2015 Chateau Vieux Potana Lalande De Pomerol

2015 Chateau Vieux Potana Lalande-De-Pomerol Bordeaux, France

with No Comment $30-$40BordeauxBordeauxFranceKevin Vogt

CHATEAU VIEUX POTANA

2015 LALANDE-DE-POMEROL 
BORDEAUX, FRANCE

2015 Chateau Vieux Potana Lalande De Pomerol
Did you know that one of the most expensive wines in the world upon release is Chateau Petrus, and that it’s made from 100% Merlot grapes grown in the Pomerol region in Bordeaux?  Lalande-de-Pomerol borders the Pomerol region to the north and of the two main villages Lalande-de-Pomerol and Néac, Néac has clay and gravelly soils commonly seen in Pomerol.   Chateau Vieux Potana comes from Néac and exhibits the dusty, chalky tannins, dark berries and gravely undertones that are classic to the region.  The winery’s consulting winemaker is Michel Rolland, one of the most influential winemakers in the world with hundreds of clients spanning 13 countries… At $33/btl, I strongly recommend securing a case.  
 
Marrying 85% Merlot from 35 year old vines with 15% Cabernet Franc, Vieux Potana’s 2015 perfectly showcases the elegance and supple berries of Merlot with the power and aromatics of great Cabernet Franc.  Most people likely have never heard of Chateau Vieux Potana and with the tiny number of cases imported into the US, neither had I until I tasted it… 
 
CHATEAU VIEUX POTANA
2015 LALANDE-DE-POMEROL
BORDEAUX, FRANCE
 
Your Price: $33/btl 
 
Tasting Notes: “This wine displays a shimmering garnet/ruby color, with an elegant nose of tart cherry pie filling, cocoa dusted chocolate truffles, forest ferns and freshly turned earth. The palate is beautifully focused with concentrated red cherry, liquid minerals, fresh currants with a mouth quenching freshness that triggers your swallow reflex.  The finish is long and complex with the perfect combination of power and elegance.”
 
Customers that enjoy Chateau Vieux Potana Lalande-de-Pomerol, may also enjoy these two terrific French Reds…
 
2013 Paul Jaboulet Aine Gigondas 2013 Moulin De Tricot Margaux
PAUL JABOULET AINÉ
2013 GIGONDAS
PIERRE AIGUILLE
Retails at:  $35.00/btl
 
Your Price: $27.99/btl 

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From Vinous: “Limpid ruby. Perfumed aromas of ripe red berries, peppery spices and potpourri, complicated by a woodsmoke nuance. Silky, expansive and gently sweet, offering concentrated raspberry liqueur and lavender pastille flavors and an allspice quality that builds on the back half. Finishes sweet, sappy and persistent, with firming fine-grained tannins adding grip.” 
 90 Points
MOULIN DE TRICOT
2013 MARGAUX
BORDEAUX, FRANCE
Retails at:  $65.00/btl
 
Your Price: $39.99/btl 

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Tasting Notes: “With striking aromas of crushed violets, black raspberry, wild rose and plum, Moulin de Tricot’s 2013  Margaux
 is deep, plush and remarkably elegant. Well-integrated and precise flavors of dark red fruits, spices, floral components and minerals all intermingle effortlessly throughout the looonnnng and highly-pleasurable
2016 G of Chateau Guiraud Bordeaux White

2016 G of Château Guiraud Bordeaux White

with No Comment $30 and underBordeauxFranceSauvignon Blanc

G of CHÂTEAU GUIRAUD 

2016 BORDEAUX WHITE
BORDEAUX, FRANCE

2016 G of Chateau Guiraud Bordeaux White
Variety is the spice of life and while California, Sancerre and New Zealand offer Sauvignon Blancs with bright, sometimes searing acidity and super-crisp flavors, Bordeaux brings a more rich, opulent and lime-infused style that’s impossible to ignore.  Detailed, round and broad are all perfect descriptors for Chateau Guiraud’s Bordeaux White which opens up to limestone-scented baked yellow-apples, mandarin orange, tangerine, wet stone and crème brûlée.  A palate quenching kaleidoscope of finely detailed flavors keeps you coming back for more, and with a 90-93 Point score from the Wine Spectator, I wouldn’t hesitate to secure a case. 
 
Château Guiraud isn’t just one of Bordeaux’s preeminent producers of First Growth Sauternes, they also produce stunning dry whites wines.  A blend of both Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, the 2016 is remarkably expressive, rich and assertive.  If you haven’t experienced a dry white from this renowned wine region, here’s a terrific opportunity to try one of the best.
 
G of CHÂTEAU GUIRAUD 
2016 BORDEAUX WHITE
BORDEAUX, FRANCE
 
Your Price: $19.99/btl 
 
From The Wine Spectator: “This is still a bit tight, with a racy lemon pith frame around the core of white peach, tangerine, chamomile and straw flavors. Shows weight and zip, and should fill out nicely.”   90-93 Points
 
Customers that enjoy G of Chateau Guiraud’s Bordeaux Blanc may also enjoy these two terrific white wines…
2017 Alma de Cattleya Sauvignon Blanc 2017 Domain La Croix Saint-Laurent Sancerre
ALMA de CATTLEYA
2017 SAUVIGNON BLANC
SONOMA COUNTY
 
Your Price: $19.99/btl 
 
Immeasurable talent… gifted… Midas touch… These would all be fitting descriptors of winemaker Bibiana Gonzalez Rave.  Her artistry has allowed her to climb the ranks and become winemaker at Pahlmeyer… She’s also made wines at Lynmar and has extensive experience making wine in France.  Bibiana applies her vast skill-set and remarkable abilities and crafts wines that exceed all expectations…
DOMAINE LA CROIX 
2017 SANCERRE
SAINT-LAURENT
 
Your Price: $29.99/btl 
 

Created from nearly half-century old vines, this wine bursts onto your palate with textural bliss, and a well balanced, keen thread of acidity that leaves your palate craving another sip.   

A pure expression of Sancerre, this immensely appealing 100% Sauvignon Blanc (as all white Sancerre’s are) is highly nuanced, intriguing and loaded with pristine fruit and rocky minerals.
2013 Chateau Moulin De Tricot Margaux

2013 Chateau Moulin De Tricot Margaux

with No Comment $30-$40BordeauxBordeauxFranceKevin Vogt

MOULIN DE TRICOT

2013 MARGAUX

2013 Chateau Moulin De Tricot Margaux
If you’ve ever wondered why Margaux is an often-used name for women, and what that has to do with wine, one sip of Chateau Moulin de Tricot’s 2013 Margaux will give you your answer. Of all the regions in Bordeaux, Margaux is most recognized for producing powerful, yet beautifully elegant wines. The best Margaux will even have you thinking about the wine for long after enjoying it.  For me, they have all of the best qualities that I love in Bordeaux.  And while First Growth Margaux can easily top $1000/btl, Moulin de Tricot’s 2013 Margaux is an excellent value at under forty per bottle.  Our panel was absolutely shocked by the quality, and this wine perfectly represents classic Margaux.  
Remaining true to old-world, classical styled Margaux, Chateau Moulin de Tricot blends 75% Cabernet Sauvignon with 25% Merlot, while many producers in the area are Merlot dominant.  The 2013 offers the absolute perfect combination of striking intensity and soft elegance, gliding across your palate with penetrating black cherry, dried rose, red plum and hints of potpourri.  With few cases imported, don’t wait too long to secure your case because this one over-performs on every level.  You’ll definitely thank me later!
 
MOULIN DE TRICOT
2013 MARGAUX
Retails at:  $65.00/btl
 
Your Price: $39.99/btl
YOU SAVE 38%
 
Tasting Notes: “With striking aromas of crushed violets, black raspberry, wild rose and plum, Moulin de Tricot’s 2013 Margaux is deep, plush and remarkably elegant. Well-integrated and precise flavors of dark red fruits, spices, floral components and minerals all intermingle effortlessly throughout the looonnnng and highly-pleasurable finish…” 
 
Customers that would enjoy Moulin de Tricot’s Margaux, may also enjoy these two terrific wines…

 

2014 Department 66 Cotes Catalane Grenache 2011 Chateau Trapaud Saint-Emillion Grand Cru
DEPARTMENT 66
2014 GRENACHE
COTES CATALANES
Your Price: $37.99/btl 
 
From Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate: “A blend of 80% Grenache, 15% Syrah and a splash of Carignan… This inky colored, downright sexy 2014 offers terrific notes of blueberries, blackberries, violets and chalky minerality. Big, concentrated and textured, yet still playing in the more elegant style of the 2014 vintage, this beauty will drink well for a decade..” 
 
93 Points
CHATEAU TRAPAUD
GRAND CRU BORDEAUX
2011 SAINT EMILION
Your Price: $31.99/btl 

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Quillia 2013 Proprietary Red Columbia Valley

with No Comment $30 and underKevin VogtProprietary RedUSAWashington State

QUILLIA

2013 PROPRIETARY RED
COLUMBIA VALLEY 

 
In wine, some of the best opportunities arise when luxury brands have excess barrels of premium juice.  Quillia was born from a collection of some of the most prestigious vineyards in Washington State, and was created using the same tools and techniques as the marquee wines. Each component was carefully blended into a wine that performs many levels above it’s price, and like other wines in this category, Quillia is contractually obligated to silence on the specific origins of each component.  Of course, one taste will tell you all that you need to know, and at $25/btl this could take your house red to levels previously unknown… 
Emerging from Washington’s coveted Columbia Valley AVA, an area made famous by Chateau Saint Michelle, Quilceda Creek and other iconic Washington State wineries.  Interestingly, Columbia Valley is almost directly on the same latitude as Bordeaux and the area clearly produces world-class Cabernet based wines.  The 2013 is a riveting blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, enhanced with Merlot, Cab Franc, Syrah, Mourvedre and Petite Verdot and the wine is deep, persistent and compelling to levels that are rarely found at this price.  I highly recommend a case, or two… 
 
QUILLIA
2013 PROPRIETARY RED
COLUMBIA VALLEY
Your Price: $24.99/btl 
 
Winery Notes: “A blend of Cabernet, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Mourvedre and Petit Verdot, this wine is a seamless, perfumed, complex reflection of elegance and grace…. it has fabulous intensity of flavor with an impossible to resist profile.”  
Customers that enjoy Quillia’s Columbia Valley Blend,  may also enjoy these two terrific Washington State Reds… 
LUKE  
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
2015 COLUMBIA VALLEY 
Retails at:   $30/btl
Your Price:  $23/btl 
 Recognized as one of the 2016 Wine Spectator wineries to watch, Luke’s 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon is rich and extracted, yet perfectly poised and elegant, with substantial quantities of chocolate covered raspberries, creme de cassis, pulverized blackberries, and dried violets.  A palpable sense of value is absolutely unmistakable in this wine, and the previous three consecutive vintages have all earned 90 and above scores in the Wine Spectator…
SPARKMAN
2015 HOLLER
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
Retails at:  $32.00/btl
Your Price: $29.99/btl 
Sparking an intense love affair with Washington Wines with just a single taste, when we first offered Sparkman’s 2013 Holler Cabernet two years ago we knew it would induce one of those where have you been all my life moments…  Later that year it went on to rank #21 in the world on the Wine Spectator Top 100 and even outscored icons like Screaming Eagle at more than 25 times its price.