Italy’s Noble White Grape?

2009 Andrea Felici Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Riserva Il Cantico della Figura
$25/bottle  SOLD OUT

Marche is a breezy landscape of gentle, rolling hills in northern-central Italy between the Adriatic Sea on the east coast and the Apennine Mountains that run through the center of the country. This is Verdicchio territory, where soil and climate create the ideal conditions for raising this legendary grape variety. Verdicchio’s history can be traced as far back as the 4^th Century when Alaric, king of the Visigoths, encouraged his troops with the wine as they crossed the Apennines to sack Rome.

Today, the region is being recognized for producing some of the longest-lived dry whites found in Italy from the Verdicchio grape. In his book ‘Native Wine Grapes of Italy’, Ian D’Agata asserts that “Verdicchio is arguably Italy’s greatest native white grape variety.” And the esteemed publictaion, Gambero Rosso, awarded its highest rating of tre bicchieri to 11 examples of Verdicchio, more than any other white in the country, in it’s 2015 Italian Wine Guide. Much of the credit is due to passionate winemakers like Leo Felici.

Leo Felici is not only a dashing, young Marchigiani, he’s also a Verdicchio perfectionist. Soon after taking over his family’s tiny 18 acre estate in Apiro, the highest of the villages surrounding the town of Jesi, he immediately began transitioning to organic farming to help create the purest wines possible. His wines are rooted in tradition but imbued with a modern sensitivity. Take one sip of his 2009 Riserva and you’ll see what all the fuss is about. Felici’s wines have the tension between fruit and minerality found in the world’s great whites.

The structure of the wines is provided by the combination of altitude and vine age. The cuvée Il Cantico Figura comes from a single vineyard, San Francesco, at 1200 feet in elevation. It has an ideal south-east exposure. 50 years old vines grow from clay-calcerous rich soils that help trap moisture in this arid landscape and also create wines with lively acidity. Grapes are all hand-harvested and the fermentation process is begun with careful attention to delaying oxidation. The wine is then aged on the lees for 12 months to help build body.

The end result is a wine of outstanding varietal purity, full of white fruits, hints of brine and almonds, and an epic length reminiscent of lime peels. Felici estimates 20 years for maximum drinking pleasure so the 2009s are in their drinking prime.

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Posted on 2015.01.29 in Marche, Italy  |  Read more...

Six Top-Selling Wines of 2014

Stop by this Saturday to sample some of our hottest wines from 2014. We were able to acquire a few more cases of each for the occasion and we’re offering them at the discounted price.

2014 was a big year for Elie Wine Company. After a twenty year run we said goodbye to our downtown Royal Oak storefront and embraced our new, grander, and more organized Birmingham location. We love the new neighborhood and the new neighborhood loves us too. It was a positive move for many reasons, not the least of which is parking. Not only can you access our parking lot from 14 Mile Road and Woodward, we actually have a parking lot. Our longtime Royal Oak customers will recall us loading cases of wine into their cars half-parked on the sidewalk while Main Street traffic whizzed by.

Last year also marks our serious commitment into sourcing Italian wines. We’re applying the same diligence to selecting Italian wines that we do with French and Spanish so we haven’t brought in many yet, but, as Plato once proclaimed, “The beginning is the most important part of the work,” and, as Randy Bachman once stuttered into a microphone, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

We have some great wines coming in the next few weeks, French, Spanish, and Italian. But please join us this Saturday to remember some of our most popular wines of 2014.

2011 Ona DOQ Priorat (Spain)
Price: $22/bottle – SOLD OUT
By far, our top selling wine by volume. It always outperforms its price.
Top Spanish Terroir

2013 Fattoria Moretto “Monovitigno” DOP Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro Secco (Italy)
Price: $31/bottle – SOLD OUT
Dry, slightly fizzy, and practically sings out for a charcuterie plate or a Supino pizza.
Moretto Lambrusco

2010 Ca n’Estruc L’Equilibrista DO Catalunya (Spain)
Price: $35/bottle – SOLD OUT
Small production, highly aromatic, and exceptionally drinkable classic Mediterranean blend.
A Catalunya Balancing Act

2011 David Moreau Santenay 1er Cru Clos Rousseau (France)
Price: $59/bottle
Young winemaker on the rise. Exudes dark cherry aromatics before a sip brings a full-bodied and energetic texture.
David Moreau’s Santenay Premier Cru

2010 Le Petit Haut Lafitte Pessac-Léognan (France)
Price: $59/bottle – SOLD OUT
Big, concentrated, “second-label” Bordeaux wine from the renowned Château Smith Haut Lafitte.
Bordeaux – Graves and The Left Bank

2001 Alessandro and Gian Natale Fantino Dardi Bussia Barolo (Italy)
Special Price: $55/bottle SOLD OUT
From a scant 20 acres on a hillside with perfect southeastern exposure in the heart of the historic Bussia cru. Excellent concentration, lively acidity, and nicely integrated tannins.
From the Cellar: Affordable Aged Barolo

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Posted on 2015.01.28 in Saturday Sips Wines  |  Read more...

Southern Rhône Round Two

We had such a fantastic turnout for last Saturday’s tasting that we decided to hold another Southern Rhône tasting this coming Saturday. We’ll be pouring a handful of hearty, sun-drenched wines, both red and white. We’ll be offering a wide selection, from country wines for $10, up to the region’s most famous appellation, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, for around $35.

Even if you stopped in for the last tasting there will be something new to try. We’ll have no less than a dozen Southern Rhône wines available at 10% to 25% off the regular price.

Wines like the 2012 Bois de Boursan Châteauneuf-du-Pape, from 25 acres (in 27 parcels) of organically cultivated vineyards. Or the 2012 Château de Montmirail Gigondas Cuvée de Beauchamp, named for the granite cliffs at the foot of Mont Ventoux where Montmirail’s vineyards are situated at altitudes between 900 and 1100 feet – some of the highest in Gigondas.

And from the esteemed Châteauneuf-du-Pape estate, Domaine du Pegau, 2012 Château Pegau Côtes du Rhône Villages Setier is a blend of tank-aged Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre.

We love the freshness of Domaine de l’Oratoire St. Martin’s Cairanne wines, They are organically cultivated, low yield, and low sulphur. 2011 Les Douyes is a blend of Grenache and Mourvèdre from a lieu-dit with a north-north east aspect and distinctive yellow and blue clay soils. 2010 Coustias Blanc is a special selection of the estate’s oldest, lowest-yielding vines—some 70 years old – from the chalkiest, coolest part of the appellation.

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Posted on 2015.01.21 in Saturday Sips Wines, Southern Rhone  |  Read more...

A Southern Rhône Celebration

This cold snap has us craving hearty, sun-drenched wines from the south of France. Stop by this Saturday to sample an assortment of Southern Rhône wines all at discounted prices. From country wines for $10, up to the region’s most famous appellation, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, for around $35. In-between are the AOCs of Côtes du Rhône-Villages, and the elevated villages of Gigondas and Vacqueryas. We’re cleaning house and moving out all of these wines at great prices so they won’t be around long.

The versatile grenache grape dominates in the Southern Rhône, supplemented by Syrah and Mourvèdre. We’ll be able to see just how this variety drinks from a simple, juicy, outwardly fruity, everyday wine to its apex in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, a wine with a big spine that’s capable of developing for years in the cellar.

We’ll also be tasting a few rich and aromatic Côtes du Rhône and Vacqueryas white blends. Roussanne and Marsanne grapes are capable of creating distinct whites full of ripe fruit and spice that will pair well with a variety of dishes well beyond fish.

The Southern Rhône is a magical place. Culturally, we are already in Provence, a land of lavender and old songs. Vines lie baking on a sweeping tumble of broad terraces beneath villages of ancient glory. These are wines ideal to temporarily sway the cold and gloom of a Michigan winter evening. It is the warmth of southern France in a bottle.

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Posted on 2015.01.16 in France, Saturday Sips Wines, Southern Rhone  |  Read more...

Domaine Abbatucci Cuvée Collection Ministre Impérial

Price: $99/bottle – SOLD OUT

Stop by this Saturday to sample a majestic and fiercely unique wine from the granitic western coast of Corsica, where biodynamic winemaker Jean-Charles Abbatucci is converting rare grape varieties into poetry. Only a mere 2,000 bottles of Ministre Impérial are produced every year. As you might expect we have a very limited amount of this wine. Call or email if you’d like us to set some aside.

Jean-Charles Abbatucci’s vines come from cuttings of indigenous grapevines, sourced decades ago by his father from elderly peasant farmsteads in the mountainous and remote interior of the island. The grapes are hand-picked at maturity, only in early mornings, and crushed by foot. This far-out cuvée is comprised of Sciacarellu, Niellucciu, Carcajou-Neru, Montaneccia, Morescono, Morescola, and Aleatico varieties, all from a five acre plot planted in the early 1960s.

He has created a pristine poly-culture ecosystem on his estate south of Ajaccio that includes groves of olive trees on ancient terraces, and large swaths of untouched forests. Jean-Charles believes in following even the most offbeat biodynamic practices to the letter. He goes so far as to drive a tractor around his vineyards, playing traditional Corsican polyphonic songs over loudspeakers to the vines and the herds of sheep foraging through them.

From a glass of Ministre Impérial rise aromas of ripe cherries on hot gravel and pear skins and dusty fruit orchards. Although medium in weight there is a concentration of fruit that travels along a wave of long-lasting minerality. There is earth, broadleaf trees in the sun, girls dancing in a meadow, Burgundian ghosts, and it all expands throughout the bottle until the last sip when you are not only basking in the beauty of this wine but the beauty of wine in general. David Shildknecht of Wine Advocate says, “…the impression is entirely fresh-fruited, juicy, and buoyant, leading to a kaleidoscopically interactive, saliva-inducingly saline, uncannily energetic, and virtually endless finish.”

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Posted on 2015.01.06 in Saturday Sips Wines, France, Corsica  |  Read more...

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