Wine News

Updated 1/26/12

Wine of the Week

Michele Chiarlo Barbera d’Asti “Le Orme” 2009
“Sweet blackberry, plum and pomegranate fruit is fresh and vibrant as this red unfolds across the palate. Hints of flowers and spices intermingle, but this is more about the juicy fruit. Drink now through 2018.” — 90 points, The Wine Spectator
$15.99 / 750 ml

In-Store Tastings with Special Guests

In the coming months, we have a number of exciting opportunities on the calendar. We’ll get our in-store tastings back on track in a big way as we welcome winery representatives, owners and winemakers to Nashville.

Thursday, February 9 — Owner/winemaker Jarrod Boyle from Alexandria Nicole Cellars (Columbia Valley, Washington).

Friday, February 24 — Director of Sales Michael Adelsheim from Adelsheim Vineyard (Willamette Valley, Oregon).

Thursday, March 8 — Sales and Marketing Director Michael Young from L’aventure Winery (Paso Robles, California).

Thursday, March 15 — Owner/winemaker Matt Meyer from Meyer Family Cellars (Mendocino, California).

As we get closer to these dates, we’ll announce what time our guests will be at Midtown so you can swing by to try the wines and ask any questions you may have.

New Weekly Wine Tastings at The Bound’ry

Join Us Every Friday Night
With a new year comes new opportunities, and we’ve had such wonderful success working with the folks over at The Bound’ry that we’ve partnered up for a weekly wine tasting series in 2012! Every Friday night from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m., we hope you can join us at Bound’ry (911 20th Avenue South) for a tasting of different wines each week.

Next up we’ll be featuring four delicious wines from famed importer Kermit Lynch. We’ll be pouring the Chateau Ducasse Bordeaux Blanc, Chateau Graville-Lacoste Bordeaux Blanc, Reverdy Sancerre Rouge and Domaine du Vieux Telegraph Chateauneuf du Pape. $30 per person, including appetizers. Call The Bound’ry at 615.321.3043 to reserve your seats!

Two New Celebrity Brands

The Wines of Dreaming Tree
Music lovers likely will have heard of this new brand, a partnership between Dave Matthews and winemaker Steve Reeder. We currently have in stock their “Crush” red blend — great song too, from the Dave Matthews Band’s album “Before These Crowded Streets — along with their Cabernet Sauvignon, both of which retail for $16.99 / 750 ml.

“When Steve Reeder and Dave Matthews first met, they realized they had a few things in common, like a passion for making wine at least as strong as their passion for drinking it.

They set out into wine country, looking for a way to make quality wines accessible to everyone. Along the way, they found inspiration in the down-to-earth characters and unforgettable flavors that give the region its rare kind of charm.” — Official Website

Entwine — A Collaboration Between The Food Network and Wente Vineyards
And while this may not qualify as a true celebrity wine, its creator hosts plenty of celebs on a daily basis. Fans of The Food Network will no doubt recognize this one, as it is the popular TV channel’s official wine, in partnership with Wente Vineyards. We currently carry their Cabernet and Merlot, each $12.99 / 750 ml.

Dominus Estate’s Napanook 2008

“In the late 1960s, while attending the University of California at Davis, Christian Moueix fell in love with the Napa Valley and its wines. son of Jean-Pierre Moueix, the famed wine merchant and producer FROM Libourne, France, Moueix returned home in 1970 to manage the family vineyards, including chateaux Petrus, La Fleur-Petrus, Trotanoy in Pomerol and Magdelaine in Saint Emilion.

His love of Napa Valley lingered and, in 1981, he discovered the historic Napanook vineyard, a 124-acre site west of Yountville that had been the source of fruit for some of the finest Napa Valley wines of the 1940s and 1950s. In 1982, Moueix entered into a partnership to develop the vineyard and, in 1995, became its sole owner. He chose the name ‘Dominus’ or’ Lord of the Estate’ in Latin to underscore his longstanding commitment to stewardship of the land…

Napanook is a blend of bordeaux varietals specifically selected from the estate vineyard for their lively fruit and bold character. Napanook wines are youthful and exuberant, meant to be enjoyed regularly when a more casual wine is called for.” — Dominus Official Website.

We just received a case of the 2008 vintage Napanook red, which is the second label to the aforementioned Dominus Estate red. It earned an outstanding 93-point rating from Robert Parker, with the famed wine critic saying it “may be one of the greatest Napanooks made. It is a deeper, richer, more intense wine with full body, an endearing texture and a long, pure finish. These two are ‘take your pick’ vintages, but wine enthusiasts would probably be remiss in not having both 2007 and 2008 in their cellars.”
$69.99 / 750 ml

Two New High End Italians: Amarones!

Cesari Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2007
“This grippy red shows a rich note of fresh earth supporting flavors of kirsch, date, damson plum preserves and cigar box, with a sublayer evoking the sweet smoke of burning vine clippings. Integrated tannins are lightly chewy toward the finish. Drink now through 2022.” — 90 points, The Wine Spectator
$56.99 / 750 ml

Recchia “Ca’ Bertoldi” Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2004
This is without a doubt the best bargain in high-end Italian wines you can find! Along with the likes of Barolo, Brunello and Super Tuscans, Amarone represents the finest Italy has to offer, and it’s rare that you find one under $50, much less one that tastes this amazing. It’s opulent and full-bodied, with big extracted flavors of black fruits. It’s already had a few years to mature, so it’s definitely ready to drink now, but it has the structure to continue evolving for the next 5+ years.
$36.99 / 750 ml

New from South Africa: Dark Lady Pinotage

“Quite ripe, showing a slightly jammy edge to its raspberry, black cherry sauce and melted licorice notes, with sweet spice hints that linger through the finish.” — The Wine Spectator
$19.99 / 750 ml

A New Champagne Arrives

Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve NV
Billecart-Salmon is one of the few large Champagne houses that remains family-owned today. For nearly two centuries, they have been producing top-notch bubbly, and as an example of their quality, the Cuvee Nicolas-Francois Billecart 1959 won first place in the Champagne of the Millennium 1999, out of 150 of the finest 20th century champagnes.

“The NV Brut Reserve is a beautiful wine graced with layers of exquisite, mineral laced citrus, pears and white peaches. I suppose this could use a little more length through the mid-palate, but it is nevertheless a strikingly beautiful, pure wine at this price point. This is Lot 28201 03667A. Disgorged May 11, 2010. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2015.” — The Wine Advocate
$74.99 / 750 ml

New Arrivals: Treasure Hunter Wines

“All the Treasure Hunter wines are ‘negociant wines’… When wineries have excess supply we quickly go through our review process and if it passes, we buy it. Rather than bottle too much wine or try to lower their well deserved price point, we liberate the wine and bring it to you under our Treasure Hunter label without hurting the winery’s reputation and potentially threatening their price point.

It is a win–win–win proposition. The wineries win because they don’t have to make more wine than they can sell. We win because we get world-class wines for a bargain, and the customer wins because they get to drink wines at a price that is 1/3-1/5 of the normal price.”

The Deadlights Zinfandel 2007 — $17.99 / 750 ml
Emma’s Crush Grenache 2008 — $18.99 / 750 ml

New at Midtown: Milbrandt Vineyards

When it comes to winemaking in the United States, Washington often plays second fiddle to Napa and Sonoma, but the guys up in Columbia Valley and elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest are making some amazing wines.

Milbrandt Vineyards is an up-and-comer, with already quite a few highly-rated wines in their portfolio. We recently sent out an online exclusive offer for their “Estates” Merlot which earned 92 points from The Wine Spectator (not receiving our online offers? Click here to sign up!)

We now have on our sales floor their “Traditions” label Cabernet and Merlot at $14.99 each. These wines offer amazing QPR (quality-to-price ratio), and if you haven’t gotten a taste of Washington state recently, come give one a try!

EOS Winery Back in Business

A little over a year ago, EOS Winery, a Midtown customer favorite, went into receivership due to financial problems and looked to be going under entirely. Thankfully, we can now report that they’re up and running again under new ownership, and we now have the Chardonnay ($12.99) and Cabernet Sauvignon ($16.99) stacked out on the floor.

We hope to get their signature wine, Petite Sirah, back soon!

What do you do with 9217 corks?

Check out this time-elapsed video to find out. Artist Scott Gunderson put it together for a Grand Rapids art prize last year. Thanks to the guys over at Gang of Pour for posting this.

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