then laid to age in a cellar dug from tuffeau rock, no air conditioning required. From here the Huet work is done: the rest is up to nature, Vouvray, and what eventually tastes like divine intervention.

Who wouldn’t want to acquire some of that?

Head to our webstore to see all the 2015 Huet on sale now!

First Offer!

2016 Paitin

“Paitin’s 2016 Barbarescos are beautiful, but they are also very tight and in need of either quite a bit of air or, preferably, at least several years in bottle. The 2016s spent 30 days on the skins, including submerged cap maceration for some lots. The malolactic fermentations were done in steel and the wines subsequently spent about two years in oak. Time in the glass helps the 2016s show well, but the style is decidedly on the nervous side, with good energy but less of the breadth and amplitude than was once typical of these wines.” — Antonio Galloni

Arriving in May:

Paitin di Pasquero-Elia ‘Serraboella’, Barbaresco DOCG 2016 750ML ($47.95) $39 pre-arrival special
Antonio Galloni 92 points “The 2016 Barbaresco Serraboella is bright, perfumed and very nicely lifted, with an attractive interplay of floral aromatics and textural depth. Mint, pine, kirsch, dried flowers and sweet tobacco are some of the nuances that emerge. The 2016 is tightly wound and classically austere in style, so it needs time in bottle to unwind, but it has undoubtedly fine potential.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The average price is $45

Paitin di Pasquero-Elia ‘Serraboella’, Barbaresco DOCG 2016 750ML ($69.95) $49 pre-arrival special
Antonio Galloni 93 points “The 2016 Barbaresco Sorì Paitin is powerful, but also quite reticent today. Dark cherry, menthol, licorice, sage and dried flowers are all found in a searing, intense Sorì Paitin that needs to be at its best. Tannic and austere, the 2016 appears to be going through a closed phase, and yet it has a feeling of verticality and gravitas that is impossible to miss.”

This is the lowest listed price on the West Coast!

Thanks for reading!

Wednesday Newsletter 4-1-2020

In Today’s Newsletter:

K Vintners / Substance Subscriber Special

The Calling Cabernet

Goodfellow Subscriber Specials

Our 2015 Huet Subscriber Sale
Ends Friday, April 3rd

Clos Rougeard Subscriber Special

K Vintners / Substance Subscriber Special

Be a Friend/Tell a Friend

About Our Oregon Shipping Special

Now extended through April!

Free Oregon Ground Shipping on Orders Over $120

Looking for our great deals and shipping specials to continue? Tell a friend who’s not on our email list to take advantage of this great offer and keep us busy in these unusual times!

Arriving Friday

The Calling Cabernet

Generally speaking, we’re not big fans of celebrity wineries. They tend to be overpriced relative to their peers. When we have the chance to offer those wines at very significant discounts, though, we change our tune. Case in point: Jim Nantz’s California project, called “the Calling” (he’s a sports announcer, get it it?). Made by Dan Goldfield (of Dutton-Goldfield) this is an excellent Cali Cab. At its $30-$40 asking prices, there are surely better options out there. For less than $20 per bottle, though? Sign us up.

Arriving April 3rd

The Calling Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley 2016 750ML ($34.95) $19.50 pre-arrival special
Case-12 The Calling Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley 2016 750ML ($359.95) $199 pre-arrival special (that’s only $16.58/bottle!)
Winery Note “This full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon presents blackberry and plum aromatics typical of the Alexander Valley. On the palate, the rich fruit is complemented by accents of sweet tobacco, vanilla, chocolate, and mocha. The elegant tannins, oak structure and balanced acidity will age this wine for 10-12 years.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The next best price is $24.99
The average price is $28

A Quartet of Goodfellow Subscriber Specials

Don’t miss these local deals!

Subscriber Special #1

A Special 2016 Willamette Valley Pinot at Special Pricing

Our first of the Goodfellow Subscriber Specials is a wine that we’ve never sold at retail before, technically—a special “restaurant edition” of the 2016 Goodfellow Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. The regular ’16 Willamette Valley was one of our bestselling bottles when we had it in and this new wine offers even more value. First of all, we’re able to offer it to you for even less than the original WV went for—under $20 a bottle, which is a stellar price for a wine of this quantity. If you’re willing to commit to a half or a full case (and why wouldn’t you?) the price gets truly nuts: $16.50/btl or just $15.75 respectively.

The wine itself is a slightly different blend than the “regular” bottling, emphasizing a bit more fruit and softer, more elegant tannins. Its base is made from the Bednarik vineyard (the star vineyard for Panther Creek in the late 90’s and a hidden gem in the Willamette Valley), which provides a rich, textured core that has plenty of Goodfellow zest and savoriness. The other main vineyards are layered in as well, with Durant providing florals and fruit, Whistling Ridge spice and structure and Fir Crest bringing some earth and color to the mix.

The resulting wine is one of the most delicious, complete bottles of WV Pinot we’ve tasted for the price. As you’d expect of a wine blended for glass pouring, this is fantastic out of the gate, no need to age this one. We’re sure it’ll improve over the next 5ish years, but if you’re looking for a Willamette wine to keep you company during a self-quarantine, you should pop (many) of them now.

A special restaurant reserve bottling of the Willamette Valley Pinot Noir!
Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2016 750ML ($21.95) $18 special, 36+ bottles in stock now
Case-6 Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2016 750ML ($129.95) $99 special (that’s only $16.50/bottle!)
Case-12 Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2016 750ML ($219.95) $189 special (that’s only $15.75/bottle!)

This is (technically) the only listing the USA today!
The average price on the 2016 WVPN is $27

Subscriber Special #2

Your New House White?

Goodfellow “Dundee Hills” at Exceptional Pricing

Unlike the last wine, the “Dundee Hills” bottling of Chardonnay has been a mainstay over the last year. Made primarily from the Lark Block of Durant Vineyard, this is a classic Goodfellow Chard. It’s now $5 per bottle cheaper than it was yesterday, so stock up. At $24, this was one of the better deals in Willamette Chard. At $19, welcome to your new house white.

Goodfellow Family Cellars Chardonnay, Dundee Hills 2017 750ML ($29.95) Was $24, Now $19 Subscriber Special, 24+ bottles in stock now
John Gilman 90+ points “The fruit for the Dundee Hills bottling of chardonnay from Marcus Goodfellow all hails from the Durant Vineyard. The wine is excellent aromatically, wafting from the glass in a complex and slightly reductive blend of pear, apple, almond, iodine, a good base of soil and a well done framing of new oak. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and youthfully closed, with a good core of fruit, lovely soil signature, zesty acids and fine balance on the long and vibrant finish. This is perfectly drinkable today, if one decants it a bit and unlocks the reduction, but it is built to age and will be an even better dink with some bottle age. 2020-2035. 90+.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Subscriber Special #3

Staff Pick: Syrah From…The Willamette Valley?

At Even Better Pricing

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Subscriber Special #4

’15 Whistling Ridge Pinot from the Winery’s Cellar

Whistling Ridge is Marcus Goodfellow’s Cros Parantoux—a site he seems to have particular affinity with, producing exceptional wines. It’s located on top of a hill in Ribbon Ridge, adjoining Patricia Green and the Beaux Freres Upper Terrace. This is often his most “Burgundian” bottling and takes a few years to open up.

Case in point: the now-stunning 2015 edition, which showed immeasurable promise when young (but not very much immediate pleasure). Recently, though, the wine seems to have turned a corner and offers an exceptional experience. Red cherry, spice and orange notes linger over a powerful palate that features a beautiful measure of red and black fruit over a beam of mineral energy. It’s gonna age for a while more, but is delicious right now. Marcus has been generous enough to pull a few cases out of the winery’s library and we’re excited to re-release it to you today.

Goodfellow Family Cellars Whistling Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir, Ribbon Ridge 2015 750ML ($49.95) $36 special, 17 bottles in stock now
Wine Advocate 93 points “From a vineyard planted in 1990, the pale to medium ruby colored 2015 Pinot Noir Whistling Ridge Vineyard has a spicy nose of coriander, warm cinnamon, potpourri and dried leaves over a core of baked cranberry and red cherry fruit with meaty/savory touches. Light to medium-bodied, it has spice-laced red fruits in the mouth, with a great frame of fine-grained tannins and wonderful freshness, finishing very long and very spicy. 270 cases produced.”
VinopolNote “Whistling Ridge has become Marcus Goodfellow’s Cros Parantoux—a vineyard that somehow went overlooked but now produces exceptional wines in the right hands. Nestled on the ridgetop abutting the Beaux Freres Upper Terrace, wines from Whistling Ridge tend to be compact and powerful-built for aging. Lots of spice and floral notes blend with a mix of black and red fruits for a stellar wine that’s one of the best versions yet.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

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Don’t Miss Out On

Our 2015 Huet Subscriber Sale

Ends Friday, April 3rd

Head to our webstore to see all the 2015 Huet on sale now!

Clos Rougeard Subscriber Special

Limited supplies of these library releases.
Act fast if you want any!

Shop the subscriber special on our webstore!

Thanks for reading!

Monday Newsletter 3-30-2020

In This Newsletter:

Huet Subscriber Sale

Clos Rougeard Subscriber Special

Trending

New Week / New Arrivals

Collector’s Corner
Jean Marc Millot’s Grand Crus

Be a Friend/Tell a Friend

Oregon Shipping Special

Now extended through April!

Free Oregon Ground Shipping on Orders Over $120

Looking for our great deals and shipping specials to continue?
Tell a friend who’s not on our email list to take advantage of this great offer and keep us busy in these unusual times!

Huet Subscriber Sale

“2015 is an exceptional and historic vintage again at Huet (perhaps the best since 1997). I can only recommend to buy cases of all styles. You might know or have learned from my last Huet report (see Interim November 2015), that even the dry and medium-dry wines can age for decades…. The 2015s combine super ripe, tropical fruit flavors and juicy textures with concentration, perfectly integrated acidities and enormous precision that reflects the different terroirs” –Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate

“Domaine Huet’ means ‘I make the best damn Chenin Blanc on the planet’ …” –Mike Steinberger, Wine Diarist

Vouvray wines offer near-unmatched flexibility at the table, and Domaine Huet’s reputation guarantees long ageing potential. Made according to tradition and terroir, with utmost respect for nature, Huet wines can keep for over a century. This is one of France’s pioneers in biodynamic viticulture. Horses still plough between the rows. In the winery, the recipe remains relatively simple. Fermentation takes place half in stainless steel, half in old oak, without malo. After only six months, the wines are bottled and then laid to age in a cellar dug from tuffeau rock, no air conditioning required. From here the Huet work is done: the rest is up to nature, Vouvray, and what eventually tastes like divine intervention.

Who wouldn’t want to acquire some of that?

In Stock & On Sale Now:

Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Demi-Sec, Loire 2015 750ML ($59.95) Was $49, Now $39 Subscriber Special, 17 bottles in stock now
Wine Advocate 96 points “The 2015 Vouvray Le Mont Demi-Sec is deep, rich and flinty on the nose, with caramel and vegetable flavors indicating a great complexity. Full-bodied, dense and powerful, this is highly complex and persistent, yet refreshing and transparent Chenin with a juicy fruit and lots of grip, energy and tension. Rather demure at the moment, this enormously structured wine has a great aging potential and I recommend to store it for 6-10 years, at least.”
John Gilman 95 points “The 2015 Le Mont Demi-Sec from Domaine Huët is an outstanding young wine, with even more depth and potential than the superb Le Haut Lieu Demi. The bouquet is bottomless, delivering scents of pineapple, sweet quince, incipient notes of honey, chalky minerality, a touch of lanolin, floral tones redolent of buttercups and lovely, esthery citrus elements in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, beautifully balanced and displays stunning depth at the core, with lovely acidity (particularly for the vintage!), great focus and grip and a very, very long, primary and exceptional finish. This does not have the backend cut or grip of a vintage such as 2007 or 2008, but it is going to be a great example of Domaine Huët Demi-Sec. It is deceptively easy to drink today, but its true apogee is at least a decade or more out from the vintage! 2016-2075. 95.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Haut Lieu Moelleux, Loire 2015 750ML ($49.95) Was $41.90, Now $39 Subscriber Special, 15 bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 95 points “Offers a big, broad feel, with layers of glazed pear, apple and peach falling over each other, backed by fresh ginger, honeysuckle and quince notes. Everything pulls together through the finish, with green tea accents and racy minerality providing the foil. Drink now through 2035.”
John Gilman 94 points “The 2015 Le Haut Lieu Moelleux from Domaine Huët is a superb wine in the making, with its glaze of botrytis beautifully managed and the wine showing excellent potential on both the nose and palate. The bouquet offers up a pure and complex mélange of sweet quince, orange, honey, just a whisper of lanolin, beautiful chalky soil tones, a whisper of the leather to come, citrus zest and a topnote of dried flowers. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and beautifully balanced, with bright acids, a lovely core and outstanding focus and grip on the very long, refined and nicely glazed finish. This will be all apricot, honey and tea leaves in the future, but it is so good to drink out of the blocks, that it is going to be hard not to open bottles in its more exotic youthful period. 2016-2085. 94.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Moelleux, Loire 2015 750ML ($59.95) Was $49, Now $44 Subscriber Special, 10 bottles in stock now
Wine Advocate 96 points “The apricot/golden colored 2015 Vouvray Le Mont Moelleux shows a very intense, elegant and also subtle bouquet of ripe fruit intermixed with flinty aromas. Dense, piquant and concentrated on the palate, this is a great and tension-filled Chenin with grip and persistence, but also great finesse and elegance. This is a highly complex and energetic, but also light-footed and stimulating wine with lots of mouthwatering salinity. A fascinating Chenin with great aging potential.”
John Gilman 95 points “The 2015 Vouvray “Le Mont” Moelleux from Domaine Huët is yet another brilliant wine from the estate in this vintage, soaring from the glass in a nicely botrytized blend of apple, quince, honeycomb, dried flowers, a touch of dusty chalkiness, orange peel and an exotic topnote of sweet corn in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and more primary in personality than the Le Haut Lieu Moelleux, with a rock solid core, great focus and grip, lovely framing acids and impeccable balance on the very, very long and stunning finish. This is less developed than the 2015 Le Haut Lieu Moelleux, but it seems to have even superior potential for the long haul! Great juice. 2020-2085. 95.”
Wine Spectator 94 points “Offers ginger- and hibiscus-infused creamed yellow apple, quince and pear notes, gilded with a whiff of piecrust. All the elements meld through the long, rippling finish. Drink now through 2035.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Haut Lieu Premiere Trie Moelleux, Loire 2015 750ML ($69.95) Was $59, Now $55 Subscriber Special, 4 bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 96 points “Gorgeous from the get-go, featuring creamed melon, yellow apple and persimmon notes that glide effortlessly, inlaid with hints of green tea, verbena, heather and quince. The long finish has beautiful flow, with a buried mineral edge imparting freshness while the fruit plays out. Best from 2018 through 2040.”
John Gilman 95+ points “Domaine Huët’s 2015 Première Trie from the Le Haut Lieu vineyard is more primary and reserved in personality than the straight Moelleux bottling, but deeper, more pristine and ever more promising. The bouquet shows a beautiful glaze of clean botrytis in its aromatic blend of pineapple, sweet quince, tangerine, honey, a lovely cornerstone of soil, orange peel, dried flowers and a bit of smokiness in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, focused and full-bodied, with marvelous depth and balance, bright acids, great complexity to come and stunning length and bounce on the superbly energetic and seamless finish. This has a bit of that early vinosity that was found in the Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec and augurs very, very well for its future development! 2020-2085. 95+.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Mont Premiere Trie Moelleux, Loire 2015 750ML ($99.95) Was $79, Now $66 Subscriber Special, 12 bottles in stock now
Wine Advocate 98 points “The 2015 Vouvray Le Mont Moelleux Première Trie is super clear, ripe and aromatic on the nose, highly elegant and with lovely flinty flavors. Intense and concentrated, with great finesse and vitality, this is a highly elegant and perfectly balanced wine with a persistent grip and salinity. Great balance and harmony.”
John Gilman 97 points “The 2015 Vouvray ‘Le Mont’ Moelleux Première Trie from Domaine Huët is utterly brilliant wine, which is at least fifteen years away from truly blossoming, but is so good right now that it is going to be next to impossible not to drink this wine in the blush of youth! The stunning nose shows a gorgeous glazing of botrytis in its constellation of pineapple, honeyed quince, sweet grapefruit, lovely minerality, orange blossoms, a hint of lavender, citrus oils, dried flowers and just a whisper of the new leather that will arrive with bottle age. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and utterly seamless in balance, with a great core, laser-like focus, superb nascent complexity and lovely grip on the endless, vibrant and dancing finish. Magical juice. 2025-2085. (Sep/Oct 2016)”

Domaine Huet Vouvray Cuvee Constance Moelleux, Loire 2015 500ML ($249.95) Was $199, Now $159 Subscriber Special, 35 500ml-bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 99 points “Stunning from the start, with a silky and refined feel despite the panoply of dried quince, fig, pear and apricot flavors that are exotic in nature. Lovely green tea, orange blossom and persimmon notes fill in the background. Obviously sweet, but with persistent dry almond and orange extract details that lend latent tension through the seamless and nearly endless finish. The first Cuvee Constance bottling since the 2009 vintage. Drink now through 2060.”
Wine Advocate 96 points “Rarely produced and selected from the vineyards Le Haut-Lieu, Le Mont and Clos du Bourg, Huet’s 2015 Vouvray “Cuvée Constance” offers a deep, clear, intense and concentrated nose of ripe stone fruits, peanut butter cookie, spicy, earthy-mineral and some volatile aromas. Sweet, salty, piquant and mineral with a firm structure and very elegant, concentrated, refined fruit, this is a sweet wine with great purity and mineral finesse on the very long, promising finish. The 2016 is still pretty sweet (142 grams of residual sugar) and should be cellared for at least two or three decades. Total production: 2,800 500-milliliter bottles. Tasted February 2018.”
John Gilman 98 points “I have been looking forward to the release of Domaine Huët’s 2015 Cuvée Constance ever since I tasted a year ago the rest of the stunning range of wines produced here in the vintage. It is a great vintage for Domaine Huët and the Cuvée Constance is everything one could hope for from the confluence of this great estate and a legendary vintage. The wine is still very youthful, but its ultimate brilliance is very easy to see, as the wine wafts from the glass in a celestial constellation of orange, fresh apricot, incipient tea leaves, a nice touch of soil, hints of lanolin, orange peel, barley sugar and a hint of upper register smokiness. On the palate the wine is pure, full and nascently complex, with laser-like focus, a bottomless core, great acids and marvelous balance on the very, very long, zesty and energetic finish. This is still a very young wine and will need years to start to show its secondary and tertiary layers of complexity, but they are lurking here and in the fullness of time, this will be breathtaking in its beauty. (Drink between 2025-2100).”

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Clos Rougeard Subscriber Special

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Act fast if you want any!

Shop the subscriber special on our webstore!

Trending

Perfectly delicious and perfectly priced!
Bow & Arrow Rhinestone Red, Willamette Valley 2018 750ML ($26.95) Was $21.90, Now $18 Subscriber Special
Winery Note “To understand Rhinestones we have to talk about the Cheverny region of France’s Loire Valley where, by law, the red wines must be a blend of Gamay and Pinot Noir. We follow this stricture with all the Pinot and Gamay fruit we source from Johan Vineyard. The blend is determined by nature and vintage. Aged in a mixture of concrete and old barriques, this wine is the flagship of the Bow & Arrow operation and communicates what we’re about as much as anything we make. Effortlessly drinkable but rewards detective work if you’re in the mood.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The next best price is $24.99
The average listed price is $26

A special restaurant reserve bottling of the Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. More stock arriving today.
Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2016 750ML ($21.95) $18 re-arrival special
Case-6 Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2016 750ML ($129.95) $99 re-arrival special (that’s only $16.50/bottle!)
Case-12 Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2016 750ML ($219.95) $189 re-arrival special (that’s only $15.75/bottle!)

This is (technically) the only listing the USA today!
The average price on the 2016 WVPN is $26

Welcome to your new house white
Goodfellow Family Cellars Chardonnay, Dundee Hills 2017 750ML ($29.95) Was $24, Now $19 Subscriber Special
John Gilman 90+ points “The fruit for the Dundee Hills bottling of chardonnay from Marcus Goodfellow all hails from the Durant Vineyard. The wine is excellent aromatically, wafting from the glass in a complex and slightly reductive blend of pear, apple, almond, iodine, a good base of soil and a well done framing of new oak. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and youthfully closed, with a good core of fruit, lovely soil signature, zesty acids and fine balance on the long and vibrant finish. This is perfectly drinkable today, if one decants it a bit and unlocks the reduction, but it is built to age and will be an even better dink with some bottle age. 2020-2035. 90+.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

B. Leighton Olsen Brothers Vineyard Syrah, Yakima Valley 2016 750ML ($59.95) $45 special
Case-12 B. Leighton Olsen Brothers Vineyard Syrah, Yakima Valley 2016 750ML ($599.95) $479 special (that’s only $39.92/bottle!)
Jeb Dunnuck 96 points “The 2016 Syrah comes from a site in the Yakima Valley that was planted by Leighton. Its deep ruby/purple color is followed by classic Syrah notes of dark berry fruits, smoke tobacco, olive tapenade, and ground pepper. Medium to full-bodied, with both freshness and richness, it’s impeccably balanced, with beautiful fruit and a great finish. It’s another seriously good wine from Brennon that delivers the goods. Drink it over the coming 7-8 years.”

“Dreamy”-WS
Domaine de Cristia Chateauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes, Rhone 2015 750ML ($99.95) $79 special
Wine Spectator 97 points “This delivers a lush, enticing blast of cassis and raspberry and boysenberry preserve flavors, carried by a silky structure that lets the fruit play out at length, giving adequate time for black tea, singed apple wood, dried anise and fruitcake notes to fill in throughout. Dreamy. Grenache. Best from 2020 through 2040.”

Didier Dagueneau Blanc Fume de Pouilly, Loire 2016 750ML ($99.95) $79 special
“When his father died in September of 2008, Louis Benjamin was only 26 years old. While some things have changed since then, much remains the same. The dogs are gone, and the house has a different flair, but the meticulous attention to detail in the vineyards and the precision in the cellar have, if anything, become even more perfectionist under his direction. With a hired hand for each of his 12 hectares, few vineyards in Pouilly are as well kept and he is the only one I know here who still harvests by hand.After a cold soak at 7 degrees C for three days, his sauvignon blancs are fermented with his own yeasts in small oak casks and kept on their lees for one year before being assembled and matured in stainless steel, where they remain for another six to eight months until bottling. It is an almost Burgundian style of winemaking, but then, as he says, Pouilly is technically a part of Burgundy even though it lies along the Loire. I have often heard the criticism that the hand of the winemaker is more evident here than that of the site, but time does allow the individual wines to show their true colors. It is merely that most of the bottles are consumed long before that day arrives.”-Joel Payne, Vinous

#33 – James Suckling’s Top 100 Wines of the Year
E. Pira & Figli Chiara Boschis Cannubi, Barolo DOCG 2015 750ML ($149.95) $119 special
James Suckling 99 points “Impressive roses and finely ground spices with a bright red-cherry core, as well as a fresh wild-herb thread. The sense of focus and purity here is stunning. The palate has a deeply juicy and fresh core of tightly knit tannins that carry immense power with impeccable balance. Elegantly executed wine with profound length. Try from 2025.”
Monica Larner-Wine Advocate 95 points “My sample bottle of 2015 Barolo Cannubi was allowed to breathe overnight, and I really got a glimpse of how the wine evolves, showing beautiful minty notes on the bouquet with time. This Barolo is more compact in terms of build than the others and more streamlined in the mouth, but it comes across as extremely delicate, light and elegant. There is a sweet spot on the close. This wine has a unique style that is both graceful and petite, and given ample time to breathe, it would put a smile on any Barolo lover’s face.”
Wine Spectator 95 points “A beam of rose, raspberry and kirsch notes highlights this aromatic, elegant red. Racy and structured, this focuses the fruit flavors, picking up leafy underbrush, mint, spice and tar elements, building to a firm finish. Best from 2022 through 2040.”

Giacomo Fenocchio Barolo Bussia, Barolo DOCG 2015 750ML ($59.95) $49 special
Antonio Galloni 94 points “The 2015 Barolo Bussia is a wine of power, density and gravitas, all of which come through in its decidedly vertical feel and rather somber expression. A whole range of balsamic-infused notes wrap around a core of dark fruit as this potent Barolo shows off its distinctive personality. The 2015 needs time to be at its best, but it is unquestionably impressive, even in the very early going.”

This is the lowest listed price on the West Coast!
The average price nationally is $57

New Week / New Arrivals

Local

We offer 140+ wines from the Willamette Valley in stock now (that’s 2,000+ bottles in the shop). We aim to be the best price in the country, and are matchless in our depth and breadth of in-stock wines. We’re not brokers, we’re invested in our suppliers in that we actually purchase and carry large inventories here now. We put our money where our mouths (and hearts) are to offer you the greatest selection of local and international wines available.

Crowley Entre Nous Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills 2017 750ML ($34.95) $28 special
VinopolNote: The 2017 Entre Nous is mostly fruit from La Colina vineyard, with a touch of Oracle and Four Winds. It spent 20 months in mostly old oak barrels. This vintage saw no whole cluster and is a blend of Wadensville and Pommard clones.

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Crowley La Colina Vineyard Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills 2017 750ML ($49.95) $44 special
VinopolNote: The 2017 vintage of the La Colina Vineyard Pinot shows the classic cool-iron and blue and black fruit aromas. This is a fantastic release that has savory and black pepper aromas. Don’t let the darker profile fool you, this is an elegant wine more reminiscent of Burgundy than California.
Pierre Chermette was just 22 when he took over Domaine Vissoux from his parents in 1982. In the intervening decades, Pierre has remained at the forefront of Beaujolais’ quality movement, pushing the estate towards lower yields and sustainable viticulture. Pierre was also a visionary within the region, not only recognizing the potential of the region’s Cru villages, but acting on the hunch. In the mid-90s Pierre purchased vines in Fleurie and Moulin à Vent, and over the past quarter century has continued to expand the firm’s holdings.

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The next best price is $50.99

Cristom ‘Mt. Jefferson Cuvee’ Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills 2017 375ML ($24.95) $16 half-bottle special
James Suckling 93 points “An attractive array of rich red to dark cherries that delivers a fine layer of perfume and a wealth of bright raspberries and red cherries. The palate is subtly earthy and gently spicy with a very plush and assertive core of blueberries and red cherries. Smooth, supple and very energetic. Drink over the next six to eight years.”
Wine Spectator 92 points “Expressive strawberry blossom and raspberry aromas open to elegantly structured cherry and spicy cinnamon flavors that build richness toward refined tannins. Drink now through 2025. 9,835 cases made.”

This is the lowest listed price on the West Coast!

Cristom ‘Mt. Jefferson Cuvee’ Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills 2018 750ML ($37.95) $28 special
James Suckling 94 points “A very spicy and fresh array of blueberries, ripe darker cherries and plums. Cassis aromas, too, as well as more savory notes of graphite and fragrant wood. The palate has very striking depth and presence with expansive, fleshy tannins carrying intense fruit flavors, in the darker spectrum of cherries and berries. Cocoa powder to close. Drink or hold.”

France

Neither modern, nor traditional, Vissoux’s wines are known for quality, defying simple categorization. And maybe because they lack simple categorization, they remain some of the region’s best values, punching way above their weight, even in a region known for delivery serious bang for the buck. There’s a reason they’re our best-selling Beaujolais estate each year—these are some fantastic wines at great prices.

Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Coeur de Vendanges, Beaujolais 2018 750ML ($29.95) $24 special
William Kelley-Wine Advocate 92 points “As I’ve written before, this bottling represents one of the great values in French wine, and the 2018 Beaujolais-Villages Coeur de Vendanges will not disappoint long-time fans of the cuvée. Wafting from the glass with a rich bouquet of dark berry fruit, rose petals and licorice, it’s full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, its powdery tannins concealed in a lavish core of succulent, lively fruit. A wine to purchase by the case, expect it to offer irresistible drinking for the better part of a decade.”

This is the lowest listed price on the West Coast!

Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Brouilly Pierreux, Beaujolais 2018 750ML ($34.95) $28 special
William Kelley-Wine Advocate 91 points “Aromas of raspberries, plums and orange rind preface the 2018 Brouilly Pierreux, a medium to full-bodied, fleshy wine with a satiny attack that segues into a fine-boned, elegantly structured mid-palate, with lively acids and a fragrant, expansive finish. This cuvée, which sees six months’ élevage in old foudres, has turned out very well.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Fleurie les Garants, Beaujolais 2018 750ML ($39.95) $31.90 special
William Kelley-Wine Advocate 93 points “Chermette’s 2018 Fleurie Les Garants delivers a striking bouquet of raspberries, peonies, warm spices and candied peel, followed by a medium to full-bodied, satiny but incisive palate that remains lively and tensile, despite its abundant endowment of ripe, succulent fruit. Elegant and precise, this is one of the high points of the portfolio.”

This is the lowest listed price on the West Coast!

Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Fleurie Poncie, Beaujolais 2018 750ML ($39.95) $31.90 special
William Kelley-Wine Advocate 94 points “Unwinding in the glass with aromas of rose petals, sweet red cherries, dried flowers and ripe strawberries, the 2018 Fleurie Poncié is medium to full-bodied, lively and enveloping, with a charming, fruit-driven profile this year that tends to obscure its elegantly fine-boned tannic chassis. But don’t be fooled, this is reliably one of Chermette’s finest cuvées, and the 2018 rendition should evolve gracefully for 15 years or more.”

This is the lowest listed price on the West Coast!

Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Moulin-a-Vent Les Trois Roches, Beaujolais 2018 750ML ($39.95) $33 special
William Kelley-Wine Advocate 94 points “The 2018 Moulin-à-Vent Les Trois Roches is also showing very well, exhibiting an inviting bouquet of black raspberries, spices, candied peel and peonies. On the palate, it’s full-bodied, satiny and enveloping, with a deep and concentrated core of fleshy fruit that largely conceals the wines tannins. This is another terrific effort from Chermette in this gourmand, attractively immediate vintage.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Saint Amour Les Champs-Grilles, Beaujolais 2018 750ML ($34.95) $28 special
William Kelley-Wine Advocate 92+ points “The 2018 Saint-Amour Les Champs-Grillés is a serious wine, “not just for Valentine’s Day,” as Jean-Étienne Chermette observes. Revealing attractive notes of raspberries, rose petals and cherries, it’s medium to full-bodied, layered and spicy, with a muscular chassis of fine, powdery tannins. As usual, it’s a cuvée that stands to gain from a couple of years in the cellar.”

This is the lowest listed price on the West Coast!

M. Chapoutier Chateauneuf-du-Pape Croix de Bois Rouge, Rhone 2016 750ML ($99.95) $79 special
Jeb Dunnuck 96-98 points “Last of the 2016-barrel samples, the 2016 Châteauneuf-Du-Pape Croix de Bois comes from a parcel on the eastern side of the appellation and is, as always, 100% Grenache brought up in concrete. It’s similarly colored to the Barbe Rac and offers the classic ripe, pure, sexy style of the cuvée. Blackberries, blueberries, crushed herbs, pepper and beautiful minerality all emerge from this full-bodied, uber-concentrated, ultra-pure 2016 and like a lot of 2016s might just be another best yet.”
Josh Raynolds – Vinous 95 points “Deep shimmering ruby. A sexy, highly perfumed bouquet evokes ripe red fruits, Asian spices, cola and potpourri, and a smoky mineral flourish builds in the glass. Seductively sweet and expansive in the mouth, offering intense raspberry liqueur, cherry cola, candied lavender and spicecake flavors that are firmed by a core of juicy acidity. Shows outstanding depth as well as finesse, with no rough edges. The strikingly long, floral- and spice-accented finish emphatically echoes the red fruit note and is given shape by smooth tannins. All concrete.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The average price is $111

Spain

Marques de Legarda Gran Reserva, Rioja DOCa 2005 750ML ($39.95) $28 special
James Suckling 93 points “Plenty of dried-berry and chocolate character with loads of cigar-box and walnut flavors underneath. Traditional style, yet remains fresh and sweet-fruited. Flavorful finish. Drink now.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The next best price is $29.99

Collector’s Corner

Jean Marc Millot’s Grand Crus

(and Some That Should Be)

At this point, it’s amazing that there are hidden gems left to discover in Burgundy. No other region in the wine world is as scrutinized, and the market is generally efficient and ruthless in finding quality. That a producer like Jean Marc Millot could somehow escape widespread attention until the last few years boggles the mind, especially when given the quality of his holdings.

This is a domaine making excellent wines from very old vines in some of the best vineyards in France. They own parcels in the Grand Crus of Echezeaux, Grands-Echezeaux and Clos Vougeot—and their only premier cru wine is from Suchots, which is easily Grand Cru in quality (and location). Most wineries would kill to be able to make any one of those Grand Crus—to produce all three is a luxury that few have.

To produce these vineyards at this quality? Well, it’s only a matter of time before Millot blows up. These are fantastic bottles of Burgundy, with loads of Vosne character and finessed, pure personalities. Lovers of Burgundy, you won’t see verticals of these wines available often, so grab them while you can.

See the complete list below or shop on our webstore!

Arriving ETA April:

Vinopolis is an independent wine shop in Portland that opened in 2004. Our goal has always been to offer the finest, broadest, and largest selection of wines at the best prices to our customers in Portland, in Oregon, across the West Coast, and throughout the United States. Thank you for reading and for continuing to support our team at Vinopolis.

Stay safe, be well & drink well.

Weekend Addition 3-28-20

In Today’s Newsletter:

A Set of Goodfellow Subscriber Specials

Subscriber Special #1
A Special 2016 Willamette Valley Pinot at Special Pricing

Subscriber Special #2
Your New House White?

Subscriber Special #3
Staff Pick: Syrah From…The Willamette Valley?
At Even Better Pricing

Subscriber Special #4
’15 Whistling Ridge from the Winery’s Cellar

Bonus Offer: 2013 Bishop Creek Pinot Noir

Goodfellow Whites in Stock Now

Goodfellow Reds in Stock Now

Weekend Subscriber Special Roundup
Bow and Arrow’s Rhinestones – Under $20/Btl
What’s Better Than Under $30 Barolo?
Clos Rougeard Subscriber Special

Trending Wines

A Set of Goodfellow Subscriber Specials

Marcus Goodfellow is one of the premier winemakers in Oregon. He founded Matello wines, his original label, in 2002 and hasn’t looked back since, making wines that have continually improved—both in bottle and from vintage to vintage. These are profound wines, both white and red, that are made in a style that’s distinctly savory—no fruit bombs here. Rather, we love them for their coiled power and Burgundian structure. These are wines that speak with an Oregon voice, but the tannin and acidity comes from an Old World point of view. In 2012, after the birth of this first child, he created Goodfellow Family Cellars—to focus on single vineyard wines and celebrate his new family.

Like most wineries in the Willamette Valley, Marcus has been hit hard by the recent restaurant shutdown, and so we’re working with him to bring a bunch of wines to you at much lower prices than normal. It puts (much needed) cash in the wineries pocket and allows you to save a ton on wines that already over-delivered at their original prices.

We offer 140+ wines from the Willamette Valley in stock now (that’s 2,090+ bottles in the shop). We aim to be the best price in the country, and are matchless in our depth and breadth of in-stock wines. We’re not brokers, we’re invested in our suppliers in that we actually purchase and carry large inventories here now. We put our money where our mouths (and heart) are to offer you the greatest selection of local and international wines available.

We’re featuring four wines of special note, but you should look at the full stock of Goodfellow wines on our webstore or later on in the newsletter, below.

Subscriber Special #1

A Special 2016 Willamette Valley Pinot at Special Pricing

Our first of the Goodfellow Subscriber Specials is a wine that we’ve never sold at retail before, technically—a special “restaurant edition” of the 2016 Goodfellow Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. The regular ’16 Willamette Valley was one of our bestselling bottles when we had it in and this new wine offers even more value. First of all, we’re able to offer it to you for even less than the original WV went for—under $20 a bottle, which is a stellar price for a wine of this quantity. If you’re willing to commit to a half or a full case (and why wouldn’t you?) the price gets truly nuts: $16.50/btl or just $15.75 respectively.

The wine itself is a slightly different blend than the “regular” bottling, emphasizing a bit more fruit and softer, more elegant tannins. Its base is made from the Bednarik vineyard (the star vineyard for Panther Creek in the late 90’s and a hidden gem in the Willamette Valley), which provides a rich, textured core that has plenty of Goodfellow zest and savoriness. The other main vineyards are layered in as well, with Durant providing florals and fruit, Whistling Ridge spice and structure and Fir Crest bringing some earth and color to the mix.

The resulting wine is one of the most delicious, complete bottles of WV Pinot we’ve tasted for the price. As you’d expect of a wine blended for glass pouring, this is fantastic out of the gate, no need to age this one. We’re sure it’ll improve over the next 5ish years, but if you’re looking for a Willamette wine to keep you company during a self-quarantine, you should pop (many) of them now.

A special restaurant reserve bottling of the Willamette Valley Pinot Noir!
Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2016 750ML ($21.95) $18 special, 36+ bottles in stock now
Case-6 Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2016 750ML ($129.95) $99 special (that’s only $16.50/bottle!)
Case-12 Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2016 750ML ($219.95) $189 special (that’s only $15.75/bottle!)

This is (technically) the only listing the USA today!
The average price on the 2016 WVPN is $27

Be a Friend/Tell a Friend

About Our Oregon April Shipping Special

Free Oregon Ground Shipping on Orders Over $120

Subscriber Special #2

Your New House White?

Unlike the last wine, which has never been offered before (in a retail setting), this wine, the “Dundee Hills” bottling of Chardonnay, has been a mainstay over the last year. Made primarily from the Lark Block of Durant Vineyard, this is a classic Goodfellow Chard. It’s now $5 per bottle cheaper than it was yesterday, so stock up. At $24, this was one of the better deals in Willamette Chard. At $19, welcome to your new house white.

Goodfellow Family Cellars Chardonnay, Dundee Hills 2017 750ML ($29.95) Was $24, Now $19, 36+ bottles in stock now
John Gilman 90+ points “The fruit for the Dundee Hills bottling of chardonnay from Marcus Goodfellow all hails from the Durant Vineyard. The wine is excellent aromatically, wafting from the glass in a complex and slightly reductive blend of pear, apple, almond, iodine, a good base of soil and a well done framing of new oak. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and youthfully closed, with a good core of fruit, lovely soil signature, zesty acids and fine balance on the long and vibrant finish. This is perfectly drinkable today, if one decants it a bit and unlocks the reduction, but it is built to age and will be an even better dink with some bottle age. 2020-2035. 90+.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Subscriber Special #3

Staff Pick: Syrah From…The Willamette Valley?

At Even Better Pricing

We originally ran this staff pick a few months ago. Now that we’ve gone ahead and dropped the price on Marcus’ 2015 Syrah Reserve, well… an already exceptional wine is now even more of a must-buy.

Saul:
At first glance, the Willamette Valley might seem like an odd place to grow Syrah—after all, we think of Syrah as a warmth loving grape. That said, when you look at the historical temperatures in the Northern Rhone combined with the volcanic soils that define both the Valley and areas like Cote Rotie, you start to wonder about the possibilities of the grape here. Cristom has occasionally released them, but we recently tasted one of the finest bottles of Syrah I’ve had from Oregon.

You might know that Marcus Goodfellow makes Syrah from Deux Vert Vineyard in Yamhill-Carlton, but in 2015 he produced a Syrah Reserve bottling—and boy is it fantastic. The Reserve bottling spent longer in barrel (over 30 months) and was selected for structure, savoriness and power. Like most of Marcus’ wines, there’s a lot of whole-cluster fermentation in this bottling and it definitely reads as more “serious” as a result. While the wine is rich and intense, don’t expect over the top fruit here. It reminded me of really high quality St. Joseph, with dark, fresh fruits and a distinct meaty, savory overtone. I’m grabbing some for now and some for the cellar—it’s delicious now but I suspect it’s going to be a stunner in a decade.

In Stock Now:

Goodfellow Family Cellars Deux Vert Reserve Syrah, Willamette Valley 2015 750ML ($47.95) Was $36, Now $31.90 Subscriber Special, 36+ bottles in stock now
John Gilman 91+ points “Marcus Goodfellow’s 2015 Deux Vert Vineyard (Reserve) bottling of Syrah includes five percent viognier, which grows alongside these syrah vines, which were the first to be planted in the Willamette Valley in 1994. The 2015 version comes in at 13.8 percent octane and delivers a refined and red fruity bouquet of raspberries, pepper, woodsmoke, roasted meats, lovely soil tones, plenty of spice elements and a nice framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, tangy and rock solid at the core, with excellent transparency and grip, ripe tannins and a long, focused and nascently complex finish. This will be a lovely bottle in due course, but it needs some time in the cellar to allow its backend tannins to resolve a bit. Fine juice. 2030- 2055+. 91+.”
VinopolNote: The Reserve bottling spent longer in barrel (over 30 months) and was selected for structure, savoriness and power. Like most of Marcus’ wines, there’s a lot of whole-cluster fermentation in this bottling and it definitely reads as more “serious” as a result. While the wine is rich and intense, don’t expect over-the-top fruit here. This reminds us of high quality Northern Rhone wines, with dark, fresh fruits and a distinct meaty, savory overtone. One for the table with some air or for the cellar.

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Subscriber Special #4

’15 Whistling Ridge Pinot from the Winery’s Cellar

Whistling Ridge is Marcus Goodfellow’s Cros Parantoux—a site he seems to have particular affinity with, producing exceptional wines. It’s located on top of a hill in Ribbon Ridge, adjoining Patricia Green and the Beaux Freres Upper Terrace. This is often his most “Burgundian” bottling and takes a few years to open up.

Case in point: the now-stunning 2015 edition, which showed immeasurable promise when young (but not very much immediate pleasure). Recently, though, the wine seems to have turned a corner and offers an exceptional experience. Red cherry, spice and orange notes linger over a powerful palate that features a beautiful measure of red and black fruit over a beam of mineral energy. It’s gonna age for a while more, but is delicious right now. Marcus has been generous enough to pull a few cases out of the winery’s library and we’re excited to re-release it to you today.

Goodfellow Family Cellars Whistling Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir, Ribbon Ridge 2015 750ML ($49.95) $36 special, 24 bottles in stock now
Wine Advocate 93 points “From a vineyard planted in 1990, the pale to medium ruby colored 2015 Pinot Noir Whistling Ridge Vineyard has a spicy nose of coriander, warm cinnamon, potpourri and dried leaves over a core of baked cranberry and red cherry fruit with meaty/savory touches. Light to medium-bodied, it has spice-laced red fruits in the mouth, with a great frame of fine-grained tannins and wonderful freshness, finishing very long and very spicy. 270 cases produced.”
VinopolNote “Whistling Ridge has become Marcus Goodfellow’s Cros Parantoux—a vineyard that somehow went overlooked but now produces exceptional wines in the right hands. Nestled on the ridgetop abutting the Beaux Freres Upper Terrace, wines from Whistling Ridge tend to be compact and powerful-built for aging. Lots of spice and floral notes blend with a mix of black and red fruits for a stellar wine that’s one of the best versions yet.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Vinopolis Wine Shop Curbside Pick Up

Don’t want to stop in?

Order Online / By Phone / By Email

When you’re ready to pick up, just park in our lot,
give us a call, & we’ll bring your order to your car.

(If another adult is picking up for you, please let us know
their name when placing your order.)

#503-223-6002

Bonus Offer

2013 Bishop Creek Pinot Noir

The 2013 vintage remains something of an Oregon insider’s secret. At the time the wines were released, no one knew what to make of the year, marked by an intense rain storm after an otherwise fantastic growing season. The wines were often backwards on release (or dilute), so they were hard to judge. Now, though, those backwards wines have put on weight and their tannins have softened, yielding wines that are in an absolute sweet spot right now.

A prime case in point? Marcus Goodfellow’s 2013 Bishop Creek Pinot Noir. This is a wine that the winery chose not to try and sell in its youth. A few dozen cases went out to the wine club, but other than that, the wine was just too ornery to deliver much in the way of pleasure and so the winery didn’t actively try and sell it. They held onto it, knowing it had the raw materials to age—and boy, were they right. We just tasted it, and it’s turned into a fantastic bottle of Pinot.

This is a wine that lovers of Oregon and lovers of Burgundy can agree on. Beautifully fruited with a distinctly savory note of earth and spice, this shows off its terroir in a suave, sophisticated way. Bishop Creek vineyard is a site that has since been sold to the famed Burgundy producer Meo-Camuzet. On an absolute basis, the wines that Goodfellow made from the site are clearly superior—when you factor in that they’re $60+ per bottle less expensive, well, it’s a no-brainer. The 2013 is in a fantastic place right now, but will age effortlessly for another 5-10 years.

Goodfellow Family Cellars Bishop Creek Vineyard Pinot Noir, Yamhill Carlton 2013 750ML ($39.95) $29 special, 16 bottles in stock now
“Twenty five year old un-grafted Wadensville vines, dry farmed in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA are handpicked for this wine. From 3 acres, each clone is fermented separately with native yeasts in small lots, typically with 50-60% whole-clusters. The wine is aged in 0%-40% new French oak barrels for 18-21 months and bottled unfined and unfiltered. There is intensity at Bishop Creek, with deep, dark toned fruit, a spicy floral edge and savory tones with acidity and length.”–Winery Notes

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Goodfellow Whites in Stock Now

Marcus’ white wines are all about texture and minerality. He favors large format (500-820L) barrels to allow for slow oxidation over longer elevages. While not great for cash flow, this extended upbringing means whites that have all the complexity, nuance and freshness of the great wines of France—at much lower prices.

Goodfellow Family Cellars Durant Vineyard Chardonnay, Dundee Hills 2017 750ML ($39.95) $33 special, 12 bottles in stock now
John Gilman 92 points “The Goodfellow chardonnay bottling labeled as Durant Vineyard hails from two blocks of vines in the vineyard, planted in 1993 and 1998. The 2017 version comes in at a very civilized 13.2 percent octane and again, is a bit reductive out of the blocks, but with swirling, reveals a fine bouquet of pear, golden delicious apple, hazelnut, a touch of iodine, lovely soil tones, white flowers and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is crisp, full-bodied and quite elegant in profile, with a lovely core of fruit, good transparency and bounce, bright acids and a long, balanced and complex finish. This is really lovely juice. 2022-2035+. 92.”
Winery note “Lemon zest, kumquat, green pineapple, pears, lime leaf, and mango peel. Field flowers and wintergreen, sea beans and bay leaves. Tasted at room temp, this wine is voluminous yet dense, filled with the scents of exotic fruits and spices, warmly rich on a complex backdrop. Chilled a bit, the wine draws into bright citrus notes layered over a saline backdrop, smooth and perfectly balanced. According to recent taster: similar to En Remilly wines in Burgundy. The Durant Chardonnay often feels like it really blossoms with 2-3 years in bottle, and as it ages onward the nuance and layering that the vineyard is capable of are revealed. 13.2%, 113 cases produced. Drink now to 2027.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today with no minimum!

Goodfellow Family Cellars Richard’s Cuvee Chardonnay, Ribbon Ridge 2014 375ML ($29.95) $24 special, 13 half-bottles in stock now
Wine Advocate 95 points “The 2014 Chardonnay Richard’s Cuvee knocks it out of the park with a nose of ripe apricots, pink grapefruit and guava underscored by fresh ginger, baking bread, beeswax and yeast extract hints with a waft of jasmine. Medium-bodied, the palate is very elegant and refined, with incredible freshness and depth wrapped in a lovely satiny texture, finishing with long lasting mineral and spices layers. Wow!”
Winery note “Dry-farmed chardonnay from a 1-acre parcel at Whistling Ridge, hand-picked, whole-cluster pressed. After a brief period settling the wine is racked into large French oak vessels. Fermentation and elevage lasts about 21 months on the gross lees. The shallow marine sediment soils and windy environs at Whistling Ridge produce a Chardonnay that is mineral, deep and long with chalky citrus fruit.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Goodfellow Family Cellars Richard’s Cuvee Chardonnay, Ribbon Ridge 2016 750ML ($47.95) $39 special, 5 bottles in stock now
John Gilman 92 points “The 2016 Richard’s Chardonnay bottling from Goodfellow Family Cellars is just starting to blossom and shows off a fine aromatic blend of pear, apple, almond, a fine base of soil, dried flowers and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, focused and a touch less open today than the Durant Vineyard bottling from 2016, but with a fine core, a lovely girdle of acidity and impressive length and grip on the still fairly youthful finish. I would opt for still tucking this away in the cellar for a couple more years and let it fully blossom, as it will be lovely in due course. 2022-2035. 92.”
Winery note “From a single acre of mixed Dijon and Heirloom clones, the Richard’s Cuvée aptly demonstrates the closing gap between Willamette Valley Chardonnays and white Burgundy. The ridge top exposure and shallow sedimentary soils imbue this wine with the energy and mineral finish of the very best Chardonnays.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The next best price is $45

Goodfellow Family Cellars Richard’s Cuvee Chardonnay, Ribbon Ridge 2017 750ML ($49.95) $44 special, 36+ bottles in stock now
John Gilman 92+ points “The Whistling Ridge Vineyard lies in the Ribbon Ridge AVA. It was first planted in 1990 (with these chardonnay vines going in the ground in 1995) and has a southeasterly exposition and sits high up on its ridge top, with cooling breezes coming in every afternoon and evening. The 2017 Richard’s Cuvée bottling reflects this cooler microclimate, coming in at 12.5 percent octane and offering up a lovely and quite floral bouquet of white peach, pear, fresh almond, lovely soil tones, white lilies and a touch of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is pure, fullish and very elegant in profile, with fine soil signature, a good core of fruit, bright acids and fine focus and grip on the long and complex finish. This is lovely. 2020-2040. 92+.”
Winery Note “Subtle, nuanced, beautiful, and incredibly fine; the 2017 Richard’s Cuvée was sourced from a single 820L foudre of Chardonnay from Whistling Ridge Vineyard. The wine shows extraordinary balance and layering, with lemon curd, sea air, almond blossom and delicate smoke. Forest moss, meyer lemon, summer grasses, salt stones and wild ginger. The palate has tremendous build, yet remains essentially a reflective wine.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Goodfellow Family Cellars Whistling Ridge Vineyard Chardonnay, Ribbon Ridge 2017 750ML ($39.95) $33 special, 11 bottles in stock now
Winery note “Chalk, salinity, rock dust, and fresh grain. Meyer lemon curd, kumquats, orange pith, almond flower, and new spring growth. Linear body, briny and citrusy, stoney and salty in the finish. This balances broadness with enough structure and acidity to be enjoyable, refreshing, and age worthy. There are similarities to Chablis in the weight, drive, and mineral finish (at least to the classicist producers who still ferment in barrel). 12.8% alcohol, 113 cases produced. Drink now to 2030.”

Goodfellow Family Cellars Chardonnay, Willamette Valley 2017 750ML ($24.95) $19.90 special, 4 bottles in stock now
Winery note “Durant Vineyard in the Dundee Hills AVA is planted in Volcanic soils, on a sheltered east facing slope. Whistling Ridge Vineyard in the Ribbon Ridge AVA is an exposed, ridge top vineyard planted in shallow marine-sedimentary soils. Both are sustainably farmed by the Oregonians who own the land.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today with no minimum!

Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley 2018 750ML ($19.95) $16.60 special, 12 bottles in stock now

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Goodfellow Family Cellars Whistling Ridge Vineyard Riesling, Ribbon Ridge 2018 750ML ($24.95) $21.90 special, 21 bottles in stock now

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Goodfellow Family Cellars Whistling Ridge Vineyard Blanc, Ribbon Ridge 2016 750ML ($24.95) $19 special, 5 bottles in stock now
VinopolNote: This is a field blend of Riesling, Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc and Gewurtztraminer (all pressed off as white). Fresh, delicious and crisp, this is a perfect wine for fish and charcuterie (or by itself, if we’re being confessional).

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today with no minimum!

Goodfellow Family Cellars Noble Selection Pinot Blanc 2013 375ML ($26.95) $21.90 special, 4 half-bottles in stock now
Winery notes: “Crafted in 2013 from the fruit that would usually give us Caprice, this wine’s destiny was sealed when it arrived with kisses of botrytis. We sell it almost only out of our tasting room, but it is available upon request for those that love Alsatian style dessert wine.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Goodfellow Reds in Stock Now

Ever since the Matello days, Marcus Goodfellow has been known for making savory, age-worthy Pinot Noir that challenges the best of Burgundy on its own terms. He loves to use high percentages of whole clusters in his fermentations and doesn’t push extraction, preferring to make wines that show elegance and the power of the vineyard (not the winery).

Goodfellow Family Cellars Heritage No. 7 Pinot Noir, Ribbon Ridge 2016 750ML ($69.95) $59 special, 12 bottles in stock now
Josh Raynolds-Vinous 94 points “Translucent red. A highly complex bouquet evokes ripe, mineral-accented red fruit, five-spice powder and incense, with a zesty mineral note that gains strength as the wine opens up. Gently sweet, seamless and lively on the palate, offering densely packed raspberry, cherry liqueur, spicecake and rose pastille flavors that are supported by a core of juicy acidity. Delivers a suave blend of power and delicacy. Finishes extremely long and spicy, with polished tannins framing lingering red fruit preserve and floral notes. (75% whole clusters and raised in neutral French oak puncheons).”
Winery notes “Made with great thought, our reserve wine is crafted to stand strong for years to come. The genesis was a wine to age for our son to enjoy one day. Thus, it seems more new oak and is made from our favorite parcel of the vintage. Lay down for as long as you can, as patience is to be rewarded. Whistling Ridge Vineyard Pinot from a 1990 planting aged for 20 months in French oak. Sedimentary soils with a South/Southeast exposure at 350-450’ elevation. Dry farmed.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Goodfellow Family Cellars Heritage No. 9 Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills 2017 750ML ($69.95) $59 special, 2 bottles in stock now
Winery note “Pure red fruit, bright cherry, satiny with subtle herbs, spice and floral notes adding layering. Brilliantly supple texture, with quenching red fruit, forest floor, faint hints of earth, and refreshing juicy acidity. The follow up to 2016s lovely Heritage No.8, the No.9 is a single neutral foudre of 100% whole cluster Durant fruit that shone with elegance and subtle richness from the beginning. Remarkably light on it’s feet, pair this with pork tenderloin, coq-au-vin, chops, and brighter game dishes. 13.8% alcohol, 55 cases. Drink 2022-2034.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley 2017 750ML ($24.95) $20.90 special, 12 bottles in stock now

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today with no minimum!

Goodfellow Family Cellars Pinot Noir, Ribbon Ridge 2017 750ML ($29.95) $26 special, 12 bottles in stock now

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Goodfellow Family Cellars Pumphouse Block Temperance Hill Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills 2017 750ML ($59.95) $45 special, 4 bottles in stock now
Winery note “Pure and expressive, with vivid red fruits of strawberry and red currants, cedar cigar box, bramble, raspberry leaf and floral aromatics, brown spice, cinnamon, and kirsch. This is more brilliantly red fruited, intense, and structured than the Temperance Hill bottling. Subtle tones of lilac and heather, orange zest, more cedar and tobacco, but at the youthful forefront, the brilliant red fruit. 13.7% alcohol, 75 cases produced. Drink now-2039.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Goodfellow Family Cellars Temperance Hill Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills 2017 750ML ($47.95) $36 special, 1 bottle in stock now
Winery note “Translucent crimson. Elegant nose of fresh tobacco, smoke, strawberries and red apple skin, with sea air, stoney ground, iris root, roses, asian spice, orange peel, and cedar cigar box. There are wines that leap at you and wines that beckon you into the glass- this is the later. The cedar note is a classic expression of Temperance Hill terroir, and I was happy to see it in this wine. The palate on opening is bright, with red berries, currants, pie cherries, rhubarb, strawberry tea and hints of citrus peel. Juicy and refreshing, with tartly balanced acids and fine tannins, the wine fills in texture with air, with a mid-weight silkiness that is ideal for pork belly, tortilla de Espanol, and roast chicken. 13.7% alcohol, 160 cases produced. Drink now, or from 2023-2034.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today with no minimum!

Goodfellow Family Cellars Whistling Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir, Ribbon Ridge 2017 750ML ($44.95) $36 special, 12 bottles in stock now

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today with no minimum!

Goodfellow Family Cellars House Block Whistling Ridge Pinot Noir, Ribbon Ridge 2017 750ML ($59.95) $45 special, 12 bottles in stock now
Winery note “Think of a young classic vintage Nuits St. George. The wine has great depth without loudness (what musicians refer to as tone), and builds power in the glass with air. Darker red and black fruits with forest floor. Seductively mysterious, with clove spice, ripe strawberry, coconut oil, apple skin and red earth. Juicy palate, youthful, red/black, with a vinous, savory bramble and red currant finish. Lamb chops, lamb leg, brisket, rib eye and teres major (I am a firm believer in pairing these proteins with juicy wines over big.) 12.8% alcohol, 55 cases produced. Drink now, or 2025-2037.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Goodfellow Family Cellars Last Acre Whistling Ridge Pinot Noir, Ribbon Ridge 2017 750ML ($59.95) $45 special, 3 bottles in stock now
Winery note “Layered and pretty, with aromas of red flowers, stacked firewood, red plum, dry earth, rosemary, mint, cantaloupe, myrrh and amaro spices. A slight wild and untamed edge is enticing in it’s nuances, and reminds me that one should not control everything in Pinot Noir. Fruits move between red and black on the palate; the wine is textured, intriguing, complex, and refreshing, with layers of supple fruit tones. Pair with wild mushrooms, porcini, hen-of-the-woods, hedgehog, chanterelles, all would be great! Rabbit, chicken, and game birds as well. 13.2% alcohol, 55 cases. Drink now, or 2024-2035.”

Goodfellow Family Cellars Long Acre Whistling Ridge Pinot Noir, Ribbon Ridge 2017 750ML ($59.95) $45 special, 4 bottles in stock now
Winery note “Expressive and elegant, wild and delicate. With wild red fruits, graphite, bright ripe cherry, fresh hay, hints of grilled peaches, black caps, kirsch, floral notes, tea leaves and polished sandalwood. Of the block bottlings this is the most restrained on the palate, with firm tannins in its youthful stage. Aromatically and structurally this reminds me of a young Clos St. Denis or Clos de Lambrays. That said, it will want the same care in choosing when to drink it or what to drink it with. Monkfish, sweetbreads, pork chops, and duck. 12.8% alcohol, 55 cases. Drink now with a meal, or 2025-2035.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Goodfellow Family Cellars Deux Vert Vineyazrd Syrah, Willamette Valley 2015 750ML ($29.95) $21.90 special, 5 bottles in stock now

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today with no minimum!

Weekend Subscriber Special Roundup

Bow and Arrow’s Rhinestones – Under $20/Btl

Bow and Arrow’s Rhinestones bottling, a blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay, has probably done more to define their style and the style of the “New Oregon” than any other. Juicy, fresh and slightly peppery (from the Gamay) it’s a red wine that manages to refresh with ease. We sell a lot of it, for good reason—it’s a wine that manages to pair with nearly anything, or be delicious on its own. Plus, it’s well priced (under $25) and local, two big perks. It’s become one of winemaker Scott Frank’s signature bottlings, representing his outside-the-box thinking and exceptional craftsmanship.

To make a good thing even better, we’re dropping the price on this Vinopolis favorite—it’s now under $20. We want to move a lot of this wine to help Scott out (and because it’s fantastic). He sells most of his wines through restaurants, whose business has been decimated, and so we jumped at the chance to take a bunch off his hands and offer it to you at a fantastic price. This is a great wine to stock up on while you self-quarantine and remember—we’ve always got $25 flat rate shipping to California, plus free Oregon shipping on orders over $120 through the end of April.

In Stock Now:

Bow & Arrow Rhinestone Red, Willamette Valley 2018 750ML ($26.95) Was $21.90, Now $18 Subscriber Special
Winery Note “To understand Rhinestones we have to talk about the Cheverny region of France’s Loire Valley where, by law, the red wines must be a blend of Gamay and Pinot Noir. We follow this stricture with all the Pinot and Gamay fruit we source from Johan Vineyard. The blend is determined by nature and vintage. Aged in a mixture of concrete and old barriques, this wine is the flagship of the Bow & Arrow operation and communicates what we’re about as much as anything we make. Effortlessly drinkable but rewards detective work if you’re in the mood.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The next best price is $24.99
The average listed price is $27

What’s Better Than Under $30 Barolo?

The Same Barolo, Under $25

Veglio Michelino is a new producer to us here, despite their long and venerable history. How they escaped our notice for such a long time, we don’t know (we’ll blame their local distribution), but when we found out they made a well scoring (92 point) traditional Barolo for under $30, we were all in. The wine’s been selling well for a few weeks, but to put it in even more glasses, we’re dropping the price to just $24. That’s right—a well made Barolo from a great vintage, under $25. This is something you’re going to want to go long on, and quickly. This price only lasts until Sunday at 6PM (or we run out, which is a possibility with less than ten cases left in stock).

Subscriber Special Pricing Valid Until Sunday, March 29th at 6PM (PT)

In Stock Now

Veglio Michelino & Figlio Barolo DOCG, Piedmont 2015 750ML ($39.95) Was $28, Now $24 Subscriber Special
James Suckling 92 points “Some swanky, glossy oak adds toffee aromas to the ripe red cherries. Plenty of vanilla here, too. The palate delivers a fullish and round impression with plenty of oak again in the mix. Praline and ripe red cherries in abundance here. Try from 2022.”

This was the lowest listed price in the USA today,
Now it’s even lower!

Subscriber Special Pricing Valid Until Sunday, March 29th at 6PM (PT)

Clos Rougeard Subscriber Special

Ends Sunday Night (or when we run out)

Limited supplies of these library releases.
Act fast if you want any!

Shop the subscriber special on our webstore!

Trending

This wine deserves all 97 points—and is delicious to drink now.
La Fortuna Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG, Tuscany 2012 750ML ($119.95) $99 special, 36+ bottles in stock now
Case-6 La Fortuna Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG, Tuscany 2012 750ML ($619.95) $564 special (that’s only $94/bottle!)
Wine Spectator 97 points “Perfumed, with wild herb aromas and a subtle mix of strawberry and cherry fruit. Vibrant and dense, with fine acidity driving the long finish. Though elegant, there is intensity and fine energy on the aftertaste. Best from 2022 through 2028.”

This is the lowest listed price for a magnum in the USA today!
This is the lowest listed price for a double-magnum in the USA today

Casa Castillo Vino de Finca, Jumilla 2017 750ML ($24.95) $21.90 special, 36+ bottles in stock now
Case-12 Casa Castillo Vino de Finca, Jumilla 2017 750ML ($299.95) $219 special (that’s only $18.25/bottle and the lowest listed price in the USA today!)
Luis Gutierrez 93+ points “There is a big jump in depth, complexity and nuance between the Monastrell and the 2017 Vino de Finca, which is a blend of Monastrell with almost 25% Garnacha. This comes from four plots that were selected from what was previously used for the entry-level Monastrell; they aim was to find a wine with more finesse and elegance but with the inherent power of the zone. This is only the third vintage for this cuvée, and it feels quite established and different from the rest of the range; it has less varietal character and is more about the place, getting closer to the single-vineyard bottlings where they do not search for fruit character. The idea here is to ferment at temperatures that are quite so low and to stabilize the wine in oak barrels for a long-ish time (12 months in 500-liter barrels and 5,000-liter oak foudres). They are wines of sun and limestone. This is a good reflection of it with a perfumed and floral note on the finish (elegance!) that is quite remarkable. 31,000 bottles produced in 2017. It was bottled in November 2018.”

Big and rich, drink this one with cassoulet or stew.
Domaine des Bosquets Gigondas, Rhone 2016 750ML ($31.95) $26 special, 36+ bottles in stock now
Jeb Dunnuck 92 points “Leading off the wines from bottle, the 2016 Gigondas is a classic wine from this estate, offering a deeper ruby/purple color as well as tons of garrigue, peppery spice, and earth intermixed with ample red and black fruits. Polished, rounded and sexy, with sweet tannin, it has a modern style that won’t appeal to traditionalists yet is beautifully done. The blend is 60% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre, and the rest Cinsault.”
Josh Raynolds-Vinous 92 points “Vivid ruby-red. Lively, expansive red berry, floral pastille and white pepper scents, along with suggestions of garrigue and smoky minerals. Sweet, focused and seamless in the mouth, offering juicy raspberry, spicecake and lavender flavors that deepen steadily on the back half. Clings with very good authority on the gently tannic finish and leaves succulent floral and herb notes behind.”
Joe Czerwinski-Wine Advocate 92 points “Hints of garrigue accent raspberries and Rainier cherries in the 2016 Gigondas. This blend of 60% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre and 5% Cinsault is full-bodied and supple, with no hard edges, just lovely fruit. Long, seamless and delicious for drinking over the next 6-7 years, it’s a terrific introduction to the fruit-forward style at this estate. Tasted twice with consistent notes.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

One of the highlights of the 2015 vintage in Oregon.
Belle Pente Estate Reserve Pinot Noir, Yamhill-Carlton District 2015 750ML ($59.95) $49 special, 9 bottles in stock now
Josh Raynolds-Vinous 95 points “Deep, bright-rimmed red. A highly complex bouquet evokes red berry preserve and cherry aromas, along with sexy Asian spice, rose oil and smoky mineral accents. Shows impressive delineation on the palate, offering concentrated, spice-tinged red fruit liqueur, cola and spicecake flavors that pick up a strong floral pastille nuance with air. Finishes extremely long and pure, with fine-grained tannins providing shape and grip to lingering raspberry and bitter chocolate notes.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
The next best price is $54.99
The average listed price is $57

A Vinopolis classic, back with a new vintage and another great score.
Domaine Lafage Bastide Miraflors, IGP Cotes Catalanes 2017 750ML ($19.95) $16 special, 36+ bottles in stock now
Case-12 Domaine Lafage Bastide Miraflors, IGP Cotes Catalanes 2017 750ML ($249.95) $175 special (that’s only $14.58/bottle!)
Jeb Dunnuck 93 points “A blend of 74% Syrah and 26% Grenache that was brought in a mix of tank and used barrels, the 2017 Bastide Miraflors has a fabulous minerality as well as terrific kirsch, black raspberry, wild fennel, white pepper, and hints of black licorice aromas and flavors. Pure, medium to full-bodied, silky, and seamless on the palate, it’s perfectly balanced, and way over-delivers. Drink it over the coming 2-3 years.”
Wine Advocate 91 points “The 2017 Cotes du Roussillon Bastide Miraflors is a 70-30 blend of Syrah and Grenache, aged in a combination of tanks and barriques. It has some Ribena-like aromas, then delivers waves of ripe cassis and blackberries. Full-bodied and concentrated, it remains fresh and streamlined on the palate, finishing in a soft flurry of dusty tannins.”

Thanks for reading!

Midweek Addition 3-26-20

In Today’s Newsletter:

Subscriber Special:
What’s Better Than Good Under-$30 Barolo?

Be a Friend/Tell a Friend
About Our Oregon Shipping Special
Now extended through April!

A New Vintage of Our Best-Selling Beaujolais Producer

Re-Arrival Special: Champagne Lilbert

Vinopolis Wine Shop Curbside Pick Up

Clos Rougeard Subscriber Special

Rose of the Day – Subscriber Special

The Undervalued Greatness of Domaine Huet

Staff Pick: A Top Brunello Riserva for Drinking Now

Collector’s Corner
Magnums of Duval-Leroy Femme de Champagne

Subscriber Special:

What’s Better Than Good Under-$30 Barolo?

Good Under-$25 Barolo

Veglio Michelino is a new producer to us here, despite their long and venerable history. How they escaped our notice for such a long time, we don’t know (we’ll blame their local distribution), but when we found out they made a well scoring (92 point) traditional Barolo for under $30, we were all in. The wine’s been selling well for a few weeks, but to put it in even more glasses, we’re dropping the price to just $24. That’s right—a well made Barolo from a great vintage, under $25. This is something you’re going to want to go long on, and quickly. This price only lasts until Sunday at 6PM (or we run out, which is a possibility with less than ten cases left in stock).

Subscriber Special Pricing Valid Until Sunday, March 29th at 6PM (PT)

In Stock Now

Veglio Michelino & Figlio Barolo DOCG, Piedmont 2015 750ML ($39.95) Was $28, Now $24 Subscriber Special
James Suckling 92 points “Some swanky, glossy oak adds toffee aromas to the ripe red cherries. Plenty of vanilla here, too. The palate delivers a fullish and round impression with plenty of oak again in the mix. Praline and ripe red cherries in abundance here. Try from 2022.”

This was the lowest listed price in the USA today,
Now it’s even lower!

Subscriber Special Pricing Valid Until Sunday, March 29th at 6PM (PT)

Be a Friend/Tell a Friend

About Our Oregon Shipping Special

Now extended through April!

Free Oregon Ground Shipping on Orders Over $120

Looking for our great deals and shipping specials to continue? Tell a friend who’s not on our email list to take advantage of this great offer and keep us busy in these unusual times!

A New Vintage of Our Best-Selling Beaujolais Producer

The 2018’s from Vissoux Deliver

Pierre Chermette was just 22 when he took over Domaine Vissoux from his parents in 1982. In the intervening decades, Pierre has remained at the forefront of Beaujolais’ quality movement, pushing the estate towards lower yields and sustainable viticulture. Pierre was also a visionary within the region, not only recognizing the potential of the region’s Cru villages, but acting on the hunch. In the mid-90s Pierre purchased vines in Fleurie and Moulin à Vent, and over the past quarter century has continued to expand the firm’s holdings.

Neither modern, nor traditional, Vissoux’s wines are known for quality, defying simple categorization. And maybe because they lack simple categorization, they remain some of the region’s best values, punching way above their weight, even in a region known for delivery serious bang for the buck. There’s a reason they’re our best-selling Beaujolais estate each year—these are some fantastic wines at great prices.

Arriving tomorrow, Vissoux’s beautiful 2018s, the perfect reds for springtime on the back porch—and priced to move.

Arriving Friday, March 27th

Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Coeur de Vendanges, Beaujolais 2018 750ML ($29.95) $24 pre-arrival special
William Kelley-Wine Advocate 92 points “As I’ve written before, this bottling represents one of the great values in French wine, and the 2018 Beaujolais-Villages Coeur de Vendanges will not disappoint long-time fans of the cuvée. Wafting from the glass with a rich bouquet of dark berry fruit, rose petals and licorice, it’s full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, its powdery tannins concealed in a lavish core of succulent, lively fruit. A wine to purchase by the case, expect it to offer irresistible drinking for the better part of a decade.”

This is the lowest listed price on the West Coast!

Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Brouilly Pierreux, Beaujolais 2018 750ML ($34.95) $28 pre-arrival special
William Kelley-Wine Advocate 91 points “Aromas of raspberries, plums and orange rind preface the 2018 Brouilly Pierreux, a medium to full-bodied, fleshy wine with a satiny attack that segues into a fine-boned, elegantly structured mid-palate, with lively acids and a fragrant, expansive finish. This cuvée, which sees six months’ élevage in old foudres, has turned out very well.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Fleurie les Garants, Beaujolais 2018 750ML ($39.95) $31.90 pre-arrival special
William Kelley-Wine Advocate 93 points “Chermette’s 2018 Fleurie Les Garants delivers a striking bouquet of raspberries, peonies, warm spices and candied peel, followed by a medium to full-bodied, satiny but incisive palate that remains lively and tensile, despite its abundant endowment of ripe, succulent fruit. Elegant and precise, this is one of the high points of the portfolio.”

This is the lowest listed price on the West Coast!

Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Fleurie Poncie, Beaujolais 2018 750ML ($39.95) $31.90 pre-arrival special
William Kelley-Wine Advocate 94 points “Unwinding in the glass with aromas of rose petals, sweet red cherries, dried flowers and ripe strawberries, the 2018 Fleurie Poncié is medium to full-bodied, lively and enveloping, with a charming, fruit-driven profile this year that tends to obscure its elegantly fine-boned tannic chassis. But don’t be fooled, this is reliably one of Chermette’s finest cuvées, and the 2018 rendition should evolve gracefully for 15 years or more.”

This is the lowest listed price on the West Coast!

Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Moulin-a-Vent Les Trois Roches, Beaujolais 2018 750ML ($39.95) $33 pre-arrival special
William Kelley-Wine Advocate 94 points “The 2018 Moulin-à-Vent Les Trois Roches is also showing very well, exhibiting an inviting bouquet of black raspberries, spices, candied peel and peonies. On the palate, it’s full-bodied, satiny and enveloping, with a deep and concentrated core of fleshy fruit that largely conceals the wines tannins. This is another terrific effort from Chermette in this gourmand, attractively immediate vintage.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Saint Amour Les Champs-Grilles, Beaujolais 2018 750ML ($34.95) $28 pre-arrival special
William Kelley-Wine Advocate 92+ points “The 2018 Saint-Amour Les Champs-Grillés is a serious wine, “not just for Valentine’s Day,” as Jean-Étienne Chermette observes. Revealing attractive notes of raspberries, rose petals and cherries, it’s medium to full-bodied, layered and spicy, with a muscular chassis of fine, powdery tannins. As usual, it’s a cuvée that stands to gain from a couple of years in the cellar.”

This is the lowest listed price on the West Coast!

Other great Beaujolais arriving tomorrow:

Chateau Grange Cochard Morgon Les Charmes, Beaujolais 2017 750ML ($29.95) $26 pre-arrival special
William Kelley-Wine Advocate 93+ points “Offering up notes of blackberries, cherries and dried flowers that are framed by a delicate touch of recently used oak, the 2017 Morgon Les Charmes is medium to full-bodied, broad and fleshy, with good concentration and a rich, dramatic core of fruit, framed by fine but youthfully firm tannins. Of the estate’s two lieu-dit bottlings, it’s the more forward and expressive out of the gates.”
Josh Raynolds-Vinous 93 points “Vivid magenta. Intense, mineral-accented red/blue fruit aromas pick up a sexy floral quality with air. Concentrated yet lively in style, offering juicy black raspberry, bitter cherry and violet pastille flavors that show excellent clarity and back-end punch. Shows a hint of candied licorice on the youthfully tannic finish, which hangs on with strong, mineral tenacity.”

This is the only listing in the USA today!

Chateau Grange Cochard Morgon Vieilles Vignes, Beaujolais 2017 750ML ($27.95) $21.90 pre-arrival special
Josh Raynolds-Vinous 91 points “Deep, brilliant ruby. Displays an array of ripe black/blue fruit and spice qualities on the expressive nose, along with building spice and mineral elements. Smooth, broad and open-knit, showing very good depth to its juicy boysenberry and cherry flavors, which pick up a sweetening hint of cola on the back half. Supple tannins lend shape to a persistent, dark fruit-driven finish that leaves a suggestion of smoky minerality behind.”
William Kelley-Wine Advocate 91 points “The 2017 Morgon Vieilles Vignes wafts from the glass with a pretty bouquet of red cherries, rose petals and wild berries. On the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied, velvety and enveloping, with a layered core of fleshy fruit, ripe acids and powdery tannins that gently assert themselves on the finish. It will be even better after a year in bottle.”
Wine Spectator 90 points “Juicy acidity binds the ripe raspberry, peach and cherry flavors of this supple red, with accents of peach, floral and licorice lingering into the moderately tannic finish. Drink now through 2025. 100 cases imported.”

This is the lowest listed price on the West Coast today!

Re-Arrival Special:

Champagne Lilbert

Lilbert is one of the best kept secrets in Champagne. Drawing from Grand Cru vineyards in the Cote des Blancs, Lilbert makes blanc de blancs wines from some excellent vineyards in a finessed, minerally style. Their wines havenotable brioche-y character, as well, due to the large quantities of reserve wines in their various blends. At the prices asked, these are wines that massively over-deliver. That’s certainly because they fly under the radar (at the moment) but that could (and should) change over the next few years.

Just Arrived, Back In Stock:

Lilbert-Fils Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut, Champagne NV 750ML ($69.95) $49 special
Wine Spectator 92 points “A fresh and elegant blanc de blancs Champagne, with juicy nectarine and mango fruit accented by hints of candied kumquat, spring blossom and salted almond. Long and creamy on the mouthwatering finish. Disgorged summer 2016. Drink now through 2022. 1,650 cases made, 100 cases imported. — AN”

Lilbert-Fils “Perle” Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut, Champagne NV 750ML ($79.95) $59 special
William Kelley – Wine Advocate 93 points “This bottle of Lilbert’s NV Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Perle was disgorged in summer 2018 with five grams per liter dosage and is based on the 2013 vintage, with 35% reserve wines. Offering up aromas of lemon oil, crushed chalk and hints of warm biscuits, it’s medium to full-bodied, with an elegant pinpoint mousse, a deep and tight-knit core, racy acids and a penetrating, precise finish. Dry and incisive, it’s classic Lilbert, showing Cramant’s serious side, and it will evolve beautifully in the cellar.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Vinopolis Wine Shop Curbside Pick Up

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-Please note: Vinopolis is not open for in-person browsing right now,
in compliance with new Oregon regulations, however our webstore is open 24/7-

www.vinopoliswineshop.com

info@vinopoliswineshop.com

503-223-6002

Clos Rougeard Subscriber Special

Ends Sunday (or when we run out)

Limited supplies of these library releases.
Act fast if you want any!

Shop the subscriber special on our webstore!

Rose of the Day – Subscriber Special

Domaines Bunan is one of the most interesting and undervalued producers in Bandol. They’re a historic estate with some of the most privileged vineyards in the region. The Moulin des Costes is a vineyard close to the ocean and you can almost feel that sea breeze in the wine. It’s a fantastic rose and a total steal at half the price of Tempier. To make it even better, we’re discounting the frontline price and offering a further discount on bulk orders until the end of day Saturday!

5% Off 6-11 bottles of Moulin des Costes
10% Off 12+ bottles of Moulin des Costes

Offer Ends Saturday, March 27th at 6 PM
Discount Will Not Display Online or In Your Cart
We will adjust your invoice before processing your card

Domaine Bunan Moulin des Costes Bandol Rose, Provence 2018 750ML ($27.95) Was $24, Now $21.90 special, that’s $20.81 at 5% off and $19.71 at 10% off, 36+ bottles in stock now
“Hints of crushed stone and lime zest appear on the nose of the 2018 Bandol Rose Moulin des Costes, a blend of 50% Cinsault, 40% Mourvèdre and 10% Grenache. Although only light to medium-bodied, it’s pleasantly silky in texture, with ample length on the refined, elegant finish.” -Wine Advocate

This was the lowest listed price,
Now it’s even lower!
The next best price is $28.99

Shop our entire collection of rose wines on our webstore!

The Undervalued Greatness of Domaine Huet

Huet makes some of the most undervalued great wine in the world. Take any metric you’d use to adjudicate greatness (complexity, age-worthiness, terroir, aromatic intensity, world-wide praise, etc) and Huet’s Vovray is on the list, at prices far below almost anything else in the world of wine. They own some of the greatest vineyards in the Loire and make sure that they reach their potential year in and out.

They seemingly age forever, gaining complexity and density, but impressively are priced like low-tier white Burgundy. It’s this last part that’s so perplexing. You can put well-aged Huet on the table with any top tier white Burgundy and it has a chance of being not only in the same league, but the best wine on the table. It often costs 1/2-1/5th that of the Burgs. That’s insane.

Huet makes some of the top wines in Vouvray and has for quite some time now. What makes them and amazing producer is that they make incredible wines all the way from bone dry, mineral drenched Sec to nobly sweet, honeyed dessert wines (and everything in between—including the Demi-Sec range, which are some of our favorites and, like German Riesling, are very flexible at the table). We have a broad selection of vintages and styles in stock now. Some highlights are listed below, but you can also check out the full list in our web store.

In Stock Now:

Domaine Huet Vouvray ‘Clos du Bourg’ Demi-Sec, Loire 2016 750ML ($59.95) $46 special, 36+ bottles in stock now
Case-6 Domaine Huet Vouvray ‘Clos du Bourg’ Demi-Sec, Loire 2016 750ML ($299.95) $249 special (that’s only $41.50/bottle!)
Wine Spectator 95 points “Gorgeous, with creamy-edged nectarine, yellow and green apple, pear and quince flavors that are brightly defined from start to finish, flecked with verbena and honeysuckle hints and backed by a off-dry edge on the finish. Stays fresh and pure throughout. Tempting now but there’s no rush. Drink now through 2032.”
Wine Advocate 93 points “From 30-year-old vines on calcareous loam soils, the 2016 Vouvray Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec offers a clear, pure, fine and intensely aromatic bouquet with tropical fruit and chalky aromas. Round, lush and exotic on the palate, with a silky texture and salty piquancy on the finish, the 2016 needs up to a decade to integrate the 19 grams of residual sugar. The finish is lovey, concentrated, juicy and well structured, with a lingering and stimulating salinity. Tasted February 2018.”

Domaine Huet Vouvray ‘Le Mont’ Demi-Sec, Loire 2016 750ML ($59.95) $49 special, 36+ bottles in stock now
Case-6 Domaine Huet Vouvray ‘Le Mont’ Demi-Sec, Loire 2016 750ML ($299.95) $249 special (that’s only $41.50/bottle—the lowest listed price on the West Coast!!)
#6 Wine of the Year – Wine Spectator Top 100 2017
Wine Spectator 95 points “This tilts toward the flattering side of off-dry, showing a plump feel to the core of creamed pear, white peach and yellow apple fruit. Lovely verbena, honeysuckle and mineral accents keep this balanced and driven, with a long finish that lets the fruit echo. Drink now through 2032.”

Domaine Huet Vouvray ‘Le Mont’ Sec, Loire 2016 750ML ($47.95) $39 special, 36+ bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 94 points “Green plum and verbena notes lead the way for now, with a flash of quinine on the finish. This is juicy, but still a bit compact overall, with the core of ample pear, quince and ginger flavors in reserve. Just wait for everything to knit together and stretch out, as the purity and length are there. Best from 2018 through 2028.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Domaine Huet Vouvray ‘Clos du Bourg’ Premiere Trie Moelleux, Loire 2016 750ML ($89.95) $79 special, 36+ bottles in stock now
Case-6 Domaine Huet Vouvray ‘Clos du Bourg’ Premiere Trie Moelleux, Loire 2016 750ML ($499.95) $419 special (that’s only $69.83/bottle!)
Wine Spectator 96 points “This is ripe and broad, taking a slightly more power-driven approach, with a mix of tropical mango and papaya fruit, backed by orchard fruit accents of yellow apple and peach. The long, heather honey–accented finish has light piecrust and crystalized ginger hints. Best from 2020 through 2035.”
Wine Advocate 94 points “Huet’s bright golden colored 2016 Vouvray Clos du Bourg Moelleux Première Trie is clear, fresh and intensely fruity on the remarkably precise nose. Medium-bodied yet concentrated, elegant and sweet on the palate, this is a salty, piquant, mineral Chenin Blanc with intense, elegant and well-structured fruit. The wine reveals a chalky finesse and long tensioned finish. Bottled with 84 grams of residual sugar, this is still a pretty sweet but doubtlessly promising Vouvray. Tasted February 2018.”

Domaine Huet Vouvray ‘Le Mont’ Moelleux, Loire 2016 750ML ($69.95) $59 special, 36+ bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 96 points “Bright, even exuberant in feel, with a parade of Jonagold apple, green melon, Bosc pear and quince flavors streaming through, gilded with heather, honeysuckle and verbena notes on the long, lithe finish. Remarkably elegant despite the off-dry style. Drink now through 2035.”

Want to see all 23 different bottlings in stock from Domaine Huet? Just head to our webstore for the full list!

Staff Pick

A Top Brunello Riserva for Drinking Now

Andy:
Young Brunello can be a tough nut to crack. Oftentimes, you’re only getting glimpses of the potential contained in the bottle. We were glad to taste the 2012 La Fortuna BdM Reserva again this week, and while it is still early, you’re not going to be disappointed getting into this wine now. All of the classic hallmarks are on display; tart cherry, a graphite core, light blueberry and dusty cocoa on the finish. The aromatics were a little tight, but a little swirl kept it refreshed. I of course recommend holding this over the next decade, but get it now. There is no regret on this one.

In Stock Now:

La Fortuna Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG, Tuscany 2012 750ML ($119.95) $99 special, 36+ bottles in stock now
Case-6 La Fortuna Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG, Tuscany 2012 750ML ($619.95) $564 special (that’s only $94/bottle!)
La Fortuna Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG, Tuscany 2012 1.5L ($259.95) $219 special, 5 magnums in stock now
La Fortuna Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG, Tuscany 2012 3L ($499.95) $428 special
Wine Spectator 97 points “Perfumed, with wild herb aromas and a subtle mix of strawberry and cherry fruit. Vibrant and dense, with fine acidity driving the long finish. Though elegant, there is intensity and fine energy on the aftertaste. Best from 2022 through 2028.”

This is the lowest listed price for a magnum in the USA today!
This is the lowest listed price for a double-magnum in the USA today

Want to see all ten bottlings in stock from La Fortuna? Just head to our webstore for the full list.

Collector’s Corner

Magnums of Duval-Leroy Femme de Champagne

True to its name, Duval-Leroy’s ‘Femme de Champagne” is the brainchild of Carol Duval-Leroy and Sandrine Logette-Jardin. The former is one of Champagne’s few female Presidents, the latter one of its few female Head Winemakers. This is their rarest bottling, only made in the most spectacular years (just three vintages were made in the 1990s), and we’re thrilled to have sourced a limited quantity from the underrated 2000 vintage.

It was a year that delighted Duval-Leroy with top quality fruit and the decision to make “Femme” was easy. When you taste this wine will understand why. Long known for elegance and finesse, this bottle exemplifies Duval-Leroy’s house style. This is not the loudest voice at your dinner party, but instead the most compelling, with silky textures and rich, understated brioche tones.

In Stock Now

Duval-Leroy Femme de Champagne 2000 1.5L ($349.95) $299 special
Wine Spectator 94 points “A rich version, with beautiful integration and mouthwatering acidity that seems to amplify the flavors of toasted raisin bread, black currant, candied orange zest and salted almond. Fresh and focused, showing hints of oyster shell and spice on the lasting finish.”

Other Incredible Champagnes, In Stock Now

Louis Roederer Cristal Brut Millesime, Champagne 2008 750ML ($339.95) $249 special, only 11 bottles in stock now
Antonio Galloni 99 points “The 2008 Cristal is one of the most complete, most dazzling Champagnes I have ever tasted. A stunning wine from any and all perspectives, the 2008 simply has it all. Spherical in construction, with superb persistence. The 2008 takes hold of all the senses and never gives up. One of the many things that makes the 2008 special is a combination of ripe fruit and bright, piercing acidity. Marzipan, lemon confit, dried flowers and orchard fruit all build into the explosive, resonant finish. “We learned from the mistakes of 1996, when we picked more on acid than ripeness, as was the norm in Champagne back then” Chef de Caves Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon told me recently. “In 1996, the best fruit turned out to be the last picks, where the fruit was physiologically ripe. Today, we aim to pick all our fruit with that criteria.””
Wine Enthusiast 100 points “Top Cellar Selection. This latest incarnation of the famous brand is a superb wine. It is on par with, maybe even better than, the already legendary 2002. Its balance is impeccable: Apple and citrus flavors working with the tight minerality to give a textured yet fruity wine. Produced from Roederer’s own vineyards which are mainly biodynamic, the wine has its own intense purity and crispness. It has amazing potential and is likely to age for many years. Drink from 2020.”
James Suckling 100 points “Disgorged October 2016 and will be the first Cristal to be released ten years from harvest when it is offered in 2018. 35 parcels used from a possible 45 in this vintage. The assemblage is 60% pinot noir and 40% chardonnay. This is so fresh and tense and mineral with extremely exuberant chardonnay notes on the nose of white peach, lemon and yellow grapefruit, and hints of almost brambly sous bois aromas. The yeast characters are also super fresh, and there are subtle woody notes, with a hint of vanilla bean and light spices. The palate is super long, and very pure, powerful and focused. It drives deep and taut. Pinot noir is a strong core and the chardonnay sits at the edge offering lemon and white nectarine sorbet flavors. Staggeringly concentrated, yet the balance makes it seem airy and light. Acidity is perfectly positioned, and the power is intense and long. This is an ultra precise Cristal, finishing with a mere suggestion of savoriness and warmth to come. Impressive on release, this will be at its best drinking from 2025.”
Jeb Dunnuck 100 points “The 2008 Cristal is a perfect wine, and Champagne simple does not get any better. This incredible wine offers a beautiful perfume of clean, crisp fruits, layers of complexity in its toasted spice and white flowers, and an utterly seamless, yet powerful style on the palate. This is a rich, decadent expression of Cristal yet it’s still crystalline and elegant, with no sensation of weight, and it just glides over the palate. Haut Couture at its finest and this majestic, profound, legendary Cristal can be drunk anytime over the coming 2-3 decades.”
Decanter 98 points “Cristal 2008 is on a roll to yet higher levels of exquisite purity and precision of fruit in a paradoxical balance of weightlessness and depth of flavour, permeated with minerals and a salinity reflecting the greatest terroirs of the Roederer estate. Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon believes that 2008 is his best effort to date, and it’s easy to see why. It’s from a cooler, maritime vintage that came right in the end, with one of the longest harvests ever, running from mid-September to early October. The colour is a stylish pale gold flecked with green. Aromas of white flowers are joined by a cleansing citrus vigour and richer tones of peach and mirabelle. The palate is still quiet, but a tender creaminnes shows through, and there’s so much concentration to come if you drink if after 2021. The greatness of the wine owes everything to the influence of organic and biodynamic precepts in the field – and Lecaillon’s sleepless perfectionism in the cellar towards finer fruit and a careful brake on too much yeasty expression. The acidity is vibrant but better integrated in the 2008 than in the 1996. Magnificent. Dosage 7.7g/l.”

Krug Brut, Champagne 2004 750ML ($299.95) $259 special
Antonio Galloni 97+ points “Krug’s 2004 Vintage is absolutely mesmerizing. Layers of bright, chiseled fruit open up effortlessly as the wine fleshes out with time in the glass. Persistent and beautifully focused, with a translucent sense of energy, the 2004 captures all the best qualities of the year. Moreover, the 2004 is clearly superior to the consistently underwhelming 2002 and the best Krug Vintage since 1996. Readers who can find it should not hesitate, as it is a magical bottle.”
Stephan Reinhardt-Wine Advocate 97 points “Combining subtleness with complexity, the coolish Krug 2004 Brut opens with a highly elegant, fascinatingly clear, bright and refreshing bouquet of ripe (apple) fruits. Dense and round, with a delicate mineral soul, the pure but perfectly balanced 2004 reveals great finesse and weightless elegance with a long and round finish. This is a gorgeous Krug vintage that is 14 years old but still on the rise. Tasted from ID 316034 in New York in November 2018.”-SR
Decanter 97 points “This is the current and latest vintage release from Krug, and is a fitting successor to 2002, though it’s very different in style – unusually, the blend contains more Chardonnay than Pinot Noir. Despite this, it is hallmark Krug with its oxidative profile. It has a luminous freshness and good density without heaviness. There’s a controlled power to this poised, vinous, linear 2004, displaying candied fruits, minerals, gingerbread, white chocolate, caramel and marzipan. This has a long, dry autolytic finish, great balance and lovely bead. Disgorged just after the next, and very different, vintage we tasted, the Krug 2003. Drinking Window 2017-2037.”
John Gilman 97 points “The new release of 2004 Krug is absolutely beautiful and is already quite elegant and open on both the nose and palate and is drinking with great finesse. I had expected this wine to be a bit more steely in structure out of the blocks, but the refinement of the blend this year has produced a wine that is already a joy to drink at age thirteen, though it will continue age gracefully for many, many decades to come. The cépages in 2004 is thirty-nine percent Chardonnay, thirty-seven percent Pinot Noir and twenty-four percent Pinot Meunier, with the wine having been disgorged in the winter of 2016. The bouquet jumps from the glass in a refined mix of apple, a touch of walnut, warm bread, lavender, a superb base of soil tones and a topnote of smokiness. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and utterly seamless, with vibrant acids, great focus and grip, a lovely core, refined mousse and a very long, complex, racy and energetic finish. There is marvelous precision here on both the nose and palate, not to mention a sense of harmony and grace that is fairly rare in the 2004 vintage. Chapeau! 2017-2060.”

Delamotte Collection Brut, Champagne 2000 750ML ($249.95) $219 special
Delamotte Collection Brut, Champagne 2000 1.5L ($599.95) $499 special

De Venoge Louis XV de Venoge Extra Brut Rose Millesime, Champagne 2002 750ML ($219.95) $189 special
Wine Spectator 93 points “Harmonious, with fine intensity, offering rich notes of spice cake, toasted almond, dried cherry, grilled plum and smoky mineral. Almost velvety in texture, with juicy acidity that brings you back for another sip. Delicious. Drink now through 2022. 54 cases made.”

Pommery Cuvee Louise Brut Millesime, Champagne 2002 750ML ($149.95) $128 special
Wine Enthusiast 95 points “This well-aged wine from a top Champagne vintage is just now ready to drink after 12 years. It has a touch of toast, but it’s the rich, complex texture and fine structure that set it apart. It’s not a dry wine, it feels soft. It is so well integrated, elegant with hints of apples, a layer of minerality and still-fresh final acidity.”
James Suckling 94 points “A beautifully seductive and creamy nose with plenty of honey and clotted cream across lemon and grapefruit. Some white peach too, really alluring. The palate’s nicely orchestrated and balanced; it builds in stages and delivers pithy lemon and grapefruit flavor amid assertive driving acidity, good depth and concentration. Another great ’02. Drink now or in five or more years.”
Wine Advocate 93 points “The 2002 Cuvée Louise Brut is dressed in an intense citrus colored robe and offers – as if it was a Pfalz Riesling – ripe yellow fruit aromas of pineapples, oranges and ripe peaches along with noble yeasty layers in the background. Full-bodied, rich and fresh on the palate, Madame Louise is a firm and almost mineral structured, persistent Champagne of complexity, finishing with a refreshing citric aroma as well as a stimulating salinity and purity. Good length and balance.”

Thanks for reading!