WINE TASTING ROOM-Completo's
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UPDATED OCTOBER 3, 2026
CHÂTEAU BRANE-CANTENAC 2021
MARGAUX $9/taste
The recent vintages of
Brane-Cantenac have been terrific!
This 2021 is drinkable immediately and remarkably showy with good Cabernet fruit
and some cedary, woodsy notes.
BEESLAR PINOTAGE
Stellenbosch South Africa $59.99/bottle $6/taste
Winemaker Abrie Beeslar
worked for a couple of decades at the famous Kanonkop estate and now he's got
his own
little cellar and makes a killer Pinotage.
This grape is the South African grape, a crossing of Pinot Noir and
Cinsault.
Very showy and well priced. It's a Must Taste!
BOARS' VIEW 2020 PINOT NOIR Sonoma
Coast SALE $39.99 $4/taste
This was supposed to sell for
$70/bottle but sluggish sales caused the winery to offer us a special price, so
we have it for
$39.99. Nice Pinot Noir at a sensible price!
CHATEAU MONTELENA 2022 Napa
CHARDONNAY $7/taste
50 Years after the
Judgment of Paris Tasting, Montelena still makes a pretty darned good
Chardonnay.
Green apple fruit and a touch of oak...a complete wine!
$100 at the winery...$69.99 at Weimax.
TRAMIN STOAN
White Wine Blend $4/taste
This is a customer
favorite here at Weimax.
It's a unique assembly featuring Chardonnay vinified in large wood, so it
doesn't pick up much oak.
Then there's a bit of citrusy Sauvignon Blanc and appley Pinot Bianco.
To put the finishing touch on the blend, winemaker Willi Stürz adds a drop of Gewürztraminer
(as they are in the town of Tramin, after all!).
Very fine.
TITUS
2022 Napa Valley CABERNET
SAUVIGNON $5.50/Taste
We've had a couple of vintages of this wine in two blind tastings of Cabernets and
Titus won both flights.
The 2022 is delicious...
Phil Titus and his brother have vineyards in and around St. Helena and they make
a nice range of wines. His day job is that as winemaker at the Chappellet
winery on
Pritchard Hill.
It's a really inky red wine, with youthful purple tones and plenty of dark
fruit.
There's a nice bit of oak here as it was matured in French and Hungarian
barrels.
Something like 60% of the barriques were brand new.
This goes for $68 at the winery.
We sale tag it at $54.99.
RICHARD PETERSON 2024 PINOT NOIR
$6/taste SALE $5.99
Dick Peterson worked with
the legendry Andre Tchelistcheff at Beaulieu Vineyards in the 1960s & early
1970s.
He's still involved in winemaking (95 years old!) and this is a delicious Santa
Lucia Highland Pinot Noir.
It includes wine made of the obscure Wrotham Clone of Pinot that he brought over
from England!
It's a stellar bottle and we've already enjoyed a couple of them (that tells you
something!)
Don't miss it.
WALTER MASSA 2023 TIMORASSO
"DERTHONA" $4.30/taste
Signor
Massa was the first to vinify the rare Timorasso grape a few decades ago.
These days numerous other winemakers have taken his lead, including a bunch of
top Barolo vintners!
The 2023 Massa Timorasso is a benchmark...some ripe peach and apricot notes with
a slight astringent texture.
Very fine.
DEAURATUS 2023 Dry Creek
ZINFANDEL $3.80/taste
Winemaker Eric Baugher
spent many vintages at the helm of winemaking at the prestigious Ridge Vineyard,
producing grand bottlings
of Monte Bello Cabernet and Geyserville Zinfandel.
He and another colleague from Ridge launched their own brand and we are not
surprised their wines are grand.
The vineyard, Tzabaco Rancho is a small, family property (the Schmidt family
since the mid to late 1800s!) that's organically farmed and done without
irrigation (dry farmed is the technical term).
It's magnificently berryish and displays the classic Dry Creek spice
character...bravo!
SMITH & SHETH 2023 "CRU"
CHARDONNAY $5/taste
This wine is a ringer for top
French white Burgundy...ripe peach & apple notes with some toasty elements.
Remarkably good.
Similarly styled Puligny-Montrachet wines are $120 to $200.
We suggested this to a customer as a "hostess gift" for a recent
dinner.
The "hostess," or in this case the host, drove 15 miles a day later to
acquire half a dozen bottles, not believing the price for this quality of wine.
Don't miss this.
GAMBA Russian River Valley
ZINFANDEL Sale $39.99 $4/taste
Sonoma County is a haven for
Zinfandel. This one comes from the Russian River Valley...old vines, too.
It displays a beautiful florality which distinguishes it from the spicy wines
from the Dry Creek Valley.
VELENOSI 2024 PECORINO
$19.99 $2/taste
From Italy's Marche region
we have this delightful dry white made of the Pecorino grape...No Oak...
We detect a note reminiscent of a pineapple spice tone.
Might good and well-priced.
LINDQUIST 2019 Santa Rita Hills
CHARDONNAY $5/taste
Lots of lovely toasty oak
to this old-school California Chardonnay from wine meister Bob Lindquist.
Creamy and dry.
LANGMEIL 2014 "THE FREEDOM"
SHIRAZ $15/taste
How about a taste of a
terrific Aussie Shiraz made from ancient vines?
The Langmeil winery has some very old vineyards, dating back to the mid-1800s!
$150/bottle
LOUIS JADOT POUILLY-FUISSÉ 1er
Cru $5.40/taste
Don't make the same
mistake we did and bypass this amazingly good French White Burgundy because it
comes from the large
Louis Jadot winery. I can't say I'd found much of interest in their
portfolio over the past so many years, but this past year, or so, we've been
surprised (shocked might be the better term) by a few of their wines.
Only in 2020 did there become classified vineyard sites in Pouilly-Fuissé and
this is head and shoulders above the plonk they make under
the regular label.
Large wood foudres are used for fermentation and aging, with 40% of the
cooperage being brand new.
This is not your father's Pouilly-Fuissé!
DELILLE Columbia Valley CHALEUR BLANC
$4/taste
The crew at DeLille Cellars
are fans of Bordeaux wines and they make some good bottles.
Exceptionally good, and well priced, is their Chaleur Blanc.
It's predominantly Sauvignon Blanc with a fair bit of Semillon.
DEAURATUS 2023 Paso Robles
CABERNET SAUVIGNON $4.70/taste
Have you enjoyed the wines from Ridge
Vineyards over the decade+?
Winemakers Eric Baugher and Shun Ishikubo worked at Ridge for many years and
produced some excellent
wines. Now they have their own, much smaller, artisan cellar and produce
small quantities of some rather showy
and well-priced wines.
This youthful Cabernet is beautifully balanced and surprisingly drinkable.
It's great to find a Paso Robles red that's elegant and sensibly priced.
QUIVIRA 2023 Dry Creek Valley
SAUVIGNON BLANC "Fig Tree" $3.00/Taste
Not many people know
Sonoma's Dry Creek Valley for much other than Zinfandel and maybe some other red
grapes.
But in the 1970s Dave Stare at the Dry Creek Vineyard made killer Sauvignon
Blanc wines (and Chenin Blanc, too).
Now you rarely see a Sauvignon Blanc with the Dry Creek appellation, but Quivira
makes a classic version.
(Now, they also make a Sonoma bottling...not the same and not as distinctive.)
Here are some distinctions: Mondavi I clone of Sauvignon with the Musqué
Clone.
Acacia barrels and neutral French oak...
Citrusy...tangerine or Cara Cara oranges???
GREYWACKE
2024 Marlborough SAUVIGNON BLANC $21.99 $2.20/taste
Winemaker Kevin Judd worked many years at the famous Cloudy Bay winery, helping
put New Zealand on the wine map.
Now he's on his own and making some brilliant Sauvignon Blanc wines.
Lots of grapefruit notes here...
.
THOMAS FOGARTY 2018 Cienega Valley RIESLING $2/taste
Some wine geeks know
Fogarty as a good producer of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but they likely have no
clue this
winery produces a kick-ass dry Riesling.
The vineyard is located in San Benito County's Cienega Valley...granite on top
of limestone.
The fruit struggles to ripen, often needing until late October or early November
to cross that finish line.
With some bottle aging, this has blossomed into a most handsome wine with the
classic
"petrol" fragrances of mature Riesling.
We poured this for a prominent Rheingau vintner who was shocked and even took a
few snapshots of the bottle.
More recently we shared a pour with a top Austrian vintner and he, too, was
astonished to find such a wine
from, of all places, California!
TXOMIN ETXANIZ 2024 TXAKOLINA $2.30/taste
Txakolina is made from a red grape
and a white...it comes from Basque country in Spain and it's a low alcohol,
bone dry, crisp, dry white wine.
We often bring a bottle to start a meal at the nearby Basque Cultural Center as
it sets up
a read wine quite handsomely.
MEYER FAMILY 2023 Elke Vineyard CHARDONNAY
$3.30/taste
From the cool Anderson
Valley in Mendocino County, the Meyer Family offers a terrific Burgundian-styled
Chardonnay. Some 25% of the blend was fermented in new French oak and it's
got a lovely toasty, mildly smoky character.
Low in alcohol as far as California wines goes, with crisp acidity.
Filtered but not clarified with fining agents.
TRAMIN GEWÜRZTRAMINER
$4/taste
We think this is a
benchmark for Gewürztraminer.
It comes from a special vineyard in the environs of Tramin and displays the
classic lychee, grapefruit and rose petal notes of the best wines from France's
Alsace which are made of the same grape.
This one is dry.
Some years ago I suggested this wine to a customer who was looking at our French
Gewurztraminer wines.
She looked at me sideways...how can Italy make Gewurztraminer?
She purchased a bottle and we did not hear back...until a year later.
"You sold me some Italian Gewurztraminer last year. If you have more
bottles, I'll drive down to Burlingame to buy several more. That was
surprisingly good!"
Yes, indeed.
ONE STONE 2023 PINOT NOIR ROSÉ
$1.60/Taste
From a winery in San Luis Obispo...they are not
far from Pismo Beach and a few minutes' drive from
Morro Bay.
It's made of Pinot Noir from vineyards cultivated with the idea of making a
Rosé.
Beautifully refreshing as it's dry and crisp, with snappy acidity.
And yet the flavors are very much those of Pinot Noir.
Oh...the price is refreshing, too!
STORRS Santa Cruz
Mountains CHARDONNAY $3/taste
The Storrs
family Chardonnay has been quite good for many vintages and this new one is
exceptional.
It reminds us of California Chardonnays from the 1980s and 1990s, tipping its
cap at French white Burgundies (but at a most attractive price).
Mildly creamy and displaying some beautifully toasty oak notes with the wood
being restrained.
SOALHEIRO ALVARINHO
$2.90/taste
The 2024 has been wildly popular...everyone who tastes this buys a bottle (or two)!
This is routinely one of our favorite, off-the-beaten-path dry white wines.
We brought a double magnum of the 2016 to dinner during the
San Francisco International Wine Competition and it was a hit with the
judges (from all over the world, too).
We brought this vintage recently to dinner with some friends at Dumpling Time in
San Francisco...thoroughly delicious!
And more recently we hosted the winemaker, Antonio Luis Cerdeira, at Dumpling
Time.
He was blown away by the food...and we brought some other wines to share,
including some allegedly premium Albariño from Spain...
...more costly and with nice stories but not justifying the $50-$75 prices.
We'll stick with Soalheiro.
Stony, nicely fruity with a hint of a spice note...
FORTIFIED & SWEET
WINES OPEN TODAY:
ZANTHO 2022 BEERENAUSLESE
$5/pour
Made of the aromatic
Scheurebe grape...beautifully honeyed and sweet...good acidity balances the
sugar.
Well priced...Austrian...delicious!
G.D. VAJRA BAROLO CHINATO
$8/pour
Barolo Chinato was
invented by a pharmacist from Piemonte and people viewed it as a cure of
sorts...
The Vaira family (yes they spell the family name differently from the winery
name) makes this with their
Albe Barolo as a base and then incorporates about 30 infusions to flavor the
wine...you'll certainly noticed the cinnamon and
clove spicing.
Delicious as an after dinner digestivo, but it pairs handsomely with chocolate,
too.
Totally wild.
ALVEAR SOLERA 1927 PX $4.50/taste
From a Solera started nearly a hundred years ago...dark brown and
beautifully balanced...quite sweet...
QUINTA DO VESUVIO
2001 Vintage PORTO $8.50/taste
A special
bottling of Vintage Porto from the Symington Family, owners of Graham's,
Dow's and Warre's amongst others.
KRACHER 2018
BEERENAUSLESE $7.00/taste
The late
Alois Kracher's kids run the winery these days and still make wines of superior
quality.
The winery is in Illmitz near a lake which helps create the "noble
rot" (botrytis cinerea) that can positively impact
grapes being used for making sweet wines.
Kracher was a winemaking "artiste."
GINI 2011 RECIOTO DI
SOAVE $6/taste
Made
entirely from old vine Garganega, they dry the fruit for several months before
pressing the juice from the raisined grapes, yielding a sublime
nectar. The fermentation takes place in small barrels and it's matured
there for maybe a year and a half.
This is typically very expensive...we tasted it when it was priced to sell for
$55/half bottle.
A month, or so, later, it was on an inventory reduction price list and it's
currently $29.99/375ml bottle.
DONNAFUGATA
"BEN RYÉ Sicilian Passito $10/taste
This
comes from the Sicilian island of Pantelleria
and it's made of sweet Zibibbo grapes...
The winemaking is a bit particular, as they continually
add just-picked fruit to the fermentation tank over the
course of several weeks.
It's a benchmark wine.
Half bottles are sale-priced at $49.99.
CHÂTEAU
HAUT-MAYNE 2018 SAUTERNES $4.40/taste
So many Sauternes
estates claim they are "close to Château d'Yquem."
Okay...yes, Suduiraut, Guiraud, Sigalas Rabaud, Bastor Lamontagne and Château
Haut-Mayne.
And the Haut-Mayne, brought to us by a good, honest, local importer, arrives at
a terrific price.
$21.99/375ml.
It's darned near entirely Sémillon, with just a small drop of Sauvignon Blanc.
It's matured solely in small oak barrels with 25% of the cooperage being new.
Nicely honeyed.
BARBEITO 5 Year Old BUAL MADEIRA $2.40/taste
Not exactly dry but not precisely sweet...a nice 5 year old Madeira from a prestigious,
traditional winery.
GRAHAM'S 2006 "MALVEDOS" VINTAGE PORTO $6.50/taste
The Malvedos bottlings from Graham's are routinely very good and this is
showing beautifully!
GRAHAM'S 10 Year TAWNY PORT $3.30/taste
Nicely nutty and sweet!
YALUMBA "ANTIQUE TAWNY" $4.60/taste
They no longer call this sort of wine "Port" out of respect for
vintners in
Portugal's Douro Valley. But the wine is easily as interesting and
delicious
as good Portuguese Porto Tawnies. $24/375ml bottle
ALSO:
CRUZ VIEJA OLOROSO SHERRY $3.80
A well-aged, beautifully nutty dry Sherry...
Wine Tasting Notes & Results 
