WINE TASTING ROOM-Completo's
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UPDATED AS OF August 10, 2019
CORDERO 2015 BAROLO MONFALLETTO
Sale Price $49.99 $5/taste
The
Cordero family has long been making good Barolo in the town of La Morra.
There's a cedar tree atop one of the vineyard sites and it's said to be the
precise
"center" of the Barolo appellation.
We met the late Paolo Cordero back in the early 1980s...he was, for us, a bit of
a celebrity.
His grandkids run the place these days and they still make elegant and beautiful
Barolo wines.
HEITZ 2012 "Trailside"
CABERNET SAUVIGNON $84.99 $8.50/taste
Heitz
owns a little vineyard that was formerly the property of Shown & Sons.
It's called Trailside and this site is situated in Rutherford...prime Cabernet
territory.
This 2012 is showing beautifully...lots of sweet spice notes from the aging in
oak barrels. It's got an exotic fragrance from the
wood treatment. Very fine!
PEWSEY VALE 2012
"CONTOURS" RIESLING $3.40/Taste
Pewsey
Vale's special Riesling called "Contours" is one of the most enjoyable
Rieslings in the shop.
It's typically released when it's had some time in the bottle to develop, so if
you like
those floral and petrol notes of nicely matured Riesling, don't miss this.
We paired two vintages with homemade Crab Cakes recently...we had a bit
of chili pepper spiciness in the crab mix and the wine was superb in this
context.
One of our guests, a prominent New Zealand winemaker, was absolutely
delighted to see this on our menu that evening, saying it's her all-time
favorite Riesling.
This is dry and crisp, too, by the way.
EBERLE 2017 Paso Robles ZINFANDEL
$2.80/taste
Gary
Eberle was a young whippersnapper when he started as winemaker for the Estrella
River winery ages ago.
Now he has his own vineyards and cellar, producing :old fashioned" wines,
not the high-octane, fruit bomb style
for which Paso Robles has become famous (or infamous).
This 2017 is a bit potent, but it's note a teeth-stainer with inky, black color
and overwhelmingly
high octane.
Old school, like Mr. Eberle.
ALTA MORA 2017 Etna Bianco
$3/Taste
Carricante
is the grape...and it can make a remarkably good bottle of wine in the right
hands.
Some of these are tight, lean and cellarworthy.
The Alta Mora is immediately showy...crisp, bone dry, mildly
stony/minerally...you can sense
its volcanic "terroir" right from the start.
No oak.
Doesn't need any.
SHAFER 2016 RED SHOULDER RANCH
Carneros CHARDONNAY $5/taste
The
Shafer family have been making a spiffy Carneros Chardonnay for decades.
The wine is vinified in both barrel and stainless steel...it doesn't undergo
a secondary, malolactic fermentation and retains an element reminiscent
of tropical fruits with some toasty notes from the wood.
Most people regard Shafer as a top red wine
specialist, but they do a
good job with this showy dry white.
MAYACAMAS 2014 Napa/Mount Veeder
MERLOT $6/Taste
High
up on Mount Veeder is where you'll find the Mayacamas Vineyards property.
They make old-time Napa wines. Ages ago they were the producer of big,
intense, bad ass wines.
These days the wines, by comparison to many, are quite elegant and refined,
though nothing
has really changed.
Well, the prices have changed and the Cabernet Sauvignon goes for well north of
$100 a bottle.
But you can have the same quality red with their well-priced Merlot.
It's nicely intense and concentrated...it's as full as many Napa Cabernets.
TREFETHEN 2016 Napa CABERNET
SAUVIGNON $4.50/taste
Trefethen's
vineyards are in the Oak Knoll district of Napa, a slightly cooler region.
This makes for a nicely elegant
rendition of Cabernet, beautifully balanced.
NAUTILUS ESTATE New Zealand SAUVIGNON BLANC $1.80/taste
The
Hill-Smith clan owns this terrific New Zealand estate.
They make a relatively low alcohol, crisp, tangy Sauvignon Blanc which
is really snappy and fresh...heck, it ought to be: it's fresh out of the
fermentation tank...this is a 2018 vintage!
This is a crisp, delicious cocktail white and it's dynamite
with seafood, dim sum and other Asian-styled dishes.
THE OJAI VINEYARD 2014 "Kick
On Ranch" PINOT NOIR $4.20/taste
Scoping out wines on a research mission in California's Central Coast, we found
a number of
exceptional wines at the Tolmach Family's Ojai Vineyard.
This 2014 Pinot Noir comes from the Kick On Ranch near Los Alamos...a most
difficult site
for grape growing as it's windy damned near every day.
This has deep red cherry fragrances and a touch of sweet oak...really top-notch
Pinot!
SOALHEIRO ALVARINHO
2.50/taste
The
2018 has just rolled in.
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!
Stony, nicely fruity with a hint of a spice note...
ROGER PERRIN 2016
CHATEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE $4/taste
One of our favorite Chateauneufs....the estate of Roger Perrin has lots of old
Grenache vineyards
as these form the base of this classic Southern Rhône red.
Their wine is elegant and not aimed at scoring points with critics who think
they can
encapsulate one's enjoyment of a wine with a numerical score.
This is not the same Perrin family that owns the famous Chateau de Beaucastel.
We like to say this estate is more like "No Castel."
GREYWACKE 2016 Marlborough PINOT
NOIR $4/taste
In
a recent blind-tasting of New Zealand Pinots, Kevin Judd's was my top pick.
It's beautifully intense with lovely dark cherry fruit and just a hint of sweet
oak.
Very showy and easily comparable to top Sonoma Pinots.
TRAMIN 2016 "STOAN" White
Wine Blend $3.60/taste
A delicious blend based on Chardonnay, but it's
the Sauvignon Blanc that
really sings here.
The wine sees some large wooden tanks and it's beautifully aromatic.
Don't miss it...everyone who has tasted this has given it a
"thumbs up."
FILIPPO GALLINO NEBBIOLO
LANGHE $1.30/taste
Old Filippo Gallino is still around and he monitors the work of his son, who's
now the winemaker
at this venerable cellar in Piemonte's Canale.
They make classically-styled wines (no new oak) and are highly-regarded by their
peers.
Thanks to an honest importer (and being friends of the family), we are able to
sale-tag this $20 Nebbiolo
for just $12.99 a bottle.
It's a remarkable value.
CASTELFEDER GEWÜRZTRAMINER
$2.00/Taste
It's
been said the Traminer grape may have originated in Italy's Alto Adige.
Heck, there's a town near Bolzano called "Tramin."
Castelfeder is a small, family estate and they seem to have
Gewürztraminer dialed in. We've usually touted the wine from Cantina
Termeno (Tramin)
as they make a top bottling from a single vineyard site.
This is less than half the price and of similar quality and
intensity.
Castelfeder's is beautifully aromatic and it's dry...
We are certain most winemakers in France's Alsace, where Gewürz is
a specialty, would be proud of this wine.
SUMMERS Napa Valley
CHARBONO $2.40/taste
We are big fans of this charming Napa Valley red made of the scarce Charbono
grape.
It's gentle like a Pinot Noir but fairly full-bodied.
Lots of blackberry and blueberry fruit.
There are maybe a dozen California wineries producing Charbono and Summers, for
us, is
the best and most sensibly-priced.
.
PETER DIPOLI 2015 SAUVIGNON BLANC
"VOGLAR" $2.80/taste
Peter Dipoli is a bit of a legend in his home region of Italy's Alto Adige.
He makes a Bordeaux blend and a Sauvignon Blanc called Voglar.
The wine is a bit intense and perhaps a tad rustic in today's squeaky clean
world
of winemaking. We're trying to say this is not for everyone,
but if you're on the same wavelength with the wine, you'll find it
to be quite satisfying.
Everyone in the Alto Adige knows Dipoli and they all speak
reverently about him and his wines.
We visited his cellar in March of 2018 and he shared some older bottles
with us...Voglar ages quite handsomely and each vintage is reflective
of the growing conditions of its birth year.
KIVELSTADT "FATHER'S
WATCH" RED BLEND $1.80/taste
This
small winery in Sonoma produces some remarkable Rhone-styled reds.
We're fans of their Father's Watch bottling, a blend of Syrah, Grenache,
Carignane and Mourvedre.
It's medium-full bodied and there's an intriguing spice note here.
And the price is quite consumer-friendly...sale tagged at just $17.99.
BINZ 2016 MORIO MUSKAT
$1.30/Taste
This is a small production
from our friends at the Binz winery in Germany.
It's intensely aromatic and fragrant, with a touch of sweetness but ample
acidity to balance.
You'll find this wine only at our little shop here in Burlingame (or at the
winery).
RAMEY 2016 Russian River Valley
CHARDONNAY 3.50/taste
One of our favorite California Chardonnays, this is a wine made with
an astute awareness of French White Burgundies, but with a
decidedly California accent. Very fine.
RETRO 2013 Napa PETITE SIRAH
$3.80/taste
You're likely familiar with the top-drawer Cabernets of Dunn
Vineyards in Napa...
Winemaker Mike Dunn has this "Retro" brand with his wife, Kara Pecota.
Petite Sirah is inky black and mildly tannic...a full-throttle Napa red.
HART'S DESIRE 2017 VIOGNIER $1.80/taste
John Hart has a good
vineyard source in Sonoma and
makes a wonderfully peachy
dry white which captures the essence of Viognier.
CIÙ CIÙ 2018
PECORINO $1.60
A fantastic
example of the Pecorino grape...certainly this will appeal to you if
you're enchanted by crisp, non-oaked Sauvignon Blancs.
This is yet another great, flavorful alternative to the "water"
that
many commercial cellars bottle as "Pinot Grigio."
DAULNY
2018
SANCERRE $2.20/taste
Crisp,
tangy, stony, minerally and bone dry...no oak.
Classic Sancerre at a rather modest price.
Ask Gerald to tell you
the story of how he
was instrumental in creating the blend of wines
which comprise this special bottling that's sold solely
in California.
VASSE FELIX
2016 Margaret River CHARDONNAY $4.20/taste
From the
Margaret River region in Western Australia...
They make three Chardonnays...this is the middle tier bottling and it's
dynamite.
Smoky, leesy and toasty...you have to taste it.
DEHLINGER 2014
Russian River CHARDONNAY $4/taste
Full-throttle
California Chardonnay by an old master...
Tom Dehlinger makes some stellar wines, but he's a graybeard now...no longer the
"new kid on the block," so his wines are sometimes overlooked.
But they remain amongst the best of California.
SWEET
WINES OPEN TODAY:
QUINTA DO NOVAL 2011 VINTAGE PORT $10/taste
The most recently-declared Vintage is offered today for
tasting...quite showy now and it
will repay cellaring handsomely.
CARMES DE RIEUSSEC 2014 SAUTERNES $3.50
A second wine from the famous Château Rieussec...delicious, mildly
honeyed...
CASTA DIVA MOSCATEL "Cosecha Miel" $5.50/taste
Hugely famous in Portugal and around Europe, they're a mystery to most
wine consumers in the US. Remarkable wine, though.
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.
SMITH WOODHOUSE 2003 LATE BOTTLED VINTAGE PORTO $3/taste
Savvy wine buyers know this brand from the Symington Family (Graham's, Warres,
Dow's)
for its killer LBV Port...If you have taste for hundred buck bottles of Vintage
Port and are
on a budget, check out this delicious Porto!
LA MAGENDIA Jurançon $3.60/taste
From master winemaker Jean Bernard Larrieu comes this stellar sweet wine
which is
balanced by laser-sharp acidity.
FLORIO 2003 "TARGA" MARSALA $4/taste
A special bottling of Vintage Marsala from the historic Florio winery in
Marsala.
EXCINDRE MUSCAT DE MIREVAL $2.20/taste
Terrific Muscat from the south of France.
DELAS MUSCAT DE
BEAUMES DE VENISE $2.60/taste
From the Rhône Valley in France...this is a simple, aromatic and
delicious Muscat.
ALSO:
CRUZ VIEJA OLOROSO SHERRY $3.80
A well-aged, beautifully nutty dry Sherry...
