Simon’s Pick, November ‘08: 2005 Anjou, Chateau Perray Jouannet

Friday, November 7th, 2008

Simon of Larchmont Wine, Spirits & Cheese has this pick for November. It’s $14.99 and you can pick it up there. Call (323) 856-8699 to order. Simon says…

As the calendar races towards Thanksgiving (with a vengeance), it is again time to contemplate what to drink as the nights draw in, and what will match well with your groaning feast on the 27th. We featured a Beaujolais last year, which is a natural choice for turkey and other fowl, but this juicy and complex Cabernet Franc from Anjou (in the Loire valley in western France) deserves its place here.

The fruit is sourced from vineyards with an abundance of schist and quartz in the soils, giving the wine a pleasing streak of minerals that balances the wonderful ripe fruit. Raspberry, red plum, crushed violets and rose petals abound on the nose and the wine has a pleasing supple texture on the palate. It is pure and bright, revealing crushed red cherry and raspberry fruit and just the right amount of vibrant acidity.

A wonderful wine to match with all manner of fall-friendly foods; braised meats including game, goats milk cheeses, hearty stews and of course your bird of choice, be it Turkey, Goose or Duck.

Happy Thanksgiving! –SC

NV Louis de Grenelle Saumur Sparkling Cab Franc

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

Here’s one for both the wine geeks and for the masses - it’s fairly obscure (a sparkler made from 100% Cab Franc, from importer Jon-David Headrick) and it’s delicious. It’s got some sweet-tart red fruit and great texture. And it’s affordable at $18 a bottle. Franc-ly, I’d like to try a sparkling Cab Franc!

Price Check: 2006 Lang & Reed Cabernet Franc, North Coast

Monday, August 18th, 2008

I’d been planning to price check a couple of Chateauneuf-du-Papes I saw the other day at Bristol Farms. But those can wait, since I happened upon the bargain of the week today and thought you should know about it.

On close-out at The Wine Hotel on West 3rd Street in LA you’ll find a scant three bottles of the 2006 Lang & Reed Cabernet Franc, for a mere $9.95 a bottle. Beats our price by a long shot. Apparently it’s not to the taste of the new owners, along with some Mollydooker and some other wines that are priced Crazy-Eddie-low.

You can call the Wine Hotel at 323-937-9463 to snare these. Though, honestly, your chances are better if you show up to the 5800 West Third Street location in LA to pick these up in person, as they’re not really set up for phone orders (yet).

Oh, since this is a Price Check…here’s what others (including us) sell this for:

Wine Library: $18/bottle (damn you, Gary Vaynerchuk!)

Wine House: $20/bottle

d547: $23/bottle (drat! It’s Caronne-Ste-Gemme all over again)

Englewood Wine Merchant: $25/bottle

Cabernet Franc in the news

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

There’s a good article in this morning’s Food section of the LA Times, on Cabernet Franc. It would be better, of course, if it linked to the three included wines available through d547 (Chateau Hureau Saumur-Champigny, Chateau Vieux Clos, and the Lang & Reed). But we still think you should read the piece — and then you can come back here and buy a sampling of this fantastic and under-appreciated grape variety. And we’ll give you 10% off your entire order should it include any of these wines. Use code LATimes.

get your wine on

2008 “Bebame” Red, El Dorado County, California

Cabernet Franc (65%) and Gamay (35%) from - gasp - California! And only 13% ABV, pretty modest by California standards. If I tasted this blind I would probably have said it’s from the Loire Valley. It has pretty much nothing in common with the full bodied iterations of Cab Franc coming out of Napa. Juicy, light, delicious quaffing wine.$18 a bottle

2006 Telegramme Chateauneuf-du-Pape Rouge

Really balanced and smooth, this is a bargain of a Chateauneuf. Yeah, the 07s are lauded but what would I prefer to drink? This! It’s the second label of Vieux Telegraphe, from the same property but from younger vines. And it’s a deal at $33 a bottle.2006 or bust!

NV Barcino Cava: LA Times Wine of the Week!

Delicious and just in time for New Year’s Eve…this is the LA Times Wine of the Week, and we have plenty in stock. Order online, pick-up in-store!$14 a bottle!

Sign up for our awesome newsletter!



Email Marketing by VerticalResponse

freshly pressed

3/8/10: First domaineLA Wine Tasting at Susan Feniger’s Street: 5 Wines, $15:

Just a quick note to let you know that a week from today, on Monday, March 8th, 2010, I’ll be hosting the first domaineLA wine tasting event at Susan Feniger’s Street, with the Manincor winery of Italy. The importer and winemaker will both be present to chat about the five wines being poured (including an unusual and delicious dry moscato), and the wines will be paired with light bites.

The best news is that the event will cost just $15 a person…a bargain! Swing by between 6PM and 8PM — I hope to see lots of you there!

Susan Feniger’s Street, 742 N. Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038

Oh, and you can buy tickets in advance, online by clicking here:
Buy Tickets

wine jargon

Frizzante
From Wikipedia: Frizzante is an Italian wine term term for semi-sparkling wine (as opposed to Spumante, which is generally used for fully sparkling wines). Frizzante wines generally owe their bubbles to a partial secondary fermentation in tank. You might notice a light fizz or tingly sensation on the tongue with a Frizzante wine, compared to the more carbonated sensation that more fully sparkling wines yield.


Scorekage
Okay, so we made up this word yesterday after a great restaurant experience. We brought a bottle of wine with us, expecting to pay a corkage fee. But the restaurant either forgot to charge us the $15, or decided to be nice to us. We scored! Hence, “scorekage” has entered our lexicon. This can also refer to BYO friendly restaurants that don’t charge for corkage under any circumstances.


Frizzante


March 29th, 2008

Scorekage


March 23rd, 2008

Rioja


March 3rd, 2008

grapewise

DomaineLA Store Contact Info
If you’re looking for our brick and mortar shop, here’s where it can be found:

6801 Melrose Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90038

(323) 932-0280

Hours are 11AM to 8PM, Monday through Saturday and noon to 5PM on Sundays.

Read more…

Fabulous & Frugal!
Our friends launched a new site and domaine547 is a featured wine columnist in their premiere edition! Go check out Fabulous & Frugal for some fantastic lifestyle tips for living the good life during what, for most of us, is an economically challenging time. There’s much more than wine there, and we’re thrilled to be a small part of the start of what will surely be a successful venture. Congrats to Brandi & Steph for their achievement!

Read more…