Comtesse Mario
Chardonnay 2019
Reg. Price $15.99
Sale Price: $10.99
White Wine of the Month
This month I am featuring two of my favorite regions that give you the best wine for the money in my opinion; the Langeudoc in France and Portugal! Both areas grow a wide range of grapes and make different styles of wine so you are sure to find something for everyone. The Comtesse Marion Chardonnay comes to us from an estate in southern France that goes back to the 12th century. The Vic family cares for the Chateau now and wine making is in their blood; they are on the fifth generation of wine growers. Their 270 hectares of vineyards mostly sit on gravely soil with a mixture of clay and riverbed based top soils but they also has some vineyards planted on volcanic soils which gives the wine incredible minerality. The blend of the different vineyards in the finished wine gives it depth and it drinks over its price point! The family doesn’t use any herbicides or pesticides and only uses estate grown fruit in their wines. The Comtesse Marion Chardonnay is fully done in stainless steel but the blending of different vineyards and the older vines give it a slight richness. Notes of green apple, citrus zest and under ripe pear make this the perfect Chard for people that think they don’t like it! None of the oaky, buttery style here. Enjoy this with ham, roasted chicken, fish, salads, seafood; practically anything other than red meat.
Jardim da Estrela
Dao Vinho Tinto 2019
Reg. Price $14.99
Sale Price: $9.99
Red Wine of the Month
When it comes to reasonably priced, great grilling reds I always think of Portugal. You get a lot of bang for the buck in a well made wine, you just won’t recognize the grapes. Jardim da Estrela comes from the Dão region of Portugal which is one of Portugal’s oldest wine regions. It is nestled high in the mountains on a plateau that is sheltered on three sides by different mountain ranges. The region enjoys a mild climate and the vineyards are planted on primarily sandy soils on top of granite which gives the wines made here great structure and acidity. The Jardim da Estrela wines are made at Quinta do Ribeiro Santo which was founded in 2011 and winemakers Carlos Lucas and Lucia Freitas are driven to making sustainably farmed wines that reflect the tradition and terroir of the region. The vineyards are planted at high elevations so the name means “Garden of the Stars” and the wine is a blend of Touriga Nacional, Alfocheiro and Tinta Roriz. The grapes are all sustainably farmed and hand harvested before fermentation and aging in stainless steel. The wine doesn’t see any oak barrels so you get the pure expression of the fruit and terroir and that’s one of the many things I love about Portuguese wines! This wine is bursting with notes of ripe blackberries, candied cherry and subtle licorice notes. Enjoy this with anything grilled, pizza or stews!
Attems
Ramato Pinot Grigio 2019
Reg. Price $21.99
Sale Price: $14.99
Ah, Pinot Grigio. Italy’s most well known grape and one of the most boring. If you’re not a fan of the lemon water that they call Pinot Grigio I can’t blame you but before you write them all off let me introduce you to this style, called ramato. Historically Pinot Grigio was made in this style in Friuli and northern Italy until the 1960’s when Santa Margherita began exporting it in the style it’s known for today. While most grapes that make white wine have green skins Pinot Grigio has pinkish grey skins which is where the name comes from; Grigio and Gris means “grey” in Italian and French respectively. For the Ramato style the grapes are crushed and sit with the skins for a few hours to pick up an onion skin, coppery color and with that comes a whole lot of flavor and texture. The Attems Ramato sees 8 hours of skin contact before fermentation to extract that beautiful color and the wine is aged on the lees for four months to yield the most complex, gorgeous Pinot Grigio you have ever tasted. Lemon zest, ripe peach, floral notes and intense acidity bring a liveliness to the minerality and silky texture. You will never be able to go back so stock up on this and enjoy it with anything from shellfish to roasted chicken, grilled pork chops or fatty fish.
Ampeleia
Un Litro 2019
Reg. Price $23.99
Sale Price: $19.99
Ampeleia’s Un Litro has been one of my favorite Italian reds for about as long as I’ve been in the industry. Unfortunately many others feel the same way so it has become very allocated and I only get a small amount each year. Thankfully this year I was able to secure a larger amount so I can finally feature it! Ampeleia is a project in the Maremma region of Tuscany between Elisabetta Foradori, entrepreneur Giovanni Podini and agronomist Thomas Widmann. Elisabetta Foradori is a phenomenal winemaker from Trentino in northern Italy who focuses on biodynamics and responsible viticulture and she brings that to Ampeleia. The Un Litro is a blend of 40% Grenache, 25% Mourvedre, 15% Carignan, 15% Sangiovese and 5% Alicante Bouschet that is all hand harvested and vinified separately. About 10% of the wine is carbonic maceration so the wine is light, playful and quaffable. It is aged 6 months in cement vats and only about 13,000 cases are made each year. The finished wine is bursting with notes of fresh cranberries, sour cherry, pomegranate and dried herbs. This is delicious with any sort of pasta dish or roasted chicken but it is the perfect date night wine because there is an extra glass! Salud!
Chateau Pradeaux
Cotes de Provence Rosé 2019
Reg. Price $31.99
Sale Price: $19.99
Thankfully over the years as rosé has grown in popularity and established itself as a serious category people no longer shun year old wine. While fresh rosé is delicious and nothing tastes more like summer, year old rosé doesn’t disintegrate and become undrinkable; it becomes more textural, more complex and more food friendly. Château Pradeaux is a serious producer in Bandol that has been in the Portalis family since before the French Revolution. The estate suffered extensive damage in the French Revolution and again when phylloxera hit in the 19th century. During World War II Suzanne Portalis and her daughter Arlette fled to the estate and started rebuilding it. Today it is under the care of Cyrille Portalis, the only direct descendant of Suzanne and Arlette, his wife, Magali and their two sons Etienne and Edouard. The vineyards for this rosé were classified as Bandol as recently as 2012 and that comes through in the wine; this is not your typical Provence rosé. The grapes are all hand harvested,sustainably farmed, not fined or filtered and come from vines that are at least 40 years old. The wine is a blend of 65% Mourvèdre, 25% Cinsault and 10% Grenache that is fermented with natural yeasts and aged on the lees for two months which gives the wine incredible texture and structure. This is rosé like you’ve never had it; powerful and concentrated, bursting with notes of pepper, ripe cherries, dried rosemary and apricot. Enjoy this with anything from red meat to sushi.
Hild
Ebling Sekt
Reg. Price $23.99
Sale Price: $16.99
Poor Germany is probably the most overlooked wine producing region but people have the misconception that they only produce sweet Riesling! As the world heats up in addition to hauntingly beautiful dry Riesling they also fantastic Pinot Noirs and Sekt, a sparkling wine that follows the same vigorous requirements of Champagne. Most of the Sekt produced is made with Riesling but the Hild Sekt is made using the much overlooked Ebling. Ebling is the sidekick to the super hero like Gamay to Pinot Noir, Barbera to Nebbiolo or Igor to Dr. Frankenstein. Matthias Hild’s estate is in the Upper Mosel which is at the edge of the Paris Basin, a massive geological formation that stretches to Champagne, Chablis and the Central Loire Valley. Instead of the classic slate soils that the Mosel is known for the Upper Mosel is on limestone. Riesling doesn’t perform well here but Ebling, one of Europe’s oldest grape varieties, does. Ebling lacks the stone fruit notes and texture of Riesling but it has incredible focus and energy in the wines. The high acid grape performs fantastically well for sparkling wines and the low sugar content of the grapes mean that even fermented bone dry the wines are only 10% alcohol. This is the perfect sparkling wine for rich foods but also for mimosas that won’t render you comatose for the rest of the day.
I can’t wait to explore these wines and more with you!
Pop into the store for all of your beverage needs and don’t forget about our in store tastings!
Beer Tasting Thursday 5 pm to 7 pm *On hold for Covid*
Wine Tasting Friday 4 pm to 7 pm *On hold for Covid*
