Hot Sheets

2015 DOMAINE DES ACCOLES
COTEAUX D’ARDECHE ROUGE
‘LES RENDEZ-VOUS DES ACOLYTES’
$16.99 BTL./$203.88 CASE

Located about 40 minutes north and west of the city of Orange, not far from the Right Bank of the Rhone River lies Domaine des Accoles. Olivier Leriche spent 13 years as winemaker at famed Nuit-St-George Domaine de L’Arlot. In 2011 he amicably departed and along with his wife Florence, set about to acquire vineyards in this adventurous growing region. Safe to say that with his Burgundian spirit and looking for finesse and smoothness rather than sheer heft, this dynamic couple is now staking claim to another up and coming region of France.

100% Grenache, the Rendez-Vous Acolytes is from a terraced vineyard planted on clay and compacted calcareous soils. Definitely on the wild side of Grenache, this is an incredibly delicious, perfumed wine that leaps out of the glass of pure strawberry, Nyons olive, smoked meat and prominent peppery. In the mouth, it shows intensity but given its cooler situation, maintains harmony with ample vibrancy and spice on the chiming finish. Drink this wine over the next 3-4 years with grilled meats, especially game or spicy sausages.

2015 DOMAINE DES ACCOLES
‘LE CAB DES ACOLYTES’
$16.99 BTL./$203.88 CASE

100% Cabernet Sauvignon and quite surprising in its profile. Whole cluster fermentation (50%) is practiced here and not only is the Cab varietally strong, it is the Southern French garrigue and the proximity of the cool peaks of the Ardeche that most influence the wine.

Cassis, rosemary, dusty earth, pekoe along with hints of underbrush and tobacco, this is a Cabernet not meant to be compared with Bordeaux. Quite plucky and spirited, bursting fruit and fennel spice shine through in the mouth along with a backdrop of vanilla and cedar. Elevated and drawn out, this is a perfect choice with grilled beef, charcuterie, soft cheeses and dark chocolate, which includes perhaps a chicken doused with a mole sauce.

2014 CAMERON CHARDONNAY
DUNDEE HILLS RESERVE
[reg. $39.99]
SPECIAL - $26.99 BTL./$323.88 CASE

John Paul has always had this label and it has been a declassified barrel or two that were just sold to restaurants. For vintage 2014, he declassified 5 barrels that while were extremely excellent, were thought not good enough to make the cut to go into a $65 bottle of wine. As most of you know, John didn’t make any Abbey Ridge Chardonnay and the two top barrels have gone into this 140 case production. The other three are from Clos Electrique. Down to the last 20 cases, JP dropped the price to make them disappear...and at this price, disappear they will!

The magic of Cameron is absolutely present here and the leanness and sculpted nervosity of those Abbey Ridge barrels really shine through. The Clos portion brings forth depth and substance with both culminating in a finish that is coating and very lingering. This is brilliant juice that will drink early and certainly will age impeccably. While not a feature film, this certainly is a critically acclaimed HBO or Netflix series!

2013 AVIGNONESI
VINO NOBILE DI MONTEPULCIANO
$27.99 BTL./$335.88 CASE

The history of Avignonesi dates back to 1377, when Pope Gregory XI moved the papal residence back to Rome, some noble families of Avignon left France to follow him. It was at that time, in Italy, that one of those families became known as Avignonesi. Soon the Avignonesi family separated into three branches that settled in Rome, Siena and Montepulciano. This estate was very renowned up until the about 1990 but somewhere in the 90s and early 2000s, they became lost in the wilderness. In 2007, Virginie Saverys, a Belgian wine lover who retired from her legal career, invested in the estate as well as purchasing the entirety in 2009 and has restored the quality to its past glory and even loftier heights.

The 2013 is a classic Nobile di Montepulciano, a vintage seemingly with no hairs out of place. One whiff of the wonderfully pure scents of wild flowers, sage, black cherry, and savory earth will have you reminiscing about your last visit to Tuscany! The depth and concentration carry nicely into the mouth as it offers up succulent, ripe and flavorful tones with superb tight focus and grip as well as finishing dark, spicy and long. Drink now – 2024+.

2013 QUINTA DO CORREIO
DAO TINTO
$9.99 BTL./$119.88 CASE

From Portugal's famous Dao region comes this modestly priced red made from native grapes. 45% Jaen (known as Mencia in Spain) 35% Touriga Nacional, 10% Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo) and 10% Alfrocheiro.

Chock full of strawberry, mocha, and vibrant cinnamon/spice, this flavorful red wine comes across as a hypothetical blend of Rhone, Southern Italy and Spain but never loses its Portuguese roots; this tasty number is a great everyday drink with pizza, pastas, stews or burgers.

2015 CLOS STE-MAGDELAINE
CASSIS BLANC
$27.99 BTL./$335.88 CASE

The Cassis that we are referring to in this dry white wine entry is a stunning Provencal coastal town and not the liqueur that is found in Burgundy. Wine has been made in Cassis even before the Greeks arrived around 600 BC, although not much of it has the opportunity to be exported with all of tourism combined with the town’s catch of delicious seafood that requires this appropriately delicious homegrown wine. The dramatic white stones that run right into the azur-colored Mediterranean are not all that take your breath away in Cassis, the Clos Ste. Magdelaine Cassis Blanc is one of this small region’s most famed and delicious offerings.

40% Marsanne, 30% Ugni Blanc, 25% Clairette & 5% Bourboulenc and the absolute essence of Provencal white wine. Freshly cut blossoms, white peach, lemon, acacia, ginger and prominent marine scents follow through to a fleshy, mouthfilling texture, gaining mandarin-like acidity, honey and finishing with a salty, mineral tang that extends handsomely. An excellent choice with a seafood platter, swordfish with a tomato salsa or bouillabaisse.

2013 GUNDLACH-BUNDSCHU MERLOT
'SONOMA VALLEY'
$26.99 BTL./$323.88 CASE

Gundlach-Bundschu’s history and status for both Sonoma and California is very important when it comes to American wine. There is something about a bad movie and the M word that makes people not want to enjoy these wines. OK, so one line singlehandedly obliterated a category but it also weeded out many bad Merlots while others who made good versions were able to sustain the curse and bring forth wines that are better than ever.

84% Merlot, 8% Malbec, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon & 2% Petit Verdot, this is not the stereotype, wispy, fruity type that so many came to abhor. It is classy, complex and chock full of goodness. A voluptuous, robust and balanced expression of this noble variety showing a deep garnet color with a concentrated nose of black cherry, blackberry essence, smoke and freshly ground cinnamon from 40% new French oak. On the palate, it is full-bodied and velvety, with fine-grained tannins and an extremely long finish. Very open knit now, this Merlot will continue to develop and give drinking pleasure through 2023.

2016 CANTALUPO ROSE
COLLINE NOVARESE 'IL MIMO'
$17.99 BTL./$215.88 CASE

100% Nebbiolo Rose from the northern reaches of Piedmont in the village of Ghemme, Cantalupo is extremely well known for their fabulous red wines but each year we look to the arrival of this excellent pink wine that sells out so quickly, it virtually never makes our weekly offerings.

Aromatically expressive, illuminating and glowing from the glass, there is an abundance of strawberry, mineral and savory fennel notes. Detonating, elevated, super-succulent and inviting from start to finish. Don't be misled, this is very pleasurable, but also very complex. No doubt, that this will drink well into next year, it is very alluring now and can be served with grilled chicken, pork or halibut now, or in late November with the holiday turkey.

2013 CAMUS-BRUCHON
SAVIGNY-LES-BEAUNE
'GRANDS LIARDS'
$45.99 BTL./$551.88 CASE

Guillaume Camus is one of the rising stars in Burgundy's Côte de Beaune, making wine from vineyard holdings in Savigny-Les-Beaune, Pommard and Beaune. Guillaume is all about his vineyards, this young dude is reverential to his past believing that it is much more important to have great grapes that truly express the site’s terroir to make extraordinary wines. Karen, Michael and I visited him last year and he was extremely generous with a 3+ hour tasting which made us garner even more respect for these extremely underrated and undervalued Burgundy. In fact, he finished by opening 2009, 2006, 1999 and 1985 to show how well these wines age!

From two parcels planted in 1916 and 1922, this site, situated in one of Savigny's fine neighborhoods, located next to Serpentieres. The Grands Liards vineyard isn’t Premier Cru but it honestly should be and the fact that it isn’t holds the price down a bit. A thin layer of clay over prominent limestone rock shows off in this wine's deep and mysterious nature. The nose is compact with mineral, dried flowers, roasted coffee and loads of black cherry and plum fruit. On the palate of this vinous beauty, all of the berry notes coat the tongue and keep the ripeness of the vintage in perfect balance. The old vines along with the grip of 2013 shows in the structure of ripe & fine-grained tannins that offer the perfect framework for all of the alluring floral, dried porcini and bing cherry notes. This is a wine that can be had now if you were to decant it for about 90 minutes before serving but have patience and leave it alone until 2019 and enjoy it through 2030.

FRIDAY SIPS

Pre-Holiday Fireworks

FEATURED WINES:

2015 Domaine Des Accoles ‘Les Rendez-Vous des Acolytes’
2015 Domaine Des Accoles ‘Le Cab des Acolytes’
2016 Rose....Dealer’s Choice!!
Other tasty selections to be uncorked based on Bryan’s whims and eccentricities