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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
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Staff Favorites - Ryan Woodhouse
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Reviews
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2011 Neudorf Sauvignon Blanc Nelson
Review Date: 9-30-2012
NZ Sauv Blanc with a difference. This is all about restraint, balance, minerality and complexity. The deep gravel and clay soils of Nelson impart a telling mineral element into this wine. The slightly warmer microclimate of the area means this wine is different from the more pungent Marlborough style and much more in the Bordeaux Blanc vein (without the oak.)Excellent.
Price: $16.99
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
2011 Bench Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
Review Date: 8-28-2012
A very solid Pinot in a less than perfect year for CA. This Sonoma Coast offering from Bench shows how cool 2011 was. It’s bright and brisk with great acid a light to medium body. Good fruit saturation on the palate, spicy dark red fruits, some orange peel and a whiff of smoke. An Excellent deal at $19.99, and in this vintage, quality like this will be few and far between in this price point.
Top Value!
Price: $19.99
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
2011 Franck Millet Sancerre Rosé
Review Date: 5-28-2012
Classic mineral driven, lean, crisp and refreshing Sancerre Rose. Made from saigneed Pinot Noir grown in the limestone soils of Franck Millet's estate. This wine is lithe, bright and zesty with intense mineral components. Great as an aperitif, with sushi or other seafood based appetizers.
Price: $16.99
2007 Handley Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
Review Date: 5-28-2012
Wow! The answer to all non CA Pinot Noir believers! This wine is a great example of how California can produce elegant, high acid, balanced Pinot Noir. This wine exhibits light extraction, very bright fresh flavors of red berries and spice. Same savory sage and herbal notes with some sweet warm earth tones on back. Perfect for lighter game, even roasted or grilled Salmon. If you like less-ripe Oregon Pinot or Burgundy you should give this Anderson Valley offering from Handley a go, it might just impress you!
Drink from
2012
to
2016
Price: $27.99
2009 Te Mata "Bullnose" Syrah Hawkes Bay
Review Date: 4-27-2012
This is a stunningly elegant and perfumed Syrah playing a perfect balance between old world balance and new world fruit. Powerful dark red fruits and some sweet spice give way to hints leather and a definite cured meat element reminiscent of fine Northern Rhone Syrah. The tannins are incredibly fine and silky with acid playing the real structural role. A great wine to be savored.
Drink from
2012
to
2018
Price: $31.99
2009 Te Mata "Awatea" Bordeaux Blend Hawkes Bay New Zealand
Review Date: 4-27-2012
During my travels last year in New Zealand I visited over 50 wineries. In general I was amazed by the quality and diversity of the wine I encountered. The wines of Te Mata Estate in Hawkes Bay really impressed me, enough so that on my return to the US I sought them out and knew we had to make them available to our customers. The Awatea is the 2nd wine to the flagship Coleraine, made in a slightly more plush, drink earlier style and represents an excellent value for a very solid bottle of wine. Te Mata Estate believes this to be the finest Awatea it has produced to date. I found this wine to be rich and sweetly fruited showing excellent ripeness but remaining balanced with fine yet persistent tannins. The wine is full bodied and more fruit driven than the Coleraine, and with a supple structure more suited to near term drinking. The perfect steak wine!
Top Value!
Drink from
2012
to
2020
Price: $28.99
2009 Te Mata "Coleraine" Bordeaux Blend Hawkes Bay
Review Date: 4-27-2012
During my travels last year in New Zealand I visited over 50 wineries. In general I was amazed by the quality and diversity of the wine I encountered. The wines of Te Mata Estate in Hawkes Bay really impressed me, enough so that on my return to the US I sought them out and knew we had to make them available to our customers. Their top wine the Coleraine has been produced since 1982 and is highly regarded as one of New Zealand's finest and most age worthy wines. Quite compellingly the wine is made each year using a blind tasting and blending of the Bordeaux varietals that construct it. A blend of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc, this is a decadently rich wine that also has great balance and very firm tannins at this stage. This wine will really benefit from 5-10yrs+ in the cellar.
Drink from
2015
to
2025
Price: $49.99
2008 Rippon "Mature Vines" Pinot Noir Central Otago New Zealand (Biodynamic)
Review Date: 3-26-2012
Absolutely Stunning! I had the pleasure of visiting Rippon in Wanaka Central Otago last year and it was a tasting I'll never forget. This estate shows perfectly how NZ can produce truly WORLD CLASS PINOT. The land has been owned by the family for 100 years, the vineyard has been planted 30yrs this year. Organic since the beginning, biodynamic since 2002, all the vines are planted on Vitis Vinifera (own) root stock. These are truly excellent wines, perfumed, great fruit, balance, elegance and complexity. I recently had the 2003, it is ageing beautifully. Nick Mills (the winemaker) said some of the wines from the 90's are fantastic. Buy some, try some and cellar some!
Drink from
2012
to
2025
Price: $49.99
2010 Domaine du Roumané Côtes du Rhône
Review Date: 3-26-2012
A great value 2010 CDR. This is a direct buy for us and we just knew it was going to be a winner. The high quality Syrah content (40%) gives the wine some extra richness and depth beyond some of its competitors. The bright fruit and spice of the Grenache adds some nice high tones to the wine. Excellent balance, a very complete wine for $13.99!
Top Value!
Price: $13.99
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