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Wine Scores
Below is a listing of the wine review scores we frequently reference in our notes. While these sources remain an excellent source of information, we always recommend that you trust your own palate. Scores in these publications often represent the personal taste of an individual critic, which may not always coincide with your own. We have a huge team of excellent wine professionals that can match wines you've had in the past with new arrivals that meet your flavor profile.
- Allen Meadows - Burghound
- Connoisseurs Guide
- Gambero Rosso
- James Halliday
- James Suckling
- Malt Advocate
- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
- International Wine Cellar
- Wine & Spirits
- Wine Enthusiast
- Wine Spectator
- The Wine News
- Malt Advocate
Reviewers
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Staff Favorites - Ryan Woodhouse
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Reviews
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Quartz Reef "Methode Traditionelle" Sparkling Wine Brut Central Otago
Review Date: 11-26-2012
A very very good choice for bubbles this holiday season! Quartz Reef are (in my humble opinion) hands down the best sparkling producer in New Zealand. This stunning Brut is made from 58% Pinot Noir and 42% Chardonnay from Central Otago. The fruit is all grown Organically / Biodynamically and carefully hand picked. The wine spends a minimum of two years on the lees, after which every bottle is expertly hand riddled and disgorged. This wine is bright, fresh and pure. It shows crunchy, fresh orchard fruit with some citrus notes and a wonderfully floral, subtly toasty nose. On the palate the pedigree of the fruit is complemented by a wonderful rich and creamy texture. Excellent persistence and balance on the finish with mineral tones from the weathered granite and quartz rich soils from which the estate gets its name. Truly world class wine that performs far above its price point.
Top Value!
Price: $21.99
2009 Sacred Hill "Helmsman" Cabernet-Merlot Gimblett Gravels Hawkes Bay New Zealand
Review Date: 11-26-2012
A big, robust, and structured Cab blend from this excellent vineyard of the Gimblett Gravels. It expresses saturated rich dark fruit equal to this wines muscular frame. Crushed rocks and dusty tannins mingle with tobacco and cedar nuances with more air.
Drink from
2012
to
2022
Price: $39.99
2010 Sacred Hill "Rifleman" Chardonnay Hawkes Bay New Zealand
Review Date: 11-26-2012
From the Rifleman’s Vineyard on the Gimblett Gravels in Hawke’s Bay. Fermented in French oak barrels with all wild yeast. This is a powerful Chardonnay. Concentrated peach and tropical fruits, toasty oak and spice. A big rich wine with a firm backbone of great acidity tying it all together. World class Chardonnay.
Drink from
2012
to
2018
Price: $39.99
2010 Rippon Riesling Lake Wanaka Central Otago New Zealand
Review Date: 11-26-2012
From 30+ year old un-grafted vines on their native root stock, farmed organically for 30 years and biodynamically for the last decade. The soil is composed of deep compacted schist (Riesling’s favorite!)spilling down from the mountainside and some clay lenses from the nearby lake shore. This wine has intense minerality, fabulous aromatic exuberance and impeccable balance. The subtle sweetness is checked by focused acidity that will undoubtedly keep this wine singing for a decade+.
Drink from
2012
to
2025
Price: $27.99
2010 Château de la Charrière Bourgogne Rouge Domaine Yves Girardin
Review Date: 11-26-2012
What a great little Bourgogne Rouge. Quite deep and richly fruited for it's class. Shows the purity and brightness of the 2010 vintage well. Quite scary how good $15 Burgundy can be! An everyday wine of exceptional value.
Top Value!
Price: $14.99
2010 Von Strasser Winery "Rudy" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon
Review Date: 11-26-2012
One of the best $20 Cabs we carry! The 2010 vintage has a touch more softness and rounder edges. The very grippy tannins of the 2009 have been toned down a touch. This wine is exceptionally balanced and drinkable now and over the next five years.
Top Value!
Price: $19.99
2011 Schild Estate Grenache-Mourvedre-Shiraz Barossa Valley
Review Date: 10-28-2012
I'm really impressed with this wines brightness. Great drive, energetic fruit and spicy hints. Wow.. really this wine is $13.99?! Very nice exprsssion of Grenache with what I can only describe as pumped up Pinot Noir. Great dark red berry fruits, baking spices a touch of cherry wood smoke. This wine really shows how Barossa can make very balanced fresh wines. Excellent, especially for the money.
Top Value!
Price: $13.99
2007 Viña Eguía Reserva Rioja
Review Date: 10-28-2012
What a stellar little wine from Eguia. A nice rich supple style, but the time in wood and bottle has tempered the over exuberance of the fruit and allowed some of the finer earthy, savory components, that we love Rioja for, creep in behind. A very good Reserva at a great price.
Top Value!
Price: $14.99
2010 Glen Carlou Chardonnay Paarl
Review Date: 9-30-2012
Packed with rich orchard fruit, honeysuckle, and toasty vanilla toned oak. Great Value! Perfect if you like CA chard and want to try something new.
Top Value!
Price: $12.99
2011 Cullen "Ephraim Clarke" Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon Margaret River W. Australia
Review Date: 9-30-2012
I love the Cullen wines. Vanya is one of my most respected wine makers. She is totally committed to Biodynamics and making wines of her terroir. This wine is 69% Sauvignon Blanc and 31% Semillon, half of which is fermented in French Oak. Dramatically floral. At only 11.5% Alcohol this wine is very crisp and bright with wonderfully precise acidity. The oak gives lift and structure to the purity and focus of the zesty citrus fruit. This wines quality origins show through beautifully in the mineral laced finish. Perfect for Oysters, Scallops, Crab, basically any seafood appetizers.
Drink from
2012
to
2020
Price: $27.99
Montechiara Prosecco
Review Date: 9-29-2012
Fresh flavors of zesty lemon gelato lead onto the balanced and weighty palate. The bubbles are bright and energetic. This wine has great persistence and richness for a wine of this price point. On the finish, the citrus acidity is checked by just a subtle hint of almond paste sweetness. This is a perfect Extra Dry level prosecco for all your events and holiday parties at an incredible value price!
Top Value!
Price: $9.99
2009 Mercedes Eguren Cabernet Sauvignon Vino de la Tierra de Castilla
Review Date: 8-28-2012
A great “real” Cabernet for under ten bucks! This wine is brimming with dark fruits, some minty, herbal subtleties a touch of tobacco and spicy oak. This is no juicy fruity generic red. It has real structure and Cabernet varietal qualities showing well beyond its miniscule price point. This is a great wine for those of you that enjoy quality, food friendly balanced and firm structured wines but need something for everyday drinking. This is a steal!
Top Value!
Price: $9.99
2010 Merryvale Carneros Pinot Noir
Review Date: 7-30-2012
A great wine from Merryvale in a very challenging year. A few cool summer means this wine is lighter in weight and alcohol than previous vintages, however a heat spike in late august brought on ripeness for people who had shown careful management in the vineyard. This Pinot is from a single vineyard in Carneros. It shows bright red fruits and spice. The palate is concentrated and rich despite its elegant texture. The wine finishes with a nice zippy acid making it a very food friendly CA Pinot.
Kilchoman Machir Bay Islay Single Malt Whisky 750ml
Review Date: 6-15-2012
"I didn’t know what to expect tasting this scotch for the first time. A young whiskey of 5 years or less in wood for $50+? After tasting it however it has completely changed the way I think about all distilled spirits. This whiskey is so detailed, complex and complete it makes me question whether the world of 15yr, 18yr, 21yr, Ximénez Sherry, Oloroso Sherry, Bourbon, 1st fill, 2nd fill, Super Tuscan, d’Yquem etc, etc, is all just fluff of people trying to make their average distillate taste better than someone else’s. It seems Kilchoman have the magic recipe and careful craftsmanship to make astoundingly good scotch that needs very little “dressing up” at all. The Machir Bay takes hints of salinity from it’s name sake, soft vanilla highlights backed by exotic spice and sweet red fruits. Elegantly smoky, perfectly balanced and long on the finish, moreish and very hard to put down!"
Price: $53.99
2011 Craggy Range "Te Muna Road" Sauvignon Blanc Martinborough
Review Date: 6-15-2012
I love Craggy Range's single vineyard philosophy. New Zealand is rich with many different microclimates that just lend themselves to diverse terroir driven wines. This Te Muna Road SB delivers great citrus fruit, some serious richness on the mid palate from 3 months maturation on it's lees in neutral French oak barrels. The finish has some mineral complexity that I can't quite tie down but that just keeps me coming back for another sip. A complex wine offering something familiar to lovers of Marlborough SB but with some classic Martinborough detail and depth.
Price: $18.99
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