Chateau de Campuget Costieres de Nimes Tradition Rose 2010
Southern Rhone, France

Price $10.99 750ml

Wine Notes

Syrah 70%, Grenache noir 30%. The wine’s color is an intense peony pink. Its bouquet is very aromatic, with scents of small red fruits such as raspberries or blackcurrants. In the mouth there is a perfect balance between vivacity and mellowness. The final taste is very long, leaving a delicate impression of fruitiness.

Château Grande Cassagne Costières de Nîmes Rosé 2010
Southern Rhone, France

Price $12.99 750ml

Wine Notes

The Dardé brothers are well known for their exemplary red wines of deep concentration. However, their best-kept secret may be their Rosé. Made from three grapes, the wine exudes red fruits and a strawberry perfume. This Rosé is a blend of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre, and comes from tiny berries of forty-plus year old vines. Fermented a short time on its skins, it retains an electric pink color, soaring aromatics, and fully dry palate. Serve well chilled!

Château du Rouet ‘Cuvee Reservée’ Côtes de Provence Rosé 2010
Provence, France

Price $14.99 750ml

Wine Notes

The Esterel hills protect rural Provence from the ravages of coastal development that have afflicted the Côte d’Azur. At Château du Rouet, in a setting of outstanding natural beauty, the Savatier family make wines that capture all the joys of living in this paradise. Whites, reds and particularly rosés all manage to distill the essence of Provence – sun, fresh fruit, wild herbs – and, no matter where opened, transport the taster on an idyllic summer holiday. This pink blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah is extremely refreshing with full fruity flavours and good length, and it’s just the wine to wash down seafood, salads and grilled fish.

Vincent Girardin Macon-Fuisse Les Vielles Vignes 2009
Burgundy, France

Price $18.99 750ml

Wine Notes

An elegant nose, very refined for a Mâcon. A little tropical lemon, too. Juicy Fruit gum and a lovely texture, silky, round with lots of body. Nice side acids, very refreshing with nice balance. Easy forward fruit; ready to drink now.

Vincent Girardin Pouilly-Fuisse Vieilles Vignes 2007
Burgundy, France

Price $21.99 750ml

Wine Notes

Greenish straw. Honey and lemon drop on the nose, with a subtle mineral quality adding vivacity. Light-bodied, refreshingly bitter lemon and lime flavors are complemented by a dusty mineral quality and a kick of mint. Fresher and more precise than the Saint-Veran, but without that wine’s power. The nicely persistent finish repeats the mineral and lime notes.

Le P’tit Rouquin Gamay ‘Vin de France’ 2010
Loire, France

Price $29.99 750ml

Wine Notes

This is an underestimated and surprisingly delicious Gamay wine, with balanced aromas of spice and juicy raspberry. Produced from 20-60 year old vines planted in the heart of Loire’s Touraine region, this wine beautifully flaunts its terroir with flavors of cherries, ripe raspberries, a bit of earth and flair of spice. With its moderate acidity and mild tannins, organic wine producer Olivier Lemasson has made a wine that invites drinkers to kick back after a long day of work or entertain a large holiday gathering.

We are excited to offer a unique opportunity to taste and purchase five (5) different vintages, spanning more than a decade, of Domaine Aux Moines Chenin Blanc.

1994 Domaine Aux Moines Chenin Blanc
Purchase Price $24.99 750ml

1999 Domaine Aux Moines Chenin Blanc
Purchase Price $26.99 750ml

2001 Domaine Aux Moines Chenin Blanc
Purchase Price $24.99 750ml

2004 Domaine Aux Moines Chenin Blanc
Purchase Price $24.99 750ml

2006 Domaine Aux Moines Chenin Blanc
Purchase Price $22.99 750ml

Domaine Aux Moines is run by Monique and Tessa Laroche, who as a mother and daughter team are a bit of an unusual configuration, especially when it comes to owning and running an old respected wine estate. The Laroches are fond of saying; “Wine is a feminine word. And in our case, it’s also plural.”

Mmes. Laroche preside over an estate that is unusual for more reasons than its femininity. For starters, they occupy one of the lesser known sub-appellations of the Savennieres known as Roche Aux Moines. Savennieres is not a large appellation to begin with, occupying about 350 acres in total, and the Roche Aux Moines sub-appellation is a mere eighty or so acres of that. Of those eighty acres, the Laroches own and work nearly twenty of them. The estate property is on some of the highest ground of this appellation, with soils rich in schist that make for extremely good drainage, and in my experience, a high degree of minerality in the wine.

The majority of Aux Moines’ production is a single wine of 100% Chenin Blanc (from their 50+ year-old vines), and properly so, for it is here in Savennieres that Chenin Blanc shines like nowhere else in the world.

Chenin is an oft forgotten member of the great white varietals of the world. It is overshadowed by Riesling, Chardonnay, Semillon, and even its neighbor and direct descendant, Sauvignon Blanc in popular wine culture. Yet Chenin is an extremely versatile and profound white grape, capable of making wines of great depth and complexity. This Chenin, in particular, is famous for its ability to age for decades, gaining in complexity, aroma, and deepening in golden hue.

Domaine Aux Moines
Savennieres-Roche Aux Moines, France

South-central France has many distinguishing characteristics, but the one that cannot be avoided and ignored, and certainly cannot be underestimated, is the Massif Central. This huge upwelling of ancient granite, and the limestone and sandstone it sloughed aside as it rose, present a formidable obstacle for anyone attempting to drive from, say, Clermont-Ferrand to Nimes. As large mountain ranges have a habit of doing, it also drives many of the weather systems in the area, capturing moisture, and unleashing it in torrents.

Somewhere in a sub-range of the Massif Central called the Cévennes, a trickle begins amidst granite and limestone, that through a great deal of luck, topography, and perhaps force of personality, decides to do what streams of water rarely do, and heads due North. 630 miles later, after passing through a large part of France and making a hard left at Orléans, the Loire river heads out to sea on France’s western coast at the port of Nantes.

The Loire in addition to being its longest river, is one of France’s defining characteristics, and is intertwined in both its history as well as its geography. It often demarcated the boundary between warring factions of one sort or another. In particular it was one of the major fronts of the wars between the Roman Empire and the Gauls — the veritable barbarians at the gate — as the Romans expanded out of Italy to establish their empire. As the stories go, this particular front existed for so long that the Romans (when they weren’t busy catapulting cauldrons of boiling oil on their foes across the river) planted grapes in the river valley, to ensure their ability to provide their soldiers with their daily rations of wine.

No one knows for sure whether these were the first vines planted in the area — certainly the Loire valley has hosted wine grapes since at least the first century BC, and quite possibly much earlier — but we do know through their records that the Romans, and their immediate successors, planted Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc on the schist covered hillsides surrounding the river. Whether through fate, destiny, or pure viticultural genius, this choice has resulted in one of France’s finest and largest growing regions for white wine — and a region which produces some of the best, and least appreciated white wines in the world.

Wednesday May 25, 2011
5:30pm-7:30pm
$10 Tasting Fee ($5 refunded with wine purchase)
$2 Pork Tacos will be available

Pork & Pinot — What’s not to love? Every good wine shop needs Pinot Noir on the shelf, and any cook that aspires to be a chef no doubt has a soft spot in his heart for braised pork.

Wednesday our chef will make pork tacos designed to pair with delicious Pinot Noir from California’s coast. Pork and pinot pairing perfection? Say that three times fast…

2009 Point Concepcion ‘Celestina’ Pinot Grigio
Santa Barbara

Wednesday tasting price $17.99

Wine Notes

Pink-orange in color like a California sunset. The nose suggestively offers strawberry, peach and a medley of opulent, bright fruit aromas. In the mouth the wine is tangy with vibrant acidity and superb concentration. Refreshing citrus and white fruit flavors lead to a crisp, dry finish.

2009 Cartha Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
Sonoma Coast

Wednesday tasting price $26.99

Wine Notes

A new joint venture from Glenn Alexander and John Raytek (Ceritas), this Pinot Noir comes from four vineyards in the very cool (temperature-wise), up-and-coming Petaluma Wind Gap sub-appellation. Like other wines from this area, this is not your big, uber-ripe California Pinot Noir, but something more restrained and acid-driven, with red raspberry fruit, low alcohol and a very judicious use of oak.

2009 Evening Land Pinot Noir
California

Wednesday tasting price $24.99

Wine Notes

Classic pinot aromas of sweet, smoky, spicy cherries and autumnal notes of fallen leaves and wood are carried through on the palate. A medium body, a velvety texture–this one has it all.

2008 Evening Land ‘Occidental Coast’ Pinot Noir
Sonoma Coast

Wednesday tasting price $37.99

92 points and a Cellar Selection, Wine Enthusiast

“Tough to appreciate now due to its acidity and tannins, which lock it down behind a cloak of impenetrability. There are exotic wild raspberry and cherry fruit, cola, licorice, Provençal herb, bacon and pepper flavors, but you can’t quite get to them, because they’re behind bars…”

Wednesday May 18, 2011
5:30pm-7:30pm
$15 Tasting Fee

Talbott Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow 2009
Santa Lucia Highlands

Wednesday tasting price $19.99

Winemaker Notes

This wine has tropical aromas of guava, white peach and nectarine, accented by pear, toasted hazelnut and citrus. The intensity of the wine’s aroma is complemented by French oak and toasty brioche notes. On the palate, the wine is lush and rich, with flavors that echo the aromatics. The finish is long, clean and bone dry, with bright citrus notes and minerality.

Duckhorn Merlot 2007
Napa Valley

Wednesday tasting price $44.99

92 Wine Enthusiast

“As usual with Duckhorn’s red wines, this Merlot is more tannic and acidic than most anything coming from the Napa Valley. They’re emphasizing structure over decadence. But that’s not to say there aren’t rich, elaborate berry, cherry, currant, chocolate and cedar flavors that provide bang for the buck. Very elegant and refined, this Merlot should be decanted before serving.”

Ramey Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
Napa Valley

Wednesday tasting price $36.99

88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Malbec, 3% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc

92 Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate

“A stunning yet reasonably priced, high end Napa Cabernet Sauvignon is the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa. The final bottling from the extraordinary Larkmead Vineyard, it boasts a dense purple color as well as a big, sweet bouquet of blueberry and black currant fruit intertwined with licorice, bay leaf, cedar and fruitcake notes. Full-bodied and opulent, this precocious 2007 is drinkable now and should evolve for another 15+ years.”

92 Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar

“Inky ruby. Intensely perfumed bouquet of red- and blackcurrant, dark chocolate and anise, with mounting spiciness. More open-knit and accessible than last year’s tasting suggested it would be, offering sweet dark fruit and cherry flavors and building tannins. The fruit takes over on the finish, which echoes the spice and cherry notes. This has turned out better than I expected, perhaps because all of the Larkmead fruit went into this wine in this vintage.”

92 Wine Spectator

“Taut, dry and earthy, with cedar, herb, forest floor, dried currant and blackberry flavors that are full-bodied, spicy and expansive, slow to unfold but rewarding. Ends with chewy tannins. Drink now through 2018.”

Cade Napa Cuvee 2007
Napa Valley

Wednesday tasting price $54.99

83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot

92 Wine Spectator

“Intense and focused on a rich core of black cherry, currant, plum and cedary oak flavors. Full-bodied and expansive, yet retains a tight focus and a measure of restraint. The flavors pour through on the finish. Drink now through 2018.”

Winemaker Notes

Inviting aromas of black currant, black olive, blackberries, and acacia. On the palate, flavors of dark chocolate, soy, black currant, and star anise are followed by wonderful mouth coating tannins that are very plush and long.

Huber ‘Hugo’ Sparkling Rose NV
Traisental, Austria

Friday tasting price $17.99

Wine Notes

Light salmon colour with reddish gold play of light, fine, persistent mousseux, delicate, fresh and very animating nose, fruit and spice with hints of fresh cherries and forest berries, a sophisticated note of citrus. Dry, fruit-driven yet creamy on the palate, finely woven with elegant acidity and mineral extract, very harmonious structure.

Matteo Correggia Arneis 2010
Roero, Piedmont, Italy

Friday tasting price $22.99

100% Arneis

Wine Notes

Intense straw yellow color, with a nose that is fresh, intensely fruity, with aromas of apple and banana. The palate is round and fresh, and is medium-bodied. Serving suggestions include; seafood, fresh cheese and vegetables.

Joan d’Anguera Garnatxa 2009
Montsant, Spain

Friday tasting price $16.99

100% Grenache

Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar 90 Points

"Bright ruby. Vibrant, high-pitched aromas of raspberry, candied cherry and rose, plus a hint of white pepper. Pure, racy red fruits and a sexy floral quality on the seamless palate. Expands on the finish while maintaining a bright, lively character. This is delicious right now."

Clerico Barbera d’Alba ‘Tre Vigne’ 2007
Piedmont, Italy

Friday tasting price $25.99

Robert Parker 91 Points

"The 2007 Barbera d’Alba Trevigne displays superb richness, elegance and balance in its layers of fragrant, dark fruit. This sumptuous, impeccable Barbera is sure to provide immense drinking pleasure over the next few years. Some of the overt oakiness of past vintages is missing and what comes through is a glorious expression of Barbera and Piedmontese winemaking at its very highest level. This is a wonderful effort from Domenico Clerico. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2015."

$59.99 NET – 18 bottles available

Winemaker Notes

Distinctive flavors of Ghost Block and Rock Cairn were heightened with the intense 2008 growing season. Finesse oriented with an elegant balance and structure. Bright aromas of roses, tobacco and spice lead to a full palate of blackberries, cherries and cocoa, and citrus. The mid palate is full and leads to a bright long finish of cherries, caramel, spice, cassis and coffee.

Vineyards

The fruit for the 2008 Ghost Block Cabernet Sauvignon comes from the Rock Cairn vineyard. The 25 year old vineyard in Oakville, Napa Valley that is 100% Certified Organic. The site is comprised of deep, gravelly loam with a western exposure, and the vines produce very concentrated fruit late in the season.

Taste Wines Blind

Come join in on all of the fun, as we taste an assortment of 4 different wines blind.

Tasting Special – 20% off retail on any of the 4 wines in the blind tasting lineup.

Blind Tasting - May 6, 2011

Win a $50 or $100 Gift Certificate

Correctly identify the grape varietals of all 4 wines and you are eligible to win a $50 gift certificate.*

Correctly identify both the grape varietals and the country of origin of each of the 4 wines and you are eligible to win a $100 gift certificate.*

*The Fine Print – You must be present to win.  Maximum of one $50 gift certificate and one $100 to be given away.  If more than one person meets the requirements to win, the winner will be determined by drawing.  The gift certificates can be used for any goods and services from Market at Pavilions, excluding alcohol.

2008 Pahlmeyer Sonoma Coast Chardonnay

Regular price $79.99
Friday tasting price $64.99

Robert Parker, Wine Advocate 95 points

"The 2008 Chardonnay reveals a greenish hue to its medium straw color as well as a super-intense nose of mandarin oranges, quince, white peaches, and hints of brioche and earth. Full-bodied with good underlying minerality, this crisp, elegant, fresh white wine is another superb effort from a winery that has a Midas touch with Chardonnay."

Winemaker Notes

The 2008 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is pale yellow-green in color. It has a profuse nose of honeysuckle, vanilla, orange zest and lemon curd. The creamy mouth-feel is balanced with crisp minerality and firm acidity. The finish never ends.

2008 Paul Hobbs Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard
Russian River Valley

Regular price $79.99
Friday tasting price $64.99

Connoisseurs’ Guide 96 points, 2 Puffs, TOP 100

"TOP 100: 2010 – Mr. Hobbs rarely stints when it comes to either deep, optimally ripened fruit or to sweet, very flamboyant oak, and, when at their best such as is clearly the case here, his Chardonnays achieve remarkable balance rarely found in wines of such volume and range. Unctuous and oily, yet never heavy, this big, amazingly rich effort seems to unfold with more and more fruit and sweet spice as it goes, but for all of its immediacy and come-hither appeal, it is structured to last and is certain to age into better."

Winemaker Notes

The old vines of Ritchie Vineyard produce an intriguing, complex chardonnay that achieves a fine balance of intensity and elegance. Pale yellow with a touch of green, it exhibits an exotic nose of stone fruit and spice accented with tropical notes of guava and passion fruit. A firmly structured, steely palate provides the backbone around which layers of fresh apple, Asian pear and toasted brioche wrap themselves seamlessly. Notes of custard persist, accented with ginger and clean slate over a memorable finish.

2006 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon
Alexander Valley

Regular price $70.00
Friday tasting price $58.99

100% Cabernet Sauvignon

Winemaker Notes

The 2006 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon combines full body and richness with moderate alcohol. It has a garnet color and a nose of cassis liqueur, nutmeg and dark chocolate. On the palate, it has a rich, mouth-coating attack, great expression of fruit, a full-body and beautifully integrated tannins that lead to a long, spicy finish. Given proper cellaring, this wine will give drinking pleasure through 2026.

2006 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley

Regular price $100.00
Friday tasting price $79.99

81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot

Winemaker Notes

The 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a complex and refined wine that develops beautifully in the glass to reveal multi-layered nuances of aromas. It has a dark ruby color and an enticing nose of cassis, black truffles and violets. On the palate, the wine has an elegant attack and bursts with flavors of fresh forest fruit, potpourri and Asian spices. It has a long finish with smooth well-integrated tannins. With proper cellaring it should give drinking pleasure through 2026.

2007 Anakota Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota Vineyard
Knights Valley, Sonoma

Regular price $97.99
Friday tasting price $44.99

The Vineyard

Located above Knights Valley, Helena Dakota vineyard is devoted to Cabernet Sauvignon. Helena Dakota stands 750 feet high in between Mount St. Helena’s two grandest peaks. This 12.4 acre mountain vineyard possesses slopes up to 15 degrees.

Robert Parker 94+ Points

The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Dakota is a slightly softer, but still structured, meaty effort with impressive levels of black cherries, black currants and a steely, crushed rock-like minerality. Like its sibling, it is full-bodied, tannic and deep, but with less of the burning ember/scorched earth character. It offers pure floral, concentrated fruit and beautiful purity, symmetry and balance.

2007 Anakota Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana Vineyard
Knights Valley, Sonoma

Regular price $97.99
Friday tasting price $44.99

The Vineyard

Tucked away in the foothills of Mount St. Helena’s highest peak, Helena Montana sources exclusively Cabernet Sauvignon. Located 950 feet above sea level, Helena Montana lives up to the origin of its name – Mountain. The diverse topography of this 60.3 acre vineyard is best defined as rolling hills and steep benches boasting slopes of up to 30 degrees.

Robert Parker 92+ Points

The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Helena Montana (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) exhibits an unmistakable minerality with a volcanic rock/burning ember/scorched earth component to its beautifully pure black currant fruit. Full-bodied, powerful and muscular with a boatload of tannin as well as fabulous concentration, this may turn out to be one of the longest lived wines ever made from Knight’s Valley.

2007 La Jota ‘Howell Mountain’ Cabernet Sauvignon
Napa Valley

Regular price $64.99
Friday tasting price $29.99

The Vineyards

The grapes for our Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon were grown in our La Jota Estate vineyard and our Keyes vineyard.

La Jota vineyard is located high upon a volcanic Howell Mountain plateau overlooking Napa Valley. Our unique spot, surrounded by pines, oak and madrone trees, is characterized by cool-climate terroir and winds coming up the canyon. We choose a selection of our softer-textured Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard blocks to give this wine earlier approachability, while capturing full expression of La Jota’s cool-climate terroir.

The Keyes vineyard, a mile down the road and with a very different terroir, provides a "pop" of bright fruit character and broader tannins. The Petit Verdot was harvested from a small planting near the winery.

Winemaker’s Notes

In the 2007 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, blueberry, blackberry, toast and a bit of herb play well with a lush entry and structured tannins to finish.

2005 Edmeades Perli Vineyards Zinfandel
Mendocino Ridge

Regular price $35.99
Friday tasting price $19.99

The Vineyard

If the hand-tended block of the Perli Vineyard were located at a ski resort, it would be considered double black diamond. With grades approaching 60% and soils that are more rock than soil, this steep site is one of the most radical in all of California. First planted in the late 1800s by Santo and Rosie Perli, this southwest-facing, high altitude (1,500 feet) vineyard is a mere 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean. Featuring a mix of old heritage clones, the 2005 Perli Zin is deep, extreme, meaty and compelling.

Winemaker’s Notes

The Perli Vineyard Zin is composed with multiple varieties, creating a Zin that leans more toward a Claret in style. Bramble berries and spice are the predominant aromas, but you can also find hints of toffee, anise, fresh flowers, chocolate and stone fruits. The flavors are soft and supple, with loads of richness on the finish. It drinks like a wild berry cream soda – too easy to drink. A great wine for a person who does not like red wine, but complex enough for the most sophisticated wine geek.

Thierry Guérin Pouilly-Fuissé La Roche 2009
Mâconnais, Burgundy, France

Regular price $27.99
Friday tasting price minus 15%

Wine Notes

Sumptuous buttery spicy nose with a hint of almonds. Soft full fruit flavours with buttery nutty depth and good acidity.

Thierry Guérin

Vergisson has been famous for centuries for worship and sacrifice, sometimes human, from the cliffs overlooking the vineyards, which were renowned then as they are today for their excellent quality and potential. Thierry Guérin has worked in these vineyards for many years, learning his skills from his father. He has 8 ha of vineyards in two appellations around the village of Vergisson in the Mâconnais, situated on the massive limestone outcrop of Roche de Solutré, at about 300m above sea level, facing south. It is planted with chardonnay vines between 30 and 50 years old, which produce impressively high quality fruit.

Louis Claude Desvignes Morgon La Voute St Vincent 2009
Beaujolais, Burgundy, France

Regular price $24.99
Friday tasting price minus 15%

Wine Notes

Desvignes Morgon La Voute Saint-Vincent is deep ruby-purple in color, medium in body, with soft, round tannins. It offers a beautiful nose and palate of cherries, raspberries, earth and spice. With well balanced fruit, acidity and tannins, the wine shows ripe red berries on the long finish. Enjoy Desvignes Morgon La Voute Saint-Vincent over the next 4-6 years with roast chicken, grilled salmon, burgers, pasta and Thanksgiving turkey.

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate – 91 points

Louis Claude Desvignes

2009 is a gorgeous expression of Gamay from the supreme 2009 vintage in Beaujolais. The family of Louis and Claude Desvignes has been making wine in the Morgon appellation of Beaujolais for 8 generations since 1712. The family is aptly named as Desvignes means “from the vines!” We met Louis-Benoit Desvignes to taste his new 2009 wines in March 2011 and were stunned by the beauty of this Morgon. La Voute Saint-Vincent comes from 60-year-old parcels in the Douby sector in the north of Morgon near Fleurie. While Morgon is considered the most ageworthy of the Crus Beaujolais, La Voute Saint-Vincent is softer and more approachable-and absolutely irresistible now!.

Domaine des Terres Dorées (Jean-Paul Brun) Côte de Brouilly 2009
Beaujolais, Burgundy, France

Regular price $25.99
Friday tasting price minus 15%

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate – 91 points

The Brun 2009 Cote de Brouilly allies lushness of texture to liveliness, lift, and refreshment, and ripeness of blackberry and mulberry with a stone-licking undertone as well as invigorating piquancy and tartness that remind me of chomping down on the berry seeds. Notes of black tea, sage, and mineral salts add further complexity. The 2008 version of this wine, incidentally, turned out better than it had appeared to me (right after bottling) when I tasted it for issue 184, but this 2009 is in another, glorious class, making it a superb value! Enjoy it over the next 3-4 years. David Schildknecht.

Vincent Girardin Moulin-à-Vent Domaine de la Tour du Bief Clos de la Tour 2009
Beaujolais, Burgundy, France

Regular price $27.99
Friday tasting price minus 15%

Wine Spectator 93 points

Moulin-à-Vent

For those of you that have been following the rollout of the exciting 2009 Beaujolais, you might remember one of the highlights was the first ever releases from Thibault Liger-Belair’s new acquisition in Moulin-a-Vent. We mention that to talk about what we think is another of the true high notes in this exceptional vintage. Not surprisingly, this is another case of a Burgundian in Beaujolais, in this case none other than Vincent Girardin taking over the well known Domaine Tour du Bief that had been for many years a supplier for the Georges Duboeuf stable. Girardin researched the property for over three years, checking the soils, the vines (some of them 80 years old), etc. The negotiations for the property took nearly a year and were completed in September, 2010. But during the process, Girardin managed to corner about 40% of the production of the 2009 vintage for himself (the rest already contracted to negociants including 10% to Duboeuf). As of 2010, Girardin will control the entire production of this 20 hectare estate.

Girardin’s stated aim is to make Beaujolais that “competed with wines from the villages of the Cote d’Or as they did in the last century.” He couldn’t have picked a better vintage to start, and these really do have the class and polish of a good Burgundy (Girardin refers to it as ‘Pinotent’). No reviews yet that we have seen, but we can tell you that the wines rank among our favorites within the stylish parade of 2009 Beaujolais that has passed through these doors. Really classy, expressive red and black fruits here, and they should be just fine for current enjoyment while aging nicely for up to 4-5 years. We’ve been waiting for this one since we had an advance taste some months ago. Bottled unfiltered and unfined, it is truly one of Beaujolais’ still-undiscovered gems in the marketplace.

Clos de la Tour encompasses parcels that are directly around the estate and have what Girardin describes as one of the most singular soils of the appellation. Under the granitic rock, there is a layer of limestone and clay that contributes to a rounder, fleshier character to the wine. Lovely maroon hue, the nose shows blueberry, gentle minerality and a note of violets. High pitched, juicy, plush fruit up front, deep minerality and structure kick in next followed by a long, authoritative finish of urgent berry, stone and a little pepper.