Bonus Bottle of the Week: 2005 Alto Moncayo Veraton

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

With orders of $100, use coupon code “veraton” and receive a bottle of the 2005 Alto Moncayo Veraton as a bonus ($32 value). Alto Moncayo is one of Aussie winemaker’s Chris Ringland’s Spanish projects (in addition to the El Nido and El Nido Clio wines). It’s 100% Garnacha (that’s Grencache to us English speakers), and sees 17 months in American and French oak (not sure how much is new).

The Veraton is actually the entry level wine from the Alto Moncayo series, and we think that the QPR at $32 is not to be beaten. It may have a bit more palpable structure and grit than the next level up, the $47 Alto Moncayo, but we like the sensation of the tannins and acidity, and think that it’s built to last. Also, given the 33% discount in price from its big brother, the Veraton still proves a better value, even if silky-smooth-vanilla-oak is more your speed. The Veraton has plenty of these qualities without tipping the balance and becoming an unctuous wine. For us, that’s a good thing.

We have a limited number of bottles available so go place your orders ASAP and get this Spanish beauty as a bonus. Don’t forget to use the coupon codes…when the wine runs out, the code will stop working.

Simon’s Pick 10/08: 2007 Cotes-du-Rhone Villages, Cuvee Jules, Andre Andrieux

Sunday, October 5th, 2008

033107-GW450-simonSimon of Larchmont Wine & Spirits sends us his monthly dispatch. He didn’t send us the price, though, so we’ll have to get back to you on that one. We think that it’s probably in the $12 a bottle range, plus or minus a buck or two. Not widely available, so call Simon at (323) 856-8699 to pick up a bottle. In the meantime, Simon says:

OK so a Cotes-du-Rhone red may not be the most startling or original choice for our monthly promo, but this wine is one of an increasing number of lovely offerings from this area that will banish the memories of rather rough, peasanty stuff that carried the name in the past. Of course there is still a lot of filthy muck out there under the Slopes of the Rhone appellation, but we found this new-to-this-market example to be just what we look for in this category.

This is made from 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah by a small family-run winery that sources fruit from 80 year old vines just outside Gigondas in the southern Rhone valley.

Deep purple in color, the nose is forward and stuffed with red and dark berries, red plums, liquorice, smoke and soft spices. Full bodied and complex, the wine has plenty of stuffing on the palate, good length and ample ripe fruit.

As we ease into the fall, this can take care of any heatwave-induced barbeque fare. If we get a chilldown, warming comfort foods like cassoulet or a game stew will match just perfectly with a wine like this. –SC

2005 Paul Autard Chateauneuf-du-Pape, La Cote Ronde

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

We were wondering why this CdP wasn’t selling. Ummm, that would be because we completely forgot to enter it into our inventory. Well, now, after 6 additional months of perfect storage for you, it’s that much more ready for the drinking. Lots of garrigue and goodness in this one. Parker says Truffles, and we wouldn’t disagree.La Cote Ronde, s’il vous plait!

2005 Qupé Grenache, Purisma Mountain

Saturday, December 8th, 2007

Qupé is a top California Central Coast producer, and this Grenache shows off the best of what the Rhone Rangers are doing. It’s red and juicy, with good acidity and tannin that will give it a nice long life. But it’s ready to drink now, and would be terrific with almost any food we can think of. This is a pure pleasure to drink, and with under 250 cases produced, this is boutique winemaking at its best. Buy me for $36.99

get your wine on

2005 Amavi Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla: #42 Wine Spectator in the Top 100 of 2008!

OK, don’t screw the WS top 100! This came in at #42 and it deserves at least that. It’s the only reasonably priced domestic cab on their list, and we love it. It’s deep and rich and generous with the oaky vanilla — but not cloyingly so. Yay for #42 - just $28.

2007 Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Cuvée Traditionelle Beaujolais Vieilles Vignes

Screw the Wine Spectator Top Ten! This is our top pick for November wine. It’s perfect for the Thanksgiving table, and we don’t care of Beaujolais for the holiday is somewhat of a cliché. This is so balanced, great acidity and a fantastic bright color and red fruit core to it. It screams cranberries! And did we mention it’s just $19? Buy some Beaujolais!

2005 Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape

We stocked this long before it received the #8 spot on the Spectator Top Ten Wines of the Year rankings. Beaucastel is among our favorite Rhone producers, and its sister winery, Tablas Creek in Paso Robles, is a domestic favorite. Buy some Beaucastel

Sign up for our awesome newsletter!



Email Marketing by VerticalResponse

freshly pressed

More Thanksgiving Wine Posts:

I have a running tally below from the first part of this week. Here are more wine-related Thanksgiving posts from around the web. I particularly like the Tofurky post, so thanks to John Witherspoon for that one! Oh, and the San Francisco Chronicle apparently thinks as highly of the Pierre-Marie Chermette Domaine du Vissoux Vieilles Vignes Beaujolais as I do. Yay!

Merlot as a match for Thanskgiving fare? Lynne Char Bennett of the San Francisco Chronicle thinks so…
The San Francisco Chronicle’s “Can’t Fail Guide to Thanksgiving Wines
Drink Cru Beaujolais with your holiday meal, says Jon Bonné of the SF Chronicle.
Perfect pairings for Tofurky from John Witherspoon’s Anything Wine.
Catie’s “Obligatory Wine Pairing” post, a companion piece to our “Obligatory Thanksgiving Wine Post” of earlier this week!

What conclusions can we draw from these Thanksgiving posts? Well, Beaujolais tends to be somewhat of a theme, but as much for the rejection of it as the embracing of it. And the San Francisco Chronicle seems to like Thanksgiving…a lot!

Please comment with any posts we may have missed. I’m sure there are plenty more.

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

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…

domaine547 In the Blogosphere! Imbibe Magazine Unfiltered
Check out this blog post where they actually refer to somebody from d547 as a “wine expert.” Shocking! In any case, the Imbibe blog offers a nice recipe to go along with one of our wine recommendations. Enjoy!

Read more…

Fabulous & Frugal!


November 5th, 2008

domaine547 In the Blogosphere! Imbibe Magazine Unfiltered


September 10th, 2008

The 89 Project


August 5th, 2008