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Staff Favorites - John Majeski
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Reviews
2024 Anne de Joyeuse "VERY" Chardonnay Haute Valle de l'Aude
Review Date: 05-31-2026
In the shadow of the great Pyrenees/
we uncovered a wonderful white/
a Chardonnay surely to please/
filled with an orchard's delights/
with summer's approach that will ease/
to set your budget and palate alight!
2020 Domaine de Pallus "Les Pensees de Pallus" Chinon
Review Date: 03-03-2026
'Nature abhors a vacuum'. Good advice from Francois Rabelais, the 15th century doctor, satirist and polymath who was born in a modest hamlet a crow's flight from where these vineyards today lie. To correct any vacuum in your glass, fill it midway with this flagship wine from Domaine de Pallus. Culled from vines grown on the south-facing, limestone rich hillside of Cravant-les-Coteaux, the Pensees is a superbly balanced expression of Chinon’s signature way with Cabernet Franc. Medium-bodied, imbued with textural tannins, this lovely wine evokes flavors of blackberry, blackcurrant, herbal and earthy mushroom notes. It spent its first year in older burgundy barrels, then fully three more in bottle before it was released. Coming in at just 13% abv this pure rendering will pair well with herb-roasted chicken, mushroom stroganoff or coq au vin.
Petiau "Cuvée Prestige" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 08-16-2025
Zelda promised to meet me at the 5th Street marina with an icy bottle of Petiau Cuvee Prestige Brut champagne that I asked her to pick up, told her we had something 'big' to celebrate. I waited an hour, then two, but she never showed. I figured DA Wetherby got wind of the arrangement and would make his appearance soon enough, with or without Zelda in tow. Now facing the music, I regretted asking her to bring the champagne, as its delightfully crisp, brilliant Chardonnay nose, deepened by long lees aging, arresting flavors of apple, lemon zest, creamed pears and chalky mineral notes would probably never touch my lips.
Price:
$49.99
Fallet-Dart Brut Rosé Champagne
Review Date: 08-16-2025
Over the last several years we’ve watched the festive appeal and allure of rosé champagnes swell and multiply, likely because they offer such attractive versatility and red fruit flavors to complement cuisines from Caribbean-inspired pork dishes to deep-fried tempura. And fortunately we carry a range of superb styles to cover every budget. This direct-import rosé is a riveting, fruity version with a blend of Pinot Noir and Meunier fermented in both tank and French oak, aged for a minimum of three years before disgorging. Aromas of strawberry, citrus fruits and peach merge into a tantalizing palate of grapefruit and pomegranate with an undertow of spice, minerality and toasted brioche.
Price:
$39.99
Launois "Veuve Clemence" Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne
Review Date: 09-22-2019
"I serve Champagne to my real friends and real pain to my sham friends." Attributed to Irish-born artist Francis Bacon who, when he wasn't nocturnally torturing the canvas with his brush, held court at the Colony Room Club, a louche drinking establishment fashionable for writers like William Burroughs, royalty (Princess Margaret), and later rock stars (David Bowie). But my own preference of course is 'Champagne for all, friend or foe!', for what better way to generate goodwill than the sound of popping corks? And what better choice than this coveted Grand Cru from Launois, a stylishly dry rendition that rested a full four years on the lees before its release, promising notes of lemon curd, apples, chalk, wildflowers and brioche, brilliant and pure and seductive enough to charm your own coterie of sophisticates, aesthetes and artists.
Price:
$44.99
Jean-Jacques Lamoureux "Réserve" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 03-04-2017
In trying to get my head around the physics behind all those tiny bubbles in a bottle of Champagne l discovered a wonderfully fascinating little book called Uncorked, by Gérard Liger-Belair. Apparently gravity drives the velocity of the bubbles in a flute of Champagne, so the best spot in the solar system to achieve the absolute tiniest bubbles would be on… you guessed it— Jupiter, with about 100 times the gravity of our own sparkling blue orb. Pack your bags, but before you go flying off into space, try a bottle or two of this incredible direct import. Created from superb Pinot Noir cultivated in the renowned Le Riceys terroir near Aube, the “Reserve” harbors a panoply of rich flavors ranging from citrus fruits to fleshy pears, apples, nectarines and beyond, embodying an elegant, creamy mousse and miniscule, dare I suggest, ‘out of this world’ bubbles. Now prepare for takeoff!
Price:
$34.99
2005 Bodegas Casa Juan "Señor de Lesmos" Reserva Especial Rioja
Review Date: 12-30-2015
Like pulling two large and lively rabbits out of the same hat, the artful maneuver by this favorite bodega of blending 50/50 Tempranillo and Mazuelo (aka Carignan) was an unexpected delight and an utterly delectable surprise. Perfumed and generous aromas of toast, wild berry fruits and kitchen spice reveal a complex labyrinth of flavors— red and black cherries, raspberries, plums, coffee, balsamic and tobacco spice. Although delicious in its own right, this deep wine possesses enough rabbits, er, elements that will evolve for another decade if left unattended in bottle. Now perform your own magic and open a bottle!
2010 Freemark Abbey Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (Winery Direct Library Release)
Review Date: 04-04-2014
Maybe I'm like most of you who, noting the name Freemark Abbey, believed this illustrious winery was founded by a bunch of industrious monks who, seeking to escape persecution, left some war-ravaged homeland in search of paradise and landed, miracle of miracles, in the heart of Napa Valley. But actually the winery took its name by combining those of the three owners- Charles Freeman, Markquand Foster and Abbey Ahern in 1939. Pretty clever huh? And seventy-five years later, this place is still making wondrous wines that shine like, well, the sunlight off a monk's pate. Just tasted the latest incarnation of their Cabernet Sauvignon, and it has all the classic, soulful components of a benchmark red wine created from premium Napa vineyards--Bosche, Potelle, Stage Coach and Round Pond. Aged for over 22 months in barrel, 40% new French oak, the lavish fruit expression of blackberry, black cherry and ripe plum on the palate is enhanced by notes of cedar, kitchen spice and sweet oak. Full-bodied, structured and elegant, this velvety Cab will deliver years of serious vinous pleasure, and just think, you won't have to work like a monk to enjoy it!
Ariston Aspasie "Réserve" Brut Champagne
Review Date: 08-02-2013
Vines have been cultivated on this tiny property in the hamlet of Brouillet for five generations, and it has remained a customer and staff favorite here for several years. Yeasty, full and complex, the Carte Blanche exhibits a fine intensely-focused bead with lively notes of tart apples, dried hazelnuts, vanilla and toast, all in all a remarkably well-built Brut that will compare well to cuvées at double the price. It is perfect for entertaining.
Price:
$37.99
Dudognon "Reserve" Grand Champagne Cognac (750ml)
Review Date: 11-30-2010
A voter santé! Raymond Dudognon first distilled his own cognac in 1946, following the venerable traditions laid down by his great grandfather in 1776. The heart of the Charente region, located about 100 miles northeast of Bordeaux, is called Grande Champagne, and consists of deep chalk-rich soils, perfect for creating fragrant, long-lived cognacs. Made from 100% natural Ugni Blanc, this singular spirit is blended and distilled in the traditional alambic Charentais pot and eventually aged in 350 liter barrels. The Dudognon homage to tradition stresses minimal intervention, using only pure water as an additive to create a stunning cognac that charms and caresses the palate, displaying a weightlessness and delicacy of fruit found less commonly in cognacs at twice the price. Highly recommended!
Zubrowka Bison Grass Polish Vodka
Review Date: 11-09-2009
I enjoyed the London reminiscences by my colleague Susan Thornett about this wonderful vodka, and I too confess a special relationship with Zubrowka going back several decades, when I was first offered a bracing shot of this harmonic-bisonic elixir by a friendly Polish waiter in then East Berlin who, sadly trapped behind the Iron Curtain some years before Solidarnösc, desperately wanted to improve his English skills. Maybe it was the effects of the vodka, but before the evening ended I promised to "secure" him a dictionary from the West even though it was strictly against the policy of the rather coercive East German authorities at the time. Well, anyway, I succeeded, and thanks in part to Zubrowka, the Wall finally came down and democracy was finally restored to freedom-loving East Berliners. And today I'm really glad we can offer this rare vodka to our astute customers, as its singularly subtle and unique flavors of yellow straw, camomile tea and dried coconut promises to both stimulate conversation, energize the appetite and yes, liberate the spirit! Na zdrowie! (To health!)