PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Here's a nice photo from this past week at the Pojer & Sandri winery in Italy's Trentino region, north of Verona and south of Bolzano.

Someone operating a machine is lifting the exterior of a small wine press and the winemaking team is standing behind the pressed grape skins, the pomace in English or vinaccia in Italian.
The French call this Marc.

The red grape skins are fermented with the otherwise clear juice to impart color, fragrance, flavor and in the process the new wine picks up some astringency from the skins and seeds.  Some red wines spend just a few days in contact with the skins, while some wines, such as Barolo and Barbaresco (from Italy's Piemonte) might spend 30 to 60 days in contact with the skins.
At some point, either during or after that fermentation, the winemaker decides to separate the new wine from the mass of grape skins by pressing the wine away from that pulpy mass.



Some wineries will provide a local distiller with the press cake which is then processed into a brandy.  Italians make Grappa while the French produce Marc.

Pojer & Sandri have their own small distillery and produce magnificent spirits.  We have their Grappa of Pinot Noir in the shop.

Frequently, though, the press cake is transported back to the vineyard where it's used as compost.
It can improve drainage in the vineyard, we're told, and it increases nitrogen levels in the soil.  It's also said to be helpful in controlling the growth of weeds.


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We tasted lots of wine this past week with perhaps the biggest surprise being a remarkably complex dry white made of Italy's "humble" Trebbiano grape.
It's from a small, artisan estate in the Chianti Classico region and should arrive in the next month, or so.
$100 a bottle, which is a ridiculously high price for a bottle of Trebbiano.
But when you taste the wine you realize it's not the typical industrial plonk carrying the Trebbiano name.

A new vintage of an Alto Adige red wine caught our attention...It's made of the Lagrein grape and it has the charm of a good Pinot Noir.
$20...
See below...


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And we had a look at some optimistically-priced California Cabernets.
We did not find these single-vineyard bottlings to be enjoyable as they struck us as unbalanced with 15.5% alcohol and excessive 'heat' on the palate as a result.
The wines sell for upwards of $600 per bottle and, much to our dismay, garner praise from various wine critics (who should know better).
Keep in mind, though, many people writing about wine are influenced by factors other than the liquid in a wine glass.
For them, it seems, the high price of such bottles adds points to their numerical score.
"What will my readers think if I don't give a high score to an expensive wine?"
There are many instances of The Emperor's New Clothes, especially when it comes to dressy, high fashion wine bottles.

Some people equate price and quality, though.
This is a trap many consumers fall into.

A Napa vintner showed three Cabernet/Merlot blends.
The best wine of the bunch was the entry-level red, costing just less than $50 a bottle and it's a worthy wine.
We did not find the two $150 bottlings to be anywhere near as good, but these are highly-priced because "We only made several barrels of each."
We call this the "Scarcity Tax" and wineries often ask a high price for wine viewed as "Limited Production" bottles.
And the vicious cycle continues when wine writers give expensive bottles higher scores simply because those wines cost more.

Caveat emptor.

Find a good wine merchant.
(We'll gladly apply for the job!)


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Monday through Saturday until 5:45pm.
Lots of good wines to sample...we just opened Sergio Germano's 2016 Barolo from Italy's Piemonte.

Elena Walch's 2020 Lagrein from the Alto Adige is delicious...$19.99 for that.

We have a terrific dry Riesling from Germany's Von Winning winery in Deidesheim along with a Sonoma Coast Pinot from Anthill Farms.
There's a 2018 Merlot from Peju that's surprisingly good and specially priced.

"TASTES" are roughly a two-ounce pour and priced 10% the retail price of the bottle, so that Gewurz is $3.70/taste and the Cabernet goes for a mere five bucks.  The Barolo is $5.00 for a pour.
And there's a terrific, fruity German wine made of the Scheurebe grape...$2.20 for that.

CLICK HERE to see what wines are offered for tasting presently.


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We've routinely been tasting new wines...looking for good value and wines which over-perform for their price.

Stop by and we can give you a little "tour."

Elena Walch and her two daughters are making some remarkably good wines in the Alto Adige of Italy.
This Lagrein is gorgeous and has the charm of a good Pinot Noir.
$19.99.  It's open for tasting, too, by the way.  $2/pour.

We had a fresh look at some wines from the Movia winery in Slovenia...well, some of their vineyards are actually in Italy's Friuli region.
They give the juice a bit of skin contact and the wine is considered to be an "orange wine" and the color is a bit brassy.
The aromas of the 2018 are fantastically complex and bright, with a floral element we might identify blind as some sort of Malvasia.
They leave the wine in French oak barrels for well more than a year with no sulphur addition, seeking to clarify the wine solely with time and gravity.  It is dry and seems to have a touch of tannin from its skin contact.
We have this available in the Tasting Room, though it's not posted on the list of wines presently, but you can ask for it.
$32.99.

Here's an absolutely delicious Spanish white.  2020 Vintage.
Verdejo from the Rueda region.
Brilliantly citrusy, dry and crisp...
And it's a mere $13.99!

We tasted a marvelous red Burgundy...old vines growing in the Mercurey appellation.
Dark cherries and a nice touch of wood.
$37.

We asked the winery rep from Peju if they hired a new winemaker as this 2018 Merlot does not resemble wines we've tasted from Peju over the past decade.  He laughed and explained the second generation of the Peju family is running the place and "dad" is retired.
The resulting wines are pretty darned good and this Merlot is a standout.
$60 at the winery.  We have it for far less.  Stop by and see.
It's also available in the Tasting Room for $3.50/pour.

There's a stellar dry Riesling from Von Winning in Germany's Rheinpfalz region.
2017. Dry. $34.99.
Just hitting its peak with a touch of the complexity which reminds some tasters a bit of petrol.
There's also an Extra Brut Sparkler from these guys.  $29.99 for that.
Had a bottle of the bubbly the other night with Dim Sum!  Exceptionally good.

The box had the letters "DT" on the end which we thought meant "Damned Tasty."
Instead it signifies the name of the winemaker, David Trousselle.
This is a remarkably good, well-priced white Burgundy.
$25.99.

Our monthly tasting group this past week surveyed 2017 and 2018 Chianti Classico wines.  
The first place wine was $45 and blended with Cabernet Sauvignon (we ranked it 6th out of 8, but these guys love Napa Cabernet and Bordeaux, so it is understandable they preferred that particular wine).
Finishing a mere one point behind the top wine was this 2018 Paneretta.  It is 85% Sangiovese and the rest is Canaiolo and Colorino, typical Tuscan varieties.
We brought some in as we're sale-tagging it for $19.99 and it's a good introduction to Tuscan Sangiovese.

If you missed the Croatian wine from the Toreta winery last year, we just received our second shipment of this year's terrific dry white made on the island of Korcula of the Posip grape.
Last year we had the entry level bottling but this vintage, 2020, we were more impressed by the fancier bottling (20% of the wine is matured in neutral cooperage for a few months to give it a shade more body.
The sales rep told us they have plenty to last well throughout the year and two weeks after getting our first order we asked for more and were told they are almost sold out!
$21.99.

The 2020 Bandol Rosé from Le Galantin just landed this week!
It's a lovely dry Provencal pink wine...Mostly Mourvèdre with Cinsault and Grenache.
$21.99

The most thrilling wine we tasted this past week was from Antonella Corda, a terrific vintner in Italy's Sardegna region.
It's made of the somewhat obscure Nuragus grape, a variety that's overshadowed to some degree by Vermentino.
But the 2020 vintage from Corda is a stellar, snappy dry white wine, showing some notes of citrus and lime with a stony, minerally note reminiscent of Chablis or Sancerre.
We noticed one web site offers this for $45 a bottle while another is more reasonably priced at $28.
Our price is a mere $19.99.
Don't miss it!

We were pleasantly surprised by the drinkability and charm of the Tre Monti Sangiovese called Campo di Mezzo.
It's from Emilia-Romagna, just a short drive southeast of Bologna.  No oak.  No Cabernet.  No Merlot.
Just pure, unadulterated Sangiovese.
Sale price is $14.99.



Two weeks ago we splurged on a bottle of the 2007 Terlan Pinot Bianco.  They call it "Rarity," as the wine is matured on the spent yeast for about ten years in stainless steel after its year, or so, in large wooden vats.  The wine retails for close to $200 a bottle and it was very good.
A few days later we opened a few bottles of Italian whites, including this "Terlaner" from the Terlan winery.  It's predominantly Pinot Bianco with a bit of Chardonnay and a drop of Sauvignon Blanc.  It was the best white of that tasting.  The apple and pear fruit of the Pinot Bianco takes center stage...no oak coming through here.
Damned good and it stood up to our Artichoke Risotto, too.
$26.99
OPEN FOR TASTING PRESENTLY

Ercole Barbera comes from Italy's Piemonte region.
It's an economical bottling intended for "by the glass" service in a restaurant where they can charge customers $8-$10 a pour.  It's in a liter sized bottle...just $15.99!  Smooth, medium bodied and easy to drink.
People who've purchased their first bottle are now returning for an encore.

The 2019 Saddleback Zinfandel is a delicious, gentle red from old vineyards in Napa.
And Saddleback has an old winemaker, too: our friend Nils Venge!
$48 at the winery...Sale priced at $39.99.
Berries and spice and everything nice.
OPEN FOR TASTING PRESENTLY

That Cabernet we mentioned winning (by a wide margin) a recent blind-tasting arrived.

It's the 2018 Titus Napa Cabernet.  The winery price is $62, while our sale-price is $49.99.
It's a big, dark, purple-colored wine with black fruits, cassis, berries and some sweet oak notes.
One customer who purchased a bottle on our recommendation last week, called the following day and asked for a case!
Yes, it's that good.
OPEN FOR TASTING PRESENTLY

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A Weimax shopper and parent of a Roosevelt Elementary School student sent us a screenshot of an online
"Teddy Talk" where a student was explaining the importance of supporting community businesses and "shopping local."

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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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This car is "corked"!!!

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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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Wine Tasting Today

TO INQUIRE ABOUT A WINE:  gerald@weimax.com

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