PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Many valley floor vineyards in Napa are swimming in mustard flowers at this
point in the year.
Mustard seeds were scattered in the vineyards as a means of fertilizing the
vines. Mustard is rich in nitrogen, so when the plants are cut and tilled
into the earth, the plants replace the nitrogen used by the grapevines.
And the seeds are then scattered back into the soil where they will sprout up
again next year.
Aside from contributing nitrogen to the vines, mustard helps deter the
population of nematodes, tiny, microscopic worms which damage the vines.
Some growers even have developed their own proprietary strain of mustard which
has higher levels of Glucosinolate which makes the mustard have an even more
pungent character which these little bugs find distasteful.
This means Vineyardists don't need to spray potentially harmful chemicals to
eradicate these pests.
We mentioned mustard to a winemaker in Italy who practices organic farming and
he said he'd tried it once but the wine he made that year seemed to have been
adversely impacted with an odd spice note. He makes a delicate white wine,
so perhaps the impact of the mustard would be more apparent than in a big red
wine.
This image we shot in Oakville and you can see the famous Opus One winery in the
background behind these old vines.
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We tell people that Champagne and Sparkling wine is not only for special
celebrations...
And our friends Gaby & Norbert know this well.
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A few new wines arrived this week.
From Spain's Ribera del Duero we finally have back in the shop the famous Aalto
red, a wine made by Mariano Garcia, who spent three decades as the winemaker at
the legendary Vega Sicilia winery. This is inky dark in color and
lavishly-oaked, so it's not for the faint of heart.
It's a bit high octane, too, so fasten your seatbelt when serving this at the
dinner table. $54.99.
Another old favorite is this Bandol from Château Pradeaux in Provence.
Mourvèdre is the grape with a small assist from some old vines' Grenache.
It's quite a classically-styled red, being matured for four years in large,
neutral wood before bottling. This has a fair bit of tannin, so it can be
easily cellared for 20-30 years.
Steak or lamb are ideal accompaniments and if you're going to serve this now,
giving it an hour or two in a decanter is ideal.
We're all in with this Holus Bolus Syrah from the Presqu'ile Vineyard in Santa
Barbara.
We have a nice range of good California (and Washington State) Syrah wines which
beautifully capture the spice and bacon-like notes we enjoy in top French Rhône
wines. The couple making this wine are clearly fans of those French
bottlings.
$39.99
The 2008 Vintage Brut from Pierre Moncuit (finally) arrived and it's a bone dry,
crisp, yeasty, toasty Champagne of top level.
$79.99.
If you are not familiar with the Tannat grape, but do enjoy a good
Cabernet, come pick up a bottle of Domaine Berthoumieu's "Madiran."
This is a special bottling from 50 year old Tannat vines and it's blended with
10% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Matured in new oak, there's a beautifully cedary, woodsy element here.
Its price tag of $21.99 makes it even more delicious!
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Ellen
had her picture on the front page of the New Year's weekend Daily Journal, a local
newspaper here in San Mateo County.
They did a story about holiday sales of wines and liquors, so we were mentioned
(and quoted) in that.
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The store is fully stocked...lots of good value bottlings and numerous
"fancy" wines, too.
Stop by and we can give you a little tour...Socially Distant, of course...Don't
forget a face mask!
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GIFT CARDS AVAILABLE...
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Had a nice mention in the Wall
Street Journal's 2016 story about wine store signage:
CLICK
HERE
The Most recent mention, September of 2017, is this one...Things Wine Shop
Owners Detest...
CLICK
HERE
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Australian Wine Writer Jim McMahon wrote
a nice article published on the web site of the New South Wales Teachers
Federation.
CLICK
HERE
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Did you see the article in the local newspaper, by the way?
CLICK
HERE.
It was printed
just before New Year's Eve...
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|
SOME
PEOPLE KNOW THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING AND THE VALUE OF NOTHING
We are
dinosaurs in the wine business. Weimax has been open since 1961
and Gerald has been in the business long enough to remember when young,
upstart wineries such as Caymus and Stag's Leap Wine Cellars opened
their doors and charged all of $3.75 a bottle for Napa Cabernet!
If you buy wine because it has a cute label or was given a 90-point
score by someone, we're probably not your wine outlet.
If you think you're really getting a deal buying a second bottle of some
over-priced plonk for a nickel, we're probably not your wine outlet.
If you're impressed by a huge selection featuring hundreds of
factory-made wines of mediocre quality, we're probably not your wine
outlet.
If you think you're really getting a deal at the grocery store with
inflated prices on their wine to give you a hefty percentage discount,
we're probably not your wine outlet.
On the other hand...
If you like wines made by the winemaker and not marketing department
geniuses, we have some interesting bottlings for you.
If you're looking for wines which "taste more expensive" than
they cost, we have many discoveries to share with you.
If you're interested in broadening your enological horizons, stop by and
have a chat!
If you're a fan of wines "made for adult" palates, please
visit us...
|
This site is a "work in progress." It is updated regularly.
We are wine lovers and write this for wine lovers.
We offer a large selection of wines for
tasting
Monday through Saturday in The Tasting Room. We also
organize formal, blind-tasting comparisons. There is a growing archive of
tasting results, so you might check that out while you're viewing this site.
Click
Here To Take A Peek of the Tasting Results
Those
of legal drinking age are welcome to peruse this site.
We
Taste Before Buying.
We do not purchase wines on the
basis of favorable reviews by various publications.
If you're looking for numerical scores of wines, you won't find them
here.
Unlike about 98% of Wine Shop sites, we write our own copy based on
personal opinion and first-palate tastings.
This is a
Parker-Free and Wine Spectator-Free Zone.
We hope this site will encourage you to
stop by our shop and peruse the incredible selection of wines in store.
We make every effort to assure the accuracy of availability and pricing, but as
we are only human....
SHIPPING
AVAILABLE
ALONG THE WEST COAST.
$9 for the Box (12 bottles) , $23 for UPS. $5
handling per box for gift orders.
No Shipments to Utah, Massachusetts or New Jersey, please.
Additional Fine Print:
Non-California residents are responsible for determining whether they may
lawfully import alcoholic beverages into their state. We make no representation
relative to your right to import wine or spirits into your state. Each state has
its own rules about alcoholic beverages. Better check before calling us with an
order.
We are not responsible for shipments damaged due to weather. Next day air
or 2nd Day Air shipments are routinely handled with more care, so you may wish
to request those services.
We are not responsible for the weather (like, duh!), so shipments to places with
extreme temperatures are a risk. We will not assume that risk.
WE
DELIVER LOCALLY...CHECK THIS PAGE FOR INFO
ON GIFT DELIVERIES
WHERE
WE ARE: <click here!> 1178 Broadway, Burlingame, California
NEWSLETTER
Check out the current newsletter.
STORE HOURS
Monday 9am-7pm
Tuesday-Saturday 9am-7:30pm
Sunday: Closed
|
Gift
Certificates Available!
We Gift Wrap, too.
Rantings
& Ravings
ODD
SIGHTINGS
TASTING
ROOM IS CLOSED UNTIL
GOVERNOR NEWSOM SAYS WE CAN RE-OPEN IT 
The 2015
CASTELLO DI VERDUNO BAROLO is not designated as a "cru" or
single vineyard wine, but we understand the grapes are from the Boscatto
vineyard in Verduno.
It gets about 3 weeks of skin contact to extract color and tannin.
The 2015 is one of the showiest vintages we've tasted of this bottling
and it's showing well presently and should develop additionally over the
next decade, or so.
$49.99/bottle
Small
Print: One free taste per household...one free taste of a
particular wine per person.
You must be 21+ years of age.
|
HEY! We were listed amongst Food & Wine Magazine's 125
"Favorites" in the October 2003 Issue.
Thanks, Food & Wine!
CLICK
HERE
- Electronic mail
-
For: General Information, Comments, Queries, etc.,
Contact the Chief Cook & Bottle Washer, Web-Mister & Wine Meister.
gerald@weimax.com
- WEIMAX WINES & SPIRITS
1178 Broadway
Burlingame CA 94010
-
We built this site
ourselves using Microsoft's Front Page.
We "upgraded" to a new Microsoft program called Expressions...big
mistake!
While FrontPage was intended for novices, the new program is
intended for "experts" and programmers. Most "experts"
we know
view Microsoft with derision, much like wine drinkers look down
their noses at Gallo.
Now we know why.
We have been informed that
Netscape's Navigator doesn't present this format quite exactly as it is
intended. Sorry about that. We have also noticed it appears
differently on our browser than it appears as we've built it! Go figure...
"UNCLE BOB" GORMAN
1937-2012
Bob was in reasonably good shape in his later years.
In 2012 he had a bout of Bells Palsy in late Spring...
In early November he had a "dizzy spell" but said the hospital tests
were all fine.
Two weeks later he apparently suffered a stroke or seizure and ended up in the
hospital.
A series of further setbacks ensued and Bob passed away on Thanksgiving Day of
2012.
He was a bon vivant, world traveler and gourmand.
He appreciated art and photography, was a mushroom hunter and good cook and genial
host.
Bob wrote a book on California wine in the 1970s, a series of nice essays on
various varietals, with commentary on various wines and various food affinities.
Bob was especially proud that his book had been panned by The Wine Spectator,
while garnering good reviews from Gourmet Magazine's wine guru, Gerald Asher.
Julia Child also had been a fan of Bob's book, apparently.
He is greatly missed by Weimax regulars and his colleagues behind the counter in
the shop.
******
Jon Bonne, of the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote a nice article on
"old" wine books.
The March 2014 article featured a photo of a bunch of Jon's favorites, topped by
Bob's tome.
Read
Jon's article by CLICKING HERE.
"Quality first" is our mantra.
