LIMITED TREATS

Aromas of blackberries, cherries, violets and bark with mahogany. It’s full-bodied and chewy with intense tannins that are layered and focused. The fruit is pure and purposeful, yet not over done. Wonderful strength and purity to this. Class is the word. Try it after 2024
97+ points Wine Advocate
This is one of my sweetheart wines from Montalcino. The Casanova di Neri 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova offers a long list of aromas on an ever-shifting and fluid bouquet. You get bright cherry, rose potpourri, black truffle, caramel, butterscotch, sandalwood, road pavement and chalky mineral. In fact, each time I come back to this wine, that mineral element seemed to grow in intensity and scope. The wine offers a grounded fruit side that is contrasted nicely against a grounded oak component. The mouthfeel is creamy and long, and the wine shows terrific tannic integration. When you come back hours later, you might find black olive, bresaola and licorice.
96 points Vinous
The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova drawing you in with a display of exotic brown spice, mint and cedar dust. Further coaxing unlocks depths of cherry, plum, hints of dark chocolate and roses. It coasts along a medium-bodied frame with velvety richness, complemented by polished red and black fruits while contrasted by brisk acids and hints of sour citrus. This coats the teeth in concentration, as if you can feel the pulp, seeds and skins of its fruit, while a layer of fine tannin slowly grounds you back to earth. The Tenuta Nuova already has so much to give, yet it will be many years before it reaches its apex. Wow. Thinking back to my tasting of the 2015, I can’t say that the 2016 is necessarily a better wine, just a little less immediate. Either way, both wines are beautiful expressions of vintage.

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2016 Casanova di Neri White Label Brunello di Montalcino
$74.98 –  Limited
94 points Wine Advocate
The Casanova di Neri 2016 Brunello di Montalcino (or the so-called “white label” Brunello) takes a minute or two to open, and like all these new releases from the Neri family, you’re best off opening your bottle five hours before serving them. This classic expression displays raspberry, tar, hazelnut, dried fig, asphalt and some crushed chalk. The wine is streamlined and compact in terms of mouthfeel, giving us an accessible Brunello from a benchmark Montalcino estate.
94 points Vinous
Casanova di Neri’s 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is a wine of pleasurable contrasts but also massive structure. Ripe dark fruits and autumnal spices offset savory herbs and hints of animal musk. It enters the mouth silky, cooling and lifted, with a noticeable inner sweetness to its polished cherry/berry flavors, but it then sways more toward inner earth, minerals and grippy tannins. The 2016 urges you to take another sip, as there’s so much upfront appeal; yet each time you do, it reminds you once again that it’s a painfully young Brunello in need of cellaring. That said, the potential here is incredibly high.

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2019 Envinate Tenerife Taganan Tinto
$39.97  
This cuvee is made from many different red grape varieties native to the Canary Islands, some of them unidentified, but include Listan Negro, Listan Gaucho, Malvasia Negro.  The parcels are very old and planted in between 75-300 meters elevation right on the Atlantic Ocean and are farmed by 15 different families and Envínate.  The viticulture in the Taganan area of Tenerife is very old-fashioned: the vines grow untrained, the soil is worked by hand, and no chemicals are used.  The wine is wild yeast fermented with 30% whole grape clusters in open plastic tubs and concrete tanks; Raised in small tanks and used 225 and 500 liter barrels for around 8 months.  This is a fresh and aromatic vino tinto with notes of spice, smoky minerals, and dark fruits

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2019 Alberto Nanclares A Senda Vermella
$31.99
A blend of Caino and Mencia , this red from organically farmed plots in Rias Baixas, near the village of Cambados, Vilanova, and Barro. comes from one of the great Albarino producers and shows that a delicious red wine can come from this white wine dominated region. 

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2018 Clos Mogador Priorat

$99.98 – Very Limited

98 points Wine Advocate

The flagship 2018 Clos Mogador is a blend of 45% Garnacha, 29% Cariñena, 16% Syrah and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon that fermented with natural yeasts and showcases their philosophy—slow fermentations with long maceration and long aging. It matured for 18 months in 2,000-liter oak vats and 30% in 300-liter oak barrels. There was a lot of rain in 2018, and the vineyards were extremely happy and everything seemed very easy; in fact, René Barbier told me it was perhaps too easy… It’s an atypical year: It has a gentle profile, and the wines are not as concentrated as those from 2013 (the last rainy year before 2018)—they are more elegant and nuanced. This should develop beautifully in bottle.

 

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2017 Eyrie Vineyards Estate Pinot Noir Willamette Valley
$34.99
95 points Wine Enthusiast
This single-vineyard cuvée features some of the original vines from the 1965 planting at Eyrie. It’s as Burgundian in style as it gets in Oregon, without losing its sense of prime place in the Dundee Hills. Subtle, elegant and detailed, it’s layered with cherries, strawberries and hints of nectarines. There’s an appealing creamy character, and a whiff of sweet tobacco. It’s perfectly balanced and should age beautifully. Drink now through the mid 2030s. Cellar Selection.
92 points Wine Advocate
Pale ruby, the 2017 Pinot Noir Estate is classically styled, with scents of red and black berry fruit and accents of forest floor, tobacco and aniseed. The light-bodied palate is juicy and soft, with intense, earth-laced fruits and a long, spicy finish.

94 points James Suckling
A blend of all five Eyrie sites, this gives a gauge on the 2017 harvest here, as one that delivered fresh and complex style. Red-cherry, raspberry, blueberry and leafy aromas with gently earthy and spicy tones in equal measure. The palate has a very smooth core of fleshy red-cherry flavors and carries a velvety tannin texture long and fresh. Seriously complex pinot. Drink or hold.

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2017 Mauro Veglio Langhe DOC Nebbiolo Angelo
Sale $14.97    Regularly $20
YES! Under $15 for a premium Barolo producers entry level Nebbiolo

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2019 Domaine Ott Clos Mireille Cotes de Provence Rosé  
$49.98 
93 points Vinous
Translucent orange-pink. Highly perfumed strawberry, nectarine, grapefruit zest and succulent floral qualities on the nose. Vibrant and precise on the palate, offering sappy citrus pith, red berry, pit fruit and honeysuckle flavors that pick up a mineral nuance with air. The floral and mineral notes repeat emphatically on a wonderfully persistent finish that shows fine definition and powerful, nervy cut.

2018 Wayfarer Wayfarer Vineyard Chardonnay Fort Ross/Seaview 
$79.97 – Very Limited

98+ points Wine Advocate
 The 2018 Chardonnay Wayfarer Vineyard opens with explosive perfume! Gunflint, spring honey, white flowers and salted almonds mingle over rich quince paste and warm apple fruit. The palate is equally as compelling, its powerful, rich layers of flavor packed into an ultra silky frame, offering bright pops of juiciness and a finish that goes on forever. Wow! It’s stunning now but may improve with more time in bottle.
94 points Wine Spectator
Big and rich, with hints of toasted coconut to the ripe apple, pear and melon flavors that glide across the palate, accented by smoky richness. The unctuous finish lingers, revealing notes of lemon drop and buttered toast
96 points Vinous
The 2018 Wayfarer Vineyard is a fitting conclusion to this tasting of 2018s. Rich and viscous in the glass, with terrific energy, the 2018 is wonderfully complete, not to mention incredibly delicious. Lemon confit, white pepper, mint, jasmine and light tropical notes develop in the glass, but it is the wine’s textural feel that really stands out. The 2018 is a drop-dead gorgeous beauty. The Wayfarer Vineyard spent 16 months in oak, about 70% new.

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2016 Bibbiano Chianti Classico Riserva
$24.98 –  Limited
95 points Wine Spectator
A beam of intense cherry shines through this densely structured red, keeping it defined and energetic. Iron, earth and tobacco flavors add depth as this stays long, with mouthcoating tannins on the finish. Best from 2023 through 2045.

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2019 ROAR Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands 
$42.99 – Limited

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2019 Domaine Zafeirakis Microcosmos Malagousia Tyrnavos
$16.99
This Malagousia is grown in very flinty soils in Tyrnavos, on the Greek mainland at the base of Mt. Olympus. Meyer lemon, honeysuckle and salinity that gives way to bracing acidity, make this wine an example of great wine from Greece.  

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2016 Ciacci Piccolomini Brunello di Montalcino Pianrosso 
Sale $89.97 – Very Limited98 points James Suckling
 Lots going on here with black plums, ripe cherries, cedar, smoke and cocoa on the nose. Ash, chocolate, crushed walnuts and some praline. Mushrooms. This has firm, ripe tannins and a full body. Flavorful and juicy finish. Very structured. 
98 points Wine Advocate
 The 2016 Pianrosso is a single-vyd expression that draws its fruit from an 11.7-hectare parcel with moderately thick galestro soils with ancient marine material. This special site, awash under the brilliant light of a big, open sky, does indeed deliver a more pronounced mineral signature, with wild berry, rose and rosemary essence. This is a beautiful wine, taut and silky, with elegant tannins that will endure ambitious bottle aging.
98 points Wine Enthusiast
 Aromas of red berry, camphor and tobacco meld with rose in this fragrant, full-bodied red. The smooth palate is concentrated yet elegant, featuring raspberry jam, cherry marinated in spirits, licorice and coffee bean alongside a backbone of firm, velvety tannins.
94 points Vinous
 Dark, rich and deeply alluring, the 2016 Pianrosso boasts a display of ripe black fruits encased in an air of crushed stone, sage and exotic spice. While velvety and almost creamy in texture, it finds harmony through juicy acids and a mix of ripe black cherry and plums. Hints of licorice and baker’s chocolate balance the Pianrosso’s salty minerality and fine-grained tannins through the long and dramatic finale. There’s beautiful symmetry here for a wine with such power. Place this in the cellar for ten years or more; but don’t make the mistake of not checking in from time to time, because I expect the 2016 to enjoy a long and open drinking window.

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2016 Ciacci Piccolomini Brunello di Montalcino
$59.97 – Very Limited97 points Wine Enthusiast
 Red-berry, wild-rose, crushed mint and dark-spice aromas are front & center on this fragrant red. The full-bodied palate is concentrated but also boasts finesse, offering layers of raspberry jam, smooth licorice and tobacco alongside a backbone of enveloping, velvety tannins. You’ll also detect the warmth of alcohol but the succulent fruit stands up to it.
95 points James Suckling
 Lots of red and blue fruit to this, evolving into wet leaves, freshly turned soil and brewed tea. Light herbal notes. Sweet cherries, too. It’s full bodied w/ silky, firm tannins. More minerality and tea notes on the finish. Elegant & driven. 
95+ points Wine Advocate
 The 2016 Brunello shows bold cherry, spice, crushed stone and balsam herb that come together in seamless fashion. This estate has honed a unique style that becomes a common theme traced to each new vintage. I’d describe it as delicate but also succulent with a rich and almost pulpy quality of fruit. The wine is fueled by the golden light that hits this part of Tuscany in those last hours of the day. Here is a wine that shows spirit of place.

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2016 Uccelliera Brunello di Montalcino
$89.98 – Very Limited

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2020 Jolie-Laide Pinot Gris Glen Oaks Vineyard Sonoma County
$27.99 – Very LimitedHailing from the Historic old vineyard Glen Oaks Ranch which is now part of the Sonoma Land Trust. With its deep rocky alluvial soils, this is home to mostly old vine Cabernet, but Pinot Gris was chosen almost as a sort of frost protection, as it can handle the cold bottom swath of the rolling hillside. The Pinot Gris thrives here in its mini micro-climate, sitting near a meandering brook in its gravelly, clay loam soils. 
Picked early to preserve acidity and crushed by foot for a 2-day whole cluster cold soak which adds phenolic texture while lending a beautiful rosé Champagne-like color. All wild ferment in a combination of stainless and neutral oak then aged all in neutral barrique.
Wildly perfumed of charentias melon, stone fruit, bergamot and kaffir lime leaf.

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2020 Jolie-Laide Gamay Noir Barsotti Vineyard El Dorado
$31.99 – Very LimitedGrown at high elevation in the beautiful red granitic soils of the Sierra Foothills. Picked in two separate passes, one early and one a bit later makes for a wine a bit riper and fleshed out than in years passed.
The clusters are left whole and started by carbonic maceration, which lends its distinctive high tone appeal, then eventually crushed by foot and finished whole-cluster for skin contact and extraction. Pressed to neutral barrique for a short 6-month elevage and bottled young to preserve delicate aromatics.
Light, fresh, and utterly charming. Wild strawberry and summer herbs with cranberry tartness.

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2018 PEAY Vineyards Pinot Noir Scallop Shelf Sonoma Coast
$61.99
95 Points Wine Advocate
The 2018 Estate Pinot Noir Scallop Shelf is gorgeous! The nose offers intoxicating scents of ripe cranberries, rhubarb and tangerine peel with accents of floral potpourri, dusty earth, exotic spices and rose petals. The medium-bodied palate is very finely grained, super fresh and bursting with spicy fruits, finishing very long and layered.

$39.99
97 Points Wine Advocate
The 2018 Chardonnay McCrea Vineyard is exceptionally expressive and elegant this vintage. Opening with savory notes of prosciutto and mushroom, it fleshes out to ripe white peaches with accents of elderflower, citrus pith and hazelnut. It’s medium-bodied with a satin-like texture and expressive flavor layers, powerful but featherweight, cut through with tangy acidity and mineral notions and finishing incredibly long and ethereal. This is the best McCrea Chardonnay from Kistler I’ve ever tasted.

2018 Clos Cibonne Cuvee Speciale des Vignettes Tibouren Rosé Cotes de Provence
MAGNUM ONLY
$64.98(1.5L)