Category Archives: Wineries We Cherish

Armand Rousseau New Offer

Armand Rousseau

New Offer: 3-09-2020

Arriving Late March

The wines of Rousseau have no peer in Gevrey-Chambertin. No other grower has produced wines with their level of profundity and a similar track record over the decades. From top to bottom, they are the class of the village. We are always on the hunt for their wines—as you’d expect they’re maddeningly scarce and correspondingly expensive, but worth the trouble to track down.

These are some of the pinnacles of Burgundy, up there with anything made by DRC, Roumier, Leroy or any of the other usual suspects, all with excellent provenance and in good condition. There are only small quantities of each bottling available, so if something strikes your fancy, don’t delay—it’s not often we can get these wines in.

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La Gerla and La Fortuna Brunello: March 2020

Two New 2015 Brunellos: La Gerla & La Fortuna

Vinopolis Favorite Estates

You can tell a lot about a Brunello vintage by how early we start getting asked about it. In the case of the 2015s, well, let’s just say this is a pretty anticipated set of wines. ’15 was a warm year across Europe and the vintage produced Brunello di Montalcino of exceptional concentration. Even for a region known for richer wines, these are powerful—yet they maintain an expressiveness that’s delightfully fresh to go along with their intensity.

We’re just starting to get allocations and pricing lined up for the 2015’s, starting with two of our favorite producers. Both La Gerla and La Fortuna are some of the bestselling wineries in Vinopolis history for good reason, producing fantastic wines year in and out.

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Domaine de Montille Hommage 2015 Magnums: February 2020

Collector’s Corner

De Montille’s “Hommage” Bottlings

De Montille’s Malconsorts “Cuvee Christiane” is one of the rarest, most prized wines in Burgundy. A special cuvee, it’s from a small plot of Vosne-Romanée Malconsorts that is separated from the rest of the vineyard by a foot-path and, most importantly, sits right next to La Tâche.

It’s significantly different and better than their (already excellent) Vosne Malconsorts, more than meriting its status as a separate cuvee. While Malconsorts wines are often sold as “La Tâche like,” the de Montille is one of the few bottlings that truly delivers on the comparison. From quality to rarity to pricing, this is truly Grand Cru stuff.

Due to the small production, this isn’t a wine we’re able to source every vintage.

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Oddero Vertical: February 2020

Oddero

A Vertical of Oddero Riservas

“Brunate, which straddles the Barolo/La Morra border yields dark, powerful, tannic wines built for aging. Black fruit, tar, licorice, violets, dark spices and balsamic notes are some of the signatures of this great site. [Exceptional]” – Antonio Galloni, on the Brunate vineyard.

“Vigna Rionda yields the most perfumed, sensual and mystical of all Barolos. Rose petals, violets, sweet spices, nuanced fruit, silky tannins and often an element of weightlessness make Rionda the Musigny of Barolo. [Exceptional]” – Antonio Galloni, on the Vigna Rionda vineyard.

Oddero remains one of the best sources for traditional, uncompromising Barolo. The estate itself is old even by Piemontese standards, dating back to the 1700’s, and they’ve been estate bottling since 1878—quite early by the standards of the region.

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Excellent Value From Marietta Cellars: February 2020

Chris Bilbro was one of California wine’s unsung heroes. He founded and grew Marietta Cellars into one of the preeminent producers of excellent value, honestly made California wine. Although his son Scot now runs the winery (Chris sadly passed away last year), the wines are as good as they’ve ever been—delicious, gutsy wines that deliver exceptional value at all prices. These are fantastic wines from their sub-$20 Zinfandel and Cabernet bottlings all the way through their “Gibson Block” Syrah, which hails from a parcel of Syrah planted in the 1880’s and still producing (tiny quantities) of fruit today.

We have an assortment of their current releases in stock now, all of which have the high scores and critical praise you’d expect from much, much more expensive wines.… Read the rest