$220 “The L’Ona” Wine-Aid Package – 12 Bottles of Spanish Wine (All Included and Delivered)

We encourage you to take advantage of our back door pick-up or free delivery. We can easily process the payment of your purchase over the phone and load you up without you needing to get out of the car. Or we can deliver it to your doorstep for free (within a reasonable distance of our shop) and leave it there for you to bring in at your convenience.

We’ve been having a little fun tying our Wine-Aid packages to authors but this one is a little more personal. Many of you already know that the majority of Spanish wines we carry are imported by VIN°VI & CO, a Ferndale-based wine importer that has collected a portfolio of distinguished, passionate producers from some of the most exciting wine production regions in Spain. Barcelona native Núria Garrote i Esteve leads the operation but perhaps more importantly, she’s also my wife.

When we are visiting winemakers throughout Spain and France, our young daughter Ona is often with us, exploring the vine rows and smelling our tasting samples. Working closely with a few of her winemakers to select fruit and determine maturing regimens, Núria has assembled a few special collaborative cuvées named after Ona. These are wines available only in the North American market, and each wine has a story to tell.

Included in The L’Ona Wine-Aid Package are 12 bottles of wine, 10 red and 2 white:

Six Bottles RED — Ona (Priorat 2016) Regular Price $22

Priorat is one of the most progressive winemaking regions in all of Spain. Its special reddish and black slate soils (called llicorella in Catalan) are key to the singularity of the region’s wines. Priorat has become known for upscale wines intended for the cellar that reveal an insight into time and place after years of development.This is the landscape in which the young winemaker Blai Ferré, in collaboration with Núria, created the Ona bottling.

Ona is Priorat in the raw, a wine of intensity and balance with little elaboration. It is a classic Mediterranean blend of 40% Garnatxa, 40% Syrah, and 20% Carinyena. Cultivation is organic and the harvest is hand-picked and hand-sorted. Half of the wine is aged in stainless steel vats and the other half in French oak for eight months. We’ve found that it’s a wine that always outperforms its price level and it’s versatile enough to be paired with a simple cheese plate to roast lamb and everything in-between. Blai Ferré likes being self-sufficient and doing everything himself. He produces a scant 500 cases of Ona, bottling the rest of the harvest in other cuvées.

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Four Bottles RED — Ona (Penedès 2015) Regular Price: $17
Two Bottles WHITE — Ona (Penedès 2015) Regular Price: $17

Núria’s relationship with the visionary winemaker Raimon Badell of Masia Can Tutusaus began when she sought out his award winning Cava and brought it into the U.S. Almost all Cava production is centered in the Penedès region of Spain, a short distance west of the city of Barcelona. But it’s the mountainous sub-zone of the Massís del Garraf, where soil and microclimate yield fruit with the concentration and balance required for singular, world-class, sparkling wine.

Raimon believes in making contemporary wines that respect Mediterranean culture without becoming mired in convention. Certified biodynamic in Spain, he has the utmost respect for his vines and soil and it shows in every glass.

Ona (Penedès 2015) Red

On one of her many visits with Raimon at his vineyards Núria tasted a unique red wine that was being produced only for consumption by Raimon and his friends. The grape was Marselan – a variety created by crossbreeding Cabernet Sauvignon with Grenache. The exuberant red fruit ripeness of Grenache and the elegant structure of Cabernet Sauvignon was fitting for the Ona label.

Ona (Penedès 2015) White

The superior geography of the Massís del Garraf, and the high quality of the Xarel-lo (pronouced shah-REHL-loh) grapes grown at the estate, led Núria and Raimon to bottle a still version of Xarel-lo with all the intense aromatics, yellow fleshy fruit, and freshness that the variety has to offer.

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Posted on 2020.04.09 in Wine-Aid Packages  |  Read more...

 

$165 “The MFK Fisher” Wine-Aid Package – 6 Bottles of “Natural” Wine (All Included and Delivered)

There’s a communion of more than our bodies when bread is broken and wine drunk. — MFK Fisher

Introducing The MFK Fisher, a $165 Wine-Aid package that includes a diverse mix of five bottles of red and and one white wine made with strict organic and biodynamic cultivation techniques, spontaneous fermentations with indigenous yeasts, and very little to no sulfites used in the process. The price includes tax and delivery, as well as a 10% discount. We will also honor the 10% discount on any bottles you might wish to add to the Wine-Aid package. 

Born in Albion, Michigan, Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher was a pioneer of food writing. It often served as a framing device in her works, which combined a signature mix of culinary, historical and sociological trivia leavened with remembrances, sometimes surprising, always perceptive, of her life and loves. You’ll find the wines in this package are as soulful and natural as MFK Fisher’s prose. 

Included in The MFK Fisher Wine-Aid box is one bottle of each:

1) Château du Hureau “Fours à Chaux” (Saumur-Champigny 2014) RED Regular Price: $35

Philippe Vatan and his daughter Agathe use organic and biodynamic farming techniques and low yields to coax richness and terroir out of their vineyards. The name “Fours à Chaux” translates to “lime oven” as the soil of the vineyard warms up easily and manages to produce the ripest of fruit in every vintage. The age of the vines varies between 20 and 50 years. 100% Cabernet Franc, the wine ages for anywhere between 11 to 18 months in foudre.

 

2) Maldivinas “La Movida Granito” (Viño de la Tierra de Castilla y León 2013) RED Regular Price: $33

Old-vine Spanish mountain Garnacha,  “La Movida Granito” is a tribute to the decomposing granite soil from an organically cultivated, 4.5 acre vineyard of 90 year old vines at roughly 2,600 feet elevation. The wine is fermented by native yeasts in one concrete tank, with a percentage of whole clusters to highlight the characteristics of the fruit, and then aged in neutral oak barrels before bottling. Aromatically complex with layers of floral, berry, and spice.

 

3) Domaine Ostertag “Les Jardins” Pinot Noir (Alsace 2016) RED Regular Price: $32

100% Pinot Noir collected from three parcels located in Epfig. The vines are planted in two soil types: sandstone as well as clay and sandstone. André Ostertag is one of a handful of Alsatian growers realizing the potential for Pinot Noir in the region and this is a wine with a vibe all its own. Dry and sunny summers give the wine a fruit density while Alsace’s cooler, continental climate is revealed by a juicy acidity. Bright cherry fruit and herbal, woodsy earth tones shine through a silky coat. It is simultaneously unique and varietally correct. 

 

4) Domaine de la Méchinière “Cot” (Touraine 2017) RED Regular Price: $24

Valérie Forgues purchased Domaine de la Méchinière in the late 90’s. All 39 acres are cultivated organically and she maintains the purity and freshness of her wines through strict hygienic practices and temperature control. The grape variety Côt is also known as Malbec, a staple variety in Touraine. Valérie’s vines average 50 years old and grow on clay-limestone soils in the heart of the Cher valley. Fleshy and bright, her Côt is filled with juicy blackberry and cherry fruit. 

 

5) Almaroja “Cielos y Besos” (Arribes 2016) RED Regular Price: $20

Winemaker and Englishwoman Charlotte Allen holds 15 acres in western Spain on the border with Portugal. “Cielos y Besos” is mostly organically-farmed old vine Juan García, a variety native to the Arribes del Duero and the most widely planted red grape in the area. The wines of this variety are characterized by wild berry fruit, fine tannins and good acidity. The remainder is an eclectic mix of tempranillo, rufete, bastardillo chico, bastardillo serrano and garnacha (to name but a few) with a few kilos of white grapes thrown in for good measure.

6) Can Sumoi “Xarel-lo” (Penedès 2018) WHITE Regular Price: $27

Can Sumoi is a new project from Pepe Raventós and Francesc Escala to create vibrant wines from the mountains of the Baix Penedès in the Catalunya region of northeastern Spain. This is a wine of elegance, crunchy apples, herbs, and minerals greet your nose prior to a sip of rich fruit built on a solid structural foundation. Produced from 100% Xarel·lo, a grape indigenous to Penedès that most sparkling wine drinkers will recognize as the principal variety that makes up Cava. After fermentation the wine sees a twice-weekly batonnage for three months before bottling without additives or filtering.

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Posted on 2020.04.06 in Wine-Aid Packages  |  Read more...

 

$250 “The Pablo Neruda” Wine-Aid Package – 6 Bottles of Red (All Included and Delivered)

“I like on the table, when we’re speaking, the light of a bottle of intelligent wine.” — Pablo Neruda

Introducing The Pablo Neruda, a $250 Wine-Aid package that includes a diverse mix of six bottles of red wine from some of Europe’s most significant producers, all ready to drink. The price includes tax and delivery, as well as a 10% discount. We will also honor the 10% discount on any bottles you might wish to add to the Wine-Aid package. 

One of the most influential poets of the Americas, a “Whitman of the South” if you will, Pablo Neruda wrote what is perhaps the finest poem ever dedicated to wine. He was most well known for his odes and love poems, and you’ll understand why when you read it here. 

You’ll find all of the wines in this package as sensual as Neruda’s poetry. Included in The Pablo Neruda Wine-Aid box is one bottle of each:

 

1) Domaine Saint Patrice “Vieilles Vignes” (Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2016) Regular Price $59

The unique character of this wine comes from the diversity of its many terroirs. A blend of Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Syrah. In the cellar, maceration and fermentation are done in concrete tanks. Aging takes place over 14 months in concrete vats, large oak foudre, half-muids, and barrique with a further 12 months after bottling. On the nose are luscious red and black fruits with a hint of kirsch beneath warm terracotta and mint. A sip is simultaneously ripe and pulsing with wiry energy. 

 

2) Domaine des Roches Neuves “Clos de l’Echelier” (Saumur-Champigny 2015) Regular Price $59

Biodynamically cultivated from a seven acre, walled vineyard of 40 year old vines in the commune of Dampierre sur Loire. Soils are very thin clay over Turonian limestone. 50% whole cluster fermentation before 12 months aging in 1,200L foudre and 600L demi-muid and then six months in bottle. A glass is filled with the sappiest black raspberry fruit with aromatic hints of herbs and rain. 

 

3) Domaine Ragot “La Grande Berge” (Givry, Premier Cru 2014) Regular Price $42

This Premier Cru parcel is located along a rocky, east-facing slope in Burgundy’s Côte Chalonnaise. Aging takes place in French oak (30% new) for between 12 and 15 months. Grande Berge produces wines that are known for their subtlety and finesse and this 2014 is a prime example. A glass is bursting with aromatics, the foremost a heady floral component reminiscent of Chambolle-Musigny. Alongside are fresh berries, red licorice, and baked stone. A sip is simultaneously concentrated and spry, with a long, energetic finish. 

 

4) Maxime Magnon Rozeta (Corbières 2016) Regular Price $38

A native of Burgundy, Maxime Magnon’s approach to produce wines that not only speak of the land from where they come but also made in a way which emphasizes purity of fruit and drinkability couldn’t be more apparent in the 2016 vintage of “Rozeta,” a field blend of Carignan, Grenache, and Cinsault from vines of 50-60 years in age. A glassful exudes heady aromatics of strawberry jam and pink floral arrangements that rise above subtler scents of fennel frond and dusty earth. A sip is concentrated red fruit on a fine frame of coiled energy that unfolds over the course of a lengthy, mineral finish. 

 

5) Sonho Lusitano Vinhos “Pedra e Alma” (Alentejano 2013) Regular Price $35

“Pedra Y Alma” (Stone and Soul) is Sonho Lusitano Vinhos reserve wine produced only in the best years and from the oldest vines on the property. It is a blend of Trincadeira, Arragonez, Alicante Bouschet, and Grand Noir that is aged for two years in new French oak barriques. The 2013 vintage saw a late harvest that began in searing heat and ended in rain. It was a highly successful year for Trincadeira and the estate picked the old vine fruit just before the weather broke at the end of September. It is a tight-knit but generous and well-balanced red that will keep on giving.

 

6) Clos de Mez “Château Gaillard” (Morgon 2013) Regular Price $30

Marie-Élodie Zighera Confuron’s Clos de Mez is a certified organic estate. Marie’s wine is made with indigenous yeasts, no temperature control, no insulation, and long fermentations with the stems. Maturation takes place in both old barrels and concrete. The soil in Morgon is rich in iron oxide with traces of manganese and volcanic rock, helping to create full-bodied, powerful, toothsome wines. “Château Gaillard” is the name of the lieu-dit where the 80 year-old vines grow to produce this cuvée. Aromas of ripe cherry, apricot, plum, and spice lead into a palate that is robust and fleshy.

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Posted on 2020.03.31 in France  |  Read more...

 

SOLD OUT $150 “The Hemingway” Wine-Aid Package – 6 Bottles of Red (All Included and Delivered)

Drinking wine was not a snobbism nor a sign of sophistication nor a cult; it was as natural as eating and to me as necessary. — Ernest Hemingway

Introducing The Hemingway, a $150 Wine-Aid package that includes a diverse mix of six bottles of red wine from some of Europe’s most significant producers, all ready to drink. The price includes tax and delivery, as well as a 10% discount. We will also honor the 10% discount on any bottles you might wish to add to the Wine-Aid package. 

Life was “A Movable Feast” for Ernest Hemingway, and if you know anything about him, you know that he drank. A lot. Or at least he wrote about drinking a lot. He used drinking as a tool in his work to express mood and explore the cultures of the many places he traveled and resided. Certainly, a good wine that speaks of place is central to that place’s culture. 

You’ll find the wines in this package could have easily made it into the pages of an Ernest Hemingway story, were he around today to drink them. While you sip you might even imagine his terse writing style expounding on the hilltop villages of Umbria, the slopes of the Côte-d’Or, or the brushy scrubland and marine aqua blue Mediterranean Sea of northern Corsica. 

Included in The Hemingway Wine-Aid box is one bottle of each:

 

1) Domaine Léon Barral (Faugères, 2014) Regular Price $32

Didier farms about 75 acres of vines using biodynamic practices. All wines are hand-harvested, hand-sorted, fermented with indigenous yeasts, and have no sulfur added. This Faugères bottling is a blend of 50% Carignan, 30% Grenache, and 20% Cinsault from vines aged 40 to 70 years old. After fermentation, the wine is aged for 2 years in cement and stainless steel cuves. The aromatics are joyous with black cherries, cocoa, herbs and flowers. A sip is filled with fruit yet nimble on the palate, elegant even, with a finish of sun-baked stone.

 

2) Domaine Jean-Claude Regnaudot “Clos des Loyères” (Maranges, Premier Cru, 2014) Regular Price $29

Didier Regnaudot’s very old Pinot Noir vines grow out of the steep hillsides on the southernmost edge of the Côte de Beaune. “Clos des Loyères” comes from a 0.6 acre Premier Cru vineyard parcel planted with vines over 40 years old. The soil consists of Jurassic substrate, mainly black/grey marl. Grapes are hand harvested and sorted in the vineyard. The wine is aged in oak barrels (40% new oak, 60% one or two years old) for one year before being blended into stainless steel tanks and aged for another 3 months. Dark and firm, aromas of cherries, cocoa, and cinnamon precede a mouthful of ripe fruit followed by a long and wiry finish. 

 

3) Domaine Giacometti “Cuvée Sarah” (Patrimonio Rouge 2016) Regular Price $29

Winemaking is possibly at its most extreme in the dry, scrub-covered landscape of Corsica’s Désert des Agriates. It is there, in the appellation of Patrimonio, that the isolated estate of Domaine Giacometti coaxes wonderfully balanced wines from this rugged swath of land on the northern end of the island. Named after winemaker Christians Giacometti’s daughter Sarah who now helps run the winery the wine is comprised of 100% Niellucciu (genetically identical to Sangioveses) harvested from 45 year old vines and fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless tank. The wine is aged for 12 months on fine lees in 500 liter barrels from two to seven years old. Aromatically complex with ripe fruits, sweet spices, and undergrowth, a sip is full-bodied, elegant, and supported by ripe, pleasant tannins.

 

4) Thierry Germain Cuvée “Thierry Germain” (Saumur Champigny 2016) Regular Price $24

Raised in Saint-Émilion, Bordeaux, at the family winery of Château Yon-Figeac, Thierry Germain set out on his own at the tender age of 23 to make his name in the more challenging climate of northern France. Although receiving accolades nearly from the start, his winemaking style has gone through several stages over the years, ultimately eschewing all new oak and blowsy fruit for precision and sense of place, and eventually becoming known as one of the top producers in the entire Loire valley. 100% Cabernet Franc from the small enclave of Saumur Champigny on the left bank of the loire. Sappy blackberries and rain, this is a wine made for happy funtime patio drinking. Try it with a grilled burger.

 

5) Scacciadiavoli Rosso (Umbria IGT 2014) Regular Price $22

The Scacciadiavoli estate is a true family operation. The property spans about 320 acres. 90 of those are dedicated to vines. The soils are sandy schist and marly clay soil of medium depth, highly suited for quality viticulture. Their Umbria Rosso is principally Sangiovese with a small percentage of Merlot. Aromas of ripe fruit lead into a drink that is delicate and fresh. It is matured for several months in steel tanks to preserve its fruity aromas. This is a pizza wine. A movie night wine. A quarantine eating too much cheese wine.

 

6) Bertrand-Bergé “Origines” (Fitou 2014) Regular Price $21

Fitou Montagneux is a patch of mountainous schist fifteen miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea in southern France. Jérôme and Sabine Bertrand have been steadily improving the reputation of this appellation (one of France’s first) through the excellence of their own wines. The Bertrand’s offer the affordable cuvée “Origines” as a starting point to enjoying the terroir of Fitou. A blend of 60% Carignan and 40% Grenache aged for 18 months in concrete, “Origines” delivers juicy ripe black fruits accented by clean earth.

 

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Posted on 2020.03.30 in Wine-Aid Packages  |  Read more...

 

The Champagne Society April Update — Free Delivery and “Wine Aid”

These are challenging times and we are committed to providing you with the finest wines available to humanity in the safest way possible. The April selection from the Champagne Society is coming up next week and we wanted to let you know that we are offering free delivery to your porch so that you can continue to maintain proper social distancing. Please reply to this email with your street address if you would like to take advantage of this option.

Surgeon general, Dr. Jerome M. Adams, along with the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, have indicated that there is currently no evidence that COVID-19 is being spread through the mail or package delivery. Even so, know that we are obsessively disinfecting every surface in the shop, including the bottles that go our for delivery and pickup, and ourselves.

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Wine Aid

Price for Champagne Society: $250 (Regular Price: $293.62) The price includes tax and delivery, as well as the Champagne Society’s usual 15% discount.

Since we’ll already be heading to your doorstep, we thought you might want to take advantage of a special offer we are extending to our Champagne Society members that adds five bottles of red wine to your bottle of Champagne.

“Wine Aid” is a diverse mix of five bottles of red wine from some of France’s most significant producers. Included in the “Wine Aid” Box is one bottle of each:

1) Bertrand-Bergé “Jean Sirven” (Fitou 2013) Regular price $79
Extremely low yields produce this Mediterranean estate’s crown jewel named after winemaker Jérôme Bertrand’s great-grandfather. A blend of 45% Carignan, 45% Syrah, and 10% Grenache aged for 18-20 months in new French oak barrels results in a heady and concentrated wine loaded with fruit and capable of developing for over a decade if you can keep it out of your glass now.

2) Domaine Saint Patrice “Vieilles Vignes” (Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2016) Regular Price $59
The unique character of this wine comes from the diversity of its many terroirs. A blend of Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Syrah. In the cellar, maceration and fermentation are done in concrete tanks. Aging takes place over 14 months in concrete vats, large oak foudre, half-muids, and barrique with a further 12 months after bottling. On the nose are luscious red and black fruits with a hint of kirsch beneath warm terracotta and mint. A sip is simultaneously ripe and pulsing with wiry energy.

3) Domaine des Roches Neuves “Clos de l’Echelier” (Saumur-Champigny 2015) Regular Price $59
Biodynamically cultivated from a seven acre, walled vineyard of 40 year old vines in the commune of Dampierre sur Loire. Soils are very thin clay over Turonian limestone. 50% whole cluster fermentation before 12 months aging in 1,200L foudre and 600L demi-muid and then six months in bottle. A glass is filled with the sappiest black raspberry fruit with aromatic hints of herbs and rain.

4) Domaine Ragot “La Grande Berge” (Givry, Premier Cru 2014) Regular Price $42
This Premier Cru parcel is located along a rocky, east-facing slope in Burgundy’s Côte Chalonnaise. Aging takes place in French oak (30% new) for between 12 and 15 months. Grande Berge produces wines that are known for their subtlety and finesse and this 2014 is a prime example. A glass is bursting with aromatics, the foremost a heady floral component reminiscent of Chambolle-Musigny. Alongside are fresh berries, red licorice, and baked stone. A sip is simultaneously concentrated and spry, with a long, energetic finish.

5) Maxime Magnon Rozeta (Corbières 2016) Regular Price $38
A native of Burgundy, Maxime Magnon’s approach is to produce wines that speak of the land with emphasis on purity of fruit and drinkability. This philosophy couldn’t be more apparent in the 2016 vintage of “Rozeta,” a field blend of Carignan, Grenache, and Cinsault from vines of 50-60 years in age. A glassful exudes heady aromatics of strawberry jam and pink floral arrangements that rise above subtler scents of fennel frond and dusty earth. A sip is concentrated red fruit on a fine frame of coiled energy that unfolds over the course of a lengthy, mineral finish.

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Posted on 2020.03.26 in France, The Champagne Society  |  Read more...

 

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