Price Check: 2005 Protocolo Tinto and 2006 Bodegas Borsao Campo de Borja Red

Monday, June 30th, 2008

tl-whole_paycheck_market_shopping_tote_bagWe haven’t done a Price Check for a while, and we’re coming back with a doozy. We spotted what should be two Spanish budget wines at Whole Foods this afternoon. And by budget we mean one digit, excluding decimal places.

Why we’re surprised that they were marked up unreasonably at Whole Foods, we don’t know. Maybe we were simply hoping that there’d be something at Whole Foods with a simple Local Wine Store (LWS) mark-up, since we know many of you shop there, even for wine (tsk, tsk).

The two wines we saw were both imports care of Jorge Ordonez: Read more…

Price check: 2005 Caronne-Ste-Gemme Haut Medoc

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

Today, we find ourselves the victims of our own “price check” feature. We had to pick a few items up at Costco, and as is our habit, we also perused the wine aisles. Sadly, we found ourselves in the position of Whole Foods, seeing one item in common with Costco that we’re far from competitive on from a price perspective. In fact, Costco not offers a better price. They offer a much, much, much better price. Like, ridiculously good. What some wine stores might bill in email blasts as “an out-and-out steal” worthy of a “five case buy!” Read more…

Price check: 2003 Finca Allende Rioja

Monday, April 21st, 2008

allendeWe brought this wine in recently, and are happy to be able to offer it at a fairly competitive price ($22.99 a bottle, which is just slightly north of the prices at other Southern California stores such as Wine House and The Wine Country). Ideally, we’d like to be able to match these prices, but sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way. But because we’re so enamored of this wine, we chose to bring it in anyhow, and we’re very happy with the decision.

Also, we knew from research that we were offering the wine in the lower end of the price spectrum, having seen it on Wine-Searcher for up to $30 a bottle. But when we happened to see it at Whole Foods this weekend, during a grocery shopping/wine espionage excursion, we were left scratching our heads. At Whole Foods, the wine retails for $36.99 a bottle.

THIRTY-SIX-NINETY-NINE! That’s a good 23% over the highest price listing on Wine-Searcher, and 80% higher than the lowest priced SoCal retailer carrying the bottle. We also noticed that the Telmo Rodriguez Dehesa Gago Toro 2005 is back up to $15.99 a bottle there, but that’s another story… Read more…

Price Check: 2006 Pomelo Sauvignon Blanc, California

Wednesday, February 6th, 2008

pomelo.JPGThe 2006 Pomelo Sauvignon Blanc wine is a really nice quaffer for its price. As the name would imply, the wine has a nose and even a palate that brings grapefruit to mind. It’s concocted by winemaker Randy Mason, and we think it makes a fantastic white for dinner parties, among other occasions. This is definitely buy-it-by-the-case stuff…well, at least if it’s priced right. Read more…

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!

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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…