Mother’s Day Rosé Garage Sale

Special Price on all rosé for Mother’s Day

Stop by the store this Saturday to taste a dozen rosé wines from France and Spain.

Our chunk of earth here in Southeastern Michigan has finally warmed up from an especially frozen winter. All the signs of impending summer are here: Tulips and daffodils are in full bloom. Robin Redbreasts gambol about the fields in search of grubs and earthworms to feed their fledglings. The trees are all painted an explosive green. Cases full of 2014 vintage rosé are stacked in the shop.

To take advantage of the warmer weather, we’re rolling up our “garage door” in the back and setting up the tasting table within eyesight of a Tabebuia tree in full, festive, yellow bloom.

We’ll be featuring a diverse selection of rosé at prices ranging from $9 to $25. The familiar, dry southern French rosé and it’s constituent blend of Mediterranean grape varieties will certainly be on hand with bottles of Saint André de Figuière (Côtes de Provence) and Commanderie de la Bargemone (Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence). The deeper color and red-fruit vibe of Luna (Cigales), our popular Spanish clarete, is a must-try. Domaine Renardat-Fâche (Bugey-Cerdon) is a fun, off-dry, low alcohol, Méthode Ancestrale effervescent wine from a tiny region at the crossroads of Jura, Savoie and Burgundy. And one of the top producers in France, Michel Chapoutier, will be represented by his Bila Haut (Pays d’Oc).

Nine out of ten mothers agree that rosé is a fine complement to honoring motherhood as well as most items on a springtime brunch menu. Bring your mom and let her pick out a few wines to drink on her special day and beyond. If you are a mom, you deserve wine year round, but come and taste with us anyway. If you just like rosé, you probably also have a mom, perhaps you can call her on Sunday and tell her you appreciate her.

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Posted on 2015.05.06 in France, Saturday Sips Wines, Spain DO, Languedoc-Roussillon, Loire, Cigales, Provence, Southern Rhone  |  Read more...

A Horizontal of 2009 Pinot Noir from Top Terroir in Côte de Beaune

Domaine Blain-Gagnard 2009
– Chassagne-Montrachet Red
– Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Red (from parcels in Clos St. Jean and Morgeot)
– Pommard – SOLD OUT

A few weeks ago we featured a mini-vertical of Volnay across the 2010-2012 vintages with the idea that there is no better way to probe the particulars of vintage than tasting wines from the same plots of earth, and the same producer, across different years. This time we’re looking at the wines of Domaine Blain-Gagnard from different plots during one particular vintage. This is a story of both the 2009 season and the terroir of Chassagne-Montrachet and Pommard.

Burgundy, specifically the Côte d’Or (golden slope), is a 31 mile long escarpment that runs south and west from the suburbs of Dijon. It’s characterized by faults, tilts, and combes, all of varying limestones and marls, for a region with more geological complexity and nuance than any other in the world. Thousands of growers over hundreds of years have tasted differences in their wines based on the parcels they came from. These differences were noted and eventually became the appellation system we know today.

The commune of Chassagne-Montrachet seems to lead a dual existence. It’s recognized for producing some of the best white wines in the world but it has a long history of creating substantial red wines that are quite often compared to the vibrant Nuits-Saint-Georges to the north. The degree of depth and concentration will be even more pronounced in the Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru. In contrast, Pommard at its best has a deep color, richness and power that can’t be confused with any other commune in the Côte d’Or.

One of the top producers in Chassagne, Domaine Blain-Gagnard is run by Jean-Marc Blain, his wife, Claudine Gagnard, and son, Marc-Anthonin. They own land in the most prestigious grand crus in Montrachet but almost half of their 20 acres of vineyards are planted with pinot noir vines. Jean-Marc employs the utmost care in the vineyards and cellars. He blends from young and old parcels to create wines with the fruit and energy of youth coupled with the richness and concentration of old vines. The use of new oak is minimal. His are wines of elegance with all of the subtleties of terroir.

By all accounts, 2009 was an exceptional year for pinot noir in Burgundy. There was hardly a cloud in the sky from the beginning of August to the end of harvest, yet temperatures were not excessive. It was an early and healthy crop, with little trace of the rot that perennially plagues the vineyards there. The broad characterization for 2009 in Burgundy is red wines with ample fruit and the spine to match. It is a vintage for wine drinkers and wine collectors alik

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Posted on 2015.04.29 in France, Saturday Sips Wines, Burgundy  |  Read more...

Rosé Season is Here

Clarete de Luna Rosé (Cigales 2014)
Price: $15.99/bottle – SOLD OUT

What better way to celebrate the arrival of warm weather than a cool glass of rosé?

The new vintage of one of our favorite pink wines is back in stock and might be drinking even better than last year. Clarete de Luna is almost a synthesis between rosé and a light red wine. It takes a chill beautifully, as a rosé should, but also offers more dense red fruit, most notably cherry, along with the notes of strawberry, raspberry, and watermelon.

Clarete is a style of rosé popular in northern Spain but difficult to find elsewhere in the world. It’s produced more like red wine in that the juice is allowed to ferment with the grape skins for a short period of time. And since many of the aroma and flavor components of wine are located in the skin of the grapes, Clarete is naturally deeper in color and bolder than a typical rosé.

DO Cigales is located in the harsh, dry climate of northern Spain, along the River Pisuerga, and a stone’s throw from Ribera del Duero (one of the most important regions for Spanish red wine). Historically, Cigales has been associated with the production of high-quality Clarete. Indeed, Bodegas César Príncipe made the ruby-colored Clarete for the bars of Valladolid for many years before they began producing their renowned and age-worthy prestige red, demonstrating the potential of Cigales to create red wines to rival its more well-known neighbor.

Today, César Príncipe’s son, Ignacio, pays heed to the traditions of Cigales with a small amount of Clarete de Luna. The principal grape variety in the blend is the black-skinned Tempranillo with a significant portion of the local white grapes, Verdejo and Albillo, for an energetic and juicy rosé.

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Posted on 2015.04.22 in Saturday Sips Wines, Spain DO, Cigales  |  Read more...

Precision Old-vine Spanish Garnacha

Domaines Lupier “El Terroir” (Navarra 2009)
Price: $49/bottle – SOLD OUT

Although Domaines Lupier is a relatively new winery they’ve been garnering international accolades from their first release. The wines are already considered some of the top varietal wines in the world and reveal an allegiance to the values of balance, measured reserve, natural process, and sense of place.

When husband and wife team Enrique Basarte and Elisa Úcar began searching Spain for old-vine Garnacha vineyards they realized what they were looking for was a mere 40 minutes from their home in Pamplona. They settled in to the small village of San Martin de Unx and identified 27 separate plots, with vines ranging from 68 years old to over 100 years old (the oldest vineyard planted in 1903). This is the northern region of Navarra, more specifically, the cool and mountainous sub-zone of Baja Montaña, where wines can show harmony of ripeness and freshness with all the precision of an oceanic climate.

These folks aren’t just lucky beginners. Enrique has over fifteen years experience in vineyards all over Spain and an academic background in agronomic engineering and oenology, while Elisa has more than 12 years experience in the wine sector. From the outset the two decided take the biodynamic approach to viticulture to improve and maintain the health of the vines using natural and sustainable practices. With the ultimate goal of expressing the terroir of Navarra through wines of superb balance.

That goal was undeniably achieved with the 2009 vintage of El Terroir. It is a deeply colored wine with a crystal clear purity of fruit rarely found in Garnacha-based wines. Aromatically complex with layers of floral, berry, and spice, a sip is anything but jammy and practically begs another in short measure. Spain’s most comprehensive wine guide, Guía Peñin, agrees. They awarded 2009 El Terroir 94 points.

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Posted on 2015.04.16 in Saturday Sips Wines, Spain DO, Navarra  |  Read more...

A Vertical of Pinot Noir from Top Terroir in Côte de Beaune

Domaine Bernard & Thierry Glantenay Volnay (2010, 2011, 2012)
Price: $69/bottle – SOLD OUT

What a difference a year makes.

Climate is key to all wine production but the cool, continental region of Burgundy stands apart for how profoundly weather influences the finished wine. Daily patterns of sun and precipitation, as well as extreme weather events, are captured in a bottle for a portrait of the entire growing season.

We’re releasing a limited amount of the most recent three vintages of Domaine Bernard and Thierry Glantenay’s Volnay. It’s from a mixture of several parcels that include two premier cru sites that are normally blended due to their small size. We’re thrilled to be able to offer them as a mini-vertical of two bottles each for a great price. There is no better way to probe the particulars of vintage than tasting wines from the same plots of earth, and the same top producer, across different years.

Before diving headfirst into winemaking at the age of 26, Thierry Glantenay trained as a chemical engineer. He took over winemaking responsibilities from his father, Bernard, in 2005. He quickly adopted Lutte Raisonnée(sustainable) viticulture on the small domaine of around 17 acres. Thierry’s analytical background has him constantly striving for perfection, yet everything is done with a gentle hand. The refined precision and elegance of Thierry’s wines have propelled him into the spotlight as a rising star in the Côte de Beaune.

It’s common belief that the red wines of the Côte de Beaune with the most finesse are grown in Volnay. Because of distinct soil similarites, it’s a village much like Chambolle-Musigny in the Côte de Nuits.

Burgundy Vintage Notes:

2012 – Due to challenges with weather and other natural influences, the 2012 vintage in Burgundy yielded only a fraction of a normal harvest. The good news is that thanks to poor flowering many of the grapes were small, so the ratio of skin to juice was usefully high, resulting in wines with excellent structure and depth. The majority of skilled burgundy producers have created 2012 vintage wines that are delightfully pure and unforced.

2011 – A warm spring and cool summer made for an early vintage. Lively red berry fruit, a clarity of site expression, and seductive aromatics are evident in the best grower’s wines. In general, these are wines more approachable for early-drinking than the previous few vintages.

2010 – A classic vintage in the Côte d’Or. A cool, dry September provided long hang times on the vines during which the berries ripened beautifully, while the acidity remained vibrantly fresh. The wines are built around this balance and show vivid fruit, supple tannins, energy, extract, and capped with fine aromas.

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Posted on 2015.04.08 in Saturday Sips Wines, Burgundy  |  Read more...

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